Chicago Tribune Review

The following appeared in the Chicago Tribune. The citation is Johnson, Allan (1996-08-13). "JONNY QUEST' GETS PUMPED '60S 'TOON IS MORE IN YOUR FACE FOR THE '90S". Chicago Tribune.

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'JONNY QUEST' GETS PUMPED
'60S 'TOON IS MORE IN YOUR FACE FOR THE '90S

He's back, but is he better than ever?

Jonny Quest, the adventurous kid who had a popular cartoon in the 1960s, has been updated over the years by the TNT cable network. But now he's getting a big-time push. "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" "premieres Aug. 26. The Cartoon Network, TNT and TBS will all be showing the cartoon at different times during the week.

It's called "The Real Adventures" because it has more realistic settings and situations. In the '60s, Jonny sometimes ran into aliens and prehistoric creatures.

Can the new series run with the classic one? We previewed an episode and broke it down:

Classic Jonny vs. new Jonny: In the classic series Jonny wasn't always in the middle of the heavy action. But since Jonny has been turned into a teenager (he was around 11 in the classic show), he's old enough to get down.

Classic Hadji vs. new Hadji: Also getting older is Hadji, the Indian kid who was adopted into the team, so he's also into stuff. But Hadji still wears his turban and sometimes a towel that serves as shorts for no reason.

Classic Dr. Quest vs. new Dr. Quest: We saw Benton Quest, Jonny's world-traveling scientist dad, do something he rarely did in the old show: He was fighting! The new Dr. Quest looks like he has spent decent time in the gym too.

Classic Race vs. new Race: Roger "Race" Bannon, the family bodyguard, was always the coolest. He fought hard, and no stunt was ever too dangerous. This new Race is heroic, but he seems more toned down.

Classic Bandit vs. new Bandit: We didn't see the new Bandit, Jonny's pet bulldog, but a preview picture we got made him look scarier than the old, goofy-acting pooch. We bet the old Bandit is more fun than this I'll-bite-ya-good!-looking dog.

Classic Jessie vs. new Jessie: This is easy, because there was no Classic Jessie. Jessie Bannon, Race's daughter, was added a few years ago. She's cool, she gives Jonny grief just because she can, and she's not afraid of the action.

"The Adventures of Jonny Quest" vs. "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest": "Real" has much better animation, including some nice computer-generated images. The classic "Jonny" had way-out adventures and hip music.

But the classic "Jonny" also had the cooler Race, so we've gotta go with the old guys. But check out "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest"; you may not be disappointed.

Caption:

PHOTOS (color): `Jonny gets real: For the new cartoon dudes (large pic above) and their bad-looking dog, way-out adventures are out.

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PHOTO

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