A couple of days ago on It’s A Stampede!, I began a re-watch of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest – the Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. animated series from the mid-1990s. The plan was to work my way through all 52 episodes of the show, discussing it in real-time.
If you didn’t catch the previous post, then makes sure you click the link to give it a read before continuing. In the first post, I watched 13 episodes of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and in today’s post, I am working my way through the next 13 episodes (aka episodes 14 – 26).
As a reminder, I have not watched this show in its entirety for over twenty years. What follows are thoughts, feelings, opinions, based on me revisiting the show today.
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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Episode Fourteen – In the Wake of the Mary Celeste
*Presses play*
30secs – I mentioned this in the previous post, and I’m mentioning this again: I love the opening credits.
1min – OK, so from what I remember about this episode, Team Quest have to uncover a mystery surrounding the Mary Celeste, and I think it has something to do with past life regression.
1min 30secs – The episode has opened with a flashback to the 19th Century and the last voyage of the Mary Celeste.
2mins 30secs – The ship is surrounded by fog, and engulfed in light.
4mins 20secs – Jump to present day, and Hadji and Dr. Quest are conducting past life regression (I was right). Max, the man who is being regressed, claims to have once been Captain Briggs of the Mary Celeste.
6mins 20secs – Using some high-tech computer technology, Dr. Quest believes he has found the sunken remains of the ship.
9mins – Hmm… I don’t believe that Max is being honest about his past life regression claim. If I remember correctly, this is some sort of a scam…
9mins 50secs – …although I could be misremembering, as Dr. Quest appears to have discovered crop circles under the ocean. Is this another extra-terrestrial story?
10mins 50secs – Hadji believes something strange is going on, and has called in Race and Jonny for assistance.
11mins 45secs – Race and Jonny have arrived at Hadji’s location, but no one is around. Have aliens whisked Dr. Quest, Hadji, and Max away? I don’t believe so.
13mins 20secs – Race and Jonny are being approached by a psychic investigator. Where did he come from?
The man claims he wants to help; I claim he is also a fraud. Either this guy is a crook or he is working with Max – there’s definitely a connection here, but I can’t remember what it is.
15mins – Race doesn’t believe this psychic investigator is telling the truth. Clearly me and Race are on the same wavelength.
18mins 20secs – So, it turns out that Max and the psychic investigator are the same person. This was all a scam to uncover some treasure that sank with the Mary Celeste.
20mins 30secs – Max appears to have got away with the treasure too.
20mins 50secs – Nope, his ship has been engulfed in a green light, as the episode ends. There’s no real explanation for what this is all about – so I’m guessing aliens got him!
*Presses stop*
Not a bad episode – I quite liked the mystery element, although it bordered on Scooby-Doo. But then, I completely forgot that the two characters were one and the same, so that was an interesting surprise.
The strange green light was never properly explained, so I guess it was supposed to be an additional, open-ended mystery. *Shrugs shoulders* Either way, not a bad episode.
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Episode Fifteen – AMOK
*Presses play*
3mins 50secs – Team Quest are on an expedition in Borneo, when Jonny comes across a victim of a jungle monster.
5mins 35secs – I only vaguely recall this episode, and I don’t remember anything that happens.
6mins 45secs – What’s interesting about this story, is that Team Quest aren’t worried about the jungle monster, they are more concerned about a random victim. Although, he might not be who he claims to be.
8mins – The monster is back!
9mins – Apparently the monster is called the AMOK.
12mins – I’m not convinced this monster is really a monster. Don’t think I don’t see you, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. You’re trying to play me (again). This is a guy in a monster suit, isn’t it?
14mins 40secs – Yep, it’s just a man in a suit.
16mins – The AMOK is just a faux monster, invented to scare away hunters and mercenaries from the jungle.
16mins 45secs – Oh, OK, so there is a faux AMOK and a real AMOK.
*Presses stop*
Wow, that flew by and there was nothing much to report. A perfectly fine episode, but nothing to really discuss.
The AMOK design looked a bit rubbish, but then I guess it was supposed to be a man in a suit. Other than that, it was watchable, just clearly not very memorable.
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Episode Sixteen – Besieged in Paradise
*Presses play*
2mins 40secs – Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji are out at sea, when Jonny spots a whale in trouble.
4mins 30secs – Jonny jumps into the water to help the whale, but then gets into trouble, and has to be rescued. At least he tried.
6mins 30secs – This is another episode I only vaguely remember. It involves Jeremiah Surd trying to communicate with whales, to turn them evil!
