User reviews

There are very few pieces of Animation that I will remember for the rest of my life....and when I have children, will want to sit them down and say, "This is what animation is all about." Many of them came from the minds of Hanna-Barbera, and were "age appropriate": such as The Flintsones, The Jetsons, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, etc. Others VERY dear to my heart were straight from Japan such as "Astro-Boy", "Marine Boy", "Prince Planet" among others. But this one..this is the one that stole my little girl heart, and these were the first tv "guys" I ever developed my first crush on.

No, Not Jonny. Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon. When you're three/ four years old, many folks say: "Ah, they wont remember a thing at that age." Oh yeah, I remember.

Race Bannon was it! I swore when I grew up, I was going to find a man similar to "Race Bannon". He was cool, swave, strong, smart, and oh, so sexy. Dr. Benton Quest, was - the genius. He was the quiet/sensitive type, smart, a work-a-holic and WANTED for his brain. Whatever happened to his wife...I didn't CARE!

For that time, this cartoon was of a higher calibre than "let's just entertain the kiddies with colorful images." This had action, adventure and a little boy close to our age we could relate to. Adding Hadji was a stroke of smartness as well, here was a character in a cartoon from a background...no one else brought to the screen (Quick, tell me how many Indians from India are cast in Hollywood mainstream films? Cartoons? Commercials?) Of course by today's standards Haji might be a bit dry, but it was interesting to watch Jonny and Hadji interact.

Jonny Quest was NOT your run of the mill cartoon from that era. And to be perfectly honest..the opening and closing music and montage scenes were to die for, made me excited about the series just as much as the series itself. Cartoons today wont go through that much production. ("The Simpsons" being the exception!)

I recommend this 60's series highly to those who want to see the early Hanna-Barbera animation of action-adventure, done with pretty decent scripts that never talked down to its audience, even parents enjoyed this one. Smart, fun, sexy. See all of the installments if you can. Don't go to the 80's/90's ones, this is the set to get!

Even limited by Hanna Barbera's cheap animation, JQ is still one of the best toons ever. Featuring some really excellent stories (the spider robot and the invisible monster - lifted from Forbidden Planet really) along with a likeable cast (Race is my favorite character), made this show work. And let's not forget the awesome theme song - the best of any toon ever.

TV's first animated action-adventure series is about to take you on a breathless ride. All 26 episodes charting the fantastic exploits of brave and brainy 11-year-old Jonathan Quest are yours in a 3-disc set, as originally first broadcast in prime-time on ABC-TV during the 1964-65 season. Unlike the outrageous fantasy plots of cartoons that preceded it, Jonny Quest drew on science and detective-style logic to solve mysteries and apprehend sophisticated villains. Viewers were transported to exotic locales as Jonny's dad, Dr. Benton Quest, tackled each new government assignment, aided by ex-agent "Race" Bannon, Indian boy Hadji, family bulldog Bandit... and, of course, his fearless son Jonny..

Some fifty five years after the debut of Jonny Quest, it's still very clear why the show has remained popular over the years. For starters, the show's mixture of science-fiction and science-fact is still very engrossing. The various episodes offer a nice mixture of story-lines and ideas. Some shows are straight-ahead action-adventure tales, with a slight spy-movie touch, such as "Calcutta Adventure". Whereas others integrate more science-fiction, as with the creepy spider-robot in "The Robot Spy". And several of the episodes wander into an even more fantastic realm, such as "The Invisible Monster" (an episode which terrified me as a child), "The Curse of Anubis" (equally frightening) and "Turu the Terrible". Many of the "science-fiction" elements and gadgets on the show have since become a reality, but that doesn't really alter the show's effectiveness. And with even the most fantastic shows, Jonny Quest manages to come across as somewhat realistic, and never gets "cartoony", save for the antics of Bandit. The show can be viewed as a live-action show, which just happens to be animated. That animation, which was designed by veteran animator/series creator Doug Wildey, is another interesting aspect of the show, as the character designs and location all have very realistic touches and the drawings use very dramatic lighting effects.

