Les Jetson: Le Film

Big screen continuation of the 1960s cartoon series is alternately old-fashioned to a corny degree and modern in the most grating ways. All of the humor is like that of the old series, for those who are fans. I am not so it was like nails on a chalkboard for me while watching this. At least there wasn't a laugh track. The "modern" stuff added includes some environmentalist proselytizing and some truly terrible late '80s/early '90s style pop music. Tiffany and synth beats, folks. Yuck! Speaking of Tiffany, she was brought in to play Judy Jetson and replace Janet Waldo, the original Judy. She does an awful job. Of the rest of the cast, the original voice for Elroy, Daws Butler, had died before this so he had to be replaced. Sadly, both George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc also died during production. Overall, this is a corny stinker that's saved only by some nice animation. It's very colorful and fluid and I'll give it credit for that. But this is really just something fans of the old show will want to check out for curiosity's sake. I can't imagine anyone else liking it.

I have a lot of nostalgia for The Jetsons. The cartoon was one of my favorites as a child in the 1980s. I don't have that same nostalgia for the movie or even remember when I actually saw it for the first time. I decided to watch it to see if I wanted to buy the newly released Blu-Ray version.

The Good: The animation is wonderful. The artists took the look right from the cartoon and gave it a boost for the big screen. The story is also nice and fits in with the world of the Jetsons. Daws Butler, the original voice of Elroy, sadly passed away before the movie was made but his replacement does a decent job. Otherwise most of the original voice cast is here, but more on that later. The musical score is well done, the iconic theme is heard throughout in different variations.

Not So Good: It always seems to come down to the voice cast when cartoons are turned into feature films. As I said most of the cast from the show are in the movie. Sadly Mel Blanc (Spacely) and George O'Hanlon (George) died during production and another actor finished their parts. I didn't notice this with Mr. Spacely but there are several scenes where George's voice was much different. I certainly don't blame the studio for this. But my biggest issue is what they did to Judy Jetson's character.

The original voice actor, Janet Waldo, recorded all her dialog for Judy only to be replaced by singer Tiffany. Of course Tiffany doesn't sound anything like the Judy we know and love, and the volume of songs make the movie feel like a vehicle for the singer's career. They should have kept Janet for the voice work and let Tiffany sing the songs, either as herself animated or just for the soundtrack. I would love to see the movie with Janet Waldo's voice restored but I'm guessing that is a pipe dream.

Summary: They did a lot of good things with the Jetsons movie but the studio screwed it up by replacing one of the iconic voice cast with a popular singer for the time. Maybe I'll give it another watch and change my feelings in the future.

Hollywood has kept this trend going with other cartoon properties. They just don't trust the property enough to let it speak for itself, they have to attach big name actors to it. Ugh!

George Jetson is forced to uproot his family when Mr. Spacely promotes him to take charge of a new factory on a distant planet.

I can't say this is a great movie, but I guess it's not terrible, either. It is a family film and one that smaller children will probably enjoy. The message is a bit heavy-handed and may not appeal to everyone, as it exaggerates the idea of conservation.

The creators also seem like they really wanted to build the film around Tiffany / Judy, including a music video that was apparently illustrated by different artists. Could the song have been a hit in 1990 and helped this film? Maybe, but so far as I know that never happened.

This movie is actually great! I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was! I didn't grow up watching the Jetsons at all. So I couldn't compare it to the actual cartoon but part of me wishes I did. The music was pretty catchy and it's heart felt moments made me wish I was a kid watching this! I love that cute little guy Elroy! He was my favorite!

Reminder, this was made in the 90's. Obviously flaws but that doesn't matter. This movie with it's flaws made it great! The message of the movie is that family comes first! That's what matters!

I loved the Jetson family as I grew up. I wanted to see the movie, but I wish that Janet Waldo could have stayed as Judy. I wasn't used to Tiffany. Mr. Spacely's up to his usual conniving best, and Jane is cute as ever. The plot was interesting. See this movie! I also recommend "The Jetsons meet the Flintstones."