An adventure series with distinctively realistic animation,Jonny Quest first appeared on prime time in 1965-65, and then on Saturday morning through the 1970s. Renowned scientist Dr. Benton Quest (Don Messick), with a reddish-brown beard and a white lab coat, and his white-haired, hard-muscled boyfriend Race Bannon, investigate weird mysteries in the Andes, the Artic, the Sargasso Sea, or most commonly in steamy jungles full of dragon-like lizards and headhunters.
Tagging along, either to figure out the mystery or get abducted by bad guys, are Dr. Quest’s 11-year old son, Jonny (Tim Matheson) and his companion Hadji (Danny Bravo), who met them in Calcutta and then tagged along for no logical reason except that he rather liked Jonny.
Dr. Quest and Race Bannon were quite obviously gay partners, as modern "parodies" on the Cartoon Network have recognized. Neither displayed the slightest interest in women.
Race was often drawn in a swimsuit so his massive muscles were visible. Here he stains himself with purple berry juice to convince the savage Po-Po Indians that he is a god.
But I was more interested in Jonny and Hadji. Jonny, blond in a tough guy’s black turtleneck, rushes double-fisted into danger, while Hadji, slim and brown with petite hands, wearing a turban with a ruby in it all the time (even when swimming), is skittish and emotional, shouting “Be careful!” from the sidelines as he waits for an opportunity to assist with his mystical arts.
Hadji, by the way, was just one in a line of South Asian boy-adventurers such as
Sabu, Kim in the Corentin series, Gunga
Andy's Gang, and Raji on
Maya .We see in him the feminization of the Colonial Other as dark, mysterious, intuitive, and sensual, and a none-too-subtle masculine-feminine dynamic in his interaction with Jonny. The intensity, physicality, and sheer heat of their interactions make them seem more lovers than foster brothers. At playtime nobody wanted to be Hadji, but everyone wanted to rescue him from bad guys and carry him off in their arms.
The comic book series wasn't successful, but there were novelizations, toys, and games, including a record, a version of
Jules Verne's
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
In 1996, a new series appeared,
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. Jonny and Hadji were now teenagers, considerably more buffed than in the original series. Unfortunately, to address the strong homoerotic subtext of the original, they were heterosexualized. Dr. Quest got a wife. Race Bannon got a daughter, Jessie, who became Jonny's girlfriend.
No word on whether Hadji resented being replaced.
See also:
The Venture Brothers.
It's very obvious now that Jonny had to dads.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say, as a cis female growing up at that time, This was my favorite cartoon show and I was thoroughly in love with Haji. I completely appreciate your take on this. Nail on the head! After age 15, all my favorite friends were gay males. I adore them so much! I was (and still am) completely jealous! Straight men really suck. And altho I'm pretty fem, I've always felt I was a gay man living in the body of a straight female. I found this on Google. I was just creepin on Haji, as I am about to date an eastern Indian guy who embodies all the qualities you mentioned about Haji and you just made me realize why I was so enamored with Haji. I've been searching for him my whole life! Hope this date lives up to my life long "quest" ;) Thank you for this blog. I despised the hetero-generics of mainstream entertainment. You have aa very astute and sensitive perception.
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