Seems like an odd thing to do, right? I guess when you’re a criminal, you have to get your kicks somehow.
7mins – Surd believes he can take advantage of a ‘whale net’ – a form of communication between all whales (and dolphins). Presumably it is like the internet, but with less pop-up adverts.
12mins – This whole episode feels like the Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons, where all the dolphins started attacking Springfield.
16mins – Jeremiah Surd is very dull in this episode, but then so are the whales.
20mins 30secs – Surd’s plan to turn whales into AOL or Instant Messenger (or whatever) has been foiled. Can’t say I’m surprised.
*Presses stop*
Not much to say about Besieged in Paradise. It feels like someone watched Free Willy and felt compelled to write an episode about whales.
Also, what the heck is going on with Jeremiah Surd? I always felt like he was a great villain, but he just keeps popping up in episodes with a series of rubbish schemes which mostly just annoy Team Quest.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that when he makes his next appearance it will be much, much better.
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Episode Seventeen – The Spectre of the Pine Barrens
*Presses play*
1min 45secs – Team Quest are investigating sightings of the Jersey Devil in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
2mins – Ohhh… I like this episode.
2mins 25secs – According to Dr. Quest and Hadji, the Jersey Devil is some creepy urban legend about a woman who gave birth to 13 children.
2mins 55secs – The Jersey Devil has been blamed for the disappearance of several children over the past two centuries. Team Quest are keen to get to the bottom of this mystery.
4mins – By the way, the animation in this episode is good. The Spectre of the Pine Barrens takes place in the snow-covered wilderness, which adds to the spookiness of the story, and it feels very atmospheric.
7mins – After almost being attacked by the Jersey Devil (a green, demonic creature), Jonny is rescued by two strangers. They are acting like they are from a different century – and I believe they are.
8mins – The strangers have the Declaration of Independence in their possession. So, how did they get this?
14mins 30secs – It would appear that in 1776, a Redcoat stole the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, so that he could hold it to ransom. He fled to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and awaited payment from George Washington, but the ransom was never paid.
Washington sent a soldier to the Pine Barrens to kill the Redcoat, but he never completed his mission. Instead, both men remained locked in a feud.
This feud has now spanned generations, with neither family realising the outside world has moved on!
How does the Jersey Devil fit into all this? It’s a fake!
The soldier’s family have kept the legend of the Jersey Devil going, in order to use the monster to kidnap children. The stolen children become part of the family and help to keep the feud going.
This is a great story!
19mins – Thanks to intervention from the Quests, the feud appears to be over. But the two families are going to remain in the Pine Barrens. They don’t want to become part of the outside world.
*Presses stop*
I remembered this episode from when I watched it the first time around, and it still stands out as a strong entry in this collection. Sure, some of the voice acting is a little all over the place (and exaggerated), but the story lands perfectly.
The Spectre of the Pine Barrens starts off like an episode of The X-Files, then segues into an episode of The Twilight Zone. It keeps its momentum and delivers an intriguing tale.
This is one of the best episodes in this collection, and a vast improvement on the previous episode.
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Episode Eighteen – Heroes
*Presses play*
1min 45secs – Hadji and Dr. Quest are on Melos Island, taking part in an excavational dig.
2mins 45secs – The dig has uncovered a statue of the Greek god, Apollo…
2mins 50secs – …which has just shattered.
3mins – Oh, wow – a scene in which Jonny and Jessie are in school! I did wonder if these kids ever attend school as they are always travelling all over the world.
4mins – Scratch that. Jonny and Jessie are now on Spring Break, and along with Race they have jetted over to Melos Island. I guess their schooling is very short.
4mins 45secs – With the statue of Apollo broken into many, many pieces, Jonny has the idea to scan all of the fragments into Questworld. He wants to reconstruct the statue in the virtual realm.
5mins 45secs – Erm… Surd is in this episode, and once again, he has hacked into Questworld. Is this all he does now? He needs a hobby.
7min 30secs – Jonny and Race have logged into Questworld to find out what is going on with the statue. Is that Medusa I spy, lurking in the background?
9mins – Yep, it was Medusa. Questworld has been transformed into an Ancient Greek landscape, and despite countless pleas from Jonny, telling Race NOT to look directly at the Gorgon, Race has been turned into (virtual) stone.
11mins – Jessie is now logging into Questworld.
13mins – As the majority of this episode is taking place in Questworld, there is a lot of crappy ‘90s CGI on display, including various scenes of Jonny running through a maze, while being chased by computer generated snakes. The episode itself is fine, but the animation here is difficult to get past.
13mins 45secs – Seconds into her arrival in Questworld, Jessie has been turned to stone by Medusa. Only it isn’t Medusa, it’s really Jeremiah Surd in disguise!
16mins – According to Surd, the Apollo statue contains great power. His plan is to trick all of Team Quest to enter Questworld, turn them all to stone, then obtain the power of the statue. Arguably, this is his best plan to date!
20mins – Even with the best plan in the world, Surd would still fail, and that’s exactly what has happened. Oh, well, better luck next time.
20mins 10secs – To conclude the episode, there is a little scene discussing the creation of Questworld technology. This scene has featured in a previous episode, so it is very clear that Hanna-Barbera are reusing footage.
*Presses stop*
Heroes is a decent episode, with some neat ideas and a credible threat from Jeremiah Surd. I liked the story, but I did not like the extensive use of CGI.
As most of the story is set in Questworld, I felt like I was watching an early Playstation game brought to life. This could have easily been a cut scene from Tomb Raider!
The CGI graphics continue to age this show, and it’s a shame really. If this episode was produced completely in 2D, this would have been a much better story. As it stands, it’s OK.
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Episode Nineteen – The Ballad of Belle Bonnet
*Presses play*
1min – It has taken nineteen episodes, but the show is finally doing a Western!Ye-ha!
4mins – Team Quest (minus Jessie) is in Arizona on a ghost hunt.
5mins – While searching some caves, Race has got into difficulty and has fallen into a cavern.
6mins 45secs – Jonny and Race have encountered some paranormal phenomena.
11mins – This is a ghost story, dating back to the Wild West. And if I remember correctly, this is about an actual ghost, rather than some kind of fake-out.
15mins 30secs – There’s a lot of flashbacks here to flesh out the story. In short: A hundred years ago, a woman called Belle Bonnet robbed a stage coach, in order to secure some money for a school. She managed to steal the money, but disappeared with the stage coach.
18mins 45secs – Belle died and is the ghost in this tale.
19mins 30secs – There’s some pretty creepy imagery in this episode. Oh, and a man has been trampled to death by a ghostly stage coach!
*Presses stop*
The Ballad of Belle Bonnet is a good episode. It is heavy on flashbacks, but the story works, the imagery of the ghostly Belle is pretty striking, and it all wraps up in a satisfying way. Good stuff!
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Episode Twenty – In the Darkness of the Moon
*Presses play*
3mins – Ah, this is a werewolf episode. In general, I find werewolf stories a bit hit and miss. Why? Because too many of them follow the same plot, and that plot has been done to death.
4mins – Team Quest (minus Jessie – AGAIN!) are investigating a story about a wolf attack.
8mins 30secs – Race vs. a wolf!
9mins 15secs – This episode has a romantic subplot, which has Race finding love. No wonder Jessie isn’t in this episode; she doesn’t want to see her dad trying to get his leg over.
13mins – Jonny is being chased by a pack of wolves.
16mins – I’m not feeling this episode at all. A professor transforms into a werewolf, Team Quest need to find a vaccine to cure him, and that’s about it.
*Presses stop*
In the Darkness of the Moon is a lacklustre episode. It’s not awful, but it’s certainly not interesting and feels like the story is just going through the motions. I want better.
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Episode Twenty-One – The Secret of the Moai
*Presses play*
2mins – The episode begins in Earth’s past.
3mins – Aliens have arrived on Earth and are using technology to accelerate the evolutionary process; transforming apes into humans.
4mins – Jump forward to the present day, and Jonny, Hadji, and Dr. Quest are on Easter Island.
Using sonar technology, they have discovered two skeletons buried deep in the ground. The bodies are that of the alien and the ape-man.
9mins – The alien looks just like the Moai statues on the Island.
11mins 30secs – Jeremiah Surd is back!
13mins – OK, I have a big issue here. Surd gained access to Questworld in episode two, Escape to Questworld. But this is episode twenty-one and he still has access!
Why has Team Quest not found a way to stop him from continuously hacking the system? Surely they should have blocked him by now?!
Anyway…
16mins – Surd is using Questworld, and information gained from the alien skeletons, to cause Dr. Quest and Race to regress into apes.
19mins 30secs – Oh, an alien ship has just arrived, has deleted every record of the alien skeleton, has reversed what has happened to Dr. Quest and Race, and has transported Surd away from Team Quest. Well, that was a quick wrap up.
*Presses stop*
Hmm… another so-so episode, that never really went anywhere. I’m starting to lose my patience with Jeremiah Surd.
