Inspired by futurist books created by Arnold B. Barach as well as the Googie architecture on display in Southern California, In 1962 Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas comes up with the idea of The Jetsons — a middle-class family living in the futuristic Orbit City where all commercial and residential buildings are built on columns, allowing homes to built up high in the sky. The Jetsons depicted the golden age of American futurism where men have to work an hour a day, twice a week, women have robots for domestic help and yet everyone complains of exhaustion and overburdening.
The Jetsons also introduced to the audiences everything their mind could conceive as part of the future — aero cars, jetpacks, robot maids and moving sidewalks. Needless to say, it was quite easy to fall for the utopia the show created. The audiences continued to devour all 24 episodes of the original series even after the show went off the air as it allowed them to imagine what the future would be like. Though The Jetsons was just a cartoon, knowingly or unknowingly, it played a very essential role in influencing the American audiences’ expectations of the future.
So, today, let us travel back to Orbit City. Facts Verse Presents This is Why the Jetsons was Cancelled (10 Facts) . Before we reveal these facts, take a moment to like and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to allow us to keep you entertained every day with more videos.
George O’Hanlon Wasn’t the First Choice for the Voice of George Jetson
All Jetsons fans now know that George O’Hanlon was the voice of George Jetson on the show and Penny Singleton lent her voice to the character of Jane Jetson, George’s wife. However, these voice roles were first offered To Morey Amsterdam and Pat Carroll (Pat Caroll later became famous as the voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid). The two even signed a contract with Hanna-Barbera Productions. However, at the time, Morey Amsterdam was on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Pat Caroll was starring on The Danny Thomas Show. So to minimize any sponsor conflicts, the creators and producers of the show decided to extend an offer to George O’Hanlon and Penny Singleton, who readily accepted.
This led to conflict, with Pat Carroll and Morey Amsterdam suing the Hanna-Barbera productions for breach of contract. According to Carroll, their contract with the production house promise that they will receive $500 per episode and thus sued the production house for $12,000. In 2013, in an interview, Carroll revealed that the court ruled in favour of Hanna-Barbera productions.
Southern California Inspired the Show’s Googie Architecture
In the 1940s, Googie architecture, which is a kind of futurist architecture, emerged as the hottest architectural trend of the decade and Southern California was quick to embrace it. When the show’s creators start working on the show’s concept, they inspire by the Googie architecture around Hanna Barbera’s office. They took particular inspiration from Johnie’s Coffee Shop, the Downey, California McDonalds, Norms Restaurants, and LAX theme building while creating the Orbit City. Unfortunately, no Googie structures exist today.
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The Audiences Developed an Instant Liking to the Show’s Theme Song
Hoyt Curtin, the then-primary music composer at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio, created the theme song of The Jetsons. The song first made an appearance on Television’s Greatest Hits, Vol. I. and became an instant hit. It was re-recorded in 1986 and sent to various radio stations. The theme song, once again, quickly gained popularity, eventually settling itself for the ninth spot on the Billboard charts. A video reel from The Jetsons accompanied the theme song whenever it played on MTV. The Jetsons’ theme song enjoys immense popularity to this day.
The Jetsons Predicted Certain Things About the Future Correctly
George Jetson used an aero car to commute to his office and while we haven’t yet made spaceships for regular travel, there has certainly been some progress in other areas.
In 2015, Terrafugia got approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to test its TF-X, a car that can transform itself into an aeroplane. Currently, Aeromobil also produces cars that change into planes. Similarly, Moller is also working on Skycar 200, a very similar concept. However, none of these companies has revealed the prices of these futuristic cars but it is safe to say these cars won’t be affordable any time soon.
Yet another thing the show predicted and that is being worked on is space travel. Virgin Galactic, a partnership between a British conglomerate and Virgin Group, has been working on creating subordinate spaceflights for space travel. It is now possible to go to space for $250,000. Tesla is also working on launching rockets that will take people to other planets.
The Jetsons Also Predicted the Tanning Beds
From the very beginning, physicians have recommended ‘sun cure’ as a treatment to several health conditions. However, the tanning equipment available in the early 20th century emitted high UVB, which often led to skin burns. In the mid-1970s, Friedrich Wolff, a German scientist created a tanning bed that used 95% UVA and 5% UVB, thereby solving the problem of tanning devices-induced burns. His creation led to the opening of the first tanning salon in Berlin, Germany, in 1977 and by 1978, the tanning bed created by Wolff had also made an appearance in America.
Thus, when The Jetsons showed tanning beds, they were only predicting the future. Similarly, The Jetsons also correctly predicted flatscreen televisions and robot vacuums.
However, Moving Sidewalks Existed Before the Jetsons
Various characters in The Jetsons are crossing moving walkways often. However, moving walkways was not a new or innovative concept that the ‘60s can take credit for. Moving sidewalks is an idea by winemaker and inventor Alfred Speer in 1871. In 1958, Dallas Love Field became the first airport to adopt the idea invented by Speer. The creators of The Jetsons got the idea of moving sidewalks from Dallas’ Love Field airport.
Forbes Value Spacely Space Sprockets at $1.3 Billion in 2007
In 2007, Forbes did a very interesting piece on the current worth of 25 fictional companies shown in films and TV shows. Spacely Space Sprockets, the company where George Jetson worked held the 25th spot on the list. According to Forbes, in 2007, George’s company was worth $1.3 billion. Though the employees at the company had to do only three-hour shifts, three days a week, they had to endure never-ending termination threats from their boss, Mr Spacely.
The Show Was Taken off the Air Because There Weren’t Enough Colored Televisions in America Back Then
The Jetsons is the first show to broadcast in color on ABC and this turns out to be a problem. Back in 1962, only three percent of all Americans had color TV. Even those who had colour TV did not necessarily have access to the colored version of The Jetsons — only those connected to ABC affiliates in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco could see the show in colour. For everyone else, it was only available in black and white. This show quite a problem because The Jetsons is a futuristic show and it can enjoyed in colour. The show was taken off the air, not because of declining ratings or diminishing audiences but because there weren’t enough colored televisions in America back then.
According to Kanye West, He Was Going to Be the Creative Director of the Jetsons Movie
On March 18, 2003, Paramount Pictures announced that they were working on the script of a Jetson movie and Adam Shankman would be directing the film. In May 2006, another announcement by Adam F. Goldenberg would be joining the team as a screenwriter and Donald De Line and Di Novi would be producing the film. In 2007, the then-director of the planned movie started negotiations with Warner Bros. and Universal Studios for a CGI adaptation of the film.
And then in 2012, Kanye West took to Twitter to tell the world how he was in talks to become the Creative Director of the film. Producer Denise Di Novi later cleared that there was never a call with Kanye regarding him becoming the Creative Director.
10 We Might See a New Animated Film or Sitcom Soon
Since 2001, different studios have been trying to get a live-action Jetsons movie out. In 2003, it was declared that a Jetsons project with Adam Shankman was in the pipeline. However, nothing came of it. Next, Robert Rodriguez came into the picture. In 2012, it was announced that Evan Susser and Van Robichaux will be working on the project. In 2015, an announcement was made which said that writer Matt Lieberman was working on a new Jetsons movie that would not be a live-action film but an animated one and will be directed by Conrad Vernon. And in 2017, ABC also announced that they will be creating a sitcom version of the show. Unfortunately, even after all these announcements, audiences are still waiting.
The Jetsons was quite ahead of its time and the show has gathered more followers after going off the air than it had while still in production. Have you seen The Jetsons? Are you a fan? Is there any other interesting fact that you would like to add to this list? Please let us know through the comments section.
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