Even before The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad, just to name a few, Hanna-Barbera Productions perfected the family situational comedy cartoon animation series. And with the success of the pre-historic Flintstones, Hanna-Barbera Productions introduced its future utopian counterpart, The Jetsons.
The Jetsons first took flight in September 1962 as a primetime cartoon animation sitcom. Its timeslot was pegged at Sunday nights (imagine that, for a cartoon!) on ABC. Similar to the family situation of the Flintstones, the Jetsons tackled everyday popular culture and societal American values and experimented how it would appear when put in the context of the future – the year 2062, a hundred years from the inception of the series.
If Flintstones relied on primitive machines (meaning similar 1960s machines operated a by animals), the Jetsons were really ahead of the present time by portraying space ships, hovering automobiles, holograms, aliens and robots. It was in every way a similar success to the Flintstones, able to stay on the air for a year (primetime slot from 1962 to 1963) and eventually for decades (re-runs during Saturday mornings). As a culmination of its television achievement, Hanna – Barbera Productions was able to commission two made – for – TV movies and two feature films for the box office. It was also able to secure numerous character licensing deals.
Now, let’s meet the family. The Jetsons were another precedent for the Simpsons with its structure consisting of a father, mother and their two children (the Flintstones only had one child, Pebbles). George Jetson is the 38-year-old head of the family who works for Mr. Cosmo Spacely’s Spacely Space Sprockets. A typical day in George’s life is trying to cope with his boss – which includes being fired and rehired again and again in a vicious cycle. It is interesting to note though that because of the complexity of the future, George’s work week is relatively shorter. He works three hours a day, three days a week and travels around with his aerocar (a flying saucer).
George’s better half is Jane Jetson, the homemaker who is quite obsessed with the latest trends in fashion and gadgetry. She is a pleaser, though, and wants nothing but the best for her family. As an irony of the futuristic milieu of the Jetsons, Jane’s favorite are Leonado de Venus and Picasso Pia.
Similar to Jane is the eldest daughter Jane, a 16 – year – old lady who is also a fashion and socialization freak. His younger brother, the 10 – year – old Elroy is a very intelligent kid who excels in space history, astro physics and star geometry.
Making life more interesting in the households of the Jetsons are the family dog Astro , the parental house-maid robot Rosie and the relatively recent addition, the alien Orbity.
Astro started the trend of a talking dog which has a distinct mumble. Eventually, this style would be seen in Muttley and more importantly Scooby-Doo himself. Being a dog that can talk, Astro is the best friend of Elroy. On the other hand, Rosie is an outdated robot but the Jetsons love her so much that they would never part with her. When Jane becomes absorbed with all the fashion stuff, it is Rosie who would sometimes fill the parenting void. Orbity is an alien with ambiguous features. It can be mistaken for a monkey with springs on its feet. It was discovered by Elroy on a field trip to Mars – and it is similarly smart and always in a good mood.
Here is the intro video for the classic cartoon animation series:
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