But, perhaps the greatest aspect of Jonny Quest is the sense of wonder and imagination in the show. The show's enduring popularity and quality can surely be traced to the fact that many of us would love to be Jonny. The idea of traveling the world and becoming involved in one adventure after another is titillating enough when we watch someone like James Bond do it, but to be 11-years old and have those kind of adventures is the dream-stuff of many adolescents, even when they've long-since passed that age. Sure, some of Jonny Quest feels dated (especially some of the slang), but the show's sense of adventure is timeless, and this collection is a great way to either re-live or discover this animation classic.

If you grew up in the '60's and early '70's, as I did, "Jonny Quest" was in many ways THE ultimate animated adventure show. And it's only gotten better over the years. The plotting and animation were certainly the most sophisticated Hanna-Barbera ever did. And the voice casting was perfect, as well. Sorry, fellow Cherry Hill-ite J.D. Roth, but, for me, Jonny will always be the young Tim Mathieson. Ditto Mike Road as Race Bannon and John Stephenson (earlier) and Don Messick (later) as Dr. Benton Quest. And Hoyt Curtin's jazzy score was just the icing on the cake.

With the so-called "Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" being such a pale imitation of the original, it's so good to see the original back on a series of four excellent DVDs. A later generation deserves a chance to enjoy the real thing, and nostalgic grown-ups deserve a chance to remember.

I have made no secret of loving Hanna-Barbera, Scooby Doo Where Are You?, The Flintstones and Tom and Jerry are three of my all-time favourite shows, animated or non-animated. Jonny Quest is among their best, it is such a great show, cool and original and definitely a must watch.

The animation may be dated by today's standards, but I think the drawings, character designs, backgrounds and colours are still very good and attractive. The music is one of the show's coolest assets, I love how funky it is, while the writing is intelligent with some very strong humour and the story lines are original and fun. And I love the characters, Jonny is a wonderful protagonist and you can't help but love Bandit. The best though is Race Bannon who is so strong, suave and sexy, I have to agree with anyone who says any small boy would want to grow up to be like him.

Overall, wonderful and a must for animation or Hanna-Barbera fans! 10/10 Bathany Cox

In 2021, the word "fun" has sadly become an afterthought in the world of the ironically named entertainment industry. Thankfully we have several decades worth of classic 'toons, TV and movies that knew how to have the "F Word", and none do it better than Hanna-Barbera's classic Jonny Quest. Just a few notes into its iconic theme song and I guarantee that all but the most jaded cynic will have a grin from ear to ear. And by the time Jonny and his companions stop the bad guys, you'll feel like you're 10 years old again.

Hollywood take note; Stop preaching and start entertaining!

I can still remember the first time I saw this show, but I can't remember a time I didn't love it. Since it's easily a classic, it always manages to pop up on some network somewhere even to this day. The artwork, sound, and music score (if not the animation, which is a blend of "full" animation along with the so-called "limited" kind) are top notch and even after half a century, the show has attained a timeless quality all its own.

The stories were notable in being very well written, if not ground-breaking, and the good folks at Hanna-Barbera were never afraid to show some very dangerous situations along with what, for cartoons, was considered graphic violence (The show was often criticized for this even back in 1964, the year it was first released for prime time television). And in fact, it's probably safe to say "Jonny Quest" could not be made today - not only because of its frequent violence but for some occasional but thinly veiled racism,, of sorts (in one episode, "Pursuit of the Poho", the Race Bannon character disguises himself as the water god of some indigenous people to deceive them, while calling them "Heathen monkeys") but because of cost concerns. There was never serious talk among Hanna-Barbera for creating a second season of JQ due to its shockingly high cost (and it's something of a wonder that its 26 episodes were ever made in the first place!)

The full story of how JQ got made is told in some fan-made videos on Youtube and there many of the interesting production details are revealed. And if you've never seen this cartoon it's enough to say there's nothing else like it - nor, with the demise of Hanna-Barbera in 2001 (Warner brothers owns their entire collection now) is anybody likely to make anything like it ever again.

