“SIM SIM SALA BIM!”

By Raymond Benson

If you were a young boy in America in 1964, you were probably glued to the television set on Friday evenings to watch the groundbreaking, imaginative, and superbly entertaining action-adventure science fiction animated prime time series, Jonny Quest. Okay, I’m sure some girls liked the show, too (my next-door neighbors did). Given the shortage of female characters on the show, though, Jonny Quest was a program that I would bet appealed mostly to boys.

Jonny Quest is an 11-year-old all-American boy who has an awesome life. He is the son of Dr. Benton Quest, a brilliant scientist who works for the U.S. government and has a laboratory, home, and compound on an island off the coast of Florida. Their bodyguard is “Race” Bannon, an American equivalent of James Bond, sort of, although he also acts as Jonny’s tutor. Hadji, an Indian boy the same age as Jonny, has been adopted into the Quest family. He is adept at exotic magic tricks and illusions (one of his frequent incantations is “Sim Sim Sala Bim!”). Rounding out the team is the pet bulldog, Bandit, who is more energetic than any bulldog I’ve ever seen. Whatever happened to Jonny’s mother is never explained. The only female characters are in minor roles (flight attendants and such) except for Jade, an exotic Asian spy who was apparently Race’s girlfriend at one time. She appears in only two episodes, though.

Launched by the team of Hanna-Barbera as their fourth prime time show (their first was The Flintstones), Quest broke all the norms of cartoons by presenting stories set in the real world with realistic human characters, gee-whiz technology, and pulp adventure tales. The series blended various genres—science fiction, horror, and mystery—as it followed the Quest family around the globe on exciting, government-sanctioned missions that brought them in contact with monsters, robots, villainous organizations, pirates, cannibals, and spies.

While Hanna and Barbera are credited as producer-directors and creators of the show, it was really comics artist Doug Wildey who came up with the concept and overall look of the series. His vision was inspired by the likes of Terry and the Pirates, Tom Swift, and even the first James Bond film, Dr. No. It was also firmly based in 1960s Cold War sensibility, and often the villains in the series reflected this attitude.

The gadgets, vehicles, and weaponry rivaled anything one might see in a Bond film at the time. Wildey apparently used popular science magazines from which to cull ideas for settings and props. The locales included faraway but real places that taught youngsters about Thailand, China, Egypt, or the Arctic. The writing was top-notch; the scripts were lessons in how to write a half-hour adventure story with a classic three act structure. The music by Hoyt Curtain was especially remarkable. For the first time, a kids animated show employed dynamic orchestral jazz with electric guitars and sassy brass—very much akin, again, to the Bond sound.

Although Jonny Quest was critically acclaimed and received good ratings, the show lasted only one season on ABC and was cancelled after 26 dynamic, beautifully rendered episodes. The series subsequently found new life in syndication on other networks, and later spawned spin-offs and sequels. But the original 1964-1965 edition will always remain the best and most innovative version.

When Warner Home Video released the series on DVD in 2004, there were some problems. For one, some episodes were censored by deleting dialogue that might today be deemed “politically incorrect.” Granted, when Tarzan-style Amazonian natives are about to eat Dr. Quest and a friend for dinner, and Race Bannon calls them “savages” and “monkeys,” that’s considered a bit racist.

Warner Archive now presents us with a high definition remastered and restored Blu-ray set that is the show as originally aired. In fact, a disclaimer on the back of the jewel case says that the series is “intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children.” Really? Even though 99% of its audience in 1964 were children? The show is 55 years old. Sensibilities were different then. One must place a classic program, be it a television series or a motion picture, within the context of when it was first seen. Aside for the 2 or 3 instances of “politically incorrect” dialogue, the 26 episodes of Jonny Quest is entirely suitable for kids.

The 1080p picture quality is outstanding. Colors are bold and beautiful, and the DTS-HD Master Audio sounds great in English 2.0 Mono. There are optional English subtitles.

The supplements are ported over from the earlier DVD set—featurettes on the making of the series and all the elements that made it a hit, and a pop-up trivia version of the episode “Double Danger.” There is also the rare vintage “PF Flyer Sneaker” Commercial that tied-in to the show. These are not in high definition.

My only nitpick with the new set is that there is no insert. The package could have used a booklet or one-pager listing all the episodes or other information. All you get are three disks and the jewel box.

That said, this is a marvelous set—for the, ahem, Adult Collector—that is a definite improvement over the DVD release. Jonny Quest will bring back fond memories for the Baby Boomer in all of us.

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