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Hanna Barbera animated television series

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (also known as Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures) is an American animated television series produced by Hanna Barbera and broadcast on Cartoon Network from August 26, 1996, to April 16, 1997. It is a continuation of Jonny Quest (1964) and The New Adventures of Jonny Quest (1986) and features teenage adventurers Jonny Quest, Hadji Singh, and Jessie Bannon as they accompany Dr. Benton Quest and bodyguard Race Bannon to investigate strange phenomena, legends, and mysteries in exotic locales. Action also takes place in the virtual realm of QuestWorld, a three dimensional cyberspace domain rendered with computer animation. Conceived in the early 1990s, Real Adventures suffered a long and troubled development. Hanna Barbera dismissed creator Peter Lawrence in 1996 and hired new producers to finish the show. John Eng and Cosmo Anzilotti completed Lawrence's work; David Lipman, Davis Doi, and Larry Houston wrote new episodes with reworked character designs akin to those of classic Quest. Each team produced half of the show's fifty two episodes. While Lawrence's team crafted stories of real world mystery and exploration, later writers used science fiction and paranormal plots. Turner supported the show through a massive marketing campaign with thirty three licensees. Real Adventures debuted with an unprecedented wide release on Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT, airing twenty one times per week. Critics have debated the show's animation, writing, and spirit compared to classic Quest, but it has also received praise for these same reasons. Real Adventures failed to gain high ratings with its target demographics and its merchandise performed poorly, leading to its cancellation after fifty two episodes. Since the show ended, reruns have aired on Toonami, CNX, and other Turner networks. Turner Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video have released eight VHS tapes and two laserdiscs, and all 52 episodes are available on DVD and for digital purchase on the iTunes Store.

Hanna Barbera created The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest in the early 1990s after being acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. 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 Hanna Barbera's most popular venture into the action adventure genre; no other contemporary series featured realistic children going on lifelike 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. The product was delayed until 1996, and echoed 1994's "Year of the Flintstones" and 1995's "Year of Yogi Bear". Production on Real Adventures commenced in 1993. The firm appointed Stephanie Sperber head of the Quest task force in 1994. Sebast and Lawrence decided to make the series as realistic as possible through accurate physics and depictions of machinery. Promoters promised the new Quest would avoid "mindless violence, chauvinism, xenophobia and insensitivity", addressing historical criticisms of the classic series. Seibert further described the show's theme as "The X Files for kids", citing that difficult questions and mysteries would be posed in each episode. The team used a new character—Race's daughter, Jessie Bannon—to create conflict with Jonny. Intended for a 1995 release with 65 episodes, Real Adventures fell into development hell; roughly 30 scripts and only eight reels were in progress by March 1995. Hanna Barbera removed both 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 episodes for broadcast as a separate series named The New Jonny Quest. Takashi felt the system made the creative team "honest filmmakers" through hands on production. The use of these cutting edge techniques, as well as the show's troubled development, led to speculation that each episode had cost over $500,000 to make (considered the high end of contemporary animation budgets). Stephen Rucker and Thomas Chase (who later composed in The Powerpuff Girls) used MIDI to facilitate composing. Chase appreciated the producers' commitment to scoring, noting, "For many kids, animation music is their first exposure to orchestral music." Seibert traced its origin to "the same problem that James Bond has When you look at even his newest gadgets, they're somewhat quaint." Animation company Buzz F/X, based in Montreal and Santa Monica, created first season sequences. Work began in April 1996 with the opening titles—a gliding journey through a canyon of green, cartographic lines with scenes illuminated upon the walls. QuestWorld characters were created as wire frame models, augmented with faces scanned from clay busts, then digitally painted and inked. By August, the team was working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, including full nights and mornings. H B hired Blur Studio to finish the second season's scenes on a ten week production schedule. Both companies produced in total roughly one hundred minutes of computer animation for QuestWorld. Broadcasters included Antena 3 in Spain, TF1 in France, Channel One in Russia, RAI in Italy, Taurus Film in Germany, the BBC in the United Kingdom and Asia Television in ten Asian countries, representing ATL's first animated series to be broadcast in both English and Cantonese. Turner planned to introduce US style animation to the Asian market through Quest. The show was launched in Singapore on TCS Channel 5 (now known as MediaCorp Channel 5) to take advantage of Singapore's "sophisticated retail sector and well developed licensing industry". Brandweek reported in 1995 that the show's budget, including merchandising and promotional costs, topped $40 million. Slated to begin production in mid 1995, filming was delayed until 1996 and ultimately never began. Turner advertised Real Adventures as the "next evolution in children's programming [redefining] television animation for the next generation." The company hosted a 1995 discussion with Peter Lawrence and Takashi at Yanceyville, and later aired previews at United States waterpark events. Staged in major US cities, these "dive in theaters" featured previews of new series and local celebrities, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lacey Chabert, Cameron Finley, and Ashley Johnson for the UCLA event. Turner announced the debut countries and TV stations on May 1, 1996. Turner aired Real Adventures seven nights a week on TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network for an unprecedented 21 weekly showings. Turner used this level of coverage to entice marketing partners, as typical cable programs (airing once per week) would not be able to attract desired merchandise interest. Turner's marketers surmised that juvenile groups watching TNT in the morning, TBS in the afternoon, or Cartoon Network in prime time and late night were mutually exclusive. Promotional scope exceeded that of recent television events, such as NBC's Gulliver's Travels; industry insiders compared it to a feature film campaign. Though Cartoon Network suffered declining viewership in 1996, Quest was consistently one of the highest rated programs; later season one episodes drew around 650,000 viewers. Real Adventuress merchandise performed poorly, and it failed to build consistent ratings in its targeted demographics (though it did attract adult audiences). Turner tried to revive interest in February 1997 with a contest for an adventurous trip to Jamaica called Quest World Adventure. Cartoon Network did not order new episodes beyond the 52nd. Reruns aired for two years on Toonami until September 24, 1999, on Cartoon Network in other formats until 2004; and on CNX until 2003. Reruns were also seen in broadcast syndication for a time via The Program Exchange.

