The Adventures of Johnny Quasar (found prototype "Jimmy Neutron" animated shorts; 1995-1997)
The first screenshot showing Johnny Quasar.
Status: Partially lost
Johnny Quasar, sometimes known as The Adventures of Johnny Quasar is 40 second demo that is a precursor for Jimmy Neutron. The demo, created by John Davis and his partner Keith Alcorn in LightWave 3D was based on an original idea that John Davis had apparently had in mind since the 1980s. The demo was first shown publicly at the 1995 SIGGRAPH conference, and won two Wavey Awards- Best in Character Animation and Best in Show.
This short 40 second demo shown at SIGGRAPH lead to the partnership of DNA Productions with Steve Oedekerk, which eventually lead to the production of a new, 13 minute pilot based loosely on the original demo. The new pilot was titled Runaway Rocketboy and it featured the now renamed character Jimmy Neutron. This 13 minute pilot was pitched to Nickelodeon, and lead eventually to the production of a feature length film, and a show that lasted for 3 whole seasons.
Despite how notable it was at the time, the only known footage of this 40 second demo to this day are two pieces of a clip where Johnny Quasar introduces himself and Goddard. The first 3 seconds lack audio, and were found on a VHS demo reel for LightWave, followed by another 7 second clip that came from the old DNA Productions website, which is in low resolution.
In addition, several stills featuring Johnny Quasar, also from the DNA Productions website are often presumed to be part of the original demo animation, it is currently unknown if these were actually featured in the original demo, or if they were mockups made just for the web page. As with the 7 second clip, these are in an extremely low resolution as well.
Footage and screenshots
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4
Screenshot 5
Production art with early versions of Sheen, Nick, Cindy, and Carl. Note that Johnny Quasar looks more like Jimmy Neutron, his final version, but still has the old name.
Pages 46 and 47 from a 1995 issue of Video Toaster, an article about the Wavey Awards, of which Johnny Quasar is prominently featured.
Pages 48 and 49 from a 1995 issue of Video Toaster, the rest of that article showing John Davis accepting his award that Johnny Quasar won.
