Inspector Gadget (1983 TV series)
 |
| Inspector Gadget | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bruno Bianchi |
| Starring | Don Adams Frank Welker Maurice LaMarche Cree Summer |
| Music by | Shuki Levy Haim Saban |
| Country of origin | Canada / Germany / USA / France / UK |
| No. of episodes | 86 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22-23 Minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ZDF, YTV, France 3 & ITV1 |
| Release | September 5, 1983 – February 1, 1986 |
| Release | (1983-84) Frank Welker Townsend Coleman – Greg Duffell Hadley Kay |
| Release | (1983-84) Frank Welker Townsend Coleman – Greg Duffell Hadley Kay |
| Release | (1983-84) Frank Welker Townsend Coleman – Greg Duffell Hadley Kay |
| Release | (1983-84) Frank Welker Townsend Coleman – Greg Duffell Hadley Kay |
| Release | (1983-84) Frank Welker Townsend Coleman – Greg Duffell Hadley Kay |
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series about a clumsy, absent-minded, and oblivious detective, Inspector Gadget, who is a human being with various "gadgets" built into his anatomy. Gadget's main nemesis is the mysterious Dr. Claw, leader of an evil organization known as MAD. This was the merchandising company DiC Entertainment's first syndicated cartoon show, and ran from 1983 to 1986 in syndication. This article pertains to the original cartoon series and its characters and plots; for information on its later spinoffs, see Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations, Produced by DiC Entertainment, Millimages, Nelvana, ZDF, YTV, France 3 & France Animation in association with Caravan Pictures.
The series was later adapted into a feature film of the same name, starring Matthew Broderick as the Inspector, and a direct-to-video sequel starring French Stewart.
A spin-off, Gadget and the Gadgetinis, was first shown in 2001. In it Gadget was now a lieutenant and was assisted by a pair of bungling robot look-a-likes.
Cast of characters
- Inspector Gadget (voiced by Don Adams)
- A bumbling and somewhat quixotic cyborg detective. Often cluelessly stumbling through any case he is given, Gadget often ignorantly makes foolish mistakes pertaining to surroundings and current environment, mistaking innocent bystanders (and Brain) for enemies, and believing that the real enemies are friends. His ineptitude always leads him into danger, but he always gets out of trouble through either his trusty gadgets (most notably his springs), Penny's interference, or pure dumb luck. The character has a passing similarity to Adams' Get Smart character, Maxwell Smart, but has much more in common with Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther film series. The episode "MAD Trap" is one of the few episodes in which Gadget actually shows some competence. When Dr. Claw traps him in a steel foundry, he shows a degree of intelligence, using his gadgets flawlessly to save Penny and Brain. Later, in the "moral", they muse that it was a good thing his gadgets were in top shape.
- Penny (voiced first by Cree Summer, then by Holly Berger)
- Gadget's precocious niece. Inspector Gadget is her guardian and caretaker, though often she seems more suited to be his caretaker due to Gadget's clumsiness and general silliness. Penny has blonde hair and green eyes, and she nearly always wears a red t-shirt with a white stripe in the middle and a pair of green jeans with off-white patches on the knees. She sometimes wears different clothing, such as a bikini at the beach or a coat in the wintertime. Unknown to any of the recurring characters other than Brain, she is a master of investigation and technology who is the one truly responsible for foiling MAD's schemes. Penny's principle crime-fighting tool is a high-tech Computer Book capable of breaking codes, surveiling buildings and overriding practically any sort of machine or device. Using the book, Penny is able to monitor Gadget's activities and -- with Brain's help -- surreptitiously help him avoid numerous potential catastrophes that result from his absent-mindedness while uncovering the true nature of Dr. Claw's plot and foiling it. The name Penny may have been inspired by Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary, from the James Bond film series. Her name is Sophie in the French version. Penny also shares certain similarities to the niece of Sky King of the same name. Both blonde-haired nieces are trusted by their uncles in aiding the capture of criminals.
