The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (TV Series 1996–1997) Poster

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8/10
An Excellent Remake Of A 60s Classic For The Younger Generation
wchngliu23 August 2008
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest was killed off right before it got the chance to realise its potential. Yes this was a 90s remake of a cult classic, and yes you could argue that nothing beats the original Jonny Quest; however, as an 80s born kid growing up as a teen in the 90s, the only version of this show that I was practically familiar with, was this one, 'The Real Adventures of...'.

Plot-wise, the story revolved around a teenager named Jonny Quest- a computer whizz kid, who battles international criminals with the help of a computer generated program, known as 'Questworld'. Joining Jonny on his quest are Jessie Bannon and her father Race Bannon, his Indian friend, Hadji and Jonny's father, Dr Benton Quest.

The voice cast were made up of some of the most recognisable names in TV and film; Rob Paulsen, Frank Welker, Robert Patrick (he of The X-files and Terminator 2 fame), George Segal (Just Shoot Me)and Mark Hamill (Star Wars)to name.

I remembered seeing at the time a few promos of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, on Cartoon Network's part, courtesy of Hanna Barbera in the lead up to its debut on the channel in 96'. Design-wise, the character designs had more of a dimension to them, in contrast to its 60s counterparts. The use of computer generated effects really brought this show to life almost. At times, it looked very flashy- although I have to say that whilst the computer graphics looked impressive back then, these days, I personally think they look rather dodgy. In addition, a female character by the name of Jesse was introduced in this particular series- although she was not an original member of the 60s Quest team.

I still don't understand why this cartoon series was cancelled; in fact, the best post- 60s Hanna Barbera cartoons which were cancelled, such as 'The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest', 'Johnny Bravo' and 'The Pirates of Dark Water' to name, were all short-lived and were brilliant shows in their own right.

The stories in this show were inventive, interesting and well written; the dialogue was superb, the animation was spot-on and the music was great too. I cannot really compare this Jonny Quest to the 60s version, given my unfamiliarity with the latter show, but The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest ranks up there with the very best.

Such a shame however that it never really got the respect it warranted.
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8/10
A show that appeared in the golden age of cartoons but was not edgy enough to be relevant
julianmarku3 May 2021
I am going to give this show the benefit of a doubt and say that it came out in a time where cartoons were the best they ever were on CN. It's really undebatable that shows like: Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, Courage the Cowardly Dog and may other reruns of older shows ate up most of the CN's audience.

This show would have been perfect for a channel or streaming service like Adult Swim with a PG15 rating because while it captures a lot of the original show's ideas, it should have gone further and shown more blood and been less censored.

Don't get me wrong! There is some of that here! But it's mostly just off screen or implied.

One thing that sets it apart from the original is that the original was a mix of mystery, horror and suspense. This show has a lot of action and some mystery but no suspense, no horror aspect to it. The animation style is more suited for an action cartoon. Which is not bad but what made the other one stand apart is that it kept a serious dark note, while this one is a very teenager cartoon.

Another thing is that while the original focused more on Benton Quest and Race Bannon doing the heavy lifting with the kids being passengers and tricksters of the group outsmarting the bad guys every once in an episode. This version is heavily lean on the kids doing the most lifting while Benton and Race are just hamsels in distress. Noting wrong with that but, well let me just put it this way: if you take a shot every time an adult says : "let us, adults, handle this problem..." then you're going to be as dry as a cactus in the Sahara.

This way of doing the show, by focusing all of the attention on the kids and turning the adults into hamsels is what might have killed the show if I think about it because: if the (capable) adults are hamsels in almost every episode, and the kids are doing the heavy lifting in most of the episodes then it basically means that they have heavy plot armor. It becomes a little too obvious when a seemingly incompetent bad guy or lacky was just competent two minutes ago and now he suddenly can't remember he has a gun.

I'm did not see this lack of consistency on every single episode but it happens often enough to notice. You basically know that Jonny, Jessie and Hadje are going to save the day. I understand this was a time of cartoons were Kids wore mega Plot Armor but this is was not the show to put that kind of plot armor on, not when you're trying to be serious.

One more thing that I loved and I was surprised I never knew until I found out: Race Bannon is voiced by Robert Patrick, yup, the T-1000 himself. He did a wonderful job on this role and honestly outperformed everyone in the show, and I mean everyone! This should could have been called the Race Banon Adventures and I wouldn't have minded. So yeah, Race Bannon and Hadje Singh are my favorite character in season 1.

Besides the writing style of the show, which I said hurt it a lot because it was pro-action and pro-kids, I would give this show three big faults in production: One, the animation is very inconsistent. It makes a lot of mistakes. One shot a character loses a hat, the very next shot it magically appears again on his head. It does this a lot. And the animation is everywhere. There are some episodes that are absolutely beautiful and some that are so dark and gritty that you can't see anything, it doesn't even have background characters. Second the background music and the score are not memorable. There is only one score that I remember for sure that is the score for the world map which you see usually at the start of the episode. That is pretty nice theme. But the third thing and I would challenge everyone on it: the character animation for the first season is terrible! It is so bad! Just try to think of Jessie Bannon, every single episode she looks like a different character! So many useless lines! She looks very bad as the only female character in the show in the first season. If you search pictures of Jessie Bannon in the collective Internet right now, you will find 95% images of her only from season 2 because that was a better animated character style for the show.

And I am not done with it, despite Jessie being the only female main character on the show and being very smart and resourceful, she has almost no memorable presence in the group. You forget that she is a girl in the show, she could be another one of the guys, just with long red hair and you wouldn't know if you never heard her voice. Season 2 did a bit of improvement on that by giving her more clothes and earrings... I understand that the show came out in another era of female empowerment and by all accounts she is a smart and resourceful, but it doesn't help if your character has no memorable presence.

So that is why I give it an 8. I would bring this show back but on Adult Swim or a streaming service and I would change it from an action oriented show back to a mystery/thriller/horror show.
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8/10
One of the best short-lived shows
Keyan-the-Eagle14418 April 2018
I'd seen episodes of this cartoon in the late 1990s and really enjoyed it. High-tech criminals and terrorists, VR technology, interesting vehicle designs, creatures of myth, and a good cast. I have never seen the original but this is more my era. It's good for the 90s kids with well-written episodes and lots of action. If any short-lived show deserves a second chance, this should be one of them. Maybe a comic book? It worked for Firefly. But enough of that, this was a fun show and could have lasted a lot longer. Not as long as The Simpsons, mind you, but just good enough to warrant a proper series finale with all the loose ends tied up. That would have been nice.
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An epic quest. . .
Zalis29 July 2002
When I first saw "The Matrix," I was immediately reminded of the opening graphics of this high-quality cartoon show. This show never disappointed me with its smart writing, very good animation, and its storyline. . .it has a more or less continuous plot, at least towards the end. My favorite two episodes were "Less than Zero," where the team seeks after ghosts in a huge Venetian island mansion (kind of a fusion between "Ghostbusters" and "The Shining") and an episode where the team lands on an island that has, again, a haunted house. Johnny and Jesse become possessed by two dead lovers, and in a very cute scene, find themselves kissing as the spirits leave their bodies. It's a shame that the lowgrade animation and lowest common denominator catchphrase spewing humor of shows such as Powerpuff girls and Dexter's Laboratory are what we get these days. P.S. It may be sacrilage, but I daresay that "Real adventures" was BETTER than the original Johnny Quest.
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10/10
Hanna Barbera's Jonny Quest Real Adventures
rexshard9328 June 2008
I always enjoyed Hanna Barbera cartoons when I was young. They gave so many great cartoons.

Along with SWAT Kats, this was another great show from them in 1990s. I didn't care for First Season with the exception of few good episodes with Ezekiel Rage in it (written by Glenn Leopold who later became Story editor/writer of second season). I love the second season. Most of Second Season crew of this show came from SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. There are wonderful second season episodes like More than Zero, Ghost Quest, General Winter, and many others. My favorite episodes are Undersea Urgency, Village of the Doomed, Other Space, and The Dark Mountain.

Glenn Leopold and Lance Falk are brilliant writers. They also wrote many episodes of SWAT Kats.

One of the things I love about Jonny Quest Real Adventures Second Season is the limitations of the characters just like in SWAT Kats. Dr. Quest is an excellent scientist. But he doesn't have fighting skills and military experience of Race Bannon. Race Bannon doesn't have the scientific skills of Dr. Quest although he is an excellent fighter and has great deal of military experience. Jessie Bannon follows the footsteps of Dr. Quest in Science and has great deal of knowledge in Music. Hadji has great deal of philosophical knowledge. He also knows a lot about the field of technology especially with the computer and follows the footsteps of Dr. Quest in the field of technology.