Back in the 60s, I was convinced that "Jonny Quest" was the single greatest cartoon ever created. It was something special. It had a more adult feel to it and, therefore, to my 5 year old mind, that made it more real. Watching today, I realize how wrong my notions of reality were, but there's no denying a more serious tone or style to "Jonny Quest" than any other cartoon on at the time. But there's also no denying how good it really was. I was incredibly envious of Jonny and the adventures he and Hadji were allowed to go on. Battling mummies, chasing a giant robotic spider, and fighting off giant condors were just part of the fun. And what about Race Bannon - what small boy worth his salt didn't want to grow up and be like Race? He was awesome. Finally, I would argue that there were other positive aspects of the show beyond entertainment. This may sound completely ridiculous to someone who never watched "Jonny Quest", but it inspired a real interest in science and history in me and my brother. I look at the show as having had a very positive influence on us.

I have fond memories of many of the episodes, but if I had to pick just one as a favorite, I think I would go with "The House of the Seven Gargoyles". Talk about creeping me out - I hid my head under the covers. I still have the most vivid memories of that episode. I recently picked up the DVD set and, over the past couple of months, I've been making my way through the episodes. Forty years later, I'm still enjoying them and "The House of Seven Gargoyles" is still pretty creepy. To my delight, my four year old son has watched a couple of the episodes with me. I was thrilled when I realized how much he was loving it. Like father, like son - how cool is that?

Quite simply, the best male adventure drama in ANY MEDIA - books, television, theater, even familial legend. It tells the story of Johnny Quest, a 12-something boy whose father is a government scientist, who lives on a private island off the Miami coast. His father, one of the top scientists for the USA, is assisted by Race Bannon, a sort of Bruce Lee and Clint Eastwood rolled into one, and his half-brother, Hadji, adopted son of Dr. Quest, a former orphan from Calcutta.

The main characters fly all over the world (Race Bannon is a Jet Pilot) completing government research missions and also solving science-fiction based mysteries. The show is laced with the latest gee-whiz stuff from Popular Science of the 1960's, much of which STILL hasn't been invented yet!! Particularly good episodes from season #1 include "The Robot Spy", an invention of the evil Dr. Zinn, created to steal Dr. Quest's Research Results, and "The Invisible Monster" (aka "The Energy Monster", as both my 4 year olds call it in my house), a science experiment in molecular energy gone berserk on a south pacific island.

This is perhaps the ONLY television show in history besides STAR TREK that glorifies both brawn AND brains, as personified by Race Bannon and Dr. Quest. Did it have an effect on me ?? I have a PhD, I have worked for the government, I have worked on space satellites and touched them, and have jetted across America as a consultant to several industries. I have tried to live the dream, now where's MY island?!?!!

As Sawyer said..this was the best animated series of the time...So I am still asking "When are we going to get a Live Action version of this gem of creativity and adventure??"

I don't care who's going to be cast as wonder woman, etc. I want to know who is going to play Johnny!!!!

Who is going to play Race and Hadji? Could be a break through role for someone. There is a lot of casting opportunities for a project like this to do something different and bring some new faces to the screen as well.

If I had the big bucks...THIS is the property I would be investing in (see below)! With today's CGI those hover crafts and other cool gadgets could look pretty realistic. And animal casting has gone so much further since the days of Frank Inn (Benji) that could be cool. (No scooby doo please.)

Film or TV, I don't have a preference, but if you do, let us know......

So how about it people? A write-in campaign to Fox or Universal requesting a Live Action production? (old school method)

Or maybe someone knows a producer who is interested in initiating a KickStarter campaign and we'll just fund it ourselves!(new school method).