- Brain (voiced by Frank Welker)
- Penny's dog. He assists her in keeping Gadget out of danger and solving the crime. He is a master of disguise and dresses up in order to watch over Gadget and save him from attempts on his life. Although Gadget is in contact with Brain almost the entire time while he is supposedly solving a case, Gadget never sees through his disguises (and as often as not, Gadget assumes Brain is a MAD agent while ignoring all the real ones). Brain's collar is outfitted with a retractable video communications system linked to a computer wristwatch Penny wears that allows her to relay information on Gadget's activity, or warn Brain as to the whereabouts of MAD agents. Brain can speak a human language, though in a gruff "dog" voice (with a speech impediment featuring constant uses of the letter "r"), similar to Astro of The Jetsons or Scooby-Doo. Sometimes it is impossible to understand what Brain is saying. In a pinch, Brain will resort to pantomime and physical gestures to communicate effectively. His breed of dog is unknown although he is possibly a golden retriever/hound mix. His name is Finot in the French version.
- Dr. Claw (voiced by Frank Welker, and in some episodes, Don Francks and Greg Duffel)
- The main villain in the series and leader of the evil organization known as MAD (acronym for Mean And Dirty). He speaks in a deep, menacing, gravelly voice and his face and the majority of his body are never shown throughout the series; only his arms and gloved hands are visible, usually at a computer terminal where he monitors his various schemes. Dr. Claw shares many characteristics with Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond films. Even though he's aware of Gadget's stupidity, he believes the Inspector to be his greatest nemesis, never fully realizing that it is actually Penny and Brain who foil his plots in each episode (though he or his MAD agents have captured Penny and sometimes Brain a number of times). His name is Dr. Gang in the French version.
- MAD Cat (voiced by Frank Welker)
- Dr. Claw's fat pet cat. He is always at Dr. Claw's side. In many episodes he attempts to do something simple, but fails, usually because of Dr. Claw hitting the desk, enraged by Gadget's interferences. MAD Cat doesn't have a voice of any kind, but will laugh when Dr. Claw laughs.
- Chief Quimby (voiced first by Hadley Kay, then by Maurice LaMarche)
- Gadget's boss. He appears at the beginning of each episode with his own theme music to deliver Gadget his mission only to be blown up by the self-destructing message (which is clearly marked) due to Gadget's obliviousness, and appears again at the end of each episode to congratulate Gadget on a job well done. Again, the character is a synthesis of The Chief from Get Smart and Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the Pink Panther films, while the self-exploding message comes from Mission: Impossible.
- Corporal Capeman (voiced by Townsend Coleman)
- A nerdy sidekick who dresses in stereotypical superhero garb and accompanies Gadget in a few episodes during the second season. He is even more clueless and dumber than Gadget. The two have a student/mentor relationship, though Gadget is rarely teaching anything nor is Capeman learning. Capeman is obsessed with learning to fly and often mistakenly believes he has miraculously acquired the power of flight while in the midst of dire circumstances. His last appearance is in the series' last episode: "Gadget and the Red Rose" (#86).
In the first season, nearly every episode saw the introduction of some supervillain who had come to be employed by Dr. Claw to commit a crime suited to their special skills. They are typically arrested at the end of the episode, and do not appear again in the series.
Plot
Inspector Gadget was apparently employed by the Metro City police department, and many episodes either took place or began somewhere in Metro City. However, his missions would often take him to a different exotic locale, generally without giving any explanation as to how a crime on the other side of the earth was of any interest to the Metro City police.
Although there were rare exceptions, every single episode of the first season followed a standard plot (labeled here as steps 1-10), with little variation:
1. Gadget, Penny, and Brain (better known as "The Gadget Team") are engaged in a typical family activity that is interrupted by Police Chief Quimby calling on the Top Secret Gadget Phone. He then appears in an outlandish disguise — a gas barrel, a Gypsy fortuneteller, even a gargoyle on Gadget's house, but most often, it's in a trash can.
2. Quimby gives Gadget a mission on a self-destructing sheet of paper. As Gadget reads the message, his eyes dart back and forth and the sound of a typewriter plays. The last line of the message always reads "This message will self-destruct.", a spoof of the exploding taped messages from Mission: Impossible. Sometimes it would say that the message would self-destruct in ten (sometimes thirty) seconds. Gadget says his catchphrase, which is "Don't worry, Chief, I am always on duty.", before he crumples up that paper, and then unintentionally throws the message back at the Chief and walks away in total ignorance. When the Chief hides out in a garbage disposal, Gadget puts the message in the trash, not knowing that the Chief is in there too. The message explodes seconds later in Quimby's face, who asks himself something like "Why do I put up with him?". The only episodes without the exploding paper are "Gadget's Replacement" (#23), where Gadget is replaced by a computer, and "Health Spa" (#6), in which Gadget doesn't even get a mission. Instead, Gadget slams the door into the Chief shortly after Quimby says, "At last, an assignment that didn't blow up in my face."
