Talk:Inspector Gadget

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The cartoon was based on the 1960s TV show, Get Smart. Don Adams, the voice of Inspector Gadget in the cartoon, also played Maxwell Smart, the lead character in Get Smart.

Really? the cartoon was made in France. -- Tarquin

Don Adams was the voice of Inspector Gadget, and he did play Maxwell Smart as well

[1] [2]

Going by the link in the article, there's this too -- Jimregan

I'm not saying the guy didn't do the voice. I'm questioning whether the French cartoon series was based on this US show I've never heard of -- Tarquin

That statement is fixed now (in the non-vandalised version). There are some similarities, but not enough to say Inspector Gadget is based on Get Smart. -- Jimregan

It still reads wrong. It's a french series. Get Smart has nothing to do with it; it's just a coincidence picked up by US viewers. I've fiddled it a bit -- Tarquin 09:29 24 May 2003 (UTC)

You've never heard of Get Smart? I'll have to jog my memory and write an article :) Plus, your version looks better. (But I'm not a US viewer and I saw a similarity :) -- Jimregan

Don Adams was (is?) an American actor. I'm pretty sure he didn't do the voice for the original French cartoon, just the American dubs. I Looked quickly on Google, but didn't find any info about the French version. -- Merphant

All I've found so far about "Inspecteur Gadget" is that Pennie was Sophie. No actor names as yet, but my French is pretty rusty... I tried this search, but can't remember how to say "played". -- Jimregan

If "Inspector Gadget" is a French cartoon, the producers sure got their money's worth with Don Adams! He managed to lip-synch his lines to match the on-screen animation of his character speaking French words EXACTLY. How'd he do that? I'm joking, of course. The series was obviously animated to an English-speaking soundtrack with Don Adams, Welker, etc., doing the voices. The cartoon was produced for an international market and the episodes were dubbed for other languages. It's pretty obvious just watching it that, while they avoid blatant references to America, the characters live in the US. In the Ireland episode, Gadget was confused by having to drive on the other side of the street. Unless I'm completely off-base here and they animated different mouth movements for every character for separate English and French versions for all 86 episodes. Seems unlikely. -- Clownbird

What has this got to do with proving anything? - "In the Ireland episode, Gadget was confused by having to drive on the other side of the road". French people drive on the right, same as Americans. Beanhead McGinty 08:20, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

As a French, I remember all the names in the French version:

Inspector Gadget: Inspecteur Gadget ( obviously :P )

Penny  : Sophie (you already had this one)

Brain  : Finot

Doctor Claw  : Docteur Gang

Chief Quimby  : Chef Gontier

Corporal Capeman: don't know this one :-( Looks like he appears on the second season that I never saw whatever the language.

I still have a few VHS videotapes too (if they are still ok, I haven't viewed them in a while), so if needed I should be able to find informations on actors and whatever may be useful, just ask ;)

Oh, and by the way, "played" in French is said "joué" ;)

Fafner 09:33, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Animated by which studio in Japan 2 "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" 3 Moral fiber 4 "late" actors 5 Mad Cat 6 Origin story 7 Explanation? 8 Coupla Voice Errors 9 Andy Heyward 10 Requested move 10.1 Survey 10.2 Discussion 10.3 Gadget's Anatomy 11 Status as a superhero 12 Inspector Gadget: man or machine? 13 Merge proposal 14 Clouseau threat: MCA or MGM? 15 Unexplained Facts

[edit] Animated by which studio in Japan

It's been a while since I've seen Inspector Gadget, but the moment I first saw Lupin the Third I was reminded of it. Were any of the Lupin the Third animators involved in the production of Inspector Gadget? --69.234.183.71 07:28, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Inspector Gadget had his gadgets installed through an operation after an accident he had where he slid on a banana peel chasing a villain"

...Er, no. This was the set-up for the 1999 movie which was very, very loosely based on the cartoon. Inspector Gadget's "origins" are never explained in the cartoon itself. --Squirminator2k 15:49, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

• • I don't remember that either, but I do remember the doctor who did the operation was in a few episodes. Dr. Claw even forced him to make an army of robots once. However, these memories are very fuzzy.--The_stuart 16:44, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

• • • To get on subject, I added the company that animated. It was TMS Entertainment, who animated the Lupin franchies. (Atleast the begining anyways)

