JETSONS THE MOVIE [1990 / 2016] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
The First Movie From The Family That’s Truly Ahead Of It’s Time!
Your favourite family of the future are here, starring in their first animated feature film!
When George Jetson gets a promotion, he moves to outer space with the entire family: Jane, Judy, Elroy, Rosie the Robot and Astro the family dog.
But soon the family discovers that George Jetson's company is destroying the homes of the Grungies, the friendly underground creatures who live on the same asteroid. With his family's help, George Jetson is able to work out a peaceful arrangement that benefits both the ecology and the factory’s modern technology.
See a 2,000-level shopping mall, anti-gravity basketball and other wonders of the space age in this delightful movie.
This animated film is dedicated to the memory of George O'Hanlon (23rd November, 1912 – 11th February, 1989) and Mel Blanc (30th May, 1908 – 10th July, 1989).
FILM FACT: The animated film features roughly the same voice cast as the television series except for Judy Jetson and Elroy Jetson. Daws Butler who was the original voice of Elroy Jetson had died in 1988 and the voice was provided by Patric Zimmerman. Janet Waldo who was the original voice of Judy Jetson recorded the part for this film but her voice was later replaced by then-pop singer Tiffany. Studio executives hoped that Tiffany would attract a younger audience. Janet Waldo continued to voice the part in subsequent Jetsons productions. A few of Janet Waldo's lines as Judy Jetson still ended up in the film, notably a few "Yay, Daddy" and her scream when falling in the holographic centre and also her response to Apollo Blue asking if she was all right. Displeased with the casting change, voice director Andrea Romano had her name removed from the finished film. In the mid-1980s, George O'Hanlon suffered from a stroke, so when he made the later "Jetsons" series and the film, he was practically blind and had very little short-term memory, so he had to have each line spoken to him so he could repeat it back. A few moments before George O'Hanlon's death, he recorded all of his dialogue for George Jetson. According to voice director Andrea Romano, George had suffered from a second stroke and found it difficult to read and hear and in the end, he died in the recording studio doing what he loved to do.
Voice Cast: George O'Hanlon (George Jetson), Mel Blanc (Mr. Spacely), Penny Singleton (Jane Jetson), Tiffany (Judy Jetson), Patric Zimmerman (Elroy Jetson), Don Messick (Astro), Jean Vander Pyl (Rosie the Robot), Ronnie Schell (Rudy 2), Patti Deutsch (Lucy 2 voice), Dana Hill (Teddy 2), Russi Taylor (Fergie Furbelow), Paul Kreppel (Apollo Blue), Rick Dees (Rocket Rick Ragnarok), Michael Bell (Board Member / Basketball Coach), Jeff Bergman (George Jetson / Mr. Spacely / Board Member), Brian Cummings (Movie Announcer), Brad Garrett (Bertie Furbelow), Rob Paulsen (Board Member), Susan Silo (Gertrude), Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson / Robot secretary), B.J. Ward (Gertie Furbelow), Jim Ward (Mac) and Frank Welker (Basketball Coach / Squeep / Grungees)
Directors: Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
Producers: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, Bruce D. Johnson and James Wang
Screenplay: Dennis Marks (written) and Carl Sautter (additional dialogue)
Composer: John Debney
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 82 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / Fabulous Films Limited
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ [1990] is an American animated musical comic science fiction film produced by Hanna-Barbera and released on the 6th July, 1990, by Universal Pictures. Based on Hanna-Barbera's cartoon series The Jetsons, the film stars the voices of George O'Hanlon, Penny Singleton, and Mel Blanc, all veterans of the series, in their last voice-acting roles. O'Hanlon and Blanc both died in 1989 during production of the film, which was dedicated to both their memories. Since there were no new episodes produced to continue from where the show left off, the film serves as the finale to the TV series. It featured the final voice roles of George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc who had both died during the production of the film and it was dedicated to both of their memories.
The Spacely Sprocket & Spindle Orbiting Ore Asteroid Manufacturing Plant Unlimited is constantly being shut down as one Vice President after another quits. When another new VP is needed, Mr. Spacely decides the expendable George Jetson is the man for the job. The Jetsons pack up and take off for the asteroid, but young Judy Jetson is upset at having to leave home. Once they become accustomed to their new surroundings, the Jetsons make new friends of various alien species. In the meantime, George and his boy Elroy discover their mining operations are destroying the habitat of some cute, furry creatures called Grungies. George takes a stand against Mr. Spacely and the massive corporation. In the end, they learn that working together can benefit everyone.
This big-budget makeover of the popular 1960s animated sitcom yields mixed results. The Jetsons have never looked better: The animation is much fuller, and computer-generated backdrops give the story visual appeal that was impossible on the original series' limited budget. Nevertheless, the characters aren't interesting enough to hold kids' attention throughout a feature-length movie, and the humour is too subtle to keep 'em laughing.
