Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 animated film based on the original 1960s primetime cartoon series and the later 1980s revival The Jetsons, where George Jetson becomes vice president of Spacely Sprockets and oversees the work at Spacely's Orbiting Ore Asteroid. It was directed by Iwao Takamoto (although officially billed "Produced and Directed by Bill Hanna & Joe Barbera"), produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios, and released to theaters by Universal Pictures.
In the late 21st Century, Spacely Sprockets and Spindles has opened a new mining colony on an asteroid. The proposed project is meant to produce product at 1/10 the cost of making the items on Earth. However, the factory continues to be plagued with problems, and as Mr. Cosmo Spacely checks up on the 'Orbiting-Ore Asteroid' again, the latest head of the factory, Mr. Alexander Throttlebottom, has left his post, making it 4 managers of the new plant that Spacely's lost so far.
Fearing for his company (and profits), Mr. Spacely sends George Jetson and his family to the factory. While the family is thoroughly upset from having to have been thrown from their normal life style (and the plans that they had that day), 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, Elroy befriends a robot boy named Teddy-2, whose father, Rudy-2, shows George around the plant. Judy Jetson, meanwhile, is having a hard time adjusting, but soon feels better meeting a teenage boy named Apollo Blue.
George soon figures he's 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 1,000,000th Spacely Sprocket. However, the opening day festivities give way to panic as the factory soon malfunctions once again. Over the next several days, George and Rudy-2 try to fix things, but the problems persist, to the point that Mr. Spacely heads on up to check on things.
Thinking he has to take charge, George stays overnight, only to be taken off by a furry, alien race known as the Grungees. Elroy and Teddy-2 sneak into the factory, and meet a little Grungee named Squeak, who tells them that the factory is actually drilling into their community, which is based inside the asteroid. Soon, Judy, Apollo Blue, and Jane show up, and realize what is happening as well. George is found in the Grungee's colony, and soon realizes just what the factory is doing.
But Mr. Spacely doesn't. Seeing his factory at a stand-still, he starts it up, prompting everyone in the asteroid to get top-side, where George manages to shut-down the factory, and show his boss exactly what he's doing. After some talk, they come to an agreement: The Grungees will run the plant, and create new Spacely Sprockets through recycling (thus stopping the further destruction of the Grungee's homeworld). Soon after, Spacely Sprockets reaches the 1,000,000th sprocket, and Mr. Spacely figures that George is no longer needed at the Asteroid.
And so, the Jetsons bid their friends a tearful goodbye, and head back to their apartment on Earth.
The film is often both criticised and praised for its messages about protecting the environment, and observing ethical practices when doing business in developing countries. Jetsons: The Movie is also noted for its early use of CGI; the technique had already been used in Disney's The Great Mouse Detective (1986). The animation greatly follows the cartoon series, though it added the characters to move in quality of a regular animated-feature character and shadows on the sides of character's faces which, though not very realistic, gives them a sense of three-dimensionality. This animation style can also be seen in several other early 1990s Hanna-Barbera TV shows, such as Tom & Jerry Kids.
The film features roughly the same voice cast as the cartoon series except for Judy Jetson and Elroy. Daws Butler, the original voice of Elroy, had died in 1988. The voice was provided by Patric Zimmerman. Janet Waldo, the original voice of Judy Jetson, recorded the part for this film but her voice was later replaced by then-pop starlet Tiffany. Studio executives hoped that Tiffany would attract a younger audience. The main cast was reportedly very upset with the removal of Waldo. Waldo continued to voice the part in subsequent Jetsons productions. George O'Hanlon, the voice of George Jetson, and Mel Blanc, the voice of Mr. Spacely, died during production of the film, so Jeff Bergman filled in for both characters in a handful of scenes. The film was dedicated to the memory of both O'Hanlon and Blanc.
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.
Jetsons: the Movie was originally slated for a 1989 release, but to avoid competition with Disney's The Little Mermaid, United Artists' All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Universal's own Back to the Future Part II, it was delayed and Universal released The Wizard in its place.
The film was finally released to theaters on July 6, 1990, and was not a box office success. It performed better on home video, and was routinely broadcast on television. Jetsons: the Movie has not been issued on DVD, although it aired in widescreen HD (the first time the film was presented in its original aspect ratio for home audiences) on Universal HD on February 2, 2007.
As of July 30, 2007, there has been a Region 4 release of the film on DVD in the widescreen format. |