3. Dr. Claw is always somehow visually monitoring this event on his computer from his desk or car, and introduces his scheme and usually a new super villain employee to the viewers. The schemes nearly always include trying to eliminate Gadget as well as stealing valuable things.
4. Gadget bumbles through his mission oblivious to the dangers and overall situation around him. He frequently makes ridiculous assumptions (such as thinking that the sound of explosions is thunder). He also almost always mistakes hostile enemy agents for helpful allies, and vice versa.
5. Brain is always instructed by Penny to follow Gadget to make sure he doesn't get hurt: "I'm worried, Brain. You'd better follow him." Brain would make use of various costumes (although how he got them is not explained) and often interacts with Gadget, who never recognizes him. Gadget usually considers the disguised Brain to be the main suspect. When intervening to save Gadget from MAD agents, Brain often becomes the victim (along with the agents themselves) instead of Gadget. Gadget himself rarely comes to any harm, and if he does, it's usually self-inflicted. Even when Gadget falls into a MAD agent trap, he always escapes by using his gadgets.
6. Meanwhile, Penny investigates the crimes and is usually the one to solve the case with the help of her Computer Book. With it, she can override the controls of just about anything electronic -- if she can, as she always says, "find the right frequency." She often stops the MAD agents when she overrides the controls of the vehicle MAD agents drive and forces them to crash. Sometimes, she uses her Computer Book to override the controls of one of Dr. Claw's evil machines, causing it to overload and explode. On occasion, Gadget unintentionally solves the case without being aware of it. "Danger-Prone Penny" may get captured and escape the criminals during her investigation, when Brain or Gadget comes to rescue her. Sometimes, Penny escapes herself when the MAD Agents don't do a good job of locking her up, or are distracted by something. She will sometimes use the help of her Computer Book to escape as well.
7. Shortly before Penny solves the case, she calls Chief Quimby to the crime scene.
8. Gadget invariably gets credit for solving the mission, with everyone believing that he has in fact stopped Dr. Claw single-handedly. Chief Quimby appears and congratulates him. No one ever suspects that it was in fact Penny and Brain who did all of the work. Typically, they show up and Gadget doesn't even know how they got there, but he is delighted to see them. Like many cartoons, the episode usually ends with them all laughing at something.
9. After this, Dr. Claw is seen either in his hideout or escaping in his MADmobile, which can turn into an advanced jet or submarine, delivering his catch phrase: "I'll get you next time, Gadget... NEXT TIME!". This phrase is also played towards the end of the end credits in every episode.
10. In common with many 1980s children's TV shows, Inspector Gadget's last scene is a safety tip (known as a Gadget Team Alert) often relating to the episode (similar to Captain Planet's Planeteer Alerts).
While the show was admittedly formulaic (at the time, it was often compared with Get Smart, which also starred Don Adams), charming and appealing main characters, exotic and varied locations, and solid writing kept the series entertaining. Also, children tend to enjoy formulas and repetition, which helped keep the show popular long after its cancellation.
Episodes
Inspector Gadget's gadgets
Inspector Gadget's gadgets were the most unique aspect of the show, and although they are central to his character, they rarely ever actually do him any good when it comes to solving his case. When using his gadgets, he would say "Go-Go-Gadget", and then the name of the gadget to be used. However, the gadget he said would not always be the gadget that appeared.
The Inspector has an indefinite supply of gadgets located all over his body. However, there are several that appear regularly.
Most commonly used gadgets
- Gadget Binoculars: Binoculars lower down out of his hat and over his eyes.
- Gadget 'Brella: A hand holding an umbrella that comes out of his hat. It can be used as a parachute. More often than not, he will fall rapidly when using his 'Brella' when it turns inside-out.
- Gadget Coat: His trench coat inflates when he pulls one of its buttons and enables him to float — in water or in the sky. It is almost always deflated by being punctured, causing him to shoot through the sky as the air is released before falling from a great height.
