Gadget Boy & Heather

Gadget Boy
Also known as	Gadget Boy & Heather (Season 1 title) Gadget Boy's Adventures in History (Season 2 title)
Format	Animated series
Country of origin	France United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	M6 (France) First-run syndication (United States) BBC 1/Cartoon Network UK (United Kingdom)
Original run	September 10, 1995 – July 4, 1998

Gadget Boy & Heather (also known as Gadget Boy) was an animated television series from DiC Entertainment. The series debuted in 1995 in first-run syndication in the United States and on M6 in France.

This series is about "Gadget Boy", a bionic kid-detective with a personality similar to that of Inspector Gadget. He was conceived as a bionic "child" with the personality of a "perfect adult detective" (although as with the aforementioned Inspector Gadget, he is anything but). Just as maladroit as the original Inspector Gadget, Gadget Boy was usually bailed out of situations by the more practical Heather, though he was also helped greatly by his myriad high-tech gadgets and extendable arms and legs. Gadget Boy's bionic implants were installed by Switzerland-based inventor Myron Dabble (Maurice LaMarche) who has an unrequited crush on Heather. Gadget Boy and Heather receive their assignments from Italy-based Chief Stromboli (Maurice LaMarche), who, much like Chief Quimby, is a frequent, long-suffering victim of Gadget Boy's bungling. Gadget Boy is assisted by the beautiful and resourceful agent Heather (Tara Charandoff), a very tall equivalent of sorts to Penny (the difference being that Heather is in her late teens or early 20s). He is also assisted by a robotic dog named G-9 (Maurice LaMarche), who serves as the "Brain" of this series, which shows through his morphing capabilities to get the gang out of the stickiest situations.

The main villain of this series, instead of Dr. Claw, is the mask-wearing six-armed villainess Spydra (Louise Vallance) who is accompanied by Boris, a frequently abused, wisecracking, sarcastic vulture with a Russian accent, along with her henchmen Mulch and his twin brother Houmous, all played by Maurice LaMarche.

The main title theme song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. Musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo and Jean-Michel Guirao.

Characters

Heroes

• Gadget Boy: Gadget Boy, voiced by Don Adams and later Maurice LaMarche, is a bionic police detective working for Interpol in New York City. He is equipped by his dog, G-9, and assisted by Agent Heather. He was conceived as a bionic "child" with the personality of a "perfect adult detective" (although as with the aforementioned Inspector Gadget, he is anything but). Like Inspector Gadget, Gadget Boy is equipped with gadgets in his body and is as clumsy as Gadget, but will use the gadgets to get himself out of sticky situations. The bionic implants were installed by the inventor Myron Dabble. Agent Heather bails Gadget Boy out of danger, though he was also helped greatly by his myriad high-tech gadgets and extendable arms and legs. However, Gadget Boy is usually seen with Agent Heather and G9, unlike Gadget, who in the original series, will usually inform Penny and Brain once he receives his assignment that the mission is too dangerous and that he will be going on the mission alone, and usually be convinced that a disguised Brain is a M.A.D. agent. Gadget Boy and G-9 appear to switch between being fully robotic to being half robotic in different episodes. In #10, "Gadget Boy and the Uncommon Cold", it is revealed that Gadget Boy is half robot and thus catches the cold while G-9 does not. However, in #20, "Boy Power of Babble", Gadget Boy is unaffected by the "babblizer ray" because he is half robot with a mechanical brain, whereas G-9 is completely robotic. Don Adams voices Gadget Boy, similar to being the original voice of Inspector Gadget. Gadget Boy commonly says "Sowsers! Bowsers!", similar to Inspector Gadget's catchphrase, "Wowsers!".
• Agent Heather: Agent Heather, voiced by Tara Charandoff, is an Interpol agent and the aide to Gadget Boy. She is a more resourceful agent and is the equivalent of Penny in Inspector Gadget, except Agent Heather is much taller than Penny and appears to be in her early 20s, and is the love interest of the inventor Myron Dabble. Agent Heather has red hair and wears a green jacket, blue trousers, white shirt and blue shoes. Her name is Estelle in the French version. It is revealed in Gadget Boy and the Wee Folk that her Blood Line is Irish.
• G-9: G-9, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is Gadget Boy's robotic dog, similar to Brain in Inspector Gadget. He can morph into anything and assists Gadget Boy to get him and his gang out of the stickiest situations. Gadget Boy and G-9 appear to switch between being fully robotic to being half robotic in different episodes. Although G-9 is a robot dog, in #20, "Boy Power of Babble", G-9 is revealed to be half robot when he is affected by the "babblizer ray", enabling him the ability to speak in an old English, intelligent accent. Unlike Brain, G-9 is usually seen with Gadget Boy, and Gadget Boy does not mistake him for being an enemy agent, as opposed to when the original Inspector Gadget will usually, on the case, mistake Brain appearing incognito for being a M.A.D. agent.

