Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations
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Since the cancellation of the original DiC animated television series, Inspector Gadget, in 1986, there have been many spin-offs based on the show.
[edit] Animation
[edit] Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
Dr. Claw has locked up Santa Claus at the North Pole and hypnotized his elves. Christmas will be finished unless Dr. Claw is stopped. Inspector Gadget, Penny, and Brain travel to the North Pole in an attempt to stop Dr. Claw and save Christmas. This special was nominated for an emmy.
Don Adams, Frank Welker, Erica Horn and Maurice LaMarche provide the voices for the characters.
[edit] Gadget Boy & Heather
One of the many series to involve younger versions of famous cartoon franchises, this series is about the bumbling inspector as a kid, Gadget Boy. Instead of Penny, Gadget Boy was assisted by none other than the resourceful Heather. Just as maladroit as his future adult self is, 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. In this series, traditional nemesis Dr. Claw was replaced by the villainous villainess Spydra (most likely a parody of the Marvel comics terrorist organization, Hydra). In addition, the chief, Strombolli who was much like Chief Quimby (only Italian) had a "fax tie" that exploded after the mission was read.
The series debuted in 1995 and only a single season was produced, besides the historical spinoff, Gadget Boy's Adventures in History (q.v.), which aired on The History Channel. The main title song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. The musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo and Jean-Michel Guirao.
[edit] Inspector Gadget's Field Trip
In this 1996 series, Gadget takes students around the world in this series of 50 field trips. Adams returns as the voice of Gadget. The main title song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. The musical underscore composer was Mike Piccirillo.
[edit] Gadget Boy's Adventures in History
Following the adventures of Gadget Boy & Heather, they now have to stop Spydra across time.
The series debuted in 1998 on The History Channel. This also marks the last time Don Adams would perform a voice role for the animated Gadget series.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets
Released in 1999 to coincide with the feature film, it is a direct-to-video story in which Gadget has a flashback to his past adventures in the original TV series, using footage from episodes 'The Capeman Cometh', 'Prince of the Gypsies', and 'Gadget's Gadgets'. Maurice LaMarche did Inspector Gadget's voice in the modern segment, marking his first cartoon voice appearance as Gadget, who had previously been voiced by Don Adams. Cree Summer voiced Penny in the modern segment, just as she did in the first season of the original series.
[edit] Inspector Gadget's Last Case
In 2002, DiC released an animated direct-to-video feature film called Inspector Gadget's Last Case, directed by Michael Maliani.
When Inspector Gadget gives up his beloved but aging Gadgetmobile, his archenemy Dr. Claw uses a competing crime fighter to discredit Gadget and cost him his badge.
It should be noted that in this film, Gadget is less bumbling and clueless than his 1983 series counterpart, whereas Penny and Brain get far less screen time. In this movie, Dr. Claw's face is also finally visible to the audience...sort of.
This film has the same animation style as the Gadgetinis series, paving the way for the concepts to follow in Gadget and the Gadgetinis.
Gadget's voice was provided by veteran voice actor Maurice LaMarche rather than Don Adams.
[edit] Gadget and the Gadgetinis
In 2001-2003, DiC, in cooperation with SIP Animation, also developed and made 52 episodes of the spinoff Gadget and the Gadgetinis, which first aired in 2003 in Europe. Thus far, the series has never been broadcast or released in the US.
In it, Gadget is a lieutenant, and a member of an organization called "WOMP" (World Organization of Mega Powers). He is aided in his work by Penny (who is now twelve years old), as well as the new robot characters Digit and Fidget, the titular Gadgetinis invented by Penny.
The quality of this production was clearly better than many other spinoffs (such as Gadget Boy and Inspector Gadget's Field Trip) It was made by the original creators - Andy Heyward was one of the executive producers, Jean Chalopin co-created the show and wrote 49 of the episodes, whereas Bruno Bianchi directed. Moreover, it followed the same plot as the original series, with the clumsy Gadget attempting to fight crime on his own, while Penny and her helpers did all the work. However, the music was not as elegant and the animation style somewhