Classic Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest Character Reference Guide - Errata
© 1998, Lyle P. Blosser

A page-by-page listing of the statements found in the Jonny Quest Character Reference Guide that are directly contradicted by the classic JQ episodes themselves.

Note: This page only deals with the errors pertaining to Classic Jonny Quest (1964-65) and the Comico-produced comic books; the 1987 series, movies, and other productions are not discussed.

Page, description The statement Our correction
8-9, Character Descriptions: Race Bannon section title: Character Descriptions This should be Main Character Summaries, just like Dr. Quest, Hadji, and Bandit.
10, Main Character Summaries: Hadji [Hadji] became a permanent member of the Quest team after saving Race from a deadly dagger. It was Dr. Quest he saved from a would-be-assassin's dagger, not Race.
10, Main Character Summaries: Hadji Despite the lack of any documentation, it appears the Quests have informally adopted Hadji ... It's not informally, and there was plenty of documentation. Near the end of the episode, the following dialog took place:
Race: "Tell me, Pasha, how'd you get Hadji's passport, health certificate, and application for adoption?"
Pasha: "It's not a question of how, daddy-o, it's how much!"
Pasha's comment seems to be referring to the probable fact that he had to bribe some government officials, or at least call in some favors, so Hadji could leave with the Quests. Sounds "formal" to me!
18, Programming History Quest held the Friday 7:30 PM time slot through year-end, and was moved to Thursdays at 7:30 in January, 1965 The move to Thursdays occurred on December 31, 1964, with the episode The Fradulent Volcano.
20, Episode Title Chronology: 1964 Original Episodes This explains why Hadji first appeared in episode #3, The Curse of Anubis, even though he did not formally join the Quest Team until later in episode #7, Calcutta Adventure. Several problems:
  1. Hadji first appeared in episode #2, Arctic Splashdown.
  2. Calcutta Adventure did tell how Hadji joined the team, but it was told as a flashback! The opening sequence showed them all watching a film sent by Pasha, which caused them to reminisce about what had happened. Hadji was a full-fledged team member at the time the episode occured.
20, Episode Title Chronolgy: 1964 Original Episodes Episode 13 is listed as A Matter of Pygmies. The episode is titled A Small Matter of Pygmies.
21, Episode Title Chronolgy: 1964 Original Episodes Episode 15, Turu the Terrible, is missing the production code. The production code for the episode is Z-15.
21, Episode Title Chronolgy: 1964 Original Episodes Episode 22 is listed as The Quetong Missile Mystery The title card for the episode was shown as The "Q" Missile Mystery for the 2nd airing of the episode, so references to either may be considered correct; both should be listed. (See note 1)
24, Episode Synopses/1964: Introduction In 1964, Jonny Quest aired on NBC with 26 episodes. It was on ABC, not NBC.
25, Episode Synopses/1964: Arctic Splashdown Covered by an aerial umbrella, Quest, Race, Jonny, Hadji and Bandit set out for the Antarctic. It was the Arctic, not the Antarctic. They used an ice-breaker to get close to the rocket crash site, then went on over the ice. The rocket itself impacted in ice that was over water; the enemy used a submarine to approach the same area. This would not have been possible in the Antarctic, which is a continent. Besides, the episode title is Arctic Splashdown. (See note 2)
26, Episode Synopses/1964: Curse of Anubis Ahmed, an unscrupulous chieftain ... We agree he was unscrupulous, but the villain (full name Ahmed Kareem, as established by the phone conversation with Dr. Quest) was a scientist (an archaeologist), not a tribal chieftain. Likewise his men, described as "tribesman" would be better described as "henchman."
27, Episode Synopses/1964: Riddle of the Gold Cassim captures Prof. Gunderseon, inventor of a process to create gold. There are several problems here:
  1. Cassim's full name is Abdul Cassim; this is mentioned in the episode, and both Race and Dr. Quest were familiar with him.