Every episode, Surd hacks into Questworld and no one stops him. Jeez, give him something else to do!
ARRRGGGHHHH!!!
*Takes a deep breath*
Moving on…
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Episode Twenty-Two – Expedition to Khumbu
*Presses play*
2mins – Dr. Quest is on an expedition in Nepal, in search of the Yeti.
3mins – Avalanche!
6mins – Dr. Quest is lost somewhere in the mountains, prompting Team Quest to mount a search and rescue.
7mins 30secs – This search and rescue is not going so well.
8mins 30secs – Nail-biting stuff as Jonny, Jessie and Hadji hang precariously over the side of a cliff.
9mins 30secs – It’s OK – everyone is safe. Jessie saved the day!
10mins – The search for Dr. Quest has led the team to a secluded monastery.
13mins – The monks at this monastery have a yeti arm in their possession. It’s a sacred item… and also a little icky. Who keeps a yeti arm as a treasure?
16mins – With Dr. Quest still missing (and possibly dead). Jonny contemplates the thought of never seeing his father again. This episode is moving into some interesting territory.
OK, so it’s clear that Dr. Quest isn’t dead, but it’s good to see The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest addressing something important – that all of these expeditions are very dangerous and sooner or later a member of the team won’t return.
19mins – Dr. Quest is alive! He was rescued by yetis.
20mins 30secs – And it turns out that a yeti is running the monastery.
*Presses stop*
A pretty good episode. The potential death of Dr. Quest was something I never bought into, but it was interesting to see how Jonny would react, and it took the show to a place it hadn’t been before.
It was also fun to see Team Quest dealing with the harsh conditions of a mountain in Nepal, with a fun rescue scene which allowed Jessie to shine. Jessie has been side-lined far too much, so it was great to give her a strong action scene.
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Episode Twenty-Three – Ice Will Burn
*Presses play*
3mins – On a journey to Siberia, the Quest Jet has got into difficulties, putting Jessie’s life in danger.
4mins 30secs – It’s OK, the plane has landed safely. Jessie and the pilot are fine.
4mins 45secs – It’s not OK. The plane has fallen through some ice, Jessie is alive, but the pilot is dead.
6mins 30secs – Jessie has buried the pilot. Not something you expect to see in a children’s cartoon.
11mins – So… the plane landed in the ‘inner world’, which is apparently a place that exists below the surface of Siberia. A mini volcano provides heat in this area, and this in turn has helped some crops and vegetation to grow.
It is also populated by a group of people who think Jessie is a witch… or something.
18mins – This episode is very Jessie heavy, with Team Quest barely in it. It’s not the greatest story, but I am happy with more Jessie.
19mins – Jessie has (sort of) fixed the plane. Well, enough to make it catch fire, and alert Team Quest to her location.
19mins 50secs – Oh, and Jessie has built some kind of hot air balloon to take her up to the surface.
*Presses stop*
Dr. Quest was in danger in the mountains in the previous episode, while Jessie was in danger in the mountains in this episode. Similar ideas, yet oddly both episodes proved to be enjoyable!
Once again, it was good to see Jessie take the spotlight, and while Ice Will Burn is nothing exceptional, it was certainly fine.
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Episode Twenty-Four – Future Rage
*Presses play*
3mins – Ezekiel Rage is back!
3mins 15secs – Rage has stolen a nuclear bomb.
6mins – This is episode twenty-four, so I have two more episodes to go, but with Rage stealing a nuclear bomb this feels like this could be the season finale. I’m hooked.
6mins 15secs – Team Quest have traced Rage’s location to somewhere in the North Pole (they’re not quite sure where).
7mins – Although this episode is clearly about Ezekiel Rage stealing a weapon of mass destruction, it wouldn’t be The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest without some real-world phenomena playing a part in the story; which is why the aurora borealis gets a cameo.
9mins 30secs – After a minimal amount of searching, Dr. Quest and Race have found Rage in the North Pole.
11mins 30secs – There’s a slight James Bond feel to this episode. I like it.
15mins – Hadji is getting some mystical guidance from the aurora borealis. As you do.
15mins 45secs – A quick flashback to Rage’s first episode, to remind audiences what happened to his family.
19mins – Rage is confused and believes Jessie is his daughter. The confusion gives Team Quest enough time to get the upper-hand.
19mins 30secs – And now the US Government have arrived, guns blazing, to round up Rage’s followers!