Villains

• Spydra: Spydra, voiced by Louise Vallance, is the main villain of Gadget Boy & Heather. Spydra wears a pink mask and has six arms, speaks in a loud voice, and is almost the female version of Dr. Claw. Her primary goals are to bring down Gadget Boy and commit grand crimes of all kinds. Usually, Spydra is seen in her lair, much like Dr. Claw is seen at his computer terminal, either in his castle or on the M.A.D.mobile, but does not run a large scale criminal organization similar to M.A.D. Also, Spydra's whole body can be seen, unlike Dr. Claw in the original series, where only his arms are seen and he is hiding behind a chair, and Spydra can get out of her chair. Spydra is named for resembling a spider, sporting six arms and keeping her face hidden under a mask. She occasionally takes her mask off to use one of her main powers: the ability to petrify anyone who sees her real face. Of course, the unmasking is always done off-screen or is obscured. Her pet is the vulture Boris, and she is usually abusive towards Boris, often using alliterations to insult Boris. Spydra's minions are the twin brothers Mulch and Hummus, the only recurring minions in the series, as opposed to the different recurring unnamed M.A.D. agents in Inspector Gadget (and sometimes a supervillain who will have a name and appear once, which is less apparent in the second season of the series). Her name is Arachna in the French version.
• Boris: Boris, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is Spydra's pet vulture. Boris is frequently abused by Spydra, and is wisecracking and sarcastic. He speaks in a Russian accent. Boris differs from M.A.D. Cat in that M.A.D. Cat is a foil to Dr. Claw, in which he will either be petted or pounded on, whereas Boris is only abused in many ways by Spydra, such as being insulted, thrown, or, in extreme cases, petrified by Spydra.
• Mulch and Hummus: Mulch and Hummus, both voiced by Maurice LaMarche, are twin brothers and the criminal henchmen to Spydra. Spydra sends out Mulch and Hummus to do her dirty work. The design of Mulch and Hummus is somewhat like the recurring M.A.D. agents in the original Inspector Gadget series. Unlike this, however, Mulch and Hummus are the only henchmen to Spydra, as opposed to the large number of M.A.D. agents working for Dr. Claw.

Other characters

• Myron Dabble: Myron Dabble, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is an inventor from Switzerland working for Interpol. He is the man who, like Professor von Slickstein, equipped Gadget Boy with his gadgets. Myron Dabble wears glasses and has an unrequited crush on Agent Heather.
• Chief Stromboli: Chief Stromboli, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is the chief of Interpol. He is Italian and speaks in an Italian accent. Chief Stromboli has white hair and a white mustache and gives Gadget Boy and Heather their assignments. Like Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget, Chief Stromboli is a frequent, long-suffering victim of Gadget Boy's bungling. Assignments are printed on a long sheet of paper, often coming out of his tie, compared to the self destructing paper on which Inspector Gadget will receive his messages, and don't blow up in his face.
• Miss Denise: Miss Denise, voiced by María Conchita Alonso, is Gadget Boy's school teacher.

Gadget Boy's Adventures in History

In 1997, Gadget Boy appeared in Gadget Boy's Adventures in History, a special educational series. In this series, the young detective has to stop the evil Spydra across time. This version, like Inspector Gadget's Field Trip, an Inspector Gadget spin off, aired on The History Channel, and airs on This is for Kids on This TV until September 23, 2011.

At times Spydra's fails to use or change time to her liking during the series.

Episode list

(Episodes are in chronological order, with place and time by it in parenthesis)

