The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! is a 2017 Direct to Video animated film, a co-production between Warner Brothers Animation and WWE Studios. This is the fourth crossover movie between WWE and Hanna-Barbera cartoons (The company had two with Scooby-Doo and one with The Flintstones). It's also the first official Jetsons production since the Box Office Bomb that was Jetsons: The Movie in 1990.
Big Show is scheduled to appear in the upcoming WWE Championship, but the match is canceled due to a snowstorm. Undeterred, Big Show heads for the arena anyway, only to end up frozen.
A hundred years later, George Jetson accidentally discovers and thaws out Big Show, who discovers that WWE now only deals with robot wrestling, which convinces him to take over Orbit City.
Now the Jetsons and the past WWE superstars must work together to free the city from Big Show's grasp.
This work contains examples of:
- Adaptational Diversity: The original show, while it did have people of color crop up from time to time, featured a cast who was overwhelmingly white. This film shows a much more racially diverse future.
- All Part of the Show: In both ways. The audience, Michael Cole, Seth Rollins and Sheamus believe that George Jetson is part of the match while George's family (who don't understand what pro wrestling is) believes that George is convincing the wrestlers to join them.
- Animation Bump: While not in the same level as the theatrical movie, the animation in this is really good. Given the advancement in technology, it would've looked much better either way.
- Badass Cape: Big Show wears a green one once he takes over Orbit City. He removes it during his match against Sheamus.
- Badass Driver: George when attacked by robots, switches to manual to create a diversion.
- Bad Future: When the Jetsons return to their time period, they find out that Big Show has taken over Orbit City.
- Big Damn Movie: While a more comedic entry than the 1990 movie, the future is enslaved, there's time travel, there are multiple action scenes, and it actively deconstructs the "humans rely too much on technology" setting.
- Blah, Blah, Blah: When Seth sarcastically starts bringing up how George is from the future, Jimmy makes this motion.
- Brick Joke: During the trip to the future, Alicia Fox promises to get Seth Rollins after the latter doesn't shut up. After Rollins starts boasting on how beat the Kane bot, Alicia Fox comes in with a drop kick out of nowhere stating, "Told you I'd get you."
- Calling Your Attacks: Reigns shouts "Superman Punch!" before clobbering his robot double.
- Casting Gag:
- Tress MacNeille and Frank Welker as Rosie and Astro is this given that they're also the current voices of Wilma Flintstone and Scooby-Doo, characters that were also previously voiced by Jean Vander Pyl and Don Messick.
- Grey DeLisle-Griffin voices Jane, who's pretty much Daphne if she was older, right down to having a similar design.
- The Mexican Spanish dub is a very interesting case: Jane (or rather "Ultra Sonico") is voiced by Mariana Ortiz, who is the daughter of the late Araceli de León, who voiced her in the Mexican dub of the 80s series, albeit it's not the first time she has voiced a character previously voiced by her late mother before.
- The Cavalry: George rallying all of the Orbit City citizens to surround Big Show in the climax.
- Cerebus Retcon: The original show made a lot of jokes about how hard manual labor is and how easy life in the future is. Here, the joke is deconstructed, and shows the consequences of relying too much on technology and future life.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Elroy's science project, a time travel equation, to go back in time to get wrestlers to stop Big Show.
- Judy lamenting on how 21st century history would be so important.
- The capsules shown in the intro of the movie: they're used to carry the wrestlers forward and backward in time.
- Continuity Nod: When the Jetsons are brought to Mr. McMahon's office, the wrestlers are all shocked that Astro can talk. Mr. McMahon can only say, "Would you believe this isn't the first time I've met a talking dog?"
- Given how Sheamus is looking in shock at Astro speaking, this probably takes place prior to Curse of the Speed Demon since Sheamus is shown there.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: If Big Show just waited until the storm died down like Vince warned him to, this entire plot would never have happened.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Jane is livid about George missing Elroy's science fair, but he comes home unaware that anything is wrong. Seeing her angry, he thinks he forgot a special occasion (i.e. their anniversary, Valentine's Day, her birthday) and these guesses just make her even angrier. It gets to the point where Rosie expects him to get kicked out of the apartment.
