‘Star Trek Beyond’ director Justin Lin is back to reinterpret another sci fi property from the 60s… the classic Hanna Barbera cartoon ‘The Jetsons’. Lin has teamed with forward-thinking engineering company Arconic to present a new spin on the futuristic exploits of “George Jetson, his boy Elroy, daughter Judy and Jane his wife.” The new clip reinterprets the classic flying car and the Jetson’s entire world, grounding it in our modern world which is already packed with gadgetry similar to the once fantastic items that The Jetsons employed.
Check out the clip, which already has over three million views on Youtube:
Arconic’s website describes the company as:
Working in close partnership with our customers, we solve complex engineering challenges to transform the way we fly, drive, build and power.
Arconic’s work is applied to the fields of aerospace, automotive, construction, energy and defense.
Regarding the use of ‘The Jetsons’, they said:
The Jetsons sci-fi cartoon series launched in 1962 and was set 100 years in the future. An instant hit, it presented an entertaining yet surprisingly forward-thinking vision of 2062. It’s amazing to see how much The Jetsons got right, predicting things like smartwatches, tablets and 3D printing; and that made us wonder what else might still be in store. Flying cars? Extraordinary buildings? So we gathered a brain trust of leading futurists and our own engineers to share their thoughts on what Arconic could help realize in 2062, and brought their vision to life with the help of film director Justin Lin.
As neat as the commercial is in and of itself, perhaps even more fascinating is this behind-the-scenes video which details why Arconic chose to reinvent ‘The Jetsons’ and how this reflects their company and their goals.
‘The Jetsons’ aired from 1962-63 in prime time alongside ‘The Flintstones’ and then aired in reruns pretty consistently since. In the 80s a new version of the cartoon began airing in syndication and in 1990, a theatrical animated movie was released and bombed. Several years ago, plans were in place for a live action film with Robert Rodriguez attached to direct and (believe it or not) Kanye West attached as artistic director, but the project never materialized. Last year, an animated film was announced with Matt Lieberman tackling the script, but there have been no new updates since then.
So for the time being, this may be the closest we’ll get to a modern update of ‘The Jetsons’. And even though it’s brief… it’s still pretty neat, right?
