| George Jetson | |
|---|---|
| The Jetsons character | |
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| First appearance |
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| Created by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voiced by | George O'Hanlon (1962–1989) Herb Duncan (1962;The Jetsons: New Songs of the TV Family of the Future)[1] Don Messick (1965, 1978, 1980, 1982;The Jetsons in First Family On The Moon,Geometric Jetson,Down to Earth Nutrition,Learning About Work with The Jetsons)[2] Jeff Bergman (1984, 1990–present)[3] Billy West (1984, 1999, 2004;WBCN commercial,RadioShack commercial,Electrasol commercial)[4][5][6] Keith Scott (1992, 1997;Toyota commercial,Hanna Barbera Gala Celebrity Nite)[7][8][9] Seth MacFarlane (2000, 2007;Family Guy)[10] Scott Innes (Toshiba commercial)[11][12] Wally Wingert (2004, 2017;Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law,LG Electronics commercial)[13][14][15] Skeet Ulrich (2009;Robot Chicken)[16] Robert Kazinsky (2013;Robot Chicken)[16] |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | George J. Jetson |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Digital index operator at Spacely's Space Sprockets |
| Spouse | Jane Jetson (wife) |
| Children | Elroy Jetson (son) Judy Jetson (daughter) |
| Relatives | Montague Jetson (grandfather) Harvey Birdman (ancestor)[17] |
| Birthday | c. 2022[18] |
| Catchphrase | "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" |
George J. Jetson[19] is a fictional character from theanimated television seriesThe Jetsons. He is the patriarch of the Jetson family. He is the husband ofJane Jetson and the father of teenage daughterJudy and sonElroy.
George resides with his family and his dog Astro in the Skypad Apartments[20] in Orbit City, in afuture with the trappings ofscience fantasy depictions of American life in the future, such asrobot servants,flying saucer–like cars, andmoving sidewalks. All the apartment buildings are set on giant poles, resemblingSeattle'sSpace Needle; the ground is almost never seen. InJetsons: The Movie, it is revealed that they live in the sky due to excess ofsmog.
When George was a child, he had to fly through ten miles of asteroid storms to go to Orbit High School, where he was the star pitcher of its Spaceball team. George is now an employee at Spacely's Space Sprockets, a manufacturer of "sprockets" and other high-tech equipment. His job title is "digital index operator."[21] His boss isCosmo G. Spacely, noted for being short in both height and temper; Spacely usually treats his employees (particularly George) in a rather tyrannical fashion. George's job primarily requires him to repeatedly push a single button (or on occasion a series of buttons) on a computer (namedRUDI {Short for: Referential Universal Digital Indexer} in the 1980s series ofJetsons episodes). George complains of his heavy work load: pushing a button on and off as many as five times[22] for three hours,[23] three days a week.[24] Often, Mr. Spacely will fire George in a fit of anger, only to hire him back by the end of the same episode.
Physically, George is a rather slim man of average height with shortred hair and a cartoonishly large nose. His personality is that of a well-meaning, caring father, but he is often befuddled and stressed out by the problems of both his work and his family life. As with most Hanna-Barbera productions of the 1950s and early 1960s, George Jetson was modeled after a contemporary celebrity; in George's case, it was character actorGeorge O'Hanlon, who also voiced (and granted his name to) the character. O'Hanlon was well known for his roles as a commoneveryman (his best-known role outsideThe Jetsons was theJoe McDoakes film series) and once said of his character: "George Jetson is an average man. He has trouble with his boss, he has problems with his kids, and so on. The only difference is that he lives in the next century."[25]
In the 2020s, fans, factcheckers and journalists debated the character's birthdate.[26][27][18] In July 2022, the character resurfaced on social media when fans claimed that George's birthday was July 31, 2022. Despite the claim, no official evidence has been found confirming this or any other specific date,[28] although there is some evidence from the show that the year of his birth is 2022.[18]
George's most famouscatchphrase is "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" seen at the end credits of the 1960sJetsons episodes, but is also known for frequently uttering the phrase "Hooba-dooba-dooba!" or "Hooba-Dooba" (in most episodes) to express wonder or astonishment (possibly inspired byFred Flintstone's phrase "Yabba-dabba-doo!").
Morey Amsterdam was originally hired to voice the character but was fired due to sponsor conflicts between his numerous other projects, includingThe Dick Van Dyke Show.[29] Amsterdam sued Hanna-Barbera for breach of contract but lost.[30]
George O'Hanlon, hired after auditioning but failing to win the role ofFred Flintstone two years prior, became George Jetson'svoice actor, a role he would retain for the rest of his life through both the sixties and eighties versions of the cartoon series. O'Hanlon last did the voice for George Jetson inJetsons: The Movie, which was released posthumously.[31]
The current voice of George Jetson isJeff Bergman, who voiced George (and also Mr. Spacely) in some parts of the movie after O'Hanlon's death, and also voiced George inThe Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera as well as for the cameo in theHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Shaggy Busted" andSpümcø's two Jetsons cartoons:Father & Son Day andThe Best Son, as well as in the 2017 filmThe Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!
In theHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Back to the Present", George was voiced byWally Wingert. In the episode, the Jetsons return to the past to sue the planet for causingglobal warming, hiringHarvey Birdman (an ancestor of George's) as theirattorney.
What's your name, speedy? George J. Jetson. George Jetson, eh? Well, Georgie, let's see what we got here.
Car 88 calling in. What's up, sarge? Investigate complaint of trouble over at the Skypad Apartments. Right, Sarge. I'm on my way.
Although George Jetson does commute to work as a "darn good digital index operator" (a job that apparently involves push the buttons that start and stop the procedure), the rest of the Dyson/Bel Geddes vision is complete – to no avail. Just about everything is automated, but no one seems aware that life is easier...
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