James Bond Jr. (1991-1992) is an animated series named after
James Bond's nephew, who happens to be the main protagonist. James Junior is secretly following into his Uncle James' footsteps (despite Ian Fleming's character being an only child). The theme song even alludes to this by mentioning that "he learned the game from his uncle James".
The basic idea of the series seems to derive from the novel
003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior (1967), a licensed spin-off of the James Band series of novels. The novel was supposed to be the first of a spin-off novel series but nothing came of it. Harry Saltzman, co-producer of the Bond films from 1962 to 1974, had reportedly considered adapting the novel in a television series. But these plans were aborted by the early
1970s, This animated series revived the concept of a nephew for Bond, and was at least moderately successful.
Tropes:
- Animated Adaptation
- Cool Car: First the Aston Martin DB 5, followed by the "Aston Super Ultra."
- Daddy's Little Villain: Goldfinger's daughter, Goldie.
- Expository Theme Tune: The theme song helpfully informs us that "he learned the game from his uncle James" and "James Bond Jr. chases S.C.U.M. around the world".
- Expy: S.C.U.M., a stand-in for S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from the films.
- Fun with Acronyms: S.C.U.M.
- Girl of the Week: Which part of "he learned the game from his uncle James" you didn't get?
- Kid Anova
- Meaningful Name: Naturally, being based on the Bond films, half the villains have these. For example, a pirate named Walker D. Plank.
- Motive Decay: Goldfinger's scams in the show revolved entirely around stealing gold for himself despite the fact that his goal in Goldfinger was to make his gold more valuable by inducing scarcity via irradiating the Fort Knox reserves. Hell, "Goldie's Gold Heist" was essentially a reversal of the plot of Goldfinger where he and his daughter use a device to make gold look radioactive in order to scare people away and steal it!
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: S.C.U.M.
- Nephewism
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Captain Walker D. Plank
- Pink Means Feminine: Goldie wears a pink top and pink pants under her yellow coat.
- Pirate Parrot: Captain Walker D. Plank. Even his parrot has an eyepatch and a wooden leg.
- Preppy Name: Trevor Noseworthy IV.
- Reverse Polarity: IQ reverses the polarity all the time. He once took control of the bad guy's helicopter with a simple remote control and some polarity reversal.
- Say My Name Trailer
- Sins of Our Fathers: At least two girls in the series fit this trope. In the episode "Never Lose Hope", Warfield Academy got a new science teacher whose father was believed to be a S.C.U.M. agent until James Senior arrested him. Believing her father to be innocent and wanting to make James Senior know how she felt, she went after James Junior. It was later revealed that her father was not in prison but under a protection program. In "Appointment in Macau", James befriended Lily Mai, whose father was one of the heads of the Raven Triad. Actually, he was a mole working for the Interpol.
- 65-Episode Cartoon
- Spin Offspring: Not only the titular character is James Bond's nephew, he also has friends who are related to some of James Bond's allies. I.Q. is Q's grandson; Gordo is Felix Leiter's son. Not to mention that one of his foes is Goldfinger's daughter, Goldie.
- Spoiled Brat: Trevor Noseworthy IV
- Surfer Dude: Gordo Leiter
- Teen Superspy
- Yellow Peril: Dr. No, far more than in the original despite now having green skin, just like the Ming in Defenders of the Earth and the Mandarin in the later Iron Man cartoon.
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