- Gadget Copter: Helicopter propeller blades that come out of his hat that enable him to fly.
- Gadget Cuffs: A handcuff comes out of his forearm just above his hand.
- Gadget Eyes: His eyes move mechanically while he reads, accompanied by a sound similar to a typewriter.
- Gadget Hands: Several mechanical hands can pop out of Gadget's hat. These hands will sometimes hold various objects including a camera, a motorized fan, a spotlight, a can opener, and other useful things. Of course, there are times when they will also be holding something useless or unhelpful to the situation.
- Gadget Legs/Arms/Neck: His neck, arms, and legs can telescope and extend to great lengths.
- Gadget Legs (springs): As well as being telescopic, his legs can also extend with springs, which is useful for jumping and landing.
- Top-Secret Gadget Phone: A telephone in his hand. The earpiece is located in his thumb, while the mouthpiece is located in his pinky finger. This is one of the few gadgets that is not voice activated; Instead, Chief Quimby activates it by calling Gadget. (There is also a regular telephone inside Gadget's hat.)
- Gadget Skates: Roller skates come out of the bottom of his shoes. He is often very clumsy and struggles to keep his balance on the skates. Later in the series, he tries adding his own modifications in the form of rockets that come out from the sides. These have even more glitches than most of his gadgets for their first few appearances.
- Gadget Springs: A spring comes out of his hat (he also has one in each shoe), enabling him to bounce, usually when falling head first and hitting his head against the ground.
Other gadgets
- Gadget Flower: A mechanical hand holding a big sunflower emerges from his hat and can either spray water or sleep gas towards an enemy.
- Gadget Ears: Metal cones that deploy from his head, around his ears, allowing him to hear better.
- Gadget Hat Doff: Possibly one of the Inspector's most interesting (and revealing) gadgets of all: when Gadget greets a lady, instead of doffing his hat, a mechanical hand emerges from his hat, in the hand is another hat; from this other hat emerges a second mechanical hand, which is also holding a hat, totaling three hats! (Probably only seen once in Do Unto Udders)
- Gadget Tie: His necktie turns into a lasso.
- Gadget Magnets: Magnets come out of the bottom of his shoes. More often than not, the magnets end up sticking to any metallic object with a magnetic attraction, just like Captain Planet's "magnetic" personality. It is sometimes useful when attempting to avoid slipping on slippery surfaces.
- Gadget Mallet: A wooden hammer held in a robotic hand that also comes out of his hat. It usually winds up bopping someone it should not -- sometimes even the Inspector himself.
- Gadget Parachute: A relatively small, red parachute which was probably only used in episode #48, Do Unto Udders. Here, Gadget gets stuck in his parachute on a farm, making an ill-mannered bull "see red" and attack him.
- Gadget Respirator: A self-contained breathing mask and the only gadget that Gadget has to physically reach for and pull on as he said his "Go-Go-Gadget" command for it.
- Gadget Siren: A police light and siren pop out of the top of his hat.
- Gadget Skis: a pair of skis that pop out of the front and back of his shoes which are voice activated. Unfortunately they would sometimes come out accidentally after he calls for his skates, usually winding up them being destroyed in the process of being dragged behind a fast moving vehicle. And even when they would come out on snow Gadget would usually crash into a tree or other object. On one occasion they had built in rockets similar to his skates.
- Gadget Teeth: His teeth pop out of his mouth and will float around, biting the air. He can't talk when this is in use (at least not well).
- Gadget Wind Sail: A huge wind sail emerges from his hat, which, when combined with Gadget Skis, allows him to wind sail down a snowy track (probably only used once, in Bad Altitude)
- Finger Gadgets: There are several gadgets inside his fingers, accessed by taking the end off his finger to expose the gadget. These include a flashlight, skeleton key, laser, pen, screwdriver, drill bit, snow gun, corkscrew, water pistol, and whistle .
