The CGI Genius of Jimmy Neutron

Fredia Lucas
Sep 23
8 min read

DNA Productions 1995 Johnny Quasar animated short

It’s been 30 years since The Adventures of Johnny Quasar debuted at the 1995 SIGGRAPH conference (1).

The animated short would sweep the competition, winning two awards – Best in Character Animation and Best in Show. The 46-second short(2) was created by John A. Davis, animator, visual effects artist, and astrophotographer, and his creative partner, Keith Alcorn.

We meet Johnny in Space while he cruises in his rocket ship with his robotic dog, Goddard. Suddenly, Johnny and Goddard blast off to avoid an impending asteroid collision. Johnny is the namesake of the series creator, John A. Davis, who was affectionately referred to as "Johnny Quasar: Space Cadet" in his youth while working summers with his Dad. The name would later change in the development process due to legal advisement. There were conversations around the similarity between the Johnny Quasar name and existing properties like the Captain Quazar video game (Cyclone Studios. 3DO. 1996) and the Jonny Quest animated character (Hanna-Barbera Productions. 1964).

Over the course of three years, the Johnny Quasar character's name, design, and pilot would evolve. The concept would ultimately go on to expand the realm of possibilities for fully computer-animated television series, carving a new lane for what was celebrated and cool within mainstream children’s animation.

Furthermore, John A. Davis and team would showcase that complex animation could be achieved on a smaller screen and leave an indelible impression on the world of CGI animation and children’s cartoons.

You may not initially remember Johnny Quasar, but perhaps another brown-haired, five-headed, long-winded, boy-genius is coming to mind?

Let me put you on game to Nickelodeon’s first CGI Nicktoon.

Jimmy, Carl, Sheen, Cindy, and Libby during lunch at Lindbergh Elementary School

On July 20, 2002, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius touched down on screens worldwide. We’re not talking about the streaming era here; we’re talking about the SLIME era. The television series had a total of three seasons, airing from 2002 until 2006, and was created by DNA Productions. Yes, DNA Productions, you all remember Paul, right?

The animated series debuted after the theatrical release of ‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’. A film that rests on a bed of legacy, prestige, and ingenuity. The feature-length film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony. A category that didn’t exist until 2002.

Yes, Jimmy Neutron was nominated for the first-ever Best Animated Feature award; “Jimbo” did his big one. Hugh and Judy were proud, of course.

Jimmy and the Brain Blast gang didn’t win, but at least “The Jimster” and Goddard were able to attend the ceremony. And while the eleven-year-old boy genius didn’t go home with the golden statue, Skrek did, Jimmy was a good sport about it all.

Jimmy Neutron's signature "Brain Blast!"

The inaugural class of nominees, including ‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’ (Paramount/Nickelodeon), ‘Monsters, Inc.’ (Pixar), and ‘Shrek’ (DreamWorks), were all computer-animated films, each making a distinct impact on the role of computer-generated images in animation.

In the case of the series, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, which premiered only 7 months after the release of the film, featuring Jimmy, Goddar, Carl, Sheen, Cindy, and Libby, blasted the expectations of what was possible for fully computer-animated television series and demonstrated that studios could replicate cinematic quality on smaller screens.

Interestingly enough, much of the animated series, including the digital backlot, assets, and feature-like qualities, was designed during the production of the film. This was a strategic chess move by DNA Productions to guarantee continuity from the feature film to the series and hone in on the specificity of the Jimmy Neutron universe.

Jimmy Neutron was revolutionary for its retro-future style, and what makes it all the more remarkable is that Jimmy Neutron’s signature look was achieved using commercial software, rather than proprietary technology. This ushered in a new era for the animation industry, showcasing the value of animation software and licenses being available for public use.

Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius was the first 3D animated feature entirely produced using consumer software. This shift represented a departure from code-heavy animation workflows, which in some cases required animators to work through code writers to create and manipulate their subjects.

"It really concentrates the power on the artist as opposed to teams of code writers." Davis shared with Animator World Network in 2001. In the case of DNA productions, this shift allowed the Dallas-based studio to have more hands-on control. This was particularly necessary, as the studio was tasked with scaling its operations for the feature-length film from a staff of 16 to 150 over the course of 24 months.

The production team at DNA was building the rocket while they were flying it, but just like “Nerdtron”, the team of animators and character designers had some incredible tools to bring the vision to life.

“The characters were first modeled in (NewTek's) LightWave,” (3) according to a 2002 article for Computer Graphics World. This included lighting, non-character animation, some crowd animation, and effects. “Their skeletons” were then added to pmG Group's project:messiah (4), for character rigging and animation. Adobe Systems' Photoshop (5) was used for texture painting, Magpie software from Third Wish Software & Animation (6) for lip synching, and Alias| Wavefront's Maya Fusion (7) for compositing.

The best way I can describe it is that utilizing publicly available software to make something as innovative, fun, and captivating as Jimmy Neutron was awe-inspiring. And I can’t stress this enough, DNA Productions accomplished this using publicly available programs, not proprietary ones.

