Many popular cartoons have been created over the years. Some of them have stuck with television while a few have jumped to the big screen with full length movies. In 1990, Jetsons: The Movie was released.
Mr. Spacely was hoping his orbiting ore asteroid would made production of his sprockets more profitable. Unfortunately, the plant had nothing but trouble since it was opened and a series of vice presidents left. Mr. Spacely wanted someone expendable to put in charge and get the factory working. He decided on George Jetson.
George was thrilled to finally be promoted to a vice president position even though it meant moving to the asteroid the next day. His wife Jane and their children Judy and Elroy weren't happy about the move. Even their maid Rosie the robot didn’t seem happy about it. The family moved and started to settle into their new home. Judy met and quickly started to date Apollo Blue while Elroy became friends with Teddy 2, the son of Rudy 2, a robot who worked at the factory. George soon had to deal with many problems at the plant that were threatening his job.
The Jetsons cartoon first started to air in the 1960's. It was popular and there were some television movies featuring the characters made, including one where they met characters from The Flintstones. The Jetsons has aired on different television stations for years. I did watch it regularly when I was younger. I think it is currently on one of the cable stations I get, but I haven’t watched it in the last few years. I think that Jetsons: The Movie took place after the episodes of the cartoon, though it didn’t seem like much time had passed. The movie can stand alone, though certain things might make a little more sense if people are already familiar with the characters and basic idea of the cartoon.
The plot of Jetsons: The Movie was fairly simple and really not that developed. The movie was mostly focused on George starting his new job at the asteroid plant and how he tried to deal with the problems there. It quickly became clear that some kind of sabotage was going on. That did add a tiny bit of mystery to the movie and make things slightly more interesting. The plot was separate from anything that had happened during the cartoon while still fitting in with the types of things that had happened during the cartoon. George was struggling to do well at work while Mr. Spacely threatened to fire him. Really the only difference was that George did finally get a promotion and had to move. It seemed like it could have been a plot for an episode and was just stretched into a longer running time by the inclusion of a few minor subplots. The plot probably would have worked better that way.
A bit of romance was added to Jetsons: The Movie through everything that was going on with Judy. She and her friends went to a concert for Cosmic Cosmo, a popular singer. He picked Judy out of the audience and said they were going on a date in a few days. That was the extent of their interaction, but Judy was calling him her boyfriend by that point. One she found out about the move, she claimed that her life was over because she had to leave Cosmic, who was basically a stranger. That whole aspect of the movie was a bit overly dramatic for me and made Judy seem delusional. Right after the move, she met Apollo and they declared their love for each other and started dating almost immediately. They got all gushy over each other and he even wrote a long song for her. I didn’t think the romance aspects of the movie worked that well either.
Jetsons: The Movie was fun and lighthearted for the most part. Some of the scenes that showed Judy dealing with things were a bit more serious. There was a more serious aspect introduced later in the movie that was connected to why the plant was sabotaged over and over. That part of the movie was attempting to deliver a message about taking care of the environment that may seem out of place or too heavy handed to some viewers.
I thought that the animation for Jetsons: The Movie was created all with traditional hand drawn animation. When double checking some information about the movie online, I discovered that the movie did use some CGI. I’m not sure what the CGI was used for. I thought that the animation had the same general look as what had been done for the cartoon. The animation was decent, but nothing special. It is certainly not as good as what is done for the newer animated movies being released. It was good for the time the movie was made, but it wasn’t as good as the best from that time either.
George had been hoping to get a promotion for years, so he was thrilled when Mr. Spacely made him a vice president even though he would have to move his family to an asteroid. George wanted to do well at his job, but he didn’t always put out that much effort. Jane was his loving and supportive wife who quickly got over her objections to the move to support her husband. Mr. Spacely was obsessed with making money and tended to threaten people, especially George, to get his way. All of their voices sounded like I remembered them from the cartoons. George O’Hanlon and Mel Blanc, the voices of George and Mr. Spacely, died while the movie was still in production. Jeff Bergman filled in voices for both characters in a few scenes.
Elroy was playing on a sports team which was the main reason why he was upset about the move. He quickly adjusted to his new home and made a few new friends. Rosie the robot was the family’s faithful maid. Judy had a slightly larger part than some of the other family members because of everything going on with her love life. Astro the dog was also around without doing much besides pounce on George at different times. Rudy 2 was a robot who had been working at the plant on the asteroid since it opened. He’d dealt with all the previous vice presidents and wanted no part of that position himself. He knew something was going on and tried to warn George. Teddy 2 was Rudy 2's son who became friends with Elroy after the two got off to a somewhat rough start.
The original voice performer for Judy, Janet Waldo, had started work on this movie and then the producers decided to hire singer Tiffany to do Judy’s voice instead. The producers were hoping Tiffany will attract more younger fans to the movie. I think the fact that she was involved was why some songs were added to the movie. Waldo returned to perform as Judy in Jetson projects done after this movie.
Voice Talent
Jeff Bergman - Additional Voices/George Jetson/Mr. Spacely Mel Blanc - Mr. Spacely Dana Hill - Teddy 2 Paul Kreppel - Apollo Blue Don Messick - Astro the Dog George O’Hanlon - George Jetson Jane Vander Pyl - Rosie the Robot Ronnie Schell - Rudy 2 Penny Singleton - Jane Jetson Tiffany - Judy Jetson Patric Zimmerman - Elroy Jetson
Directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
I recently watched Jetsons: The Movie on one of the HBO stations that I get. I didn’t see the movie when it was first released to theaters and I honestly can’t remember if I saw it on VHS or not. I have no idea if a DVD version is available.
Jetsons: The Movie could have had a better plot, but the movie was entertaining for the most part. I did enjoy it overall even though it isn’t one of my favorite animated movies. Fans of The Jetsons may like the movie.
Set off for some intergalactic fun with America?s favorite family of the future in their full-length animated movie! Meet George Jetson; Jane his wif...More at NBC Universal
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