This Beloved Futuristic Cartoon Is Getting New Life On The Big Screen

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

The JetsonsBy now practically everything else has been rebooted, revamped, updated, bastardized, or otherwise given a modern day makeover, so it’s actually a little bit surprising that this hasn’t happened already, but it looks like we’re getting a new version of The Jetsons. The idea has surfaced a few times over the years (there were even reports of a live-action movie that involved Kanye West in some capacity), but while nothing has ever materialized, this time sound like it means business and it might actually happen.

Deadline reports that the beloved family from the future will likely get a new life via a big screen animated adaptation from Warner Bros. They’ve even hired screenwriter Matt Lieberman to tackle the script. You’re probably most familiar with Lieberman’s work from 2008’s epic Dr. Doolittle: Tail to the Chief, though he also handled the writing duties for the upcoming Short Circuit reboot, another long-gestating project. He’s also been linked to a new, supposed-to-be-theatrically-released Scooby-Doo movie, but we’ll have to see about that.

Hanna-Barbera originally created The Jetsons, a space-age nuclear family, as an answer to their prehistoric hit, The Flintstones. They have everything from flying cars to a robot maid named Rosie, and if you grew up on these episodes, this is still what you expect the future to look like. For as ubiquitous a part of my childhood as this show was, it was a surprisingly truncated run. The original primetime series, which aired on Sunday nights on ABC, only lasted for one season, made up of 24 episodes airing from September 23, 1962 to March 3, 1963. It did get two additional seasons in the mid-1980s, along with a couple TV movies, specials, and a theatrical film, The Jetsons: The Movie, in 1990.

Aside from the fact that this is happening, and that the studio tapped Lieberman to write, there’s not much more to know right now. It’ll be interesting to see if they stick with a more traditional style of animation, reminiscent of the original series, or if they update it and give it a more contemporary twist. I hope they stick with 2D, though you have to imagine they’ll want to render all those futuristic floating diners and buildings in 3D.

Do you like this idea? Are you looking forward to bonding with your kids over a brand new version of The Jetsons (even without Kaynye)? I, for one, am still waiting for new Hong Kong Phooey. He is, after all, the number one super guy.