Operation of the gadgets
The Inspector can activate each of his gadgets by calling its name, "Go-Go-Gadget Arms!" (for example), but there are times when gadgets appear to be activated by reflex rather than being called. Quite often, either the called gadget will malfunction, or the wrong one will be activated. When this happens, the Inspector will muse that he desperately needs to get them fixed, although he apparently neglects to ever actually do so. One time, in The Boat, while falling through the air, Gadget called several gadgets that didn't activate, finally calling "Go-Go-Gadget Anything!" to which Brain grabbed him and brought him down. Gadgets also have a tendency to activate (or eject) en mass whenever the Inspector falls over, sneezes etc. — this often occurs at the end of an episode, accompanied by all the characters laughing. The gadgets occasionally seem to have a bit of a mind of their own: in episode #48, Do Unto Udders, one of the hands uses a severe pointing finger to stop Gadget from buying unhealthy food.
It is hard to determine if calling the gadgets is mandatory or not: in Bad Altitude, the Inspector is trying not to wake a sleeping Penny, so whispers "Go-Go-Gadget Pen" quietly, suggesting that the gadget would not work without the call. Conversely, there are many times when the Inspector seems quite capable of producing any gadget without calling it. For example, in MAD Trap, Gadget competes with a jack-in-the-box by producing a variety of gadgets from his hat; or in The Boat, Gadget performs a quick test of several of his gadgets, all without calling any of them. One explanation for calling the gadgets is that it could be etiquette or protocol — more for the sake of warning other people than for any functional reason. Another explanation is that the Inspector finds it difficult to activate the gadgets purely by thought, and so calls them aloud in order to focus his mind (similar to how people sometimes command themselves to "think" when they need to concentrate hard). This hypothesis seems to tie in with the fact that Gadget has more difficulty activating gadgets while under pressure. However, these inconsistencies can also simply be attributed to the general inconsistent nature of most aspects of the cartoon.
The Gadgetmobile
Similar to his body, Gadget's car, the "Gadgetmobile", is also fully loaded with a seemingly limitless arsenal of gadgets. It has all of the clichéd features of any fictional crime fighting vehicle (like the Batmobile, or a James Bond car for instance) including a smoke screen, a siren, the ability to drop a trail of tacks to blow out a pursuing vehicle's tires, ejector seat, and a claw on the front (referred to as the Gadget Claw).
Besides having all of the typical features, it has many specialized ones as well, such as the ability to extend its wheels (not unlike Gadget's arms and legs) to great lengths, and to completely transform into another vehicle altogether, the Gadgetvan, even while in motion. All of the Gadgets on the Gadgetmobile are voice activated in the same way that the gadgets on his body are activated, by calling its name, "Go-Go-Gadgetvan!" (for example), although when changing into the van and back, he usually moves a lever while saying it.
In one episode (The Ruby), Inspector Gadget summons the Gadgetmobile while on foot ("Go-Go-Gadget Car!"). The Gadgetmobile then arrives on the scene and — in usual malfunctioning style — drives straight past him.
It is also, for the most part, nigh invulnerable. There are a few occasions where it has taken head-on collisions, attacks or has fallen from great heights and remained completely intact.
Penny and Brain's gadgets
As well as the Inspector, Penny and Brain have a few of their own gadgets:
Penny's Computer Book
A phonebook-sized machine that functions like a laptop computer — a device virtually unheard of during the show's run — and is apparently capable of hacking into and interfacing with any piece of electronic equipment, and some non electronic equipment, like a safe. The 'book' apparently does not have multiple pages, as the exact same control configuration is shown whenever Penny is using it. Penny usually carries her computer book in her backpack (she is only seen wearing it when the book is to be used shortly after).
Penny's Wristwatch
Penny's wristwatch has four functions - three for each of the three buttons on it:
- It is primarily used to communicate with Brain (in a manner very similar to a modern cellular videophone).
- It is used in most episodes to contact Chief Quimby, although this is clearly an audio-only communication, and probably one-way, as a response from the Chief is never heard.
- It can fire a directional laser beam, capable of cutting through a heavy metal door (as seen in quite a few episodes) or merely force it to open.
- It seems to have a weaker version of the book's powers (it was once used to hack into a combination lock and find out the combination).
Brain's communication collar
Used for communicating with Penny, Brain's communicator is hidden in his dog collar. When a call is received, the collar's studs extend out around Brain (usually three studs are shown extending but this number does vary). Presumably, the three studs contain a camera, speaker and microphone. It also has a tracking device that can direct Brain towards Penny (although he only uses it once).
