No, I am not wishing George Jetson a happy birthday today.
The reason is simple. There’s not a scintilla of proof that his birthday is today.
Some cartoon fans abhor a vacuum. They also love back stories, something in the early days of the Hanna-Barbera studio no one cared about. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera’s interest was making people laugh, not writing biographies or “bibles” (okay, they were interested in profits, but that’s beside the point).
So someone, somewhere, came up with the idea of spreading word on the internet that George Jetson was born on July 31, 2022. How they picked the date is beyond me, as Mr. Jetson never (as far as I can recall) celebrated a birthday at any time during the 1962-1963 season.
It is true that publicity articles before the series appeared on television set the show in 2062. But that was jettisoned (or is it “Jetsonsed”?) as it was never mentioned in a single cartoon. Why date a show that could possibly run for decades?
One good thing is coming out of all the internet chatter. It gives the Jetsons more exposure, hopefully to young people who have never seen the original series.
Not all the episodes are great, with hoary old plots about the boss coming to dinner and inept women drivers, but the show is worth watching for the futuristic designs. Astro is always funny, and there’s some good satire in Elroy’s TV Show, where activists have sucked all the entertainment (and life) out of television, and Uniblab, where a robot/computer turns out to be a corporate suck-up. And A Date With Jet Screamer features what is basically an early animated music video, courtesy of animator Bobe Cannon during his brief stay at Hanna-Barbera.
However, never it let it be said that Yowp is a wet blanket. Feel free to make this George Jetson Day and celebrate by watching some of the almost-60-year-old cartoons. Or you can listen to a few cues from the series below. I imagine these came from the collection of the late Earl Kress. Hoyt Curtin loved those end-stabs. No, I do not know why the alpha/numeric labels for the cues begin with “V.”
V300
V301
V302
V302A
V302B
V303
V304
V309
V310
V312
V313
V314
V315
V316
V317
V320
V322
V324
V326
In recent years I've been known to complain, "This is the 21st century. We were supposed to be living like the Jetsons, not hiding behind closed doors from the plague like Welcome back to 1620." But it seems we've got 40 years to go before we reach that sterile Futurama utopia.
ReplyDeleteWere all of those made for the Jetsons? (Some I had thought were from the Flintstones, and maybe some of the other shows from the era). If so, ths show contributed so much to the early-mid 60's library!
ReplyDeleteApparently so. But they were used on other shows as well. It seems everyone's cues ended up on The Flintstones, even Jonny Quest music.
DeleteYes, it's easy to forget many cues that we routinely hear in those shows, as well as the Magilla Gorilla/Peter Potamus, Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel, Laurel & Hardy/Abbott & Costello compendiums originated with THE JETSONS. They would recycled all the way to 1972 in the likes of HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, HAIR BEAR BUNCH, ROMAN HOLIDAYS and the various CATTANOOGA CATS components.
DeleteLove the cues! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember any mention of the show taking place in the year 2062- or George's birthday being 'today'- just that he's said to be 40 in "Test Pilot" and Jane 32 in "Rosie The Robot". Of course, she could have been lying about her age.
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing additional music cues. Those from THE JETSONS are probably my all-time favorites. Particularly memorable are the 'woozy' V310 and V316 heard when a character just took a pratfall or explosion, is covered with a gooey substance, or is overall dizzy/dazed.
Forgot to stick my name in the comment above.
DeleteYep, same here. I actually had a friend on the 31st tell me this was George Jetson's birthday. I did a double take. I told him through all the years, I *Never* heard that date mentioned. And so it goes.........
DeleteThank you for the music cues. Fabulous!
ReplyDelete