It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems, and was created and designed by the late comic book artist Doug Wildey.

The show was inspired by radio serials and comics in the action-adventure genre, and featured more realistic art, human characters, and stories than Hanna-Barbera's previous cartoon programs.

[2] It was the first of several Hanna-Barbera action-based adventure shows—which would later include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio—and ran on ABC in prime time on early Friday nights for one season from 1964 to 1965.

[5] As comics historian Daniel Herman wrote, Wildey's designs on Jonny Quest gave a cartoon a distinctive look, with its heavy blacks [i.e. shading and shadow] and its Caniff-inspired characters. ...

The look of Jonny Quest was unlike any other cartoon television show of the time, with its colorful backgrounds, and its focus on the characters with their jet packs, hydrofoils, and lasers.

Race's mysterious old flame, Jade, voiced by Cathy Lewis, appears in two episodes, as do the characters of Corbin, an Intelligence One agent, and the Professor, a scientist colleague of Dr. Quest's.

[citation needed] Jonny Quest aired from September 18, 1964, to March 11, 1965, in prime time on the ABC network and was an almost instant success both critically and ratings-wise.

A former archaeologist friend-turned Arab nationalist revolutionary named Ahmed Kareem, who is being stalked by a vengeful mummy, attempts to frame Dr. Quest and Race for the theft of a priceless Egyptian artifact, a statue.

While investigating a bar of fake gold from a supposedly exhausted Indian mine, Dr. Quest discovers an alchemist counterfeit ring (conceived by his nemesis, Dr. Zin, and operated from the palace of an impostor Maharaja) that could bring damage to the global financial market.

After an emergency landing in the Andes Mountains, Race is challenged to an aerial dogfight by Baron Heinrich von Frohleich, an old German fighter ace of World War I fame (who possess a collection of vintage aircraft at his Bavarian-style castle in South America).

Dr. Quest is kidnapped by a rival scientist who needs help with his experiments to develop gigantic (crab, spider, lizard) creatures at a secret Hong Kong-based laboratory compound.

[34] On October 27, 2016, La-La Land released a limited-edition 2-CD set of music from the series, including an extended version of the opening theme minus the sound effects.