  2. Cassim did not act alone -- he was in league with the Maharaja of Jahilipur, and both men were working for Dr. Zin
  3. Gundersen's process did not create gold, but instead a material called zanium, which could be passed off as gold, unless one knew how to test for it, which Dr. Quest did.
27, Episode Synopses/1964: Riddle of the Gold Cassim plans to trap all of them in the mine, and kill Dr. Quest. Although Cassim does trap them in the mine, and tries to kill them, that was not part of his plans. Quest was to have been killed on the tiger hunt. Cassim improvised the mine trap when the tiger hunt plan failed.
27, Episode Synopses/1964: Riddle of the Gold Zin escapes, warning Dr. Quest that they will meet again. Zin was never on the premises, and had no need to "escape"; all of his interaction was by video communication.
28, Episode Synopses/1964: Treasure of the Temple He leads them to an underground river. After evading many traps set by Perkins ... Perkins did not set any traps along their underground river escape route. All of his traps were set along the jungle trail leading to the lost city.
28, Episode Synopses/1964: Treasure of the Temple The pursuing party is crushed by falling stalactites. The pursuing party is attacked by crocodiles when the stalactites shot by Race put holes in their boats, forcing them to swim for shore. We hear their shouts, and Dr. Quest instructs the boys not to look back.
29, Episode Synopses/1964: Calcutta Adventure Pasha fields the party to a mountain in his native flying machine. Some "native flying machine" - it was a helicopter!
29, Episode Synopses/1964: Calcutta Adventure Quest uses his sonic amplifier to help his party escape. Race, not Dr. Quest, used the sonic amplifier to help the party escape.
30, Episode Synopses/1964: The Robot Spy Before the test, the Quest Team sees a mysterious light emanating from a strange object on the island. They were not on an island, but rather at some desert locale (presumably in the SW US) -- there are cacti, jackrabbits, sand dunes, large rocky mesas, mountains, roads, a city, and a military base, etc. The object approached from over the ocean, but its destination could have been anywhere in California, Arizona, Nevada, or New Mexico.
31, Episode Synopses/1964: Double Danger Dr. Zin plots ... to reduce the inhabitants of a major city into a flock of sheep awaiting destruction. Destruction was not Zin's goal, control was. The inhabitants would become a flock of sheep awaiting *instructions*.
31, Episode Synopses/1964: Shadow of the Condor Jonny, Race, Hadji, and Bandit fly with Dr. Quest to the Andes, where he is to install a his new invention, an air filter for the silver mines. A typo (the extra word 'a' between 'install' and 'his').
33, Episode Synopses/1964: The Dreadful Doll [Dr. Quest] believes the drug was administered by a tiny blowgun dart. Actually, it is when they find Alvero drugged, that Dr. Quest *discovers* that the drug is administered via blowgun darts.
33, Episode Synopses/1964: The Dreadful Doll After using a blowgun to knock Korbay unconscious ... Korbay was knocked out by being hit in the head with a plank of lumber, not a blowgun!
34, Episode Synopses/1964: A Small Matter of Pygmies Suddenly the pygmies disappear. Race spots helicopters overhead. The helicopters actually caused quite a bit of chaos among the pygmies before they were driven off. Some dove into the water to escape, others were literally blown out of trees by the choppers.
35, Episode Synopses/1964: Turu the Terrible Later, they rescue one of the natives from the Turu, which Quest realizes must be a pterodactyl, a flying dinosaur which hasn't been seen in a million years. Several problems:
  1. They didn't rescue the native from "the Turu"; they discovered him floating in his canoe after he and his brother were attacked by the Turu earlier.
  2. "Turu" was the creature's name, not a description.
  3. The word pterodactyl was never mentioned, neither was the term flying dinosaur; Dr. Quest specifically identifies the animal as a pteranodon.
  4. It is Race, not Dr. Quest, that mentions that pteranodons have not been around for a million years.
36, Episode Synopses/1964: The Fraudulent Volcano Despite all attempts to stop them, they get inside the mountain with their car ...
  1. There were no attempts to stop Jonny, Hadji, and the sergeant in their car. They were tracked, and men were sent to deal with them. The sergeant had stopped the car and gotten out before being knocked out. Jonny and Hadji hid under the car when the men from the mountain came to look for them.
  2. They didn't get inside the mountain with the car. Jonny and Hadji climbed the mountain to reach the cave entrance where they saw the flying platforms enter. The car is left outside where it is later used in the Quests' escape.
37, Episode Synopses/1964: The Werewolf of the Timberland Grey One, disguised as a wolf, rescues them. Grey One *is* a wolf, the companion of White Feather, an Indian, who is the one that rescues the boys.
38, Episode Synopses/1964: Pirates from Below By threatening Jonny, Sverdi makes Race comply with his demands. The man's name was Svedri, not Sverdi (probably a typo).
38, Episode Synopses/1964: Pirates from Below The underwater pirates finally capture Dr. Quest and the prober. The prober was captured with Race and Jonny. Dr. Quest and Hadji were captured quite a while later.
40, Episode Synopses/1964: The Invisible Monster Dr. Quest's friend, Isaiah Norman, has been experimenting with molecular energy on Cavern Island. It's Cave Island, not Cavern Island.
40, Episode Synopses/1964: The Invisible Monster Quest drops paint bombs on the invisible monster ... It's Dr. Quest and Race who drop paint bombs.
40, Episode Synopses/1964: The Devil's Tower In Africa, Dr. Quest's balloon, carrying his instrument pack, breaks loose and lodges on a mile-high plateau. The plateau is estimated to be *two* miles high; at one point, their plane is flying at 8,000 feet and is still below the top of the escarpment.
40, Episode Synopses/1964: The Devil's Tower A grenade lodges inside the prop of the plane ... Pretty much a physical impossibility! The grenade lodges in the *wing* of the plane, which is covered in aircraft fabric.
41, Episode Synopses/1964: The Quetong Missile Mystery Police Lieutenant Sing, who is in Fong's employ, kidnaps the boys. Quest and Race follow them into the swamp, where Sing crashes his car. A couple of problems:
  1. Sing does not crash his car in the swamp. The crash takes place along a mountain road.
  2. The boys are not with Sing when he crashes his car. It is after the crash, that Quest and Race discover where the boys are (Sing tells all), and then they head into the swamp after them.
42, Episode Synopses/1964: Terror Island Chu threatens to torture Quest if he doesn't help ... Actually, he threatens to kill him by letting him be devoured by some of his enlarged animals.
42, Episode Synopses/1964: Terror Island Chu and the mutated animals are destroyed by high voltage wires. Actually, it's only Chu and *one* of the mutated animals, an enlarged lizard, who are destroyed by the high voltage.
50, Location Guide Antarctic...........2 Arctic, not Antarctic, for episode 2, Arctic Splashdown (See note 2)
51, Location Guide Boat...........14, 19 The Quests were also in boats in episodes 4, 6, 12, 15, 22, and 24
51, Location Guide Cavern Island...........20 Cave Island, not Cavern Island, for episode 20, The Invisible Monster
52, Location Guide Helicopter...........23 Helicopters also appeared in episodes 7, 9, 13, and 22
52, Location Guide Hydrofoil...........24 The hydrofoil also appeared in episodes 1, 4, and 18
52, Location Guide India...........5 The Quests were in India for episode 7 as well
52, Location Guide Islands...........8, 12, 14, 19 Two problems:
  1. The Quests were not on an island in episode 8
  2. The Quests were also on an island in episodes 11, 16, 20, and 24
53, Location Guide Jungle...........4, 13 The Quests were also in the jungle in episodes 5, 6, 9, 15, and 19
54, Location Guide Palace...........25 The Quests were also in a palace in episode 5
55, Location Guide River...........15 The Quests were also along a river in episodes 4, 6, 13, 17, and 19
55, Location Guide Ship...........1, 26 The Quests were also on board a ship in episode 2
57, Location Guide Submarine...........23, *5 There were also submarines in episodes 1, 2, 12, and 18
58, The Villains The main villain from The Curse of Anubis is listed as Ahmed. His full name is Ahmed Kareem, as stated in his phone conversation with Dr. Quest.
