Review of "Mystery of the Lizard Men," a Jonny Quest episode

Review of

Mystery of the Lizard Men, a Jonny Quest episode


Five out of five stars

The original Jonny Quest show was a groundbreaker in the sense that it was a cartoon that ran in prime time on ABC in 1964-65. While it had a devoted following, decades of popular reruns confirm that, the series only lasted one season. It featured Jonny, the son of super scientist Dr. Benton Quest and special ops sensation Roger (Race) Bannon, assigned to protect the Quest’s. There was no wife of Benton in the group. The show was designed to be science fiction derived from known modern technologies, so not a great deal of extrapolation was needed on the part of the viewer.

 This is the first episode in the series, so the main characters and their backgrounds are presented. Ships are mysteriously being lost in the Sargasso Sea and the only survivor mumbles deliriously about giant lizards. Dr. Quest and his group are dispatched to investigate, and they encounter and battle the evildoers.

 What made the series so fun is that while he is a boy, Jonny is a full action figure, fighting alongside Race and being the hero to all adolescent boys that watched him. Jonny’s dog bandit is also a contributing member of the team, he takes direction very well and helps Jonny and Race escape. This is another one of those series that ended well before it should have. Unlike most cartoons, the dialog is superb and somewhat adult. For example, Jonny: “Foolish question number one, does it hurt Race?” Race: “Only when I say ouch.”