"My name's Bond. James Bond. James Bond Jr."
James Bond Jr. is a 65-Episode Cartoon that ran during the 1991-92 season and featured James Bond's nephew note as the main protagonist. James Junior is secretly following in his Uncle James' footsteps (despite Ian Fleming's character being an only child; he may well be a descendant of James' Aunt Charmain) while attending a private boarding school. The theme song even alludes to this by mentioning that "he learned the game from his uncle James".
In his adventures, James battles the evil organization, SCUM which is made up of many of his uncle's former foes including Dr. No, Oddjob, Jaws, Nick Nack and many others, with help of his friends from school.
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 Bond 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. (The novel and the series, it should be noted, have nothing in common other than the title.)
The series also received a Comic-Book Adaptation from Marvel Comics that lasted for twelve issues. The first five issues of the series were straight episode adaptations, while the remainder of the series told original stories. There was also a video game for the NES and SNES. Both were side scrolling platformers, but the SNES version broke up the platforming with vehicle sections. There was also a series of YA novels based on the show, one of which was even interactive, but that last one never saw release outside of the UK.
For an earlier kids' story made by some of the actors and production team who also made the Bond movies (and based on an Ian Fleming novel, no less!), compare Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
"James Bond Jr. chases tropes around the world!"
- Abhorrent Admirer: Trevor gets one in the form of a girl lumberjack in "Northern Lights."
- Adaptational Badass: Jaws's trademark Scary Teeth are both more monstrous and more powerful, allowing him to casually take bites out of things like cannonballs and even a running jackhammer ("Ha, I pick my teeth with these babies!")
- Amazing Technicolor Population: S.C.U.M. Lord is purple, and Doctor No is green.
- Animated Adaptation: Although this series is more of a Spin-Off of the source material.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The S.C.U.M. agent Baron von Skarin.
- Bad Boss:
- In one episode, Doctor No orders that a ship be sunk, and when Nick Nack points out that one of their own operatives is aboard it, No just shrugs and says, "S.C.U.M. agents know the risks." And in a later episode, he tries to personally behead a lackey who had failed him before being stopped by James.
- In her debut, Goldie Finger orders that a minion who had failed her be "taken away" by Barbella. It is later revealed that the man was killed by being drenched in molten gold, turning him into the latest addition to the many horror-stricken gold statues that are kept on display by Goldie.
- Battle Butler: Snuffer, the butler of S.C.U.M. agent Ms. Fortune.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: In "Fountain of Terror", Jaws disguises himself as a Yeti to pull off a "Scooby-Doo" Hoax.
- Bond, James Bond: Being the Trope Namer's nephew and named after him, James does it at least Once an Episode.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Well, yeah. The villains' tendency to put the heroes into easily-escapable deathtraps is only exacerbated by this being a children's cartoon.
- One shining example comes in the episode “Shifting Sands”. SCUM agent Pharaoh Fearo captured James and Girl of the Week Cleo Diway and when Cleo accused him of stealing priceless artifacts from his own people, he insisted that the artifacts belonged to him since he believed he was a descendant of the Pharaoh whose tomb James, his friends and Cleo were exploring. But his explanation of his descent took so long that his henchmen began nodding off (they might have heard that speech before), and naturally James took advantage of it to use a buzz saw in his wristwatch to cut through the ropes. By the time Pharaoh Fearo finished, his henchmen were fast asleep and James and Cleo had escaped.
- Butt-Monkey: Trevor Noseworthy IV.
- Canon Foreigner: Everyone except for Goldfinger, Doctor No, Nick Nack, Jaws, and Oddjob.
- Catchphrase: "Danger lurks within every shadow."
- Chekhov's Gun: The gadgets that I.Q. shows to James before the episode's adventure are always exactly what James needs in that episode's particular circumstances.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: In the first episode, S.C.U.M. Lord had a small white dog named Scuzzball, presumably to further emphasis his similarities to Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Scuzzball never appeared in any other episodes, not even the ones that featured S.C.U.M. Lord.
- Cool Car: The Aston Martin DB-5, which is destroyed and rebuilt in the first episode into the "Aston Super Ultra."
- Creator's Culture Carryover: Despite his accent, Bond's fashion sense is distinctly American, as is his vocabulary and the way "Junior" is abbreviated.note A "prep school" is far more likely to be called a "public school" in the UK, and "gym class" is typically called "P.E." ("Physical Education")note . These are just examples from the first five minutes of the first episode; one could probably give this trope its own full page for this work.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Goldfinger's daughter, Goldie.