Dr. Quest, a famous phenomenologist, investigates mysterious occurrences and exotic locales with his son, Jonny Quest, adopted son Hadji Singh, bodyguard Race Bannon, Race's daughter Jessie, and pet bulldog Bandit. Real Adventures is set a few years after the classic series, making Jonny and his friends teenagers.

Peter Lawrence described Jonny as a "hero in training" on the cusp of adulthood. Hadji, age 16, became Dr. Quest's personal assistant, lacking his mentor's formal education but sharing his burning interest in archaeology, anthropology and the paranormal. Takashi drew Hadji taller and thinner than his classic counterpart. Fred Seibert downplayed worries that the new characters would disappoint cult fans of the classic series.

Season two directors Larry Houston and Davis Doi changed the show to resemble the classic franchise. Writer Glenn Leopold revived Hadji's latent psionic powers—including spoon bending and rope tricks—as he felt the first season's realism was "not that interesting to watch". Falk defended his portrayal as giving her realistic, human fears, such as claustrophobia. Censors asked the second season team to replace firearms with dart guns, notably in the episode "General Winter". Second season writers took greater creative liberties with Real Adventures, invoking ghosts, other dimensions, and megalomaniacal schemes. Leopold and Falk sought to create a "slam bang adventure show with real monsters" and heightened narrative emphasis on Jonny and his friends. He enjoyed Jonny's infectious enthusiasm and impulsive alacrity. Turner approached George Segal to audition for the part of Dr. Quest. Hanna Barbera bought out the first cast's contracts and hired new actors for the second season. This cast featured Quinton Flynn as Jonny, John de Lancie as Dr. Quest, Granville Van Dusen (for the first two episodes) and Robert Foxworth as Race, Jennifer Hale as Jessie, and Rob Paulsen as Hadji. Don Messick was hired to reprise his classic role as Dr. Quest, but was forced into retirement by a stroke during early sessions. Van Dusen voiced Bannon in the 1986 Quest series, and Foxworth took over the part after auditioning for Dr. Quest. Each Turner network spent $5 to $7 million for a total $20 million invested in promotion; the company contracted 33 licensees. Other reports pegged the budget at $40 million, and Marketing Week estimated that the series launched with $300 million of merchandising support. The Wall Street Journal called Quest a "property to watch" in 1995; People and Good Housekeeping considered it a surefire blockbuster. Turner provided digital and bound style guides featuring collections of Quest artwork, coloring instructions, and product ideas. Produced for $100,000 and believed to be the first of its kind, the digital style guide included fonts, logos, character art, merchandising mock ups, voice clips, and other interactive content. Hanna Barbera launched Questworld. com as the show's internet hub, presenting it as if written by members of the Quest team. Complementing the show's educational, real world premise, the site hosted links to academic, archaeological, and exploratory websites. Turner announced 32 licensees as of summer 1996. General Mills outfitted boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch with offers for T shirts and other items. Upper Deck Company used art, sketches, and plots from the first season to create a sixty piece card collection. Turner also marketed Zebco fishing poles bearing the Quest logo. Kid Rhino produced a cassette audio adventure based on the episode "Return of the Anasazi". The show's credits advertised a soundtrack available from Rhino, never sold or otherwise promoted. Turner listed several products in a "Quest Adventure Value Pack" coupon catalogue. The marketing campaign culminated with the release of eight VHS Real Adventures season one episodes. Turner sold merchandise through several international distributors, and expected