With Jonny Quest, he is a central character to the show due to the fact that he learns a little bit of everything from everybody around him. Although he can be impetuous, still his inquisitive mind and clever decisions often solve the problems. That is what I loved about the Second Season of Jonny Quest Real Adventures.
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10/10
Superb story telling
jonath198420 August 2018
This show made introduced to the occult things of the world as a kid. Things and stories I was never aware about never thought about. And I love this show for it. The animation quality was top notch and still is compare to some of the garbage animation styles you see today. Hanna barbera didnt take no shortcuts here, as how it should be.
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10/10
love it
boy0700215 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I was so disappointed when that show got canceled. I was a faithful watcher everyday. I just hope they re-put it on the TV someday. My favorite episode was where Johnny and Jessie got possessed by ghost lovers and kissed. I loved every episode though. I have no idea why people woudn't like it, it was awesome. I like the fact that it had a girl in it unlike the original series and the romantic moments between Johnny and Jessie. I wanted to see what was going to happen to them. I thought the opening theme was too cool. I also liked the one that had the haunted stage coach and the western lady; where the stage coach crashes over the side of a cliff in a cave.
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6/10
Loved that Theme Tune though...
BigBadaBruce11 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"Computer wiz Jonny Quest and his friends battle international criminals using the resources of the Quest Foundation. Their chief weapon, and the target of many of their enemies, is the permanent, variable, sometimes unpredictable computer-generated VR domain, Questworld, which is entered using VR headsets. Inside Questworld, they must solve puzzles, locate hidden objects, battle evildoers and escape very-real danger if they are to succeed." The first real TV Show to combine children's action and a grown-up mentality and darkness and the new interesting world of Cyberspace. The series was actually quite a dark series a lot of the time, used a lot of mystery and was quite honest in its approach to death, a lot of bad guys were killed off, and while it was done off screen, the reactions of the characters who witness it left little in doubt. The show was a brutally gruesome on in that aspect. For example, For example, in the climax of one episode, one villain is killed by being impaled on the rib cage of an elephant's skeletal remains, and another has his head crushed under an elephant's foot. These are quite dark elements for a TV Show, which was what probably attracted a lot of kids to it. And also, the cyber side to it was different and interesting, it was something you hadn't seen before and made it very different for you. This was a show that was for a hardcore audience, and I for one enjoyed it.
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1/10
You Must Be Kidding
southbaycare5 November 2014
Where are the words to describe this excuse for a show? The reviewer who gave it one star, is accurate.

Firstly, the belief that the original is best, only because we are older people, is wrong. Quality and immense talent, existed in TV,in the 1960s,as was music. Motion pictures were good from the 30s to the 60s, approximately.

I ordered this Quest, due to a few reviews on IMDb.com.

It is just not good.

In the first place, the style of animation, whatever it is called, is not fun to watch, and has the same, awkward techniques that made Speed Racer, and hundreds after, such a chore to watch.

Then, to depict Dr. Quest, as insensitive, and rude,is the death knell.Part of the success in 1964, was the kindness, and honor, of Dr. Quest.

The overly, affected Jewish accent, depicted here, and showing Dr. Quest as large and overweight is not good.

Depicting Race Bannon, with a young voice, and southern accent, is condescending to viewers, and maddening.

The goofiness of the animation, argumentative attitude by guest characters, and so much more, make this an embarrassment to anyone.

As stated, you can't reinvent the wheel.
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One of the best cartoons of all time.
eko12328 August 2000
As I had watched a few episodes of the original Jonny Quest cartoon and had liked them, I decided to give this new series a try. I was completely blown away by the quality of "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest". The stories were intelligent and interesting, while the characters were totally believable and likeable. This is one of the few shows that does not adhere to any tired cliches commonly found in other children's toons and does not "dumb down" to viewers. I disagree with some fans of the original series who dislike newer characters like Jessie Bannon. Jessie is an excellent role model for young girls because she is strong, assertive, intelligent, and Jonny and Hadji's equal instead of the stereotypical female "airhead" sidekick or "damsel in distress".