MAD
MAD is an organization whose chief operation is committing crime, wreaking havoc and operating above the limits of the law. Headed by the mysterious Dr. Claw, MAD would seem to have numerous agents working for it but on the series only six or seven are seen repeatedly and only the special ones hired from the outside crime world, including Knuckles and Dr. Noodleman, are named. MAD is obviously a spoof on large scale evil organization (such as SPECTRE and KAOS) with grandiose schemes for world conquest seen in James Bond and other secret agent fiction. On some merchandise fans will notice that MAD is shown as an acronym for "Mean and Dirty". No mention of this fact is ever made in the series, and it is not considered canon.
MAD corporate identity
For an evil organization, MAD seems oddly enthusiastic about self-promotion and branding. Everything MAD creates seems customized to incorporate the MAD logo, or MAD-like imagery (ie cat heads and fangs). All MAD agents are assigned with corporate clothing covered in the MAD logo, even down to their underwear (as seen in Did You Myth Me and Do Unto Udders). (In Do Unto Udders, the logo is a MAD cow.) And just for good measure — as if the costumes weren't conspicuous enough — all MAD agents drive around in trucks with 'MAD' written on the side. Gadget never recognizes the MAD logo, MAD uniforms or MAD imagery.
MAD salute
MAD agents often show their respect/allegiance to Dr. Claw by performing the MAD salute. This basically involves swiftly putting a clenched fist to the side of one's head. The salute seems to be used more in later episodes, and possibly wasn't conceived until midway through the show's production.
MAD Academy
MAD has a facility it uses to train prospective agents located under a Metro City skyscraper (MAD Academy). Trainees are indoctrinated in MAD's philosophy and tendency toward self-promotion, as they already wear the official MAD uniform. The facility includes a driving course that is littered with traps. Dr. Claw personally instructs the school's students, and its official slogan is "We Hate Gadget."
The MADmobile
The MADmobile is able to transform into a jet and a submarine.
Background information
The show was created by Andy Heyward, Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi. The initial idea for Inspector Gadget came from Heyward, who also wrote the pilot episode, Winter Olympics (often syndicated as episode #65, Gadget in Winterland), in 1982 with the help of Chalopin. Chalopin, who at the time owned the DIC Audiovisual studio, helped him develop the format and concept for the rest of the episodes together with Bruno Bianchi, who also designed the final main characters and served as supervising director.
According to the bonus featurette "Wowsers" retrospective featurette with co-creators Andy Heyward and Mike Maliani on the four-disc DVD set "Inspector Gadget: The Original Series", Gadget went through around 1500 sketches before reaching his final design. In this featurette, Michael Maliani says he, too, was involved in the initial design work, though his name is never mentioned in the show's credits.
Peter Sauder was the head writer during the first season. In season two, Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Mike O' Mahoney, Glen Egbert and Jack Hanrahan (a former Get Smart writer, among many other things) took over. (Hanrahan and Burian-Mohr would later write the Christmas special Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas as well as the Gadget Boy series - see also Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations.)
The first sixty-five 22½-minute episodes were written, designed, storyboarded, and voiced-recorded in Canada at Nelvana Animation Studio, while being directed (long distance) by a French director. Most of these episodes were animated in Tokyo, Japan by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, the studio that animated most DiC cartoons of the 1980s, while a few episodes were animated in Taiwan by Cuckoo's Nest Studio, before being finished in post production by Nelvana, the same Canadian studio that did preproduction, and broadcast in the North America in September, 1983. A month or so later, the show premiered in France, whose version also featured a theme song with French lyrics and the French title Inspecteur Gadget appearing in front of the episode.
The first season was aired from September to December 1983, comprising sixty-five 22½-minute long episodes. The original pilot episode had a slightly higher budget than the rest of the series, but because of several animation problems and a far from established formula, the other 64 episodes of the season stand out as better. After the first season, the show was a worldwide hit.
The pilot featured slightly different opening and closing credits, too. The opening was nearly the same as the regular opening, except Gadget has his moustache, and the clips of the Gadgetvan turning into the Gadgetmobile, Penny discovering her watch (an altered version of her discovering her Computer Book), and Brain helping Gadget across a wire are not shown; instead clips from the pilot appear during those scenes. Also, after he activated his Gadget-Copter and spun away, and before cutting to the turnaround shot of Penny discovering her Computer Book, Gadget landed safely on the road -- in front of an oncoming MAD car! But luckily, he used his Gadget Legs to spring out of the way. The main title of the show was also presented on a green background instead of an orange background. The theme music was exactly the same (only a few on-screen sound effects differed somewhat), as well as on the closing credits, which featured little animations of Gadget using his gadgets. The final credit had Dr. Claw watching Gadget from his monitor, saying "I'll get you next time, Gadget... NEXT TIME!" and MAD Cat doing his snarling meow. This explains why Dr. Claw's voice is heard during the regular credits while Chief Quimby is speaking.
