The Venture Bros.

The Venture Bros.
Description
Premiered	2003
Running time	22-24 minutes
Seasons	7
Episodes	81
Production credits
Created by	Jackson Publick
Broadcast
Original network	Adult Swim / Cartoon Network
Distributors	Warner Bros. Television Distribution

The Venture Bros. is a comedic animated television series that both parodies the original Jonny Quest series and includes Jonny Quest characters in some episodes.

Character archetype comparison

The Venture Bros. is a homage and parody of Jonny Quest. The setup of the main characters parallels the original Quest Team:

Main characters	Jonny Quest	Venture Bros.
Scientist father	Dr. Benton Quest	Dr. Thaddeus Venture
Adventurous sons	Jonny and Hadji	Hank and Dean
Family bodyguard	Race Bannon	Brock Samson
Pet dog	Bandit	Scamp

The pilot episode has several moments that parallel the original Jonny Quest series. The Venture team flies in a Dragonfly-like plane and the team is seated exactly as the Quest team sits in the Dragonfly, and this scene is featured in the opening sequence. The opening also features a spider-like robot, similar to Dr. Zin's robot spider.

Venture Team in their plane the X-1 in their series opening

Quest Team in their plane the Dragonfly in their series opening

Jonny Quest characters

Several of the original Jonny Quest characters are introduced in the series. Since The Venture Bros. and Jonny Quest are both owned by the same company, it was initially okay for The Venture Bros. to use the original characters' names. So Race Bannon and Jonny Quest both had their original names when they were introduced in seasons 1 and 2. But due to licensing concerns over how the characters were portrayed, the production team was later asked to change their names.

Main original series characters:

• Race Bannon, later renamed "Red Bannon"
• Jonny Quest, referred to initially as "Jonny" and "Mr. Quest", and later renamed "Action Johnny"
• Hadji, called "Rajni"
• Dr. Quest, deceased by the start of the series, he's referenced multiple times

Other original series characters:

• Dr. Zin, called "Dr. Z", Jonny's former nemesis
• Turu, the pterosaur from episode Turu the Terrible

Prominent non-canon characters:

• Mrs. Z, Dr. Z's wife
• Rajni's unnamed wife

Vehicles:

• Quest Bell One, a bathysphere (submersible), the design is taken from the episode Pirates from Below

Crossover episodes

List of episodes

Episode	Aired	Crossover appearance
1.09 Ice Station - Impossible!	Sep 18, 2004	Race Bannon, Jonny (mentioned)
2.05 Twenty Years to Midnight	Aug 06, 2006	Jonny
3.01 Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny	Jun 01, 2008	Dr. Z (silhouette)
3.02 The Doctor is Sin	Jun 08, 2008	Rajni, Johnny
3.03 The Invisible Hand of Fate	Jun 15, 2008	Red (flashback)
3.05 The Buddy System	Jun 29, 2008	Johnny, Dr. Z
3.09 Now Museum-Now You Don't	Jul 27, 2008	Johnny (background cameo)
4.05 The Revenge Society	Nov 15, 2009	Dr. Z (silhouette)
4.06 Self-Medication	Nov 22, 2009	Johnny, Dr. Z
4.10 Pomp and Circuitry	Sep 19, 2009	Dr. Z (silhouette)
4.16 Operation P.R.O.M.	Nov 21, 2009	Johnny (mentioned)
5.01 What Color is Your Cleansuit?	Jun 02, 2013
5.02 Venture Libre	Jun 09, 2013	Turu
5.07 Bot Seeks Bot	Jul 14, 2013	Dr. Z
6.00 All This and Gargantua-2	Jan 19, 2015	Dr. Z
6.01 Hostile Makeover	Jan 31, 2016	Dr. Z
6.03 Faking Miracles	Feb 14, 2016	Dr. Z
6.05 Tanks for Nuthin'	Feb 28, 2016	Dr. Z
6.06 It Happening One Night	Mar 06, 2016	Dr. Z
6.07 A Party for Tarzan	Mar 13, 2016	Dr. Z
7.02 The Rorqual Affair	Aug 12, 2018	Dr. Z
7.03 Arrears in Science	Aug 19, 2018	Dr. Z
7.04 The High Cost of Loathing	Aug 26, 2018	Dr. Z
7.06 The Bellicose Proxy	Sep 09, 2018	Dr. Z
7.08 The Terminus Mandate	Sep 23, 2018	Johnny, Dr. Z, Red Bannon (flashback)
7.09 The Forecast Manufacturer	Sep 30, 2018	Dr. Z
7.10 The Saphrax Protocol	Oct 07, 2018	Dr. Z

Ice Station - Impossible!

Race Bannon is mortally injured while on a mission with the Office of Secret Intelligence. Brock Samson, an old friend of his, finds him and holds his hand while Race dies, and Race's last words are to tell Jonny he loves him. Brock completes Race's mission.

Twenty Years to Midnight

Jonas Jr. and the Captain go to the submersible Quest Bell One looking for a needed component, and they're surprised to find Jonny Quest - in his underwear, paranoid, holding a gun, and surrounded by pill bottles. The Captain convinces Jonny that Jonas Jr. is a doctor who can write him any prescription he needs, and Jonas Jr. plays along.

The Doctor is Sin

Rajni and Johnny

Rajni calls Jonas Jr. from the office as Johnny is having a breakdown behind him. Rajni doesn't know what to do, but his wife will leave him if he brings Johnny to the house again. Rajni says that Johnny is "like a brother" to him, reminding Jonas Jr. that he has his brother Rusty on the other line. At the mention of Rusty, Rajni jokes, "Has he asked you for money yet?" Jonas tries to transfer over to Rusty, but Rusty's left his phone. Rajni says, "Shit, did he hear us?"

The Invisible Hand of Fate

In a flashback from the agency, Red Bannon steps out of a room, covered in blood. Behind him in the room is a man tied to a chair, where Red has obviously been torturing him for information.

The Buddy System

At "Rusty's Day Camp for Boy Adventurers", Action Johnny is a featured guest. He has his own booth where he signs "baby pictures" of himself, which appear to be an eleven-year-old Jonny Quest. Action Johnny also appears on stage and speaks to the crowd, but he goes on a rant about his issues with his father and he has a breakdown on stage. Brock mentions that he liked him better when he was strung out.

Dean later gets Johnny's autograph, and Johnny tells him that if he "just says the word" he'll get Dean out of there because he doesn't need to live like that. Johnny is later upset that the program says he has a special guest star. On stage, Dr. Z arrives and tells him to give "Uncle Z" a hug. Johnny breaks down and is taken away, and Dr. Venture tells Dr. Z that Johnny's "been clean for a month" but he's been "downing xanax like they're cheetos".

Behind the scenes

Creator Christopher McCulloch, under the pseudonym Jackson Publick, spoke on some of the Jonny Quest connections in a 2007 interview:

The basic idea of The Venture Brothers was taking the world of Jonny Quest and jumping back into 30 years later, seeing how someone who grew up like Jonny—with that kind of space race enthusiasm and disregard for other cultures—would turn out. Dr. Venture is a boy genius who didn't grow up to be what he should have been.

The thing that always struck me about Jonny Quest is: What kind of parent brings his kid to the Amazon so that yetis can throw boulders at him? We were playing with that, that kind of callous disregard for proper parenting in the name of the pursuit of science. Other than that little hint of sadism, we haven't really taken the wind out of the 60s guys.

External links

• The Venture Bros. Wiki - note the section on Jonny Quest, and pages for Action Johnny, Red Bannon, and Dr. Z.