This cartoon ranks up there with other smartly-written children's cartoons like WB's Batman, Batman Beyond, and Superman animated series, The Tick, Power Puff Girls, and Transformers: Beast Machines. It's too bad that something like "Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" would not survive in today's TV market.
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1/10
Another specious Quest remake. Don't mess with classic
ruderodian-12 April 2008
I can see why this sad remake was canceled. You don't remake a great invention like the wheel. Once the best is made, only bad imitations follow. This show had bad acting, laughable plots, and trite villains. Those CGI "Quest World" areas were basically a "cheap" attempt to cut on some real animation. It was simply hollow and cannot even attempt to capture the original Quest. Both 80s remake and 90s remake had to bring useless character side-kicks into the mix "Hardrock" and Jessie" who were not needed or necessary. I was glad to see this show leave the air. It was an embarrassment to what genius the original Quest is. Those animators brought great detail and depth with incredible animation (who didn't need a computer to help tell their story) and fun story lines to forefront. That is why classic Jonny endures. How many people talk about the 80s Quest? Same will go for the 90s Quest. They are just hollow shells with no substance. Long live the classic 60s Quest.
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Killed Too Soon...
ProcurerFaith3 September 2000
I think this show was killed by hype before it got a chance to shine. Multitudes of licensed product hit the market weeks in advance of it's release in 1996 and an entire first season was broadcast over a month- killing the chance to get up any kind of audience level.

It's a real shame, because this show is DIFFERENT. It took a walk on the wild side from your average cartoon show, with characters you can believe in in situations of real danger. I'd also like to add that the original JQ was the first of it's kind, but was also one of the first cartoons to involve a front-line 'minority race' character- Hadji.

Somebody needs to tell CN and WB that it's not all about making money. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's about entertaining the masses.
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3/10
Amateurish - Does Injustice to Original Style of J.Q.
nobletraveler26 December 2016
If you look at this as some other adventure cartoon, OK. Try to visualize it as part of the Johnny Quest world? Nah. First, the fake Race Bannon accent. They made him sound like he's from some backwoods hills and he seems amateurish at best. The original Race Bannon could think on his feet and wasn't a smart ass all the time. This one goes to the police first, then doesn't know what to do or acts like an over testosterone G.I. Johnny acts immature not responsible like the original. The animation comes off as cheap. Hadji seems to be the only one who is still wise from the original. Episodes poorly written. A cartoon like Johnny Quest deserves better and more professional treatment. The 80's episodes reboot succeeded where this set should have never been approved. I do like the idea of Race Bannon's daughter joining the team, but it's a shame that this set of cartoons was used to expand her character. Boo to the producer John Eng and the others for not staying true to the original concept that made Johnny Quest a favorite among the fans. I can only hope the movie planned stays true and not try to make Johnny Quest something it's not like this garbage did. With all the "professionals" involved with this, I'm very surprised it isn't of caliber quality and writing.
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Yes!
Rawkstars_Girlfriend25 June 2004
I loved this show and was <i>so disappointed</i> when it was cancelled after only two seasons. I loved the plots of each episode, and the characters were far more interesting than they had been in previous versions of the show. I'm so glad to be able to enjoy it on DVD since my old recordings of the episodes are incomplete and wearing down. I can only hope that there will soon be a new incarnation of Jonny Quest's adventures because they get better each time, especially with the inclusion of Race's daughter, Jessie, and the addition of Quest World, which would be far more interesting and cheaper to produce with today's technology. Oh well, I do miss it.
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5/10
Another Daring Quest For Jonny Quest
StrictlyConfidential5 November 2020
Now, I would never say that "The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest" was great entertainment - But, for a 2-D animated TV series it was certainly adequate enough to hold my general interest (for the most part).

Produced by Hanna Barbera - In these episodes we find Jonny, his father, and his 2 buddies traveling around the world where they face all sorts of villains (sometimes in the form of aliens or supernatural creatures).
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TBS's Pride and Joy!
TheMan305122 January 2003
TBS in the nineties aired some pretty cheesy shows like "Captain Planet" but in 1996 it reinvented itself with this outstanding television show. Like the title says it, this were the REAL adventures because in the original Dr. Quest and Race Bannon seemed to be doing all the work. While in this show Jonny and Hadji were the stars. This was also a much superior show with outstanding plots and characters! Too bad the show was canceled so soon.
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The Quest ended too soon.
Skyrcket23 July 1999
This was such a great show! Johnny is the perfect character for a 90's teen adventure show. TRAoJQ had the great action-adventure feel of the 60's show, but gave it a cool 90's, sci-fi spin. Not everyone agreed with stuff like the introduction of Jesse and the new Dr. Zinn, but I thought they were great. Jesse was a awesome character and Johnny's equal in every way. Plus the romantic tension between them was fun. The new Dr. Zinn was much better than the 60's one. I was never afraid of the old man version.