59, The Villains Zin's henchman from Riddle of the Gold is listed as Cassim. His full name is Abduhl Cassim; this is specifically mentioned in the episode, and he is someone who both Dr. Quest and Race recognize.
59, The Villains Chu Sing Ling is described as "A mad scientist on a remote island who enlarges vicious animals to destroy mankind." Again, several problems:
  1. The animals Chu enlarged were not vicious: a common garden spider, a lizard, and a crab. They only *appeared* to be vicious after enlargement simply because of their size and strength.
  2. Chu's goal was not to destroy mankind.
60, The Villains Dr. Zin's description reads as follows: "Dr. Quest's nemesis attempts to create a formula to destroy the entire population of Thailand. Zin also creates a robot spy to steal the plans to build a ray gun, and develops a fire bomb to torch the world." A number of problems lie therein:
  1. Zin did not attempt to create the formula -- he attempted to *steal* it from Dr. Quest.
  2. Zin did not want the formula to destroy the entire population of Thailand -- he wanted it because it would give him the ability to totally *control* the population of a major city.
  3. Zin never developed a fire bomb; it was Dr. Quest's invention (used to extinguish oil fires) that led to his being called to investigate a volcano -- the "dummy" volcano that Zin was using as a base to develop an "inertia ray" gun.
  4. Zin's desire was not to torch the world, but to develop a destructive force that others would pay to have.
  5. Totally missing was a description of Zin's plan to gain much wealth by creating fake gold.
60, The Villains General Fong is described as "An evil ex-general..." Nowhere in the episode was it stated that Fong was an ex-general; in fact he was always referred to as a general.
60, The Villains Harden's description reads: "Evil mastermind who uses a witch doctor to put spells on his enemies." Actually, Harden employed a witch doctor to try to scare off local landowners (by drugging certain people and trying to make it look like voodoo) so he could build a secret submarine base.
60, The Villains Ivar's description: "Ivar's henchman dresses up as a gargoyle to steal a valuable scientific formula from the Raklev castle." This description says nothing about Ivar himself! It should read something like "This man used another man named Dietrich Sorensson who dressed as a gargoyle to steal plans for an antigravity device; he later shot Dietrich rather than paying him."
Note: Dietrich Sorensson should have had his own entry, something like: "Once Norway's premier acrobatic dwarf, this man was sent to steal the secret of an antigravity device. He used a gargoyle disguise to sneak about Raklev castle."
60, The Villains Korbay's description: "A witch doctor who uses voodoo to destroy people." Korbay destroyed no one. His description should more accurately read something like, "A local witch doctor who was hired by Harden to drug people using a blowgun dart, making it look like voodoo, in an attempt to scare landowners off the island where Harden was building a secret sub base."
62, The Villains The main villain from Shadow of the Condor is listed only as "the Baron." His name was Baron Heinrich von Froelich, stated when he introduced himself to the Quests.
63, The Villains The main villain from The Devil's Tower is listed as Von Duffle. His name was actually Klaus; von Duffle was an alias he assumed while in hiding on the plateau, but Dr. Quest recognized him for who he really was.
73, Questions & Answers Q: Are there any episodes where Hadji doesn't appear?
A: Yes, Hadji was not in the first two episodes and is first seen in the third. 		This is incorrect. Hadji made his first appearance in the second episode; the only episode where Hadji was not present is Mystery of the Lizard Men, the first broadcast episode.

Notes
1 Thanks to Craig Fuqua for tipping me off to the fact that both titles were broadcast.
2 Craig Fuqua pointed out that there may have been some confusion (Arctic vs. Antarctic) because the title for the episode in TV Guide was originally "Splash-Down Antarctica", which may have been the working title for the episode. However, the "Antarctic" version of the title was never aired, and is incorrect.


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