- Dinner Order Flub: In one episode, Trevor Noseworthy takes a girl to a restaurant and orders a meal in French. On his first attempt he orders a live lobster. When the focus returns to him after cutting to Bond Jr.'s adventures for a while, Trevor's finally managed to order something edible in French - a cheese sandwich.
- Driving Up a Wall: James drives a car specially equipped with spiked tires from Britain to France through the Chunnel. He drives on the tunnel ceiling, ignoring the electrified catenary that powers the trains.
- The Dulcinea Effect: Not surprisingly, really, more than a couple of episode plots kick off because some cute girl shows up out of nowhere and asks James for help.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While he does go through with the orders, Mr. Roper from "Far Out West" is still clearly uncomfortable with being told to kill James (who is "Just a Kid") by Doctor No.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- S.C.U.M. Lord and Baron von Skarin are both fond of their respective pet dogs, Scuzzball and Schnitzel.
- Goldfinger and his daughter, Goldie Finger, though this does not stop the two of them from bickering and blaming each other after their plan goes belly up at the end of "Goldie's Gold Scam."
- 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. Lord and S.C.U.M. are stand-ins for Ernst Stavro Blofeld and S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
- Fantasy Helmet Enforcement: Good guy and bad guy alike always make sure to secure their helmets before a motorcycle chase.
- Fountain of Youth: In "Fountain of Terror", S.C.U.M. tries to steal one from the local natives, who use its waters to live for centuries.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: While James and his friends clearly dislike Trevor, with the feeling being more than mutual, Trevor still hangs out with them, presumably because they are the only people at Warfield Academy who are able to tolerate him (if only barely).
- Fun with Acronyms:
- S.C.U.M. Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem.
- In "The Chameleon", the titular villain tries to steal a powerful exo-suit called RATS (Robot Armoured Tactical Soldier).
- The Ghost: James Bond Sr. never appears in person, with the same being true of Q (I.Q.'s grandfather) and Felix Leiter (Gordo's father).
- Girl of the Week: Which part of "he learned the game from his uncle James" didn't you get? Furthermore, many of them had Punny Names (albeit puns that are a Hell of a lot more appropriate for children), such as "Marcie Beaucoup", or "Ruby Slippers". However, a couple of the girls were actually potential love interests for I.Q., not James!
- Glass-Shattering Sound: One episode features a talent competition, with Trevor playing the clarinet. He cheats by miming to a recording, but James turns the volume way up, shattering all the glassware among the diners.
- Greater-Scope Villain: S.C.U.M. Lord, the head of S.C.U.M. While his agents were the villains of nearly every episode, S.C.U.M. Lord himself appeared only sporadically, and even then usually just to give orders through a Video Phone.
- KidAnova: James Bond Jr. inherited his uncle's luck with the ladies.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Barbella is mistaken for a man in both "City of Gold" and "Goldie Finger at the End of the Rainbow."
- Lone Wolf Boss:
- Maximillion Cortex and The Worm were the only recurring villains with no apparent connection to S.C.U.M.
- Hope Eternal from "Never Lose Hope" has no affiliation with S.C.U.M., she just wants to harm James as Revenge by Proxy against Bond Sr., who she blames for the alleged death of her father, Doctor Eternal.
- While "The Thing in the Ice" does feature S.C.U.M., the main threat is a Mechanical Monster that is running amok in Antarctica.
- Loves Only Gold: The series featured both Goldfinger, and his daughter Goldie Finger who shares her father's obsession with gold.
- Magic Realism: The show was mainly science-fiction based, but every so often it featured fantasy elements like Aladdin's lamp, Mjölnir, and a Fountain of Youth.
- Meaningful Name: Naturally, being based on the Bond films, half of the villains have these. For example, a pirate named Walker D. Plank.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Trevor Noseworthy's attempt to order lunch at a French restaurant results in him being delivered a live lobster.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: S.C.U.M.
- Nephewism: James is James Bond's nephew, and his parents are never brought up.
- Not the Nessie: "No Such Loch" plays this trope completely straight, with the Loch Ness Monster turning out to be a submarine operated by Walker D. Plank.
- Pet the Dog:
- When S.C.U.M. Lord's dog, Scuzzball, becomes uneasy during a flight, S.C.U.M. Lord reassures him by petting him while saying, "Oh, it's okay, Scuzzball, my little pet." Baron von Skarin is similarly affectionate towards his own pet dog, Schnitzel.
- Goldfinger actually stops to rescue Oddjob from their Collapsing Lair in "Killer Asteroid." This is in complete contrast to the film, where he was perfectly fine with abandoning Oddjob to die in Fort Knox.
