The Jetsons & WWE: Robo WrestleMania! (2017)

Directed by: Anthony Bell | 78 minutes | animation, comedy, family, science fiction | Original voice cast: Jeff Bergman, Michael Coulthard, Victoria Crawford, Gray DeLisle, Trevor Devall, Stephen Farrelly, Jonathan Solofa Fatu, Joshua Samuel Fatu, Tania Gunadi, Colby Lopez, Tress MacNeille, Danica McKellar, Vince McMahon, Nic Nemeth, Roman Reigns, Cody Runnels, Frank Welker, Paul Wight

Are you a child of the twentieth century? Then there is a good chance that you still know “The Jetsons”. This cartoon family from Hanna-Barbera’s stable is the counterpart of “The Flintstones” and lives in the future instead of prehistoric times. The futuristic family first appeared on American television in 1962 and made a strong and successful comeback in the 1980s.

Following Scooby Doo and the Flintstones, in ‘The Jetsons and WWE: Robo-Wrestlemania’ the Jetsons are paired up with a number of (show) wrestling heroes from the stable of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The future adventure begins when top wrestler Big Show is overtaken by a blizzard during a match in harsh Siberia and – by analogy with the famous Marvel hero Captain America – gets frozen. About a hundred years later, George Jetson unearths the wrestling giant. When Big Show thaws, he sparks a revival of wrestling in the twenty-second century. But the giant soon develops evil traits. With the help of an army of wrestling robots, the wrestler then takes over Orbit City and crowns himself the king of Big Show City. The Jetson family must go back to our time to ask the WWE stars of today for help in defeating the robot wrestlers of the future.

Crossovers between normally separate characters from the same comic or cartoon universe are certainly not uncommon in the comic world. Despite this, the Jetsons-WWE combination is a remarkable one to say the least. But is it also a successful mash-up? Yes and no. It’s fun to see recognizable and iconic characters like Astro the dog, George Jetson and his ever hot-tempered boss Mr. Spacely back in full glory again. In addition, the film also contains enough energetic action scenes to particularly appeal to the younger audience. The jokes are often fun too, although there is a bit of hit and miss in this regard. However, the material is barely sufficient to remain interesting for the full eighty minutes. That in itself is not so surprising, since the original series consists of episodes that only last thirty minutes each. Also the direction is not always optimal. Sometimes it seems as if director Anthony Bell jumps from scene to scene, without paying much attention to the coherence of the overarching story. It is also avenged that, with the exception of the Big Show, the generation of wrestling stars that appears in this film has slightly less charisma and fame than the previous generations.

‘The Jetsons and WWE: Robo-Wrestlemania’ is an at times entertaining animated film that certainly has its moments. The reunion with the cartoon family of the future will evoke some nostalgic feelings in some older viewers, while the youth with an interest in the WWE will certainly enjoy the body checks, slams and other breakneck feats of the wrestling stars. But across the board, this adventure feels a little more contrived than the movies where the WWE wrestlers share the screen with Scooby Doo and his colleagues from the Mystery Incorporated team.