The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (sometimes shortened to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius or commonly Jimmy Neutron) is an American computer-animated television series based on the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius created by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn. It originally aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons beginning July 20, 2002, and the final episode aired on November 25, 2006. The show follows an 11-year-old genius from Retroville, the eponymous character, as he goes on adventures with his best friends Carl Wheezer and Sheen Estevez. Throughout the show, various mishaps and conflicts occur on these adventures, as Jimmy's various inventions go awry. The series features voices of Debi Derryberry (Jimmy), Jeffrey Garcia (Sheen), and Rob Paulsen (Carl) for the three main characters.
The series has been the recipient of various nominations such as Kid's Choice "Favorite Cartoon" in 2006 and 2007, and has won an Annie award for "outstanding achievement in animated television production produced for children" as well as a Motion Picture Sound Editors "Golden Reel award". A spin-off, Planet Sheen, aired from 2010 to 2013.
Summary[]
The show follows an 11-year-old boy named Jimmy Neutron from Retroville, Texas who is a scientific genius. He frequently goes on adventures with his two best friends Sheen and Carl, usually involving his inventions going awry.
Episodes[]
:Main article: List of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius episodes
Season | Episodes | First aired (Original) | Last aired (Original) |
---|---|---|---|
Pilot | September 7, 1998 | ||
Movie | December 21, 2001 | ||
1 | 19 | July 20, 2002 | September 5, 2003 |
2 | 17 | September 19, 2003 | July 9, 2004 |
3 | 19 | November 11, 2004 | November 25, 2006 |
DVD releases[]
Title | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Confusion Fusion | May 27, 2003 | October 8, 2003 | – |
Sea of Trouble | October 7, 2003 | March 24. 2005 | – |
Jet Fusion | February 3, 2004 | July 7, 2005 | – |
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour | May 11, 2004 | - | - |
Attack of the Twonkies | November 16, 2004 | – | – |
Nick Picks Vol. 1 | May 24, 2005 | - | - |
Nick Picks Vol. 2 | October 18, 2005 | - | - |
Nick Picks Vol. 3 | February 7, 2006 | - | - |
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2 | March 14, 2006 | - | - |
Nick Picks Vol. 4 | June 6, 2006 | - | - |
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3 | July 25, 2006 | - | - |
Party at Neutron's | – | September 4, 2006 | – |
Nick Picks Vol. 5 | March 13, 2007 | - | - |
King of Mars | – | – | July 5, 2007 |
The Best of Season 1 | September 16, 2008 | – | – |
The Best of Season 2 | September 16, 2008 | – | – |
The Best of Season 3 | September 16, 2008 | – | – |
Production[]
Development[]
Keith Alcorn and John A. Davis created Jimmy (then named Johnny Quasar) sometime during the 1980s and wrote a script titled Runaway Rocketboy (later the name of the pilot), which was abandoned. He later stumbled upon the idea while moving into a new house in the early 1990s. Davis re-worked it as a short film titled Johnny Quasar and presented it at SIGGRAPH, where he met Steve Oedekerk and worked on a television series of the short as well as the movie. Jimmy was still called Johnny Quasar before it was decided to name him Jimmy Neutron because the name sounded eerily similar to Jonny Quest.
Writing[]
Victor Wilson was hired as the Story Editor. The main writers when the show was greenlit were Steven Banks and Jed Spingarn.
Animation[]
DNA Productions retooled their pipeline when moving from the film to the TV series, to reuse assets for the episodes. Some of the programming team at the studio programmed a special code that allowed the animators to animate scenes in Maya, which can then be rendered in Lightwave. This helped the team keep up with the deadline and avoid going over budget.
Possible reboot/revival plans[]
In 2016, director John A. Davis has stated that he has a story for a Jimmy Neutron reboot feature that he would like to make, but he is waiting for the "right situation" to make it.
When asked about a reboot in 2020, Rob Paulsen stated "Well, I've got to tell you, man. I go all over the world when we don't have the coronavirus, and people love Carl. They love Carl. I don't think it would be a bad thing at all to reboot Jimmy Neutron. I think that's one of those shows that a lot of people would love to see again. It was very good. Really smart. That wouldn't surprise me."
Theme[]
The theme song was originally written by Brian Causey for the pilot episode. Pop-punk band Bowling for Soup later revamped and extended Causey's theme for the film version theme. Ultimately, the original theme was kept for the TV series intro and outro.
Reception[]
Critical reception[]
Joly Herman of Common Sense Media gave the series 3 out of 5 stars; saying that, "Jimmy Neutron has all the trappings of a Nickelodeon show: the preteen peer pressure, the gadgets, the spacey parents. But it's clever enough and funny enough to have earned a devoted following. The script is generally well written and well executed -- the adults behind this show approach the project with apparent zeal. [...] Kids will enjoy this program, while parents might get a kick out of some of the gags as well. And though the computer animation may seem a bit freaky for old-school animation fans, it does allow for quality special effects."
Awards and nominations[]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | BMI Awards | BMI Cable Award | Charlie Brissette | Won | |
2004 | 31st Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production Produced for Children | Nickelodeon and DNA Productions | Won | |
Outstanding Achievement Directing in an Animated Television Production | Mike Gasaway | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | Jeff Garcia as Sheen | Won | |||
10th annual NAMIC Vision Awards | Children's | MTV/Nickelodeon for The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | Nominated | ||
BMI Awards | BMI Cable Award | Charlie Brissette and Brian Causey | Won | ||
Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing in Television Animation | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | Won | ||
2005 | 32nd Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Television Production | Keith Alcorn | Nominated | |
Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | Carolyn Lawrence as Cindy | Nominated | |||
2006 | 33rd Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Writing in an Animated Television Production | Christopher Painter | Nominated | |
2006 Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | Nominated | ||
2007 | 2007 Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius | Nominated |
Spin-off[]
- Main article: Planet Sheen
A spin-off series, Planet Sheen, aired from 2010 to 2013. The show focuses on Sheen Estevez, who accidentally crash-lands on the planet Zeenu in the pilot episode.
See also[]
External links[]
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015.
- Jimmy Neutron wiki
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Jimmy_Neutron,_Boy_Genius
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