We are the boomer generation....we have "proven" that anything is possible!! - (Anything, that is, except entering the word "proven" into an IMDb review without quotes. Don't know why this editor refuses to accept an "n" on the end of the word "prove" in this context, it is a real word, I've tried 3 times to correct it..sorry grammaticians)

This was the high point of my Saturday cartoon watching as a kid. As long as I got to see Jonny Quest the rest of my viewing didn't matter. Jonny ruled then. JQ had everything. There was action, adventure, spies, bad guys, monster (both giant and smaller), mad scientists, rockets, planes, boats, tanks, army guys, submarines, espionage, intrigue and more. Hard to believe but all of this was packed into only a half an hour. Every saturday you got to see Jonny, Dr. Quest, Race Bannon, Hadji and Bandit save our country and/or the world. They went on adventures you could only dream about. This was the coolest cartoon on in it's day. Was there a better opening to a show. The instrumental opening was great. It let you know how much action was about to come your way. The only other opening I could remember like this was Bugs Bunny and the Flintstones and they had lyrics. Of all the cartoons on when I was a kid this one was the one that I made sure I watched. There hasn't been a cartoon like it since that could come close. Maybe Scooby-Doo, at least he had monsters, or bad guys posing as such to deal with. Even that doesn't match up to Jonny Quest. My parents would even sit down and watch it too. It was that entertaining. JQ had excellant stories to go with the action. For those who haven't seen it, the best five episodes are The Lizard Men, pilot episode, Dr. Sins Robot Spy, The Curse of Anubis, Turu the Terrible and the Invisible Monster. Jonny Quest was the best damn cartoon ever and remains so. JQ rules.

My favorite show cartoon as a child. When I introduced to my daughters they understood why I love this cartoon so much as it broaden their perspectives of well-made cartoons that cover good vs evil genre. One can dream bigger when see things two 11 years old young boys get themselves into!

Adults of the 1960s had James Bond and James West - and, their children had Jonny Quest! :)

I wasn't old enough to see "Jonny Quest" in the 1960s...but, I caught-up with him in the 1970s when re-runs were aired. This is truly a magnificent cartoon for kids who seek excitement!

"Jonny Quest" is not only exciting; it has great stories; exotic settings; interesting creatures and monsters; and, clever villains! I'm betting that most every little boy who watched and loved "Jonny Quest" has since graduated to watching and loving "James Bond" and "James West," as I did.

This is 'exactly' the kind of thrilling 'boys' cartoon that should have had a run of many years; but, it only lasted 'one!?!?' I don't get it!?!? Even on IMDb, it has scored 8.0; so...someone other than me must have loved this cartoon as a boy!?!?

This is the kind of cartoon that gets little boys (monkey-see, monkey-do) to go out into the forest and seek-out bugs; amphibians; reptiles; and, other animals and interesting creatures. It gets boys to climb trees; go hiking; swimming; snorkeling; scuba diving; water skiing; and, other exciting and 'active' activities. It gets boys to rent a row boat and cruise the nearby lake; or, rent a canoe and go down the nearby river. This cartoon gets boys to do anything other than sit around the house 'gaming' on a computer with a dozen Dunkin' Donuts, a box of Twinkies, and, a 3-Litre bottle of soda!?!?

This cartoon also rids a little boy of the 2nd and 4th 'Deadly Sins' - Gluttony and Sloth!

Maybe boys (people in general) nowadays feel threatened by Jonny Quest because he'd never advocate sitting around the house on a nice day, all day, in front of a computer when you could be out doing something 'active' when the cartoon's over!?!?

Dunno! But, cancelling this show after such a short run, like cancelling "Star Trek" TOS...was a blunder!

Knowing that Dr. Quest and Race Bannon are saving the world from atrocities that would certainly destroy us all, and way ahead of its time also. Computers, jet-packs, laser beams, nerve gas, world travels better than the "Wide World of Sports"...fantastic!

And the music makes my eyes water with reminiscence of my childhood.

Race Bannon was my childhood hero, bar none. People look at me strangely when I say that. No one else could "outjudo" Sumi as Dr. Ashida shouts, "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" Blood curdling.

No wonder I have grown to prefer Drama movies! And I think I'll have the DVD's played at my funeral.

This was a hip, gutsy cartoon that didn't pull any punches. As a kid I remember thinking "Wow, these bad guys are really bad, and creepy too", but Jonny and the gang never lose their cool. I noticed how they would think their way through problems. They never picked a fight, but carried weapons just in case and they were not afraid to use them if need be. No touchy-feely crap here. Bust a head or bust a cap, whatever it takes to survive.