--I think the first season's episodes were animated by a handful of different studios. There's some where the animation is flat and dull ("Movie Set," "Amusement Park," "Art Heist," "M.A.D. Trap," for example), while episodes such as "Did You Myth Me," "The Cuckoo Clock Caper," and "The Bermuda Triangle" where the characters have a much more rounded look to them and the animation just seems much..richer and fuller, and then there's episodes like "Gadget Goes West" and "Follow That Jet" where the characters have a very squared-off look to their features. I think the ones that look most reminiscent of "Lupin" are "In Seine" and "A Bad Altitude," and probably a few others that I don't remember - the character design in that one, especially of the guest villains, etc., are very lithe and thin and linear. I know different looks are often the work of different directors, but these different styles are so wildly disparate that I am betting that different studios worked on different episodes - especially given the fact that Inspector Gadget's first season debuted with an unheard of number of episodes - sixty-five! Also, the episodes such "Movie Set," "Amusement Park," "Art Heist," and "M.A.D. Trap" are noteworthy in that in addition to their uninteresting animation, for some reason they seem to cycle through just a few of the same musical cues over and over again - usually the vaguely jazzy version of the theme. Avoid these lame episodes at all costs! --Clownbird

[edit] "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!"

Don Adams did not appear on the "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" According to IMDB, it was Maurice LaMarche.

[edit] Moral fiber

I personally do not see why people had to get upset over Dr. Claw's minions avoiding arrest in the second season's episodes. If they're recurring characters, doesn't that allow for better continuity?

[edit] "late" actors

Does Don Adams really need to be described as "the late"? In an encyclopedia, noting that a figure has passed away at every mention of their name is unnecessary, so single uses like this one are either inconsistent or set a bad precedent, considering the volume of articles that discuss dead historical figures. A link to their biography should be sufficient. There must be a guideline on this, but I can't find it. Anyone know of anything official, or at least a consensus somewhere? In any case, I'm removing it for now. -- Fru1tbat 16:47, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mad Cat

Should I mention that Dr. Evil's cat has no relation with the 75 tone Clan Crusader Battlemech of the same name from Battletech (pic; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Battletech_cover_legendofthejadephoenix.jpg) ? :D Lovok 12:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Origin story

I just deleted this long and implausible origin story from the article: it is totally unsourced and is even described as "non-provably canon". If someone can find a convincing reference for this story, go ahead and move it back in. AJD 12:48, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

The folklore behind the creation of Inspector Gadget, stems initially from a similar platform as Star Wars. The alleged (non-provably canon) background to the story was that Ronald Gadget was a low-level worker at a meat processing plant, as a shift supervisor. One night whilst working late, he fell off a poorly designed walkway (did not have any rails) into the open maw of the hot dog rendering vat. Gadget was killed instantly by the swiftly-moving blades. Due to air pockets in his head, which was instsantly hewn from his torso, retained positive buoyancy, relative to the hotdog slurry. It floated to the surface and was recovered by the meat company's PR Representative, Dr Mortimer Claw. Realising that it could never be released to the public because it would destroy the company, Mortimer elected to send the head to the meat company's experimental cybertronics research facility; in Los Alamos, Nevada. Mortimer worked tirelessly, augmenting the head with more fantastical gadgets than were previously thought humanly possible. However, in an accident involving gamma rays, Mortimers hands were hideously burnt, whilst at the same time re-animating the head of Gadget. Gadget, in deference to his creator, replaced his master's mangled wrists with cybernetic claws. After sparing his master, Gadget was filled with a ferverous rage, realising his status as an abomination unto God and destroyed the laboratory in a fit of pious rage, warning Mortimer that he would destroy him should their paths entwine again, before vanishing into the shimmering haze of the desert beyond. Mortimer, a destroyed man, vowed to destroy his creation and the meat company which created him. Gadget, meanwhile in a paperwork mixup with the reknowned french inspector Renard Gadgét, was appointed to the jurisdiction free branch of the Metro City Police Department. Whilst at the same time a disturbingly similar paperwork mixup caused Mortimer Claw to hideously butcher Renard Gadgét while he slumbered in the customs line of Metro City International Airport. While Mortimer is at the customs lounge at the airport, he is set upon by an enraged customs dog which he wrests to the ground and augments in standard fashion, equipping it with a cybernetic brain and a radio collar. However the dog's pure understanding of natural justice causes it to reject Mortimer's evil, flawed, teachings and join Gadget in his quest to purify the world in a cleansing wave of gadgetry and blood.

[edit] Explanation?

How about this for an explanation of Dr Claw and Chief Quinby? Chief Quinby IS DR CLAW--his evil personalty is DR Claw and his good personalty is Chief Quinby. Only he has NO MEMORY OF BEING EITHER. THIS COULD explain WHY CHIEF Quinby always gets Dr Claw Evil plans: This could explain WHY DR CLAW IS NEVER CAUGHT by Inspector Gadgett. HOW did this happen-a combination of things-after having to put up with Inspector Gadgett's natural stupidy for years-the Chiefs mind snapped-like Inspector DREYFUS Mind did with CLOUSEAU. So while his good side is always chasing "EVIL"-his bad side is always to get Gaddget.

