Was 007 ever going to appear to help his nephew out in the animated series James Bond Jr, and which villains turned up on the show? While the movie is well-regarded now, the 1989 Bond adventure License To Kill met with a mixed response upon release. Timothy Dalton's second and final outing as 007 was a good deal darker than previous movies and came out during a particularly crowded year for blockbusters. The movie arrived the same summer as Tim Burton's Batman and the third Indiana Jones film, which saw License To Kill become one of the franchise's lowest-grossing.
Timothy Dalton was signed for three movies and was set to return for one final adventure, but legal complications following License To Kill saw the franchise go on hiatus for six years. During this period emerged one of the lesser loved entries in the franchise's history: James Bond Jr. This is an animated adventure following Bond's nephew - which is in itself a questionable choice, given that Bond is an only child - as he attends a prep school with Q's grandson, who provides him with gadgets in his battle with the subtly named organization S.C.U.M.
James Bond Jr was its own subseries for about a year, and in addition to running for 65 episodes, it spawned various comics, novelizations and even a couple of video games. Bond isn't a franchise necessarily suited to a kids' show format, but it completely eschewed various tropes like the title character sleeping around or assassinating targets in favor of more cartoonish adventures. Bond himself is never seen in the series, but author Mark Edlitz revealed that during his research for book The Lost Adventures of James Bond (via James Bond Radio) he learned that having 007 make guest appearances was seriously considered when the show was being planned.
Sadly, this didn't come to pass but it seems unlikely a James Bond actor - like then 007 Timothy Dalton - would have voiced the role. In all likelihood, the producers of the movies wanted to keep a comfortable distance from James Bond Jr, especially while the rights to the franchise were in a legal bind during this period. That said, several Bond foes did make an appearance, but voiced by different actors than their movie counterparts and given cartoonish makeovers.
One of Bonds' most famous enemies Jaws was a recurring henchman on James Bond Jr and was often paired with Nick Nack, a bad guy from The Man With The Golden Gun. Auric Goldfinger appears in several episodes and has a daughter called Goldie Finger. Goldfinger's henchman Oddjob also returns with his razor hat but has been given a strange makeover, which includes a purple jumpsuit, sunglasses and a gold necklace with his initials. The worst makeover is given to Doctor No, who in this incarnation looks like a Fu Manchu parody with green skin.
While never confirmed on James Bond Jr, there are suggestions that S.C.U.M. Lord himself may have been Blofeld too. The cartoon came to an end in 1992, and the movie series finally returned with 1995's GoldenEye. The cartoon isn't particularly well-regarded now and it seems the franchise owners would prefer it was forgotten. Its never been made available on DVD, Blu-ray or streaming, and it appears there are no plans to change that. It's definitely a bizarre curio, and no doubt fans who missed it the first time would be interested in checking it out - without or without a 007 cameo.