Jonny was the kid we wanted to be and Race Bannon was the guy we wanted to grow up to be. Dr. Quest was the archetypal workaholic dad, but still keeps Jonny close and loved him. Hadji was the friend we all need, smart, able, mysterious, good natured and most of all, loyal to a fault.

Despite the loss of his mom the four of them managed to form a working family unit despite Bannon's initial resistance to being a "baby sitter".

But most of all it was the gizmo's and adventures. Come on, hunting Pteradactyl's with a bazooka and .45 pistol from a jet pack. Running around in jets, boats, subs, snow cats, jeeps, mini bikes. Learning swimming, scuba, judo and karate from Race, science from Dr. Quest, mysterious stuff from Hadji. Oh, and don't get me started on Jade (Race Bannon's mysterious but loyal Amerasian girlfriend).

Dude, it just does not get any better than that.

It has been a long time and I still find myself thinking about this series, THE series! It has been over 30 years since I last saw this original series. After airing for only one season on ABC,the series was picked up for syndication and popped up every now and then on the Saturday Morning cartoon line-up. Although the New Adventures from the 1990s was pretty good, maybe even better than the original, it never would had happened had it not been for this original series from 1964.

The original is the one that deserves the honored place in history for many reasons. To start with, the opening theme was a theme that screamed "Look out! Another exciting adventure dead ahead! Hang on to your seat!"

Historically,it was the first adventure cartoon intended to take the viewer through an exciting adventure. Before the big day, ads reminded us that this new cartoon would be in "Blazing Realism"! Golly! That really got us excited and we just couldn't wait to see this exciting new series which would air in September 1964 on Friday night (on ABC).

JONNY QUEST also paved the way for other exciting cartoon adventures, like SPACE GHOST, which would air on Saturday mornings in September 1966.

For better or worse, fans and critics alike must agree that this cartoon is truly a ground breaker!

This was the coolest show ever! You had top notch designs from Doug Wildey and Alex Toth, great voices from the likes of Don Messick and Tim "Otter" Matheson, great stories and kick-a** music. People actually died in this show! (unlike 80's fare, like GI Joe, where they always parachuted to safety, or everyone misses with lasers). Despite being tagged as violent, the show illustrated that violence had consequences. You learned that if you fire a gun, people die, or at least get hurt.

What's not to love about a show with dinosaurs, WWI airplanes, robot spiders, lizard men, Dr Zin, invisible monsters, mummies, and secret armies? You got jet packs, lasers, submarines, hovercraft, hydrofoils, vstol jets, and other cool rides. You have evil villains like Dr Zin, Ivar, Dr Karim, Ashida and his dragons, and a host of foreign spies. Throw in exotic locales and you can't lose.

Yeah, it wasn't the most PC of shows (take that you heathen monkeys, indeed) but it was still pretty entertaining; and, Hadji was always portrayed as an intelligent and equal character. Sure, Dr Quest and Race Bannon sure seemed to avoid women (except Jezebel Jade) but, you know, they were positive role models.

By the way, if you ever wondered what happened to Jonny's mother, check out the excellent Comico comic book from the 80's. It was an outstanding story that will bring tears to your eyes, and add a wrinkle to Dr Zin.

Jonny Quest had everything: science experiments gone wrong, crypto-zoology, all the coolest technological gadgets, and a superb cast.

30+ years later I still remember some episodes and the art clearly, few cartoons were made like this at the time, if any. And if you loved mystery and monsters, you had to look no further! It was the thinking boy's Scooby Doo, more grown-up, less cheesy, and all action and adventure.

If only they still made cartoons like this today..shows like Ben 10 came close, but there is and will be only one JQ.

Jonny Quest reflects mid-60s adventure kid entertainment at its finest. He goes around the world with his research-scientist dad, always to exotic locales ranging from Egypt to the Amazon, to Africa, to fictitious remote islands. To catch the bad guys standing in their way, Jonny, Dr. Quest, Jonny's buddy Hadji, Race, and Bandit travel through air, land, and sea using all kinds of James Bond-esquire gadgets--special scuba gear, rocket packs, etc.