I had thought about something like that when I was young, but had to drop the idea after seeing an episode (don't remember the title) where Dr. Claw had captured chief Quimby. Dr. Claw had allowed chief Quimby to phone to Gadget, while parasiting the communication to lead Gadget into a trap. I don't think it is possible that they both share the same body in any way.

Fafner 09:58, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

• True-but remember Dr Claw/CHIEF QUINBY is a Evil Genius-HE MADE A robot with a duplicate Dummy claw and by voice manipluation made it seem as if he "Captured" Quinby HIS "GOOD" SIDE. The "Duumy" was made DURING A BRIEF PERIOD WHEN HE WAS AWARE OF HIS SPLIT PERSONALTY. THAT EXPLAINS ONE SIDE OF HIS RAGE-that deep down Dr Claw is aware that part of his personality is "GOOD" WHO IS ALWAYS Ruining his plans of Evil-the other side of his rage is Gadget who by his monumental stupidy also ruins Dr Claws plans. Of course the exposure of Chief Quinby/Dr Claw can never happen in the series-for that would be the finale. Besides that explains one part of the orginal cartoon series-the end of the cartoon teaser when Gadgett comes upon Dr Claw arm and puts the handcuffs on him-only to find its a "Dummy" arm with a bomb!!

[edit] Coupla Voice Errors

Maurice LaMarche was credited as Gadget's voice "in later episodes." Not true, so I pulled it. LaMarche may well have voiced Gadget in other productions, but since this page is about the original 1983-85 series where Don Adams was the characters voice, La Marche's later role as Gadget is irrelevent. Also, some child voice actor who would have been ten years old when Gadget first aired was credited as a voice of Chief Quimby. Unless that kid suffered from a serious case of precocious puberty, it's unlikely he voiced the character. I removed the reference.  :Clownbird

[edit] Andy Heyward

The article mentions that Andy Heyward invented the show in 1982. However, Andy Heyward claims he was born in 1985. My guess is that the Andy Heyward article is very incorrect, unless he was a very precocious little spermatozoan... and somehow managed to survive three years without being otherwise "lost" in that time... *cough* --Jtgibson 23:36, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

That was a piece of vandalism that went uncorrected for a solid month. Good catch. -GTBacchus^(talk) 08:00, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gadget's Anatomy

I moved this from the article. It's borderline original research, but mostly drawing conclusions from speculative data. While intresting, I don't think it has a place in this article. At the very least it needs to be reformated so it isn't simply a list. --The_stuart 20:15, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Bringing all the above evidence together, we can piece together a fairly good picture of Inspector Gadget's anatomy...

Human elements

• Inspector Gadget is very much a human being.
• Most of his gadgets are actually contained in his clothing, although he does have internal implants, thus making him a cyborg.
• Externally, he appears completely normal (even without his clothes).
• He has a normal human face and eyes.
• His body is covered with normal skin, with a normal nervous system and sense of touch and pain.
• Internally, he has all his human organs, including lungs and a complete digestive system.
• He has a normal human brain, and a completely human mind (if a little on the dim side).

Internal gadgets

• His only significant internal gadgets reside in his neck, wrists and ankles. These allow his head, hands and feet to extend telescopically.
• Where the telescopic body parts separate from the rest of the body, there are joins. These joins must be well-disguised, as you cannot see them from a distance.
• The telescopic body parts can't have biological pathways running through them; therefore, all the blood, air and electronic impulses must be diverted through artificial conduits, allowing the limbs to extend and rotate freely.
• He also has gadgets installed in his fingers, alongside real skin and tissue (his hands are not prosthetic).

Gadgets in his clothing

• The vast majority of Inspector Gadget's gadgets reside in his specialized clothing (hat, coat, shoes and tie).
• Everything that comes out of his hat is — incredibly — contained within the hat, and does not come from his head. Similarly, the gadget skates and skis are contained within his shoes.
• It is not clear whether the gadget cuffs reside in the coat or inside his arm.
• All the gadget clothing can be taken off, but he prefers to keep as much of it on whenever possible because he loves having the gadgets at his disposal (just like people who wear their wristwatch in bed, or take their cellular phone everywhere they go).
• There has to be some kind of interface to connect Gadget's internal circuitry with the circuitry in his clothing; this interface is most probably wireless (thus he has no external connections on his body). However, the fact that his hat never seems to fall off suggests that there is a physical connection between his hat and his head.

Computers

• There is never any suggestion in the series that Inspector Gadget has anything other than a normal human brain. He doesn't store things in his 'data banks', he doesn't have advanced intelligence or memory, and he doesn't have the persona of an android. His brain is therefore not computer-based or computer-enhanced.
• It is most likely however that he would have an internal CPU somewhere in his body, needed to manage the complicated network of machinery and to operate any automated gadget functions.
• Since he seems to be able to activate the gadgets with thought, it can be assumed that trigger signals for all the gadgets are hooked into his neural network, allowing the gadgets to be controlled like a part of his own body. This principle is reflected in the newly emerging real-life science of mind-controlled prosthetic limbs. (Perhaps there will even be a time when everyone can have gadgets installed like Inspector Gadget?)

more unencyclopedic borderline original research moved from the main article --The_stuart 19:12, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Status as a superhero

Inspector Gadget has many qualities associated with superheroes, which raises the question: is Inspector Gadget a superhero?

