I LOVE that show! It is a classic animated action-adventure series from Hanna- Barbera that aired on TV in 1964-1965. It followed the adventures of 11-year-old Jonny Quest, his scientist father Dr. Benton Quest, bodyguard Race Bannon, and friend Hadji, along with Jonny’s dog, Bandit, as they solved mysteries and fought villains around the world. It was only on for two years, but it then ran in syndication for the next twenty years!

The breakdown is: Jonny is a daring and athletic boy who joins his father on adventures around the globe. Though he doesn’t enjoy school, he is intelligent, adventurous, and athletic. He is also proficient in judo, scuba diving, and handling firearms. Pretty impressive for an 11-year-old!

Dr. Benton Quest is a brilliant scientist and a loving father to Jonny. He is considered one of the top three scientists in the world. In the first episode, one of the government agents notes that Jonny lost his mother, but it was never stated when or how she died, just that a special agent was assigned to protect Jonny since she might have been killed by foreign agents because of the work his father does around the world.

Roger T. “Race” Bannon is the special agent from Intelligence One hired to safeguard Jonny 24/7. He is an expert in judo, having a third-degree black belt, and is also a pilot.

Hadji is an orphan boy from India who is Jonny’s best friend. He is also skilled in judo and possesses “mystical” abilities like snake charming. “Sim Sim Salabim!”

Bandit is Jonny’s faithful dog and is always up for an adventure, or usually getting into trouble. He got his name because of the black markings resembling a mask around his eyes.

Dr. Zin is the recurring villain and criminal mastermind. The original Jonny Quest series is my favorite. I loved all the exotic places they jetted off to and the storylines. They rebooted the series in 1986 with “The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, but it just doesn’t do the original justice.

And The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest in 1996 was another updated version of the franchise, but with CGI, it lost its magic for me.

And for as much as I love Jonny Quest, there is one thing that has bothered me that I have never been able to figure out in all these years. I have always wondered why Jonny looks more like Race Bannon than his father.