Jetsons: The Movie

Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 American animated science fiction comedy film based on the animated television series The Jetsons, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.[3] The film was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera from a screenplay by Dennis Marks, and stars the voices of George O'Hanlon, Penny Singleton, Don Messick and Mel Blanc, all veterans of the television show, alongside Tiffany as Judy Jetson. In Jetsons: The Movie, George Jetson is tasked with running a new Spacely Sprockets facility by his boss Cosmo Spacely. However, after he brings his family along to support him, they find out about the truth of the facility's location.

Jetsons: The Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • William Hanna
  • Joseph Barbera
Written byDennis Marks
Based on
The Jetsons
by
  • William Hanna
  • Joseph Barbera
Starring
Music byJohn Debney
Edited by
  • Karen Doulac
  • Gil Iverson
  • Tim Iverson
  • Greg Watson
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • July 6, 1990 (1990-07-06)
Running time
82 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$20.3 million[2]

The film was released on July 6, 1990, and grossed $20.3 million during its theatrical run. O'Hanlon and Blanc died during production of the film, which was dedicated to both their memories. It was the last official Jetsons production until 2017's The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!.

Plot

In the late 21st century, Spacely Sprockets and Spindles has opened a new mining colony on an asteroid. The proposed project is meant to increase productivity at 1/10 the cost of making the items on Earth. However, the factory continues to be sabotaged by someone or something. As Cosmo Spacely (Mel Blanc) checks up on the "Orbiting-Ore Asteroid" again, he learns from the plant engineer Rudy-2 (Ronnie Schell) that the latest head of the factory Alexander Throttlebottom has run off, making four vice presidents of the new plant that Spacely has lost so far.

Fearing for his company (and profits), Spacely names George Jetson (George O'Hanlon) as Throttlebottom's successor and sends George and his family to the plant. While the family is thoroughly upset at being thrown from their normal lifestyle (and the plans that they had coming up that week), they set up apartments on the adjoining apartment community to the asteroid and its neighboring shopping complex, while it takes the family time to adjust.

Rudy-2 shows George around the plant as they prepare for the grand re-opening of the plant. Meanwhile, Jane (Penny Singleton) and Rosie (Jean Vander Pyl) befriend Rudy-2's wife Lucy-2 (Patti Deutsch). Judy Jetson (Tiffany) is having a hard time adjusting, and accepting the fact that she lost her chance at a date with rock star Cosmic Cosmo (Steve McClintock) which a friend of hers later takes, but soon feels better after meeting a teenaged boy named Apollo Blue (Paul Kreppel). Elroy Jetson (Patric Zimmerman) meets Rudy-2's son Teddy-2 (Dana Hill) with whom he first is at odds, but eventually befriends. George soon figures that he is ready to set the plant running again, and Mr. Spacely is all set to see the plant working full-throttle, and soon to churn out the one millionth Spacely sprocket. However, the opening-day festivities give way to panic as the factory is sabotaged once again. Over the next several days, George and Rudy-2 try to fix things, but the problems persist to the point that, fed up with the problems and thinking George is responsible, Mr. Spacely heads on up to check on things personally. Thinking he has to take charge, George stays overnight hoping to catch the saboteurs in the act, only to fall asleep and be taken off by the mysterious creatures. Elroy, Teddy-2, and their neighbor Fergie Furbelow (Russi Taylor) sneak into the plant and meet Squeep (Frank Welker), a member of a furry alien race known as Grungees (Frank Welker).

Squeep tells them (with Teddy-2 translating) that the factory is actually drilling into his people's community, which is based inside the asteroid. Soon, Jane, Judy, Apollo, Rudy-2, and Astro show up and realize what is happening as well. George is found hog-tied in the Grungees' colony, and although he soon realizes just what the factory is doing, Spacely does not. Seeing his factory at a stand-still, he starts it up (despite that it is the night and after disconnecting Rudy-2, who tries to stop him), nearly burying Elroy and Squeep alive under rubble, and prompting everyone in the asteroid to get top-side, where George manages to shut down the factory and show his boss exactly what he is doing. After some talk, when George finally stands up to his boss, telling him that all he cares about is money, they come to an agreement: the Grungees will run the plant, and create new Spacely sprockets through recycling old ones (thus stopping the further destruction of the Grungees' homes inside the asteroid).