The first season episodes were repeated during the 1984–1985 season, with 21 new episodes premiering during the second and last season of Inspector Gadget from September 1985 to February 1986 making 86 in all. Several significant changes were made to the established formula in the cheaper episodes in the second season:
- Evil henchmen have recurring roles, appearing in as many as three episodes in a row without being arrested. Even though this allowed for more continuity, the show lost some of its moral fiber that way, and it also became confusing that most of the villains merely disappeared from the show after their third episode, still not in jail (such as "The Great Wambini, World's Greatest Magician", and his assistant, "The Lesser Wambini".)
- The crime would more often revolve around simply getting rid of Gadget.
- The Gadget Team move into a high-tech house filled with many gadgets, where a few of the episodes are actually located — probably another result of the lower budgets.
- Penny doesn't get into trouble as often, something which may have made the show less appealing to children, and also weakened her character.
- In the season's fourth episode, the writers introduced a sidekick named Corporal Capeman, who was (and is) widely unpopular with the show's fan base; and is often considered when the show jumped the shark. He appeared in eight non-consecutive episodes. This also made the intended continuity even more confusing.
Although these differences lessened the repetition, the show's popularity sank. Apparently the removed elements had all been part of the great success of season one. The full reason for the show's cancellation is unknown, though the overall decline in quality and the lesser budgets during the second season is the most common theory, as this might have led to lower ratings. Another reason may be that the Disney Studio purchased DIC in 1986, leaving many of their shows to syndicated reruns.
Don Adams, the voice of Inspector Gadget in the American version of the cartoon, had also played Maxwell Smart, the lead character in Get Smart, giving both shows a certain resemblance to North American viewers. When recording moved to the U.S. for the second season, several of the voices (among them Cree Summer, who played Penny) were replaced.
Music
The theme music for the show was composed by Shuki Levy & Haim Saban. Both of them composed background music for this show and many other DiC cartoons of the 1980s. When listening to the instrumental version of the theme tune during the credits, the words "Inspector Gadget" can still clearly be heard in the synthesizer melody alone, with no vocals playing. The theme song bears a striking resemblance to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg.
Most of the background music cues are some sort of variation of the Gadget melody. Even at festivals or dances in the cartoon, the Gadget theme is usually played. Occasionally during an episode, such as in Launch Time and Ghost Catchers, Inspector Gadget will hum or even sing his theme. Levy and Saban also had a range of other musical cues for each character as well as for the various moods of the scenes. Penny and Brain each have several different versions of their respective musical themes.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack LP to accompany the series, named "Inspecteur Gadget - Bande Originale de la Serie TV", was released in France in 1983 by Saban Records, the current production company of Shuki Levy and Haim Saban. The LP is extremely rare and almost impossible to obtain. However, the music itself can be downloaded from the Unofficial Inspector Gadget WebSite
The soundtrack features the following tracks:
1. Inspector Gadget (with French vocals)
2. Penny's Theme (with French vocals)
3. Brain The Dog — The Song (with French vocals)
4. Gadget on Mars
5. Ghost
6. Mad Art in Museum
7. Gadget in Japan
8. Chocolate Factory
9. Rodeo
10. Mad's Theme
11. Heroes in African Jungle
12. Gadget with the Incas
13. Look Out
14. Gadget in Trouble
15. Arabian Desert
16. Sophisticated Gadget
17. Train Machine
18. Kingdom
19. Car Race
20. Pharaohs
21. Penny's Theme
22. Inspector Gadget (Instrumental)
With the exception of the first three tracks, all the music on this album is incidental music directly from the TV series. The album is far from a complete soundtrack, although this would be impossible as there were probably several hours of source music used in the series. Some tracks on the album are more location/episode-specific or for special sequences. There were also at least two other records released by Saban Records (both in French). One of these was the single of the theme music (with French vocals, released both in 1983 and 1985 with different sleeve covers), and another was an audio story named "La Malediction de la roi Touthankamon", based on the episode "Curse of the Pharaoes".