Part of the original series' charm was its presentation of an average family in an automated future that still resembled the present day. Unfortunately, very little has been updated from that original premise, and ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ and its characters are firmly rooted in early-1960s stereotypes. The world has changed since then, and many viewers – young and old – will find ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ hopelessly quaint to young modern audiences. The animated film does have its good points, particularly for younger viewers. The characters are cute and very appealing, and the story's gentle tone means parents can let children watch without fear of viewing some potentially frightening moments. The animated film’s conclusion offers good messages on working together and self-reliance.
Starting with the orchestral score, John Debney does an amazing job creating this pseudo-Jerry Goldsmith sound like for the film ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture.’ In fact, John Debney who's done a lot of film scores over the years and he really knocks it out of the park hearing his version of the classic Jetsons theme song it hit all the right notes of updating it for the animated film. It's just a shame that a soundtrack featuring his music was not released because that could have sold a lot. The opening theme song has been brilliantly updated with a vocally stronger chorus and vibrant horn section. Which then leads into the film’s other main theme, which is this uplifting and flighty tune built on violins and a constant underlying beat. But the lasting serious message to the storyline in this animated film is that profit does not come first, and not the priority of destroying the homes of the Grungies. The only slight negative aspect of this animated film, is when the final credits appear on the screen and we get to see the listing of the music track, and at that point we get to hear WE’RE THE JETSONS (Jetsons' Rap) that is performed by XXL, well this is the most atrocious song I have ever heard and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
JETSONS THE MOVIE MUSIC TRACK LIST
JETSONS MAIN TITLE (Written by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and Hoyt Curtin)
GOTCHA (Written by Tim James and Steve McClintock) [Performed by Steve McClintock and Garm Beall]
MAYBE LOVE, MAYBE NOT (Written by Tim James, Steve McClintock and Steve Kempster) [Performed by Steve McClintock]
STAYING TOGETHER (Written by Mike Piccirillo) [Performed by Shane Sutton]
I ALWAYS THOUGHT I’D SEE YOU AGAIN (Written by Tim James, Steve McClintock, Phil Coleman and George Tobin) [Performed by Tiffany]
FIRST TIME IN LOVE (Written by Mike Piccirillo) [Performed by Shane Sutton]
YOU AND ME (Written by Tim James, Steve McClintock, Mark Mancina and George Tobin) [Performed by Tiffany]
HOME (Written by Steven McClintock, Tim James and Mark Mancina) [Performed by Tiffany]
WE’RE THE JETSONS (Jetsons' Rap) (Written by Mike Piccirillo) [Performed by XXL]
WITH YOU ALL THE WAY (Written by Carl Wurtz) [Performed by Shane Sutton]
Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal Pictures and Fabulous Films Limited presents you the animated film ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ in a wonderful 1080p image. I have read some real negative reviews of the image quality of this Blu-ray, well they must have a rubbish Blu-ray player and they have been viewing another Blu-ray disc, as their comments are far too negative for an animated film of this calibre. For a start the image transfer is far superior to the inferior DVD release. The colours look bright and with the futuristic look, you get a wonderful plethora of reds, purples, violets and blues that really look good when viewing this animated film. The image with my Blu-ray copy are very clean and not like what people have complained that they found the image not very good, but apart from the start of the film when the family home is in the clouds, this looked all very fuzzy, but from then on it is a very good image presentation. But of course when they are down the mine, then of course the scenes will look slightly dark. So overall, I am very pleased with this Blu-ray image. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures and Fabulous Films Limited brings you the cartoon film ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ with one standard 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio experience, and it is easily the highlight of this Blu-ray disc. Most important is the dialogue, which is generally crisp and clear and you easily understood all what they are saying, apart from the furry Grungies. With the sound effects, they really sound good and very punchy, especially down the mine. As to the composed film music by John Debney it suits the outer space feel to the animated film. The songs presented in the animated film are equally nice and again you can hear all what the artists are singing about. On top of all that, there is no outstanding audio damage such as crackles, pops, scratches or background hiss. So all in all the audio presentation is really good and helped me enjoy the animated film.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly, Fabulous Films Limited felt there was no need for any special features.
Finally, what makes this ‘JETSONS THE MOVIE’ film enjoyable is the fact that nearly the entire cast from the TV show replace their roles with one exception being popstar Tiffany replacing Janet Waldo as Judy and Patric Zimmerman replacing the late Daws Butler as Elroy. If I’m honest I really liked the hearing the old cast it just felt right hearing their voices but since most of the actors died during production most notable being George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc it was also sad knowing that this was their final performance but the guy they got to fill in for them was Jeff Bergmen who does a really great job and I couldn't tell where the new voice was and where the older voices ended. This film had a budget of just over $20 million dollars and does it show the sets and the character designs that got a huge upgrade there's now a lot more shadows added to the characters which gives them more depth and the same goes for the sets. This is Hanna-Barbera's less successful flipside of The Flintstones were the Space Age equivalent. Atom-powered ovens, robot vacuum cleaners, jet-propelled cars and flying saucer-shaped houses, the Jetson family has it all. Fortunately, the animation is very colourful and very inventive enough to amuse young children. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
