The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest - Development and History

Development and History

Hanna-Barbera (H-B) created The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest in the early 1990s after being acquired by Turner Entertainment. Turner planned a series of year-long "Turner-wide initiatives" to capitalize on old characters and create new franchises. Turner received copious fan mail and phone inquiries about Quest, and observed "incredibly high" marketing Q Scores. The show was also H-B's most popular venture in the action-adventure genre; no other contemporary series featured realistic children enjoying life-like adventures. With William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's blessings, the company planned a new series, live action film, and two telefilms—Jonny's Golden Quest and Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects. Combined with a substantial marketing campaign, the project would be their largest initiative since Turner acquired H-B. Turner Home Entertainment President Philip Kent claimed Quest would be a "consumer-products bonanza", and the company considered Real Adventures the linchpin of the Quest revival. Real Adventures, the live-action film, and release of classic episodes on VHS would constitute a "Year of Jonny Quest" marketing blitz. Delayed until 1996, the project echoed 1994's "Year of the Flintstones" and 1995's "Year of Yogi Bear".

Production on Real Adventures commenced in 1993. Turner hired a team led by director Dick Sebast, writer Peter Lawrence, and art director Takashi Masunaga. The firm appointed Stephanie Sperber head of the Quest task force in 1994. H-B President Fred Seibert allowed Lawrence to create a new team of companions for Jonny, but Lawrence chose to revive the original group. Sebast and Lawrence decided to make the series as realistic as possible through accurate physics and depictions of machinery. Lawrence emphasized believability, eschewing "ridiculous ... laser guns" for real sidearms. Departures from the classic series included new character designs and the introduction of a new character to the Quest family. Takashi designed Jonny to be "edgy and handsome", and rendered characters in the style of Japanese animation to differentiate from American superhero cartoons. The team used a new character—Race's daughter, Jessie Bannon—to create conflict with Jonny. She debuted in 1986 on The New Adventures of Jonny Quest as the daughter of Benton's colleague, and appeared in the telefilms as Race's daughter by Jezebel Jade. The creative team researched child psychology, ensuring they could depict realistic action and consequences without fueling nightmares. Seibert described the show's theme as "The X-Files for kids", citing difficult questions and mysteries to be posed in each episode.

Lawrence initially titled the show Jonny Quest's Extraordinary Adventures, but the title changed in 1995 to its final name. Intended for a 1995 release with sixty-five episodes, Real Adventures fell into development hell; roughly thirty scripts and only eight reels were in progress by March 1995. H-B removed Lawrence and Takashi in 1996, hiring John Eng and Cosmo Anzilotti to finish the first twenty-six episodes. Certain sequences necessitated exhaustive work and heavy revision. A new team led by David Lipman, Davis Doi, and Larry Houston finished twenty-six more for broadcast as a separate series named The New Jonny Quest. Time Warner's acquisition of Turner negated this plan, leading to the episodes' release as the second season of Real Adventures. Fred Seibert touted Quest as the "Home Alone of adventure", with "high-tech, multicultural themes" that would appeal to contemporary youth. Promoters promised the new Quest would avoid "mindless violence, chauvinism, xenophobia and insensitivity", addressing historical criticisms of the classic series. Turner also claimed that Quest would appeal to any gender, stating, "Traditionally, action adventure animation may be stronger with boys, but in this case, storylines are being developed to draw girls in ... we're really hoping for a wide berth of viewership."