Before the life-defining question of ‘beta aap bade ho ke kya ban na chahte ho?’ started plaguing my life, there existed another big question – Flintstones or Jetsons?
While the world raved over the Bedrock residents, I was always a hardcore supporter of Team Jetsons.
Let’s revisit one of the most amazing cartoons ever to have come out of Cartoon Network’s golden era.
George Jetson and his family entered prime-time television in 1962 with a 24-episode series. The shows popularity transcended time, which is why kids like you and I from the 90s got to watch it on Cartoon Network.
This was a show like none other. Set in the 21st century, The Jetsons gave us a fantasy-like sneak-peek into the future. Given that the show first aired in the 60s, some of the super-cool gadgets and technology were already being used by humans of the 90s. But even in 2017, there’s still a long way to go to get to a world as technologically advanced as shown in The Jetsons.
Living the Jetsons‘ life was all we wanted as kids.
This world allowed people to be transported from one place to another through conveyor belts, in their very homes. They could easily shoot from one place to another through transportation tubes. And they had flying cars. Who wouldn’t want a FLYING CAR?
But here’s the best part about the Jetsons‘ world. Everything could be done by the push of a button. I mean, George Jetson’s job was to switch the machine on and off, each day of every year.
Then there was Rosie, their humanoid maid. Rosie is by far the sassiest character created in the Hanna-Barbera universe. She was witty and that wit spared nobody. Not even her employer, George Jetson.
Rosie’s favourite in the house was Elroy, George’s son and the youngest member of the family. This kid would go to asteroids and planets for school field trips. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff dreams are made of. He also found Orbitty, a space alien on one of his field trips, who ended up becoming his pet. Elroy’s life was right out of the vivid imagination of a geeky kid.
Not to forget, Elroy had his own kiddie jet-pack at an age when you and I rode our basic Avon cycles.
The Jetsons had many moments that got us gasping with fantasy and hopes of living in a world as hi-tech as theirs.
In fact, many things that featured in The Jetsons have now become a reality. From humanoids (although not as efficient as Rosie) to video calling to drones and smart watches, it seems like we are living the Jetsons‘ life in some way.
There were way too many things that were wonderful about The Jetsons and it is impossible to list each one of them. But what it actually propagated were traditional family values set even in the far-off future, birthing from the mind of a person living in the 60s.
Today if you watch The Jetsons, it might seem to have patriarchal undertones that were prevalent in the world, rather the USA of those times. But that still doesn’t defy the fact that The Jetsons was a show that gave wings to our imagination to take a flight into the future and also made us hopeful of the endless possibilities of the human mind.
The Jetsons gave us a peep into the future that we’re still yet to witness. Till then, we’ve got its episodes to fall back on.
I’m going on The Jetsons’ marathon right away. What are you waiting for?
Come on, jet set go, already!