James Bond Jr.
American animated television series

James Bond Jr.
Title card for James Bond Jr.
Based onJames Bond
by Ian Fleming
Developed by
Directed by
  • Bill Hutten
  • Tony Love
Voices of
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes65 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerFred Wolf
Producers
  • Bill Hutten
  • Tony Love
Running time22 minutes
Production companiesMac B Inc.
United Artists
Murakami-Wolf-Swenson
Danjaq
Original release
ReleaseSeptember 16 (1991-09-16) –
December 13, 1991 (1991-12-13)

James Bond Jr. is an American animated television series based on Ian Fleming's James Bond. Produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in association with United Artists and Danjaq, the show follows the adventures of James Bond's nephew, James Bond Jr. It premiered on September 16, 1991, and ran for 65 episodes before concluding on December 13. It is the first and only animated spin-off within the franchise.[1]

Background

In February 1988, Variety reported that screenwriter Kevin McClory was producing an animated series titled James Bond vs S.P.E.C.T.R.E. with an unnamed Dutch company. This series never came to fruition.[2] EON Productions later began development on James Bond Jr. alongside Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and MGM Television. It was officially licensed by Danjaq and United Artists, the rights holders of the James Bond franchise. (McClory only had rights pertaining to Thunderball.) It was the first successful attempt to bring the series to television since the 1954 adaptation of Casino Royale.

The show features James Bond Jr., who, while attending Warfield Academy, works alongside his friends—IQ, the grandson of Q; Gordo Leiter, the son of Felix Leiter; and Tracy Milbanks—to combat the terrorist organization S.C.U.M. (Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem), a group modeled after SPECTRE.[3] His catchphrase, "Bond, James Bond... Junior", is a nod to his uncle's famous introduction.[4]

The series often surpasses the Bond films in terms of outlandish technology, though it notably lacks the violence associated with the franchise. Several villains from the films make recurring appearances, including Jaws, Nick Nack, Julius No, Auric Goldfinger, and Oddjob.[5][6] Many of the episode titles parody those of the original movies.

Characters

Main characters

Villains

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
165September 16, 1991 (1991-09-16)December 13, 1991 (1991-12-13)

Physical releases

Home media

Most episodes of James Bond Jr. were only broadcast on television and never made commercially available. On April 1, 1992, eight different single-episode VHS tapes were released in the United States.[7] The following year, six multi-episode tapes were released in the United Kingdom.[8]

Books

In 1992, Puffin Books released six novels based on James Bond Jr. They were written by John Peel under the pseudonym John Vincent.[9] A year later, Buzz Books published a separate series of books adapted from the television show by Caryl Jenner. These were significantly shorter and geared towards a younger audience.[10]

Marvel Comics

James Bond Jr. was adapted into a limited comic series by Marvel Comics between January and December 1992. While the first issues were direct adaptations of episodes from the television show, the remaining seven featured original stories. They were written by Cal Hamilton and Dan Abnett and illustrated by Mario Capaldi, Colin Fawcett, Adolfo Buylla, and Bambos Georgioli.[11]

Video games

Two James Bond Jr. video games were released: a platformer for the NES developed by Eurocom and an action game by Gray Matter. Both were published in 1992 by THQ and received mixed-to-negative reviews.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "James Bond Jr Episode Guide". MI6-HQ.
  2. ^ "Films: The Nineties". www.liner-notes.com. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 440–442. ISBN 978-1-4766-6599-3.
  4. ^ Craig, Matt (March 25, 2023). "Who Was James Bond Jr.? 007's Spy Relative Explained". Screen Rant. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  5. ^ "The Obscure Animated Series That Rewrote James Bond History". Slashfilm. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  6. ^ "The Obscure Animated Series That Rewrote James Bond History". Slashfilm. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  7. ^ Multiple sources:
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 1 (The Beginning). ASIN 6302380510.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 2 (A Race Against Disaster). ASIN 6302380529.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 4 (Dance of Toreadors). ASIN 6302380537.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 5 (Goldie's Gold Scam). ASIN 6302380502.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 6 (A Chilling Affair). ASIN 6302380634.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 7 (No Such Loch). ASIN 6302380626.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 8 (The Eiffel Missile). ASIN 6302380618.
    • James Bond Jr.: Episode 31 (Red Star One). ASIN 6302380316.
  8. ^ Multiple sources:
    • James Bond Jr. The Beginning. ASIN B003374B4I.
    • James Bond Jr. The Eiffel Missile. ASIN B008ZCUBZE.
    • James Bond Jr. versus Jaws the Metallic Munch. ASIN B000059LPL.
    • The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Picture Show. ASIN B000MTD92K.
    • The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Heroes. ASIN B00008T53F.
  9. ^ Multiple sources:
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: A View to a Thrill. Puffin Books.
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: The Eiffel Target. Puffin Books.
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: Live and Let's Dance. Puffin Books.
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: Sandblast. Puffin Books.
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: Sword of Death. Puffin Books.
    • Vincent, John (1992). James Bond Jr.: High Stakes. Puffin Books.
  10. ^ Multiple sources:
  11. ^ Robert G. Weiner. "The Adventures of James Bond Jr., Sequential Art, and a 12-Issue Marvel Comics Series" (PDF). Texas Tech University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2014.
  12. ^ "James Bond Jr (1992) by Gray Matter". MobyGames. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  13. ^ "James Bond Jr (1992) by Eurocom". MobyGames. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
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