Jetsons: The Movie

Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 American  animated science fiction comedy filmbased on the animated television series The Jetsons, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera from a screenplay by Dennis Marks, and stars the voices of George O'Hanlon, Penny Singleton, Don Messick and Mel Blanc, all series veterans, alongside Tiffany as Judy Jetson. The story follows George Jetson, who is tasked with running a new Spacely Sprockets facility by his boss Cosmo Spacely. However, after he brings his family along to support him, they uncover the tragic truth of the facility's location.

The film was released on July 6, 1990. O'Hanlon and Blanc died during production of the film, which was dedicated to both their memories. It is also the last theatrical film to be directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, before they died in 2001 and 2006 respectively. It was also the final Jetsons production for 27 years until the release of The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! in 2017.

The film became a box office failure for lacking the charm and humor the 1960s sitcom embraced. This even gained some infamy for having Tiffany as the voice for Judy, as her vocal departs that from her original voice actress Janet Waldo, who was so overwhelmed by this. Thus far, this isn’t the worst Hannah-Barbara adaptation compared to the notorious Tom and Jerry: The Movie (not to be confused with the 2021 movie), which received extremely poor reviews and is rarely broadcast.

Plot
In the late 21st century, Spacely Sprockets and Spindles has opened a new mining colony on an asteroid. The proposed project is meant to increase productivity at 1/10 the cost of making the items on Earth. However, the factory continues to be sabotaged by someone or something. As Cosmo Spacely (Mel Blanc) checks up on the "Orbiting-Ore Asteroid" again, he learns from the plant engineer Rudy-2 (Ronnie Schell) that the latest head of the factory Alexander Throttlebottom has run off, making four vice presidents of the new plant that Spacely has lost so far.

Fearing for his company (and profits), Spacely names George Jetson (George O'Hanlon) as Throttlebottom's successor and sends George and his family to the plant. While the family is thoroughly upset at being thrown from their normal lifestyle (and the plans that they had coming up that week), they set up apartments on the adjoining apartment community to the asteroid and its neighboring shopping complex, while it takes the family time to adjust.

Rudy-2 shows George around the plant as they prepare for the grand re-opening of the plant. Meanwhile, Jane (Penny Singleton) and Rosie (Jean Vander Pyl) befriend Rudy-2's wife Lucy-2 (Patti Deutsch). Judy Jetson (Tiffany) is having a hard time adjusting, and accepting the fact that she lost her chance at a date with rock star Cosmic Cosmo (Steve McClintock) which a friend of hers later takes, but soon feels better after meeting a teenaged boy named Apollo Blue (Paul Kreppel). Elroy Jetson (Patric Zimmerman) meets Rudy-2's son Teddy-2 (Dana Hill) with whom he first is at odds, but eventually befriends. George soon figures that he is ready to set the plant running again, and Mr. Spacely is all set to see the plant working full-throttle, and soon to churn out the one millionth Spacely sprocket. However, the opening-day festivities give way to panic as the factory is sabotaged once again. Over the next several days, George and Rudy-2 try to fix things, but the problems persist to the point that, fed up with the problems and thinking George is responsible, Mr. Spacely heads on up to check on things personally. Thinking he has to take charge, George stays overnight hoping to catch the saboteurs in the act, only to fall asleep and be taken off by the mysterious creatures. Elroy, Teddy-2, and their neighbor Fergie Furbelow (Russi Taylor) sneak into the plant and meet Squeep (Frank Welker), a member of a furry alien race known as Grungees (Frank Welker).

Squeep tells them (with Teddy-2 translating) that the factory is actually drilling into his people's community, which is based inside the asteroid. Soon, Jane, Judy, Apollo, Rudy-2, and Astro show up and realize what is happening as well. George is found hog-tied in the Grungees' colony, and although he soon realizes just what the factory is doing, Spacely does not. Seeing his factory at a stand-still, he starts it up (despite that it is the night and after disconnecting Rudy-2, who tries to stop him), nearly burying Elroy and Squeep alive under rubble, and prompting everyone in the asteroid to get top-side, where George manages to shut down the factory and show his boss exactly what he is doing. After some talk, when George finally stands up to his boss, telling him that all he cares about is money, they come to an agreement: the Grungees will run the plant, and create new Spacely sprockets through recycling old ones (thus stopping the further destruction of the Grungees' homes inside the asteroid).

Spacely Sprockets reaches the millionth sprocket at long last, and when George asks about being vice president, Spacely retorts, stating, "he's lucky that he'll be getting his old job back". Only when pressured by everyone else does he reluctantly promote him to vice president (without a raise). However, George knows that with the Grungees now running the plant, he is no longer needed as head of the asteroid. With heavy hearts, the Jetsons then bid their new friends goodbye, including Fergie, who attempted to stow away aboard the Jetsons' car. They then return home to Earth. As the family passes over the factory, the Grungees arrange themselves to form the words "THANKS GEORGE", as a friendly goodbye to him for saving their home.

Voice cast

 * George O'Hanlon as George Jetson
 * Mel Blanc as Mr. Cosmo Spacely
 * Penny Singleton as Jane Jetson
 * Tiffany as Judy Jetson
 * Patric Zimmerman as Elroy Jetson
 * Don Messick as Astro the Space Mutt
 * Jean Vander Pyl as Rosie the Robot
 * Ronnie Schell as Rudy-2
 * Patti Deutsch as Lucy-2
 * Dana Hill as Teddy-2
 * Paul Kreppel as Apollo Blue
 * Russi Taylor as Fergie Furbelow
 * Brad Garrett as Bertie Furbelow
 * B.J. Ward as Gertie Furbelow
 * Steve McClintock as Cosmic Cosmo
 * Rick Dees as Rocket Rick Ragnarok
 * Frank Welker as Squeep / Grungees
 * Janet Waldo as Robot secretary
 * Susan Silo as Gertrude
 * Jim Ward as Mac
 * Brian Cummings as Movie Announcer
 * Michael Bell, Jeff Bergman and Rob Paulsen as Board members
 * Michael Bell and Frank Welker as basketball coaches.
 * Bergman also does additional dialogue for George Jetson and Mr. Spacely after the deaths of George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc who died during the production of this film.

Trivia

 * Despite The Jetsons is currently owned by Warner Bros., this movie is unavailable on the Boomerang app due to distribution issues as this movie is owned by Universal.
 * Janet Waldo was originally chosen to reprise her role as Judy Jetson as her lines were recorded. Unfortunately, to attract young audiences at the time, Tiffany was chosen to take the role. Janet was overwhelmed by this, gaining some infamy ever since. Some of Janet’s line can be heard in some spots of the film.
 * This movie was originally set to be released in December 1989, but was pushed to the following year to avoid competition with The Little Mermaid and All Dogs Go to Heaven.