Season 1

1. Raiders of the Lost Mummies (10th September 1995)
2. From Russia with Gadget Boy (17th September 1995)
3. Don't Burst my Bubble (24th September 1995)
4. Gadget Boy in Toyland (1st October 1995)
5. Gadget Boy and the Wee Folk (8th October 1995)
6. You Oughta Be in Paintings (15th October 1995)
7. All That Gadgets Is Not Glitter (22nd October 1995)
8. Gadget Boy and the Great Race (29th October 1995)
9. Gadget Boy and the Ship of Fools (5th November 1995)
10. Gadget Boy and the Uncommon Cold (12th November 1995)
11. Double Double Toil and Dabble (19th November 1995)
12. Gadget Boy Squadron (26th November 1995)
13. My Gadget Guard (3rd December 1995)
14. Treasure of the Sierra Gadget (10th December 1995)
15. Gadget Boy and the Dumpling Gang (17th December 1995)
16. The Day the Gadget Boy Stood Still (24th December 1995)
17. Monumental Mayhem (31st December 1995)
18. Jurassic Spydra (7th January 1996)
19. Gadget Boy's Tiniest Adventure (14th January 1996)
20. Power of Babble (21st January 1996)
21. Pirate of the Airwaves (28th January 1996)
22. Jaws and Teeth Too (4th February 1996)
23. Eight Hands are Quicker Than Gadget Boy (11th February 1996)
24. Boris for President (18th February 1996)
25. All Webbed Up, Nowhere to Go (25th February 1996)
26. Vulture of the Bride (3rd March 1996)

Season 2

1. The Vulture Has Landed (Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA - Moon, 1969) (10th January 1998)
2. The Long and Winding Wall (China, 211 BC) (17th January 1998)
3. For Whom the Torch Rolls (Greece, 400 BC) (24th January 1998)
4. Madame Spydra Fly (Japan, 1853) (31st January 1998)
5. An Ice Age Runs Through It (Cretaceous Period) (7th February 1998)
6. The Three Gadgeteers (Paris, France - 1617) (14th February 1998)
7. Hot Time in Old Caves (750,000 BC) (21st February 1998)
8. Bionic Blunder from Down Under (Australia, 1915) (28th February 1998)
9. Some Assembly Required (Detroit, Michigan, USA - 1908) (7th March 1998)
10. Gadget-Stein (Geneva, 1816) (14th March 1998)
11. Ice Station Vulture (North Pole, 1909) (21st March 1998)
12. Coming In on a Web and Prayer (Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA - 1903) (28th March 1998)
13. All's Fair at the World Fair (Queens, New York, USA - 1939) (4th April 1998)
14. A Whale of a Sail of a Tail (Phoenicia, 1300 BC) (11th April 1998)
15. An Extinct Possibility (Rhodesia, 1955) (18th April 1998)
16. A Knight to Remember (England, 1215) (25th April 1998)
17. No Laughing Matter (Hollywood, California, USA - 1920) (2nd May 1998)
18. It's Not Easy Staying Green (1970) (9th May 1998)
19. Just Fakir-Ing It (India, 1928) (16th May 1998)
20. Go West Young Vulture (California, USA - 1850) (23rd May 1998)
21. These Are a Few of My Favourite Flying Things (Florence, Italy - 15th century) (30th May 1998)
22. Valley of the Vulture (Egypt - 1922) (6th June 1998)
23. The Time Land Forgot (Mexico - 1000 AD) (13th June 1998)
24. Three Brainiacs in a Fountain (Marie Curie, pasteurization inventor Louis Pasteur, and general all-around smart guy Albert Einstein) (20th June 1998)
25. A Gadget Boy Christmas All Around the World (Old Befana of Italy and Martin Luther, Myra, Turkey - 325 AD, Germany - 1517 AD) (27th June 1998)
26. Back to the Vulture (1950s) (4th July 1998)

DVD release

On February 21, 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment will release Gadget Boy's Adventures in History- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 3-disc set will feature all 26 episodes from the second season of the series. They will also release a 10 episode best-of collection on the same day.

Airing

The series airs regularly in the UK in the early hours of the morning on Cartoon Network until 2009 and on Boomerang channel. In the United States, reruns were shown on Toon Disney, between 1998 and 2001. Until September 23, 2011, in the United States, the series airs on the This TV network. From 1998 to 2000, the series was broadcast in Canada on Family.

Gadget Boy also made an appearance (of sorts) on Inspector Gadget's Field Trip in an episode where he fell into the Fountain of Youth.

Broadcast stations

• USA
  • Syndication (1995)
  • NBC (1996–1998)
  • Toon Disney (1998–2001)
  • This TV (2010–2011)

See also

• DiC Entertainment
• Inspector Gadget
• Gadget and the Gadgetinis

External links

• Cookie Jar's Gadget Boy Official Site
• Watch Gadget Boy on Jaroo
• Gadget Boy and Heather on the Internet Movie Database
• Gadget Boy's Adventures in History on the Internet Movie Database
• NCircle Entertainment: Buy Gadget Boy & Heather on DVD
• Gadget Boy & Heather on TV.com