Music from Inspector Gadget has been covered a few times. The main melody from the Inspector Gadget theme music was borrowed by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh for use in their 1985 rap hit "The Show".
Inspector Gadget's custom closing logo
For the 1983 season of Inspector Gadget, it had a unique closing logo. A green DiC logo (with the i missing the dot on the top) on a blue background is seen. Gadget enters from the right side of the screen roller skating. Halfway through, his Gadget Mallet is activated and smashes a round hole above the "i" "dotting" it (on most occasions, a boing-type sound is heard upon the smashing). The dot on the i also had a smashed-glass effect on it, an indication of the damage done by Gadget. He then clumsily exits on the left side of the screen. The music is a trombone solo of the end notes to the theme music. In Season Two, they began using their first standard end logo, featuring the DiC logo coming up on a CGI vortex. Another DiC cartoon from the era, The Littles, also had an almost-similar custom end logo featuring Dinky Little, but unlike the Gadget logo, this one was used throughout the entire run of that show.
These logos, along with the "Vortex" and "The Kid in Bed" have usually been replaced with the "The Incredible World of DiC logo" now. The Gadget logo is deleted on all current DVD releases of the show in the USA, including the 4-disc DVD set Inspector Gadget: The Original Series from Shout! Factory (most episodes have the "Incredible World of DiC" while a couple of episodes feature the "Kid in Bed" logo). However, in Europe this logo is still present, followed by the Saban International and Fox Kids Europe logos, and, more recently, the Buena Vista International logo (since Disney now control the distribution of most former Fox Kids cartoons in Europe, renaming the channel Jetix).
DVD releases
Inspector Gadget: The Original Series — a four disc DVD set collecting the first 22 episodes, released in North America on April 25, 2006 by Shout! Factory. The DVD was also released in Australia.
Due to lower sales than hoped, however, it's currently not known whether or not the remaining episodes will be released. In November 2006, FOX apparently got the DVD rights to Inspector Gadget, along with some other DIC cartoons, though no further plans are announced.
| Cover Art | DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Inspector Gadget V1.jpg | Volume 1 | 22 | April 26 2006 |
|
Inspector Gadget: The Gadget Files — a single disc DVD released by UAV Corporation on July 6, 2004; containing the first five episodes and an interview with Andy Heyward.
Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas — a single disc DVD released by UAV Corporation on August 31, 2004; containing the 1992 spinoff "Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas" and episode 56, 61 and 62 of the original series: "Weather in Tibet", "Birds of a Feather" and "So It is Written". No special features regarding background were included.
Trivia
- There seems to be a distinctive lack of racial diversity in the drawings of the cartoon. This is most obvious in the Indian episode (The Ruby), where every single person in India is Caucasian.
- A line of cereal box trading cards sporting Inspector Gadget scenes circulated in 1991. Most cards had a frame from an episode on one side, and a short, bit of information on the other side with the cereal logo. These cards are not part of the accepted Inspector Gadget canon. For instance, the card claims Gadget received his gadgets after slipping on a banana peel, when in fact this is never explained in the show.
- This was one of the first voice roles for Cree Summer.
- Frank Welker and Cree Summer reprised their roles as Brain, Dr. Claw, and Penny in the Robot Chicken episode "Adoption's An Option".
See also
- Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations
- RoboCop is another police cyborg, but in a far darker tone.
External links
- YTV page
- DiC Page
- Character sheet for Inspector Gadget
- Template:Tv.com show
- Inspector Gadget at IMDb
- Opening Sequence
- Opening and closing sequences, including the rare pilot episode, on retrojunk.com
References
- Adrian Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable, ISBN 0-304-35871-1
- Articles needing cleanup from June 2007
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from June 2007
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from June 2007
- 1980s American animated television series
- Animated television series
- Animated television series in Canada
- DiC Entertainment
- Children's television series in Canada
- First-run syndicated television programs
- Inspector Gadget
- 1983 television program debuts
- 1986 television program series endings
- Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
- Nickelodeon shows
- 1990s Nickelodeon shows
- Fictional cyborgs
- Fictional police detectives
- Fictional secret agents and spies