The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Michele Arbir.
The Jetsons made its debut in 1962 for one season consisting of 24 episodes on ABC. Hanna-Barbera Productions already had a hit cartoon show with the stone-age family The Flintstones. Now they had the future! As a kid, I watched the first episodes in rerun syndication. The future looked amazing! Flying cars, buildings in the sky, and face to face phone calls. Out of all of that, all we have are video calls. Still waiting on the flying cars… The Jetsons was revived in 1985 for two more seasons that, while enjoyable enough, often failed to capture the magic of the original series. Not long after this came the space-age family’s first foray to the big screen, Jetsons The Movie in 1990.
Based on the popular cartoon series and building off the updated version from the 80’s, this animated movie is set in a time filled with family-sized flying cars and intergalactic travel. The movie begins with hard working family man George Jetson (George O’Hanlon) ecstatic when his cranky crazy boss, Mr. Spacely (Mel Blanc), gives him a promotion that relocates him, his wife Jane (Penny Singleton), and the rest of his family to the very far reaches of outer space. While other family members are enjoying the move, George finds trouble at the new job right away. Judy Jetson is now played by former teen icon Tiffany, with a love interest and, you guessed it, even a couple of songs added to the movie. The original voice of Judy Jetson, Janet Waldo, originally recorded the role for the film, but the geniuses at the studio thought that some star power would be a stronger draw than the voices we know and love.
The original series was amazingly funny and well done. Had this movie been made in the same manner as the 60’s series, it would have been a hit. The film struggles with its identity and the blending of modern CGI tools came up short looking like raw animation. I think that Jetsons: The Movie is a good film with admirable role models, but it is by no means brilliant nor super funny. It is frequently quite enjoyable, and despite the dated characters, the movie addresses modern themes of environmentalism, tolerance, and working together. I put it in my cute box. One of the things I was glad to see was they still had the typical antics of the original Jetsons. George running on the treadmill yelling: “Get me off this crazy thing” makes it still nostalgic and cool to me. If only they had been able to capture more of this original magic, we may have been able to get something really special.
Video Quality
Jetsons: The Movie makes its Blu-Ray debut with an inconsistent 1080p transfer. The source of the transfer appears to be an older master that has not had much work done to it. The standout aspect of the disc is the vibrant colors that hold up well, but there is a pretty consistent undercurrent of nicks and scratches to the print. The natural film grain has thankfully not been digitally scrubbed away, but it does verge on noise at many points in the film. The transfer does reveal a pleasing amount of detail and clarity within the animation. The black levels are not extremely deep, as the image looks a bit muddy and unclear in lower lighting. The CGI transitions often hold up better quality-wise, even though it feels superfluous in the film itself. Most issues appear to be source-related issues such as a considerable amount of film flickering, but this does not completely ruin the experience. While a major restoration would have benefited this movie greatly, the transfer on the disc should prove decent enough for casual viewing.
Audio Quality
This release boasts both DTS-HD 5.1 & 2.0 Master Audio tracks that offer as much inconsistency as the video presentation. The music in the film is by far the most impressive aspect of the presentation as the combination of the lively score and 80s pop hits make the film feel alive. The track does not make significant use of the rear speakers outside of the music filling them to make the film a bit more enveloping. There is not much in the way of activity in the low-end even in the more kinetic moments. The biggest issue with the track is that the dialogue has to fight to not be overwhelmed by any competing sound effects or score. You might have to keep your remote control handy to adjust the volume since the dialogue appears to have been recorded or mixed at a lower level compared to the other action. This feels like a source related issue rather than any issues with Kino’s presentation. Once again, this is not a dealbreaker, but a more consistent audio experience would have been preferred.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin provides a very in-depth commentary track that gives rich historical details about the production and the talent who worked on the film. Gambin rarely takes a breath from this packed track that is a great listen for fans.
- Audio Interview with Voice Actor Jeff Bergman: Gambin returns to interview the voice of characters such as George Jetson and Mr. Spacely about his experiences around the time of Jetsons: The Movie and beyond. Bergman discusses meeting Mel Blanc, working at Hanna-Barbera studios, the script of Jetsons: The Movie, inhabiting the characters and more. There may not be a plethora of special features on this disc, but this is an excellent addition.
- Trailers: The theatrical trailer for Jetsons: The Movie is included on this disc. Trailers are also provided for Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6.
Final Thoughts
Jetsons: The Movie tries so hard to capture the audience of the early 90s that it often forgets what made the series so iconic and enjoyable in its original iteration. There are some fun moments sprinkled throughout, but overall the film feels inconsequential and misguided. Kino Classics has given this one a Blu-Ray upgrade that features a passable A/V presentation and a couple of fun supplements. Fans of the space-age family will be glad to finally own this on a format suitable for such an advanced setting, but the real joy lies in revisiting the original series.
Jetsons: The Movie will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on February 16, 2021.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