But another fascinating aspect of JQ is its reflection of the culture of its time. Particularly the depiction of racial and ethnic characters. The high quality animation really shows the detail to which the animators/creators went to try and depict authentic natives--from grass skirts to specifically drawn body and face paintings. At the same time, most of the natives in JQ are almost all villains and stereotypically represented: evil-intentioned voodoo kings, despotic village headmen, blow dart shooting thugs, savages ready to fight. Their ambiguous origins can't help but make you wonder where the creators came up with them. Most of them do have specific referents, probably somewhere in eastern South America or the Amazon, but needless to say being specific about that is not important to the show itself.

And it's not only non-whites that are interestingly depicted in JQ. There are a host of other characters--Frenchmen living in what we might suppose are the French Antilles; Portuguese sailors who have been living at sea their whole lives, Ex-patriates who have been corrupted or live hermit-like existences in faraway places. JQ reflects the typical colonial ethnoscape of these parts of the world that most films and TV never do, either for fear of complexity and alienating the audience, or because they themselves are unfamiliar with them. Probably the only other major series that does so would be James Bond films with their international, exotic mix of nationalities and characters.

Another cultural element of the time that sneaks into JQ is the Cold War. Either Dr. Quest works for the US government, or he is "doing research" for some or another scientific program. In one episode, he is trying to get a rare metal which is essential to the space program. Could it be more obvious?

Of course, there are is the standard violence of that time period--against both animals and humans--that came to be criticized after the 60s. In one episode, Jonny and the rest of the gang when on a boat are threatened by crocodiles in the water, so they each grab a rifle and start killing them off. The scene lasts about 10 seconds, where they are just killing crocodiles. And of course, nothing is thought of beating an evil native over the head with a wood plank, killing a bad guy with an oxygen tank, and other quick ways to get the bad guys out of the way.

All in all, Jonny Quest represents a really interesting historical moment, the mid-1960s, when racial and ethnic stereotypes still went unquestioned, internationalism was in, the cold war was raging, and kids all over America and even the world were tuning in for the most sacred time slot of a pre-teen: Saturday morning.

Any child growing up in the early 1960's could most likely be found sitting front row and center in front of a television set when their favorite action/suspense cartoon canme on, that being Jonny Quest.

Now Jonny was not your normal pre-teen young boy. Oh no, Jonny was able to travel all around the world with his famous scientist father Dr. Benton C. Quest. Jonny was always accompanied by his best friend East Indian born Hadji in which the two boys different worlds would be melded into one enlightening many North American children that there exists more than just the American culture. Both of the boys and Jonny's father were also accompanied on their world wide adventures by the macho man Roger T. 'Race' Bannon who served many purposes but mainly as the bodyguard for the three adventurers (Dr. Quest, Jonny Quest and Hadji). Filling out the cast of characters was Jonny's lovable puppy bulldog named Bandit, thus named for possessing a single black patch over one eye as the rest of his body was completely white. Bandit constantly getting into some kind of trouble with the various native creatures (giant snakes, Iguanas, and birds) the boys encountered all over the world.

Each 30 minute episode was filled with great adventures, risky business, Race Bannon duels with many bad dudes including sumo wrestlers and giant iguanas, and of course each episode ended on a happy note. Fun filled adventure which I am sure the children of todays environment could also benefit from watching.

I give the series a perfect 10 out of 10 rating.

If 007 and Indiana Jones had a son, he would by JQ.

For a boy growing up in the 60s, JQ was a damn awesome role model. Even though the shows weren't primarily morality tales, they couldn't help but stimulate a boys curiosity and moral compass.

There was something called good guys and bad guys, and there was also something called friendship, and there was definitely something called COURAGE. When you added up all those things you got yourself a world that was a MYSTERY ADVENTURE tailor-made for youngsters with an active imagination and a need to explore what waited for them outside their front door.

For my taste, this was the best cartoon series ever drawn. From what I've read, the producers started out with a LOT of ambition, and each episode was quite expensive to produce as opposed to other 30 minutes cartoon episodes.

Then you have the outstanding jazz theme score, fun to listen to all on its own.