In favor:

• Extraordinary and unique super-human powers (including, notably, the ability to fly).
• A strong moral code and sense of duty (including a willingness to put his life at risk for the service of good and an unwillingness to hurt or kill anyone).
• A distinctive costume which is worn as a uniform when fighting crime.
• A strong motif/theme running through his name, his tools and the names for his tools (ie gadgets).
• An archenemy (ie Dr. Claw).
• A sidekick (ie Corporal Capeman).

Against:

• No secret Identity to protect his loved-ones from becoming targets (interestingly, in Gadget's case, the loved ones are the ones operating covertly/in disguise)
• Costume is not flamboyant (although his sidekick, Corporal Capeman, wears one of the most quintessential and flamboyant superhero costumes imaginable)

In conclusion, Inspector Gadget has almost all the common traits associated with superheroes, and therefore can indeed be considered a superhero, if a slightly unconventional one. Unlike many superheroes, Gadget does not use a secret identity, but neither did the members of the Fantastic Four, all of whom fall strongly into the category of superheroes. Also, despite being highly distinctive, Gadget's costume is very formal, and not at all flamboyant (however, his sidekick's costume does a lot to compensate for this).

More...--The_stuart 19:31, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inspector Gadget: man or machine?

One of the biggest mysteries about Inspector Gadget is his anatomy: how much of him is human and how much is cyborg? (Or, how much is 'Inspector' and how much is 'gadget'?) He is, apparently, a 'normal man' with a few gadgets inside him, but it is not obvious how much is really left of the normal man. Technically, he could just be a robot with a human brain. Since it is a cartoon, we don't even know if his face is supposed to be real or synthetic.

Cyborg evidence

• Some part of his vision must be technological, since his eyes move (and sound) like a typewriter when he reads.
• His head, hands, and feet cannot be connected to the rest of his body via organic pathways. (If there were any, they would break when he extended his neck, arms, or legs, or after he span his head round a few times.)
• His hands must be mostly mechanical, since almost all of his fingers seem to contain hidden gadgets (keys, laser etc) so there would be no room for normal organic components (bones etc.).

Human evidence

• Inspector Gadget was born human and had his gadgets installed at some point in the past by Professor von Slickstein (as revealed in The Amazon).
• Inspector Gadget is seen eating or drinking on many occasions.
• He has a respiratory system and needs air to breathe. (This is made very clear in Launch Time where he is locked in a room with no air and begins suffocating.)
• He feels pain, and has nerves in his hands. (In the safety tip at the end of one episode, Gadget cuts his thumb with lobster crackers and feels pain.)
• His feet and lower legs all appear normal from the outside (In Luck of the Irish, we see him running around in his bedrobe, barefoot.)
• His eyes are biological. (In the safety tip at the end of one episode, Gadget gets something in his eye and pulls his eyelash out in order to let the tears wash it out.)
• Although we never see him remove his hat, suggesting it is a part of him (he even sleeps with it on!), there is an episode where we see his drawer full of identical hats. We can assume therefore that the hat does come off.
• Objects pass through the top of his head that are so large, it seems as though his head would have to be almost hollow to accommodate them. However, in Do Unto Udders, he doffs his hat to a lady by producing a gadget hand holding another hat; this hat, in turn, produces its own gadget hand holding a hat. If the produced hat (with no wearer) can itself produce another gadget hand (and another hat), then clearly it is being implied that gadgets do somehow come out of the hat and not the Inspector's head, presumably using some incredible kind of compression technology. Thus, Inspector Gadget does have a brain.

[edit] Merge proposal

I think this page and Inspector_Gadget:_The_Original_Series should be merged. All that page contains is the TV show's DVD release info and nothing else. The name of that page seems better though? Peter Tangney 03:07, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Clouseau threat: MCA or MGM?

Hi guys,

I thought Inspector Clouseau was owned by MGM (through United Artists), not MCA. Maybe someone should check on who threatened to sue DIC...--TServo2049 19:01, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

You're right. MGM threatened them, if anyone. -- Sslaxx, 14-Jan-2007 19:05GMT. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.104.34.212 (talk) 19:05, 14 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Unexplained Facts

This is a pointless list

why does gagdet have rotor blades in his head? why does the chief never die when he gets blown up? IT'S A CHILDREN'S CARTOON FFS!!!

86.133.161.69 00:45, 29 March 2007 (UTC)