Before programs like Lightwave and Project: Messiah, entry into CGI was significantly more challenging. These programs empowered artists to create their own art without requiring them to be full-blown software engineers. Think of it like a manicure. Imagine seeing a manicure that is utterly gobsmacking. We’re talking 3-D designs and color ingenuity, and then finding out it's a set of press-ons. In this case, the publicly available software is the set of press-on nails. It was accessible, artist-friendly, and had a smaller learning curve. In the case of press-on nails, it lessens the need for a professional manicurist. In the case of commercially available animation software, it empowered artists to work independently without codewriters.

For context, films like ‘Shrek’ and ‘Monsters, Inc.’ used proprietary technology. To expand our manicure analogy, Pixar and DreamWorks were going to the salon to get custom designs on their natural nails, gems included. According to a 1997 press release, DreamWorks utilized software like Softimage® 3D, which at the time was a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. While Pixar developed its software, “Fizt” (Fizz-tee), which was added to their existing suite of IP-protected tools known as Renderman. While other studios were advancing toward photo-realistic images for facial animation, hair, and clothing, Jimmy Neutron was simply designing for “whatever looked cool.”

"From the outset, I decided we were going to go with a cartoony design," says Davis. "I didn't want to get bogged down in cloth simulation or hair simulation. So we decided to make a sculpted, graphic look part of the design sense…. I didn't want things to look too real."

Jimmy & Carl enjoy a beverage at The Candy Bar

Jimmy Neutron looks like a cartoon, and a distinctly unique cartoon even amongst his Nicktoon peers. The Jimster didn’t look like the other boys in the Nicktoons universe, like Arnold, Otto, Rudy, or Timmy, and that was the whole point.

As a viewer, it was the outlandish and unrealistic depiction of life in Retroville that inspired me to be a super-genius in my own right.

Everything was Texas-style in Jimmy’s world - bigger, from the heads to the hair, the amusement parks to the cars, the ice cream to the big belly burps. We mustn’t forget the allure of the Neutronic Burping Soda.

"I don't look at CG as a way to replicate reality," he adds. "I think there's something special about coming up with outlandish designs and doing them in 3D, which gives you an immediate cinematic feel. You get a cartoon that has some realistic shadows and reflections, but it doesn't look like it belongs in the real world."

James Isaac Neutron was the pre-teen tutor who schooled me on the science-fiction themes that inspired my most brilliant, childlike imagination, like magnetic levitation, nano-robotics, mind swapping, time travel, and artificial intelligence. Plus, we can’t forget the crucial lessons on honoring your family, respecting your friends, and picking up your pants.

Now, 30 years later, it’s even more remarkable to realize that the debut of Jimmy Neutron didn’t just shift my world as a viewer, but it also changed the broader context of what it means for CGI animation on TV.

Jimmy Neutron has left an enduring impression on the world of CGI animation, as well as on the brains, hearts, and spirits of viewers around the globe.

I’m Fredia Lucas. Gotta Blast.

Footnotes

1) In 1995, the Siggraph Conference was the world's largest 3D software and animation convention. It has since evolved into the ACM SIGGRAPH community, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the evolution of computer graphics and interactive techniques. With thousands of members worldwide, the researchers, artists, developers, filmmakers, scientists, and business professionals of ACM SIGGRAPH are shaping the future of digital art and interactive design. (Source)

2) Johnny Quasar FULL 1995 Demo (Jimmy Neutron) (Watch)

3) NewTek's LightWave is professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software that was first released in 1990 as part of the Commodore Amiga-based Video Toaster. It became available as a standalone application starting in 1994 and was one of the first 3D programs on the PC platform, used for creating visual effects for films, TV, architecture, and video games.

4) pmG Group's Project:Messiah is a suite of 3D animation and rendering software, starting as a LightWave plugin before evolving into the standalone product Messiah:Studio, known for its character animation tools, dynamics, and flexible, modular approach for professional and home users. The software was designed to be affordable and compatible with other 3D packages, offering a modular design and powerful features for both studios and independent animators.

5) Adobe Photoshop is a powerful raster graphics editing and manipulation software developed by Adobe, first created in 1987 by brothers John and Thomas Knoll and publicly released in 1990 by Adobe Systems. It enables users to edit, retouch, and create images, and is widely used today in digital art, web design, and other creative fields.

6) Magpie was an animation lip-syncing software created by Third Wish Software & Animation around 2002 to help animators create mouth movements for characters by analyzing audio files and generating phoneme-based animation reference. It was used in commercial productions like Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius to produce frame-by-frame lip-sync animations and could export files, such as the .TLS file, for use in other animation programs, such as Toonz.

7) Alias|Wavefront's Maya Fusion was an integrated compositing and effects software developed specifically for the Windows NT platform, designed to allow users to combine rendered 3D CGI elements with live-action footage

Sources