A 1998 pilot for the cartoon that would eventually become The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.
In it, Jimmy tests out a one-man rocket using Carl. After Jimmy's parents find out that Jimmy sent Carl into space, they ground him. In revolt, Jimmy runs away from home. Into space. While in space, Jimmy gets captured by invading aliens who mistake him to be a soldier tasked on defending the Earth.
The short ended up being picked by Nickelodeon. The aliens were reused in the Pilot Movie Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Runaway Rocketboy contains examples of:
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Jimmy is a middle schooler instead of an elementary schooler. The voices for most characters are different and various design changes exist (most noticeably Jimmy's shirt and Carl's design).
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference:
- Jimmy wore a red-and-white striped shirt with jean shorts. In the movie this was changed to a red shirt with an atom design, and the final show gave Jimmy long-cut pants.
- Hugh wore a blazer instead of a sweater-vest.
- Judy's hair is a slightly darker shade of brown.
- Carl's face is drawn differently. He looks more like his father.
- The characters had Four-Fingered Hands instead of five.
- Jimmy's AI security was named Vox 2000 instead of Vox 3000. Makes sense, since the pilot was released in 1998.
- Iris Out: The pilot ends this way, while in the TV show, the episodes end with the iris shaped like an neutron.
- Late for School: In the intro, Jimmy misses the bus by seconds. He ends up using a Jet Pack to fly to school instead.
- Mythology Gag: The man driving the car that Jimmy nearly crashes into is an early version of Hugh. He's from 1995's The Adventures of Johnny Quasar.
- Parental Bonus: Jimmy catches his parents being a bit frisky, but they try to play it off.
- Potty Failure: In the end Carl pees himself due to being in the rocket all day.
- The Runaway:
- After his parents ground him for building a rocket and propelling Carl into space, Jimmy ends up running away to show them up. Hugh lets him because he knows he'll just come back home quickly.
- Hugh mentions having run away when he was slightly older than Jimmy. He only made it a few blocks because he had a Potty Failure and had to change his diaper.
- Stronger Than They Look: In the intro, Judy catches her husband bridal style when he falls off a ladder.
- Unnamed Parent: Subverted. Judy and Hugh are just referred to as "Mom" and "Dad" in the intro, however Judy clearly calls Hugh by his name at one point.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The aliens accidentally guilt trip Jimmy on how much of a foolish idea it was to run away from home.
- You Are Grounded!: Jimmy receives this punishment for launching Carl off the roof.
