Saturday, April 28, 2012

It's JAMES BOND JR. time!

Okay, you know I had to go here eventually. One of the lessor known chapters of the official James Bond story was the short-lived animated cartoon, James Bond Jr. Produced by EON/Danjaq under the name Warfield Productions in 1991-92, the series filled the "six year gap" when no official film could be produced because of the legal wrangling between Danjaq and MGM/Pathe. The half-hour series featured the adventures of 007's nephew and his friends at Warfield Academy. It debuted on September 30, 1991 and ran for a total of 65 episodes.

The James Bond Jr. concept came complete with lots of official merchandise, including these six paperback books by John Vincent. Interestingly, the copyright pages reads "Copyright © EON Productions and Mac B Inc 1992", but also adds, "The use of M and James Bond Sr. is by agreement with Glidrose Publications, Ltd." It's also worth noting that the publisher, Puffin, would later release the successful Young Bond series by Charlie Higson.

The cover art and titles are pretty fun, but I admit I've never read them. But they are official and, like it or not, a part of the Book Bond legacy.


Check out the opening credits with the official James Bond Jr. theme song, which really isn't half bad. Maybe I do need to read these.

10 comments:

  1. I used to watch the episodes when I was a kid, but the paperback books are a new one to me. I didn't know they had created them.

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    1. Cool! Glad I could show you something new.

      I have a friend who became a Bond fan because of James Bond Jr. It was the only Bond her mom would let her watch. So it worked! :)

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    2. John Vincent is in actuality John Peel. He is British born,Long Island based writer who may have the record of being the only author to have written official novels based on Doctor Who, Star Trek, Quantum Leap and James Bond, as well as his own original fiction.

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  2. Will you be doing the four Buzz Books hardcovers in a different post?

    That's interesting about the Glidrose inclusion. Does Bond Sr. or M actually appear in any of the books? Like you, I bought them all, but never read any. But Bond Sr. and M never appear in any of the TV episodes or comics, so the prospect of their popping up in the books is interesting. But it probably just means using their names in reference. Bond, M, Q and Felix were all name-checked on the show without actually appearing.

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    1. Buzz Books hardcovers? I don't know what these are. Do tell!

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    2. There were also four totally different novelizations written by Caryn Jenner and published in hardcover only in Britain and Australia, aimed at even younger readers: Tunnel of Doom, Barbella's Revenge, Freeze Frame and Dangerous Games. When I just went to check those on my shelf, I noticed I've got two copies of Freeze Frame for some reason. You're welcome to my extra if you want.

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    3. Oh, yes, I would love that! Thank you. How about I buy lunch at the Silver Spoon in return. :)

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    4. Sounds great to me! Just let me know when. (Except I hate to say, I think the Silver Spoon closed...)

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  3. You're right, John, the theme tune isn't half bad. I'd say it's as high as 95% bad.

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  4. That program was even shown on French Tv ( Canal +) - and we had a French version of the official magazine, complète with bonus gift inside.

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