In Italy, it is titled I pronipoti (The Great-Grandchildren), mirroring how The Flintstones is titled Gli antenati (The Ancestors).
In Japan, it becomes Uchū Kazoku Jetson (Space Family Jetsons).
Creator's Favorite Episode: Janet Waldo's favorite episode is "A Date With Jet Screamer," which she revealed on the commentary for the Season 1 DVD and Blu-ray.
Creator's Pest: While John Kricfalusi liked working on the 80's revival, he hated the character Orbitty and he would often try to work in scenes where he got abused, some of which actually made it into the show.
Development Hell: It seems that the franchise always hit a snag when it comes to a new show or movie, especially if it's intended to be live-action:
Paramount first planned a live action film way back in 1985 that was to be executive produced by Gary Nardino, but this never materialised.
In November 2001, screenwriting duo Paul Foley and Dan Forman were brought onboard to revise a screenplay, with Rob Minkoff attached as director and Denise Di Novi as producer.
On March 18, 2003, it was announced that the script was again being reworked, with Adam Shankman entering negotiations to direct and co-write the film. In June 2004, with Shankman still onboard as director, Di Novi confirmed that the latest draft was penned by Sam Harper. By May 2006, the project was re-launched with Adam F. Goldberg confirmed as the new screenwriter, and Donald De Line was added as producer alongside Di Novi.
In May 2007, Robert Rodriguez entered talks with Universal Studios and Warner Bros. to film a CGI adaptation for a potential 2009 theatrical release, having at the time discussed directing Land of the Lost with Universal. He was uncertain which project he would pursue next, though the latest script draft by Goldberg was further along in development. On February 2012, Warner Bros. hired Van Robichaux and Evan Susser to rewrite the script.
On January 23, 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros. was planning a new animated feature film, with Matt Lieberman to provide the screenplay. On May 25, 2017, Conrad Vernon was announced as director. Nothing further has been revealed about the film.
In addition to the film, it was announced August 17, 2017 that ABC ordered a pilot for a live-action sitcom to be written by Gary Janetti and executive produced by Janetti, Jack Rapke and Robert Zemeckis. There has been no further news about it.
Dueling Dubs: There were three Japanese dubs. One that aired on NHK General, one on Tokyo Broadcasting System, and one that was released to VHS. Each dub only covered the original 1960s run.
Edited for Syndication: When the original series was syndicated in the 80's, some episodes had scenes that were cut out for more commercial time or suggestive content deemed inappropriate for the modern era, and the Laugh Track in many of those episodes was removed. These prints ended up being the ones shown on Cartoon Network and Boomerang when the networks aired the series. The DVD and Blu-ray releases,note except for the one in WB's "TV Premiere DVD" collection, which is copied from the 1990 VHS of "Microchip Chump" however, have the series uncutnote the Blu-ray even restores some of the original sponsor plugs, except for the Cold Openings, and with the laugh track retained, except on "A Date with Jet Screamer".
Keep Circulating the Tapes: After Warner Bros. released the 1960s episodes on DVD in 2004, it took another five years for them to start releasing the '80s seasons on that format, and yet another five years for them to complete that era. Additionally, the latter 2/3 of the revival, including the TV specials The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones and Rockin' with Judy Jetson, became available only through the Warner Archive, until the October 13, 2020 release of a traditionally-pressed Jetsons Complete Series DVD boxset brought all of the '80s episodes and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones to wide retail.
In 1989, Wendy's sold die-cast cars featuring George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Astro, and Mr. Spacely.
In 1995, Dairy Queen sold four toys; George and Jane's Space Sphere, Elroy's Intergalactic Twirler, Astro's Treadmill Workout, and Rolling Rosie.
No Export for You: Japan only got the first 1960s series, which was dubbed thrice, something that caused some problems when the Japanese dubs of Jetsons: The Movie and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones came out, since the renditions of the titular family are based on the 1980s version and also doing references from that version, which went over the heads of Japanese viewers.
Jane's rendition of "Won't You Fly Home, Bill Spacely" in "Miss Solar System" was done by B.J. Baker, who also sang Wilma Flintstone's version of "Bill Bailey" in "The Happy Housewife".
"Rocking With Judy Jetson" had BJ Ward sing for Judy instead of Janet Waldo.
Lucille Bliss recorded six weeks of dialogue for Elroy before being fired by due to behind the scenes controversy. Daws Butler would voice the character for the series proper.
Morey Amsterdam and Pat Carroll were initially cast as George and Jane Jetson, but only recorded one episode before being replaced by George O'Hanlon and Penny Singleton due to sponsor conflicts with the actors' previous commitments (Amsterdam on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Carroll on Make Room for Daddy). Both sued Hanna-Barbera for breach of contract, having been guaranteed the full 24-episode season, but the court ruled in favor of the studio.
Janet Waldo recorded her dialogue as Judy for The Jetsons Movie, but was redubbed by pop singer Tiffany (who originally only did the singing) in post production, in one of the most egregious examples of Stunt Casting. This was apparently done at the behest of Tiffany's agent, and several of those involved in production (most notably Andrea Romano) protested this decision and asked to have their names removed from the credits. This backfired as many reviewers singled out Tiffany's poor voice performance as one of the film's biggest flaws, and Waldo returned to voice Judy in the few Jetsons projects that were made subsequently.
Recycled Script: The episode "G. I. Jetson" is basically the plot of "Uniblab" in a military setting.
Screwed by the Network: The original series lasted just one season because ABC didn't require affiliates to broadcast the series in color, causing many who did see the series to be appalled by the futuristic setting without any color to go with it. It ultimately found success in syndication, which was, for many, the first time people watched the series (and in its original color form, no less).
Unfinished Dub: Each Japanese dub only lasted for one season.
Vindicated by Reruns: The original ABC run flopped after one season but managed to find huge success on syndication, to the point where many wished ABC rolled out the color television carpet sooner rather than later.
Hanna-Barbera pitched a Spin-Off to CBS during The '70s, featuring older versions of Judy and Elroy. The network expressed a greater desire for a cartoon about The Partridge Family, resulting in Partridge Family 2200 AD.
In the early 2000s, writer Glenn Leopold and writer/producer Davis Doi pitched a Jetsons project, possibly a Direct to Video film, apperently involving George being turned younger, a cloning machine, and an unspecified conflict between Spacely Sprockets and Cogswell Cogs. Later however, focus group testing determined that The Jetsons wasn't very popular which led to the idea being shelved despite the script reportely being finished.
General trivia
Divorced Installment / Dolled-Up Installment: The SNES game The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates was later retooled into Yokai Buster: Ruka no Daiboken, with George being replaced with the mascot of Marukatsu Super Famicom magazine, Yokai Buster Ruka.
On certain episodes of the 80's series, John Kricfalusi was the animation director or layout supervisor. Hallmarks of his style would become more apparent, in his later original creation, The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Outlived Its Creator: Again, just like The Flintstones Stone Age Smackdown, this is the first original Jetsons production to not involve the original creators (William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who passed away in 2001 and 2006, respectively). It's also the first one since Jetsons: The Movie from 1990.
Role Reprise: Jeff Bergman fills in for George and Mr. Spacely entirely after voicing them for a couple lines in the previous movie.note Jeff Bergman had in fact took over as the characters for many minor works such as the Spumco shorts and various commercials prior to this, but this was his first prominent role