Spacely Sprockets reaches the millionth sprocket at long last, and when George asks about being vice president, Spacely retorts, stating, "he's lucky that he'll be getting his old job back". Only when pressured by everyone else does he reluctantly promote him to vice president (without a raise). However, George knows that with the Grungees now running the plant, he is no longer needed as head of the asteroid. With heavy hearts, the Jetsons then bid their new friends goodbye, including Fergie, who attempted to stow away aboard the Jetsons' car. They then return home to Earth. As the family passes over the factory, the Grungees arrange themselves to form the words "THANKS GEORGE", as a friendly goodbye to him for saving their home.

Voice cast
Main article: List of The Jetsons characters

Production

A film adaptation based on The Jetsons started development when Paramount Pictures first tried to film a live-action version around 1985, which was to be executive produced by Gary Nardino, but it never got far into production, putting the film into a turnaround.[5] Later on in the 1980s, Universal Pictures bought the film rights for The Jetsons from Hanna-Barbera Productions.

A problem that arose during production of the film was the advanced age and poor health of many of the voice actors from the series; all of the major cast members except Don Messick (himself in his early 60s) were over 65 years old by this point. Daws Butler, the voice of Elroy, fell ill with a stroke and pneumonia in early 1988, before he could record any lines for the film, and ultimately died on May 18.[6][7] Though Butler had been training Greg Burson to succeed him,[8] voice coordinator Kris Zimmerman brought in her then-husband Patric, then a relative unknown, to fill the role of Elroy.[9] George O'Hanlon, who had already been in ill health throughout the 1980s run of the series, died of a stroke on February 11, 1989 after he finished recording;[10] voice director Andrea Romano later recalled that he could record only an hour at a time due to ill health and had his final stroke while at the studio.[11] Mel Blanc also died during production of the film on July 10, 1989. Voice actor Jeff Bergman would later step in and fill in for both O'Hanlon and Blanc as George Jetson and Mr. Spacely to complete their dialogue in additional scenes of the film.[12]

Janet Waldo, the original voice of Judy Jetson, recorded the role for the film but her voice was later replaced by singer Tiffany (though Waldo still provided the voice of a robot secretary). Studio executives hoped that Tiffany's involvement would result in a stronger box office performance.[13] Displeased with the casting change, Romano had her name removed from the finished film.[11] Tiffany said her singing voice was what initially drew the attention of Barbera.[14] Tiffany sang three songs used in the film ("I Always Thought I'd See You Again", "You and Me" and "Home"), which are on the soundtrack album along with "Jetsons' Rap" by XXL and tracks by other artists.[15] Tiffany did not write any of the songs, but she cited "I Always Thought I'd See You Again" as one of her favorites to sing.[16]

Home media

The film was first released on home video on October 25, 1990. On April 28, 2009, it was released on DVD in the United States and re-released to DVD in new packaging art on September 8, 2015.[17] The film is also available via digital download on the Sony Entertainment Network and the iTunes Store.[18] A Region B Blu-ray was released on June 6, 2016 in the United Kingdom,[19] and a Region A Blu-ray will be released on February 16, 2021 by Kino Lorber.[20]

The film became available on HBO Max on May 27, 2020.[21]

Reception

Box office

The film opened at #4, behind Die Hard 2, Days of Thunder and Dick Tracy, with a weekend gross of $5 million, for an average of $3,220 from 1,562 theaters. The film then lost 43% of its audience in its second weekend, falling to #10 with a second weekend gross of $2.9 million, averaging $1,820 from 1,566 theaters, and bringing its ten-day gross to $10.9 million. It ended up grossing just $20.3 million in the United States.[2]

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 27% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10.[22] On Metacritic it has a score of 46 out of 100 based on 17 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews."[23]

Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times criticized the use of CGI and traditional animation in the same film, saying that they don't mix well.[24] Siskel & Ebert gave this film two thumbs down, citing both the story and the animation as having "no imagination whatsoever". William Thomas of Empire Magazine gave the film two out of five stars, saying: "it's not nearly exciting enough and at an hour and twenty minutes is overlong for animation fans, yet by virtue of the fact it's a cartoon, it presents itself as too childish for older live action devotees."[25] Roger Ebert later named it at #2 of the ten worst films of 1990.[26]

Marketing tie-ins

During the summer of the film's release, Kool-Aid had a tie-in where Kool-Aid points could be redeemed for a red Jetsons car featuring the cast. However, the promotion was not carried by some theaters, and instead of a red Jetsons car, the points were redeemed for a miniature film poster. Wendy's restaurants had a Jetsons kids' meal tie-in. When clips were shown on television, scenes with George had re-dubbed lines from an unnamed voice actor. The commercials showed Wendy's founder Dave Thomas either in a theater watching the movie or at his restaurant promoting the film. A tie-in simulator ride named The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera opened at Universal Studios Florida one month before the film's release. In the attraction, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera state that the Jetsons will star in their next project (presuming the film), which angers Dick Dastardly and Muttley and leads them to kidnap Elroy. Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo Bear must save Elroy by riding through the worlds of The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and The Jetsons, before Dastardly and Muttley are arrested. Merchandise based on the film and other Hanna-Barbera-related stuff was sold at the ride's gift shop. Also in 1990, Ralston released an apple and cinnamon–flavored Jetsons cereal.[27]

See also

References
  1. "JETSONS: THE MOVIE (U)". British Board of Film Classification. August 7, 1990. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  2. "Jetsons: The Movie (1990)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 186. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. "For Some Readers, Tiffany Is No Jetson". The Los Angeles Times. July 15, 1990. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  5. "Paramount's Future- from 1985". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  6. "Charles 'Daws' Butler, Voice Of Yogi Bear, Many Others", Orlando Sentinel, May 20, 1988.
  7. Folkart, Burt A. "Obituaries: Daws Butler; Voice of Well-Known Cartoon Characters" Los Angeles Times (May 20, 1988)
  8. "Greg Burson". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  9. Solomon, Charles (July 6, 1990). "MOVIE REVIEW : Stone-Age Comedy in 'Jetsons'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  10. "George O'Hanlon; Father's Voice on 'Jetsons'". Los Angeles Times. February 14, 1989.
  11. Cartwright, Nancy (October 30, 2009). "Nancy Cartwright Chats with Andrea Romano -- Part 1". Animation World Network. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  12. "Porky and pals get new, familiar voice". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  13. "Actress Who Originated Judy Jetson Voice Speaks Out". Orlando Sentinel. July 13, 1990. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020.
  14. "Tiffany's Voice Stars in Jetsons Movie". Daily Record. July 12, 1990. p. 16.
  15. McCall, Douglas L. (2005). Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts. McFarland & Company. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9781476609669.
  16. Eakin, Marah (August 21, 2012). "Tiffany on "I Think We're Alone Now," being the queen of the mall, and dubstep". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  17. Hanna, William (April 28, 2009), Jetsons: The Movie, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, ASIN B001PMWLXQ
  18. "Jetsons: The Movie on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  19. "Jetsons: The Movie Blu-ray". Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  20. "Jetsons: The Movie Blu-ray". October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  21. Patches, Matt (May 27, 2020). "Nearly every movie and show now on HBO Max". Polygon. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  22. "The Jetsons". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  23. "Jetsons: The Movie". Metacritic. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  24. Solomon, Charles (July 6, 1990). "Stone-Age Comedy in 'Jetsons'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  25. https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/jetsons-movie-review/
  26. http://siskelandebert.org/video/6UKMBX5Y18M4/The-Worst-of-1990
  27. "Jetsons Cereal". MrBreakfast.com. Retrieved July 7, 2012.

Notes
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