19mins 45secs – Although the combined might of Team Quest and the US Government have thrown a spanner into Rage’s plans, he has activated the bomb and there are mere seconds to go before it explodes!
20mins 5secs – It’s OK, Dr. Quest stopped the bomb with one second to go!
20mins 30secs – Rage has escaped, providing him with the opportunity to threaten the safety of the world next season. But does he return? I can’t quite recall.
I guess I will find out in due course.
*Presses stop*
Future Rage is a fab episode. Rage has been a strong villain throughout this series (far stronger than Jeremiah Surd) and this is his best story to date.
The episode includes plenty of action and suspense, and as mentioned above it feels like it should be the season finale. I really enjoyed this one.
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Episode Twenty-Five – Alligators and Okeechobee Vikings
*Presses play*
4mins – Team Quest have been called in to investigate some eco-terrorists in the Everglades. But these are not eco-terrorists – they’re Vikings!
7mins – Race is wrestling an alligator. As you do.
8mins – Jonny and Hadji have been kidnapped by the Vikings.
9mins – This isn’t just a small group of Vikings – there is a whole tribe. Presumably this is some lost tribe that have made a home for themselves in the Everglades.
10mins – While Jonny and Hadji are busy with the Vikings, Race and Dr. Quest have their hands full with some rather unscrupulous property developers.
14mins – This episode is pretty decent, but I’ve noticed that some of the animation is a bit sloppy in places.
15mins – Jessie is also absent from this story. Again.
16mins 25secs – The property developers plan to murder Dr. Quest and Race, and blame it on eco-terrorists.
Hang on a minute, this plot doesn’t make sense. These guys are the ones who called in Team Quest, so why try and kill them?!
18mins 35secs – Plot development: Both of the villains have been killed off. One was stabbed by a Viking, while the other was eaten by gators.
*Presses stop*
Alligators and Okeechobee Vikings had plenty of action, but it featured some hit and miss animation, and a weak story. I could see what the writers were aiming for, but the plot made little sense, resulting in an unfortunate misfire.
OK, just one more episode to go for today, and it is the final episode of Season One!
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Episode Twenty-Six – To Bardo and Back
*Presses play*
1mins 30secs – Hmm… not off to the best start. This appears to be an episode featuring a.) Questworld and b.) Jeremiah Surd.
2mins – Why does Surd STILL have access to Questworld?! Why has no one traced Surd’s location and arrested him for being a domestic terrorist?!
ARRRRGGGHHH!
5mins – Moving on from Surd (for now) and Team Quest are taking part in a rodeo.
7mins – By the way, this doesn’t feel like season finale material.
9mins – Race has been injured in the rodeo, and it would seem like his injuries could be fatal.
11mins – Dr. Quest believes the only way to save Race is to download his brain waves into Questworld to fix his injuries. Not sure the science holds up here, but I’ll go with it.
11mins 30secs – Jeremiah Surd is convinced that if this procedure can repair Race’s mind and body, then it could work wonders for him too.
11mins 35secs – Ha! Team Quest have FINALLY installed some security software to stop Surd from accessing Questworld. About time.
12mins 35secs – It took a minute for Surd to bypass security. *Shakes head*
17mins 30secs – Surd vs Race!
19mins 30secs – For a brief moment, following a Questworld battle between Surd and Race, it appeared as if Jeremiah Surd was about to die. But nah, he’s fine.
20mins 20secs – Thanks to Questworld technology, Race is back to normal. His mind and body have been healed. I never doubted it for a minute.
*Presses stop*
There were a couple of interesting moments in To Bardo and Back, and I even believed Surd was set to be killed off, but it was not to be. The episode was fine, nothing particularly bad, but it didn’t quite feel like the big Season One send-off that it should have been.
I was glad the show finally addressed the security issue surrounding Questworld. OK, so Surd managed to bypass it almost instantly, and that was frustrating, but at least there was an attempt to stop him – something which hasn’t happened in the past. It’s a start.
And that brings me to the end of the first season of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. I’ve mostly had fun watching the episodes (with a few exceptions), but there are two clear favourites from this latest batch: The Spectre of the Pine Barrens and Future Rage. Both of these episodes were great!
Between today’s 13 episodes, and the previous 13, it has been an interesting journey so far. I remembered some stories, forgot a few episodes (almost entirely), and reconnected with characters who I liked – so not bad going.
Season Two is just around the corner, but this is all for today.
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. The third part of this four-part blog series will be coming up shortly, where I begin Season Two.
In the meantime, be sure to check out the recommended posts below. Here you will find more Hanna-Barbera content.
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