to make a $60 million profit per year in the Asia Pacific region alone. Turner debuted Quest at a cocktail party for the European Licensing Fair in late 1996, and released merchandise in Europe through 90,000 retail outlets over the next six months. Turner ensured that the license agreements forbade retailers from discounting Quest items. Turner worried that the promotion might overhype the brand, and timed commercial rollouts over the life of the show. Editor Phil Amara assured fans that the comics would contain tributes to the classic Jonny Quest. Dark Horse worked with Galoob to ship comic shop locator phone numbers and preview URLs with figurines. The company also advertised and released a special three issue series through mail offers with over 8 million boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. Terry Bisson and others working under the alias "Brad Quentin" produced 11 original novellas featuring adventure and virtual reality themes. Critics appreciated that the books may have drawn kids to reading, especially those interested in technology. The books credited Gregory Benford as the scientific advisor for the show, and each novella featured an epilogue by him speculating about future technological developments. The novellas made use of the first season's designs in their cover and interior art. Only certain comics and coloring books used season two's designs, such as Dark Horse's Countdown to Chaos, featuring General Vostok.

Virgin Sound and Vision produced an adventure game for the series named Cover Up At Roswell, released in August 1996. Known as Escape from Quest World in development, Roswell cost $1 million to make. Virgin handled all marketing, sales, and distribution; Turner cross promoted. Jeremiah Surd and the Men in Black of General Tyler plan to misuse the technology and try to hinder the Quests. Peter Scisco of ComputerLife and FamilyPC's testers criticized some of the puzzles for relying on "reflexes, not logical thinking". Entertainment Weekly rated the game B+, naming the puzzles "unimaginative Pac Man rip offs and dopey jigsaws". Scisco appreciated the nonviolent content and the inclusion of Jessie as a strong female character, but considered the extraterrestrial story too familiar.

Announcement of Jessie Bannon's inclusion caused backlash among Quest fans. TV Guide'''s editors feared that Jonny and Jessie would become romantically entangled, declaring her an "icky female". H B Chief Fred Seibert responded, "Jessie is a little older and smarter than Jonny We're not doing Moonlighting here." Billboard conversely welcomed the change over an all male cast. A test screening of Cyber Insects to 30 to 35 year old males revealed that though some questioned her addition, most understood that like certain elements criticized in the original series, it was a reflection of the times. Real Adventures evoked critical comparisons to the original series. Cinefantastique felt Real Adventures remained true to the classic show's formula, and praised the "impressive" cast. Chicago Tribune critic Allan Johnson agreed that Real Adventures was less "way out" and contrasted the shows in detail. TV Guide applauded the writing as "miles deeper and darker than on the old show"; Hadji's quotations impressed the magazine's reviewer. They disliked H B's packaging of disparate seasons as one series, preferring the second for its characters and classic references. He conceded, "that's their business. Everybody needs to do their own thing." Saturday Morning Fever praised Jessie Bannon for her resemblance to Dr. Quest. Le Figaro concurred, but praised QuestWorld for capturing the attention of young viewers. The Star praised QuestWorld, but regarded traditional sequences as "flat and textureless, with minimal characterization, unnaturally stiff movement, and poor execution of shading and shadow". Real Adventures'' was also nominated for a 1997 Daytime Emmy Award for music direction and composition.