Of course, the show appealed to kids in the same manner as The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, Jr. .... although these stories were FAR better written than any Tom Swift, Jr. Novel.

It's interesting that Jonny was voiced by Tim Matheson, who went on to a long career in front of the camera, and will never be forgotten for his role in Animal House. :-)

The science and frankly, the horror, aspects of Jonny Quest meshed perfectly with light moments and sedate family/friends scenes to produce loads of atmosphere.

Everything together is the reason only two-dozen episodes ran on Saturday mornings for YEARS, and why those of us who saw it first run still appreciate watching from time to time.

This is one of the shows that totally captivated me when I was a kid. Jonny was the kind of boy hero I wanted to be. He was like a boy version of James Bond. Along with his scientist father Benton Quest, bodyguard Race Bannon (a tough, smart, ultra capable man very much in the mold of Bond), and Indian friend Hadji, Jonny traveled all over the world to exotic places, engaging in fantastic adventures that ranged from and/or blended the spy/espionage genre to action to science fiction and even fantasy. The family made use of all sorts of super cool futuristic equipment, including rocket belts, supersonic and VTOL aircraft, and various seacraft, etc. Jonny knew martial arts, scuba diving, gymnastics, etc. I remember thinking I could hardly wait to be eleven years old like Jonny. I loved (and still do) the dynamic music, especially for the opening and closing credits. The show holds up surprisingly well for me as an adult, although I do knock off a point for the not so great animation, which didn't matter to me as a kid.

When I was a kid (you know, back when Hanna-Barbera dominated TV cartoons and dinosaurs roamed the antediluvian plain), there was an incredibly, inexplicably popular show named…"Scooby Doo". But, for those of us who considered ourselves smarter and hipper than the average bear, there was only one cartoon that ruled and it ruled with an iron fist. I'm talking about "Jonny Quest", a combination of pulp adventure, science fiction, spy flicks, horror, drama and comedy that was utterly irresistible to me and millions of other little boys around the world back in the mid-60's. From the opening bars of Hoyt Curtin's driving, jazzy theme song, the opening credits were enough to drive any kid insane: a savage jungle with giant lizards, a mummy, a pteranodon, jet packs, gunfire, fisticuffs, giant robot spiders, hover platforms, giant death rays and then the introduction of the Quest family: 11-year old Jonny, scientific genius Dr. Benton Quest, tutor-pilot-combat expert-bodyguard Roger T. "Race" Bannon, Indian mystic Hadji, and Jonny's bulldog pup Bandit racing around the world to another thrilling adventure in Dr. Quest's sleek, needle-nosed jet aircraft. Jonny and his dad lived in a secluded island fortress-secret laboratory with Race Bannon, Hadji and Bandit. Dr. Quest was a scientific genius working for the U.S. Government, a widower (Mrs. Quest's death is only mentioned once, but the impression lingered that she was killed by bad guys trying to get to Dr. Quest – hence, government agent Race Bannon is assigned to protect father and son) who was constantly called to come up with some piece of super-science or a solution to a strange mystery in some remote and exotic corner of the world – and, more often than not, how Jonny (with considerable assists from Hadji and Bandit) saved or gave him critical assistance. "Jonny Quest" was different because it was obviously a show that was striving for a maturity and realism that had never been seen in television animation before. From the lush and detailed backgrounds to the almost-adult level of violence (all sorts of people and animals die in this show - and when someone died, they stayed dead), there was a lot in this show that wasn't for kids. And now, after years of waiting, Warner Brothers has released all 26 episodes in a massive and elegant 4-disc set, presented in their original broadcast order. From "Mystery of the Lizard Men" to "The Robot Spy" to "The Sea Haunt", they're all here and looking absolutely smashing along with all sorts of DVD goodies like trailers, a featurette on the animators, everything you'd ever want to know about the good and bad guys on the show and even a vintage commercial for sneakers starring Jonny! I fell in love with this show when I was about 8 years old, watching it dubbed in Spanish and in black-and-white, rediscovered it again in color when we came to the States and now, after 30+ years I can say with total assurance that some pleasures from childhood are just as good when you're an adult.