SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 22:00 Min.
First aired on ABC-TV on December 9, 1962, series co-creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directed this Tony Benedict-written episode.
Business rivals and golfing partners Spacely (Blanc) and Cogswell (Butler) incessantly egg each other on at the floating golf course. A fed-up Spacely then insists that he will soon put his frenemy out of business. Cogswell worriedly sends his jetpack-wearing henchman, Harlan (Morris), to spy on Spacely Sprockets.
With Spacely delegating his scheme to an incredulous George Jetson (O’Hanlon), results are expected first thing the next morning. Harlan’s further covert surveillance of the Jetson family home convinces him (and then Cogswell) that a luckless George has somehow invented an anti-gravity device allowing flight. What they don’t realize is that the family dog, Astro (Messick), can now fly upon accidently swallowing Elroy’s (Butler) remote control flying car.
Still, Cogswell is desperate enough to abduct a befuddled Astro to get some fast answers.
Voice Cast:
George Jetson: George O’Hanlon
Judy Jetson: Penny Singleton
Judy Jetson: Janet Waldo (Note: Judy doesn’t appear in this episode)
Elroy Jetson / Mr. Cogswell: Daws Butler
Astro / Computer: Don Messick
Cosmo S. Spacely: Mel Blanc
Harlan: Howard Morris.
REVIEW:
Loaded with typically tame Hanna-Barbera sitcom humor, this episode is a delight in parodying corporate espionage. Not only does the low-key animation still hold up, but the voice acting is also terrific. Case in point: the sequence where a clueless Astro is being interrogated, enemy spy-style, delivers the episode’s best clichéd joke.
Even if “Astro’s Top Secret” isn’t memorable, it pitches a welcome bone for the futuristic canine’s fans. For the eight-year-old residing in all of us, this cartoon is amusing.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6½ Stars
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