- Easily Forgiven: Actually averted. After Big Show apologizes at the end for his actions, the people of Orbit City point out that he still enslaved them and forced him to build giant statues of himself.
- Egopolis: What Big Show turns Orbit City into.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After George finds a frozen Big Show, he thinks that Mr. Spacely will like the surprise...and then remembers that he promised Mr. Spacely that there would be "no surprises".
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Big Show is in shock upon waking up in the future, likewise the Jetsons are confused when they go back to the 21st century.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After George explains what's going on, Sheamus states that George's story is the craziest thing he's ever heard. Then, Astro starts talking...
- Fun with Acronyms: In the 22nd Century, WWE is now World Wrobot Entertainment (The second W is silent)
- George Jetson Job Security:
- Subverted at the start of the movie, where George starts badmouthing the boss and Spacely suddenly angrily yelling at him. However, Spacely shouts "hired" instead for the special project, though George expected the worst.
- Later, as things go wrong, Spacely does try to fire him, but George simply cuts out the visiphone before he can say it. By the end of it, though, George has helped save the day, so Spacely lets him off the hook and even hires him as supervisor for the reconstruction project.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: The security guard who lets the Jetsons into the WWE Arena of the past might be this; while Judy and Jane disguising themselves as Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch is passable, there is no freaking way in hell that he can assume Elroy is Roman Reigns or Astro is Kane. He does note that George's outfit ("Future Guy") is odd.
- Scenes later, he finally realizes his mistake and drags the Jetsons into Vince's office.
- Human Popsicle: Big Show's fate has him like this until George thaws him out centuries later.
- Identical Grandson: Vince's descendant, Mr. McMoon, is essentially Vince in a space suit.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: After hearing George's story about Big Show taking over a future city, he mutters that it's the craziest thing he's ever heard. Then a security guard carrying Astro arrives...
- Ironic Echo: Big Show, upon seeing how he dominates the robotic wrestlers, states that the future is full of wimps. George later echoes this statement after no one decides to join him to stop said wrestler.George: Guess Big Show was right — the future really is full of wimps.
- Jerkass Has a Point: George tells Elroy that the boy is at fault for everything going wrong with Big Show taking over Orbit City, much to his wife and Astro's disgust. But George isn't wrong; Elroy did sneak out with Big Show without warning everyone.
- Job-Stealing Robot: In the Jetsons' future, all WWE wrestlers have been replaced by robots.
- Lampshade Hanging: George lampshades Sheamus's pasty skin by stating how he's "a little on the pale side."
- Let Me Get This Straight...: Vince and George Jetson, summarizing what's happened in the movie so far.Vince: Now let me get this straight...You found Big Show "frozen" in ice in the future.
George: Yes.
Vince: You thawed him out...and he took over your city.
George: Yes.
Vince: And you've come back in time to take my superstars to the future to save — what was it — Onion Town?
George: Orbit City. And yes. - Logo Joke: The movie begins with a recreation of the 1974 "Rainbow H-B" Hanna-Barbera logo that looks almost identical to the original (the "H-B" text is not slanted in this version).
- Mythology Gag: The spacesuit George wears early on in the film gives him a resemblance to Atom Ant.
- Never My Fault: George gladly lets Elroy accept the blame for Big Show's rampage when the latter says it's all his fault. Jane and Astro are quick to call the former out on this though. In George's defense, Elroy did take Big Show away without telling anyone about it, but it is still a dick move to make his son feel horrible for such an innocent gesture.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Coupled with It's All My Fault, but Elroy's innocently showing The Big Show what wrestling is like in the future ends up badly. You could also say George thawing Big Show and bringing him back home could also count.
- Oh, Crap!: Played for laughs in the past when George realizes the state of technology means the family will actually have to walk.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: To get inside the arena once they make it in the past, the Jetsons disguise themselves as wrestlers. Judy and Jane get away as Charlotte and Becky Lynch (Due to their similar hair colors), but then we have Elroy as Roman Reigns, Astro as Kane and George ends up dressed as a wrestler that his wife and daughter name "Future Guy".
- Pro Wrestling Is Real: When The Jetsons enter the past, they assume that the wrestling show is real as opposed to what it really is.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Upon hearing of George having his spaceship and robot, Vince wants to go see them instead of dismissing it as hogwash. Earlier in the movie, he cancels the championship match between Sheamus and Big Show due to the bad weather, not that it stops Big Show from traveling in the storm and causing the plot to happen.
- Sarcasm-Blind: George is oblivious to Seth's sarcastic remarks to show he and the other superstars his "flying car" and "pet robot" because George actually has both of them in the parking lot.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As things really start going wrong, George says it's time for a family vacation on Mars.
- Seen It All: Vince doesn't even bat an eyelid upon seeing Astro talk. Instead, he only replies, "Would you believe that this isn't the first time I've met a talking dog?"
- Shown Their Work: The depiction of the wrestler's moves, such as Sheamus' White Noise and Alicia's corkscrew legdrop, is rather well done.
- Skewed Priorities: Judy is ecstatic about Big Show's takeover because it meant school ended early and that she didn't have to take a history test. Elroy lampshades it, which gets him a bonk on the head from Judy.
- So Proud of You: When Elroy explains why he considers this situation his fault, George says it's not, but he commends him for trying to befriend a lost soul.
- Strong Flesh, Weak Steel:
- Big Show easily destroys the two robots in Orbit City's WWE and establishes himself as not only the champion but essentially the king of Orbit City.
- When the wrestlers go after the robots, the wrestlers curb-stomp their robo doubles without a sweat (Barring Rollins running away from Kane-bot)
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Vince has to cancel the championship match between Sheamus and Big Show due to the weather.
- George Jetson interfering with the match between Seth Rollins and Sheamus has him escorted out of the ring. In fact, the guard gets suspicious of his outfit as "Future Guy" and even has his family—who were also in disguise—hauled to the office.
- George tries to rally everyone with a Rousing Speech and when that doesn't work, bend the bars of the jail cell he's in in half (which of course he can't do). Even after help from Rosie, George still isn't getting anyone on his side...immediately, that is.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Seth Rollins and Alicia Fox's interactions are like Miz and Paige's in Speed Demon.
- Taught by Experience: As Mr. Spacely lets loose with his most famous phrase, George turns off the visiphone and insists there's no way to know where that sentence was going.
- Tempting Fate: Judy questions how 21st century history is gonna be important in the beginning of the movie. Answer? Very important indeed.
- Theme Tune Roll Call: As custom for the Jetsons, the opening credits play against a chorus signing each Jetson's name. When George prepares some 21st century wrestlers to go to the future, the chorus also rolls off their names.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: George subverts this trope. While he is more cowardly and prone to Never My Fault moments than he was in the show and the previous movie, it's more of Big Show's intimidating personality causing him to get overly stressed out and not think straight. Plus, he's still shown to deeply care for his family.
- Tron Lines: George's "Future Guy" wrestling gear has cyan lines.
- The Unreveal: The winner of Sheamus vs Big Show is never revealed, especially since the match ends with "The winner and champion is..." rather than putting "Still" or "New" in front of champion.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Elroy brings Big Show to his school for Show and Tell without telling George about it, which spirals out into Big Show learning the state of wrestling in the 22nd century and then leading to all around chaos. Elroy himself lampshades that this entire situation was his fault.
- Villain Has a Point: When George tries to rally the other prisoners into facing Big Show, no one volunteers. He shames them by saying Big Show was right about them being wimps.
- Vocal Evolution: Jeff Bergman's voices for George Jetson and Mr. Spacely are respectively higher and lower (albeit not too much) than when he first started in 1990. It's justified in that he's voicing the characters for a full movie instead of a few scenes. Plus, he has more material to work with than with commercials or shorts, giving him room to stretch his vocal chords.
- Show's voice sounds rougher and deeper than usual. His robot counterpart sounds more like he usually does.
- When Things Spin, Science Happens: Elroy's time-travel equation basically has the Jetson spin around the moon a couple of times.