Anyway, this is a great cartoon that meet its end way to early. Watch if you get the chance.
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The best Jonny Quest... atleast so far!
tanzimhusain5 April 2002
The best Jonny Quest... at least so far!

I've had the opportunity of going through all the incarnations of Jonny Quest, including the original, but nothing beats the latest offering.

Old timers might disapprove Jesse or the new Dr. Zinn, but I totally liked them. The most awesome thing about the new show is how it had adapted itself to the 90's – superb animation with breathtaking CGI, fast paced action with a cool soundtracks and excellent voice characterizations – just the thing that will not only attract a whole new generation of teen age carton watchers, but also the old fans of the Quest family too!

Too bad it didn't last too long… guess that's life.

Hoping for yet another Quest reincarnation.
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It was good until...
nolanjwerner15 May 2004
Don't get me wrong, the show had some excellent episodes and overall was reasonably good. There were only 2 nails in the coffin that eventually killed it and then 1 small one.

The smallest nail would be the fact that, in the credits, there are 2 people listed for each of the major roles. When you get right down to the continuity of it that is not good for a show, especially when it is syndicated.

By far the largest problem of the show was Jeremiah Sird. He was an interesting character at first but then he came back and he came back again. I have not seen a character overused that much after this show until Scott Wallace on The Practice. I mean honestly, how much of a threat can a guy with the physical abilities of Steven Hawking really be? The overuse of the character destroyed the reasons why he was so interesting to begin with.

And in about half of the episodes with Ezekial Rage, there were major plausibility issues. The most egregious and offensive one was the episode with time travel where he ended up fossilized after melting the polar icecaps. Again, an interesting character who ended up being used too much.

Overall though, it was a reasonably good series. They managed to capture the essence of the older Jonny Quest without the homoerotic overtones of the first series.
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Kick butt cartoon.
Contact-627 July 1999
I loved this cartoon. Most suspenseful stories you can get in a cartoon, with a great Micheal Chrichton/Deen Koontz flavor to them. Much better than the original. Fun, entertaining, cartoon.
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Joy the adventure with team Quest.
varot98@yahoo.com13 January 2001
I like this cartoon very much. It has both sci-fi, action, adventure, but mostly adventure. It is very entertaining, some episode is boring but mostly is exciting, especially the one in QUESTWORLD, amazing.

If you like a story about action/adventure. Watch this cartoon, if you can find it.
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Bring This Show Back
racesgirl2000-121 August 2017
I know this show only lasted 2 seasons, I, like the rest of the world, feel like this show should be remade for the 21st century and in my opinion, I think that Race and Estella (Jessie's mum) might get back together and she'd be a regular with the Quest Team.

I also remember season 2 was a bit better than the 1st season, my favourite episode was Mummies of the Malenque, my least favourite episode was Spectre of the Pine Barrens and that Race should've gotten his own TV show when the show ended
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Awesome!
Deep_Eyes3 December 2002
I loved this show. I used to watch it every night when I was a kid. I hated the old Jonny Quest cause it was so cheezy, but I loved the New one. It had a great Sci-Fi/Action plot. It had awesome graphics, especially when they went into Quest World. The show was canceled too soon. This was one of my most favorite TV shows of all time. I would give anything to see one just more episode, any episode cause I loved them all.
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*** out of 4 stars:A good thing for quest fans & more.
PJS-510 May 2000
Starring:George Segal(Look whos talking),Frank Welker(DuckTales),Rob Paulsen(Bump in the night),Jennifer Hale(Bruno the kid)

Genre(s):Animated,Action

Rated Y7:Violence (Though I have heard a cuss word in it before but no big deal)

Summary:Basically its a darker version of the original series except for a few differences (questworld & all).

The good:The animation for both questworld & the real world are good,there is stories,cast,etc.

The bad:Despite the differences it doesn't top the original series which also gets a 3 out of 4.

Quote:N/A (It's been a while since I last saw it due to Cartoon network placing it out of Toonami ever since september of 1999)
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