- Trevor is an obnoxious Rich Bitch, but he does display Hidden Depths in the form of seemingly genuine concern for the environment in "Barbella's Big Attraction." He also expresses worry for the downed pilot in "Between a Rock and a Hard Place."
- Pink Means Feminine: Goldie wears a pink top and pink pants under her yellow coat.
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Captain Walker D. Plank. While he still uses modern equipment, he talks and acts exactly like a stereotypical movie pirate, complete with Eyepatch of Power, Hook Hand and Pirate Parrot.
- Pirate Parrot: Captain Walker D. Plank's parrot has an eyepatch and a wooden leg.
- Powers via Weapon: Thor's Hammer, which is made from a strange kind of quartz crystal that taps into the electric field of the human body, giving anyone holding it Super-Strength. When Walker D. Plank uses it, he smashes through rocks like nothing.
- Preppy Name: Trevor Noseworthy IV.
- Prochronic Product: One episode is centered around a villain's attempts to find a superweapon designed and built by Leonardo da Vinci. It turns out to be a submarine with a torpedo launcher and a laser cannon.
- Reverse Polarity: I.Q. reverses the polarity all of the time. He once took control of the bad guy's helicopter with a simple remote control and some polarity reversal.
- This is how I.Q helps James destroy Thor's Hammer, by reprogramming his laser watch to emitt a frequency on the same wavelength as the hammer, shattering it.
- "Say My Name" Trailer
- Sins of Our Fathers: At least two girls in the series fit this trope.
- In "Never Lose Hope", Warfield Academy gets a new science teacher whose father had been kidnapped by S.C.U.M. to use one of the father's inventions for evil. James Senior infiltrated the base where her father was held and destroyed it and apparently her father died as well. Heartbroken over the loss of her father and wanting to make James Senior know how she felt, she went after James Junior. It was later revealed that her father was not dead but under a protection program.
- In "Appointment in Macau", James befriends Lily Mai, whose father was one of the heads of the Raven Triad and whom Dr. No kidnapped because of his grudge against the Raven Triad. Actually, Lily’s father was a mole working for Interpol, but not even Lily knew that.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Needless to say, several of the villains should not be able to have successive encounters with the Bond family.
- Spin-Offspring: Not only is the titular character James Bond's nephew, he also has friends who are related to some of James Bond's allies; I.Q. is Q's grandson and Gordo is Felix Leiter's son. Not to mention that one of his foes is Goldfinger's daughter, Goldie.
- Spoiled Brat: Trevor Noseworthy IV.
- The Starscream: After S.C.U.M. Lord insults her one too many times, Barbella decided to Kill and Replace him as the head of S.C.U.M. by crashing an asteroid into a meeting of the S.C.U.M. High Command that is being held in Rio De Janeiro. Jaws and Nick Nack go along with this, either out of fear of Barbella, or because they simply do not care who runs S.C.U.M. so long as the organization keeps paying them.
- Suddenly Voiced: Oddjob can speak fluent English, unlike his literary and film counterparts.
- Surfer Dude: Gordo Leiter.
- Teen Superspy: In this series, he is related to the best-known spy in all of fiction.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Jaws and Nick Nack. Whenever they have to work together, they almost always argue, which tends to screw up the main bad guys’ plans and cause a lot of headaches for their superiors.
- Token Minority:
- Coach Burton "Buddy" Mitchell was the only non-white main character, being African-American.
- Doctor No (East Asian) and the one-shot character Pharaoh Fearo (Egyptian) were the only non-white members of S.C.U.M.
- Tsundere: Tracy Milbanks, who tries to hang around James all of the time and gets extremely snippy whenever other girls show an interest in him.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Chameleon uses Applied Phlebotinum (in the form of subcutaneous "micro-molders") that lets him impersonate anyone he sees.
- Why We're Bummed Communism Fell: In "The Eiffel Missle", Dr. Derange intends to fire a nuclear missile from France at Russia so that France will be blamed and "Perestroika will go up in a cloud of nuclear smoke!"
- 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 Iron Man: The Animated Series.
- You Don't Look Like You: While Goldfinger, Jaws, and Oddjob (if you can look past his weird wardrobe) all bare passing resemblances to their film counterparts, Nick Nack and Doctor No are nigh-unrecognizable, especially the latter, who has for some reason been reimagined as a green Fu Manchu.
- Younger and Hipper: James Jr. does everything his famous uncle does, like save the world from supervillains and charm every lady he meets, despite not even being out of high school. 007's trademark Aston Martin even gets destroyed in the first episode and rebuilt as a snazzy red convertible sportscar.
