The unique world of Jimmy Neutron has been alive in director/producer/screenwriter John A. Davis' mind for the past two decades. Finally, in the new millennium, "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" is taking off in theaters like a rocket.
"In the early nineties, when we first got into 3-D computer animation, John brought out this idea that he'd had since the eighties," remembers executive producer Keith Alcorn. "It was then called 'Runaway Rocket Boy."'
"I was moving to a new house and found an old script and storyboard about a little boy genius who ran away from home in his homemade rocket ship," Davis recalls. "It didn't dawn on me that Jimmy has been percolating in my brain for that long. So it's nice to finally get him out."
Jimmy Neutron began his celluloid career in 1995 when he appeared in a 40-second video short called "Runaway Rocket Boy." Screened in an animation contest, the short won two "Wavey" awards at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles (Best Character Animation and Best in Show) and the recognition the film generated caused a slew of publicity in trade magazines. Most important of all, it caught the attention of writer/producer/director Steve Qedekerk ("Ace Ventura"), who was interested in developing the project as a television series.
"I saw a photo of an early incarnation of Jimmy and Goddard [his robotic dog] in an off-the-beaten-path CGI [Computer-Generated Imaging] magazine, and I thought they looked fun," says Oedekerk, who went on to be a producer/screenwriter on the feature film. However, it was in a computer-generated animation television series that Oedekerk first envisioned Jimmy Neutron.
"John, Keith and I shared views about the character and what the show would be. We came up with an expanded version of their 40-second short (now called "The Adventures of Johnny Quasar") that showed off what the true look of the series would be, and then I suggested taking it to Nickelodeon. The entire network has such a great presence and an inviting feeling of pure fun. I thought Jimmy would fit right into their vibe and also bring something very fresh and cutting edge."
In the fall of 1995, Oedekerk, Davis and Alcorn went to Los Angeles to pitch a Jimmy Neutron television pilot to Nickelodeon.. .and the idea turned out to be genius!
"It really blew us away," says Albie Hecht, President of Film and Television Entertainment at Nickelodeon. "The animation was so sparkling, and it has that future-retro style."
Alcorn, who designed the characters for the film, was going for that exact feel.
"We thought a lot about what designs were like when we were kids, what TV and the movies were like back then," says Alcorn "So the look of the film is kind of retro-fifties style with elements that are familiar to today's kids — like home computers."
By the end of 1997, a 13-minute pilot episode was in production, and what happened next was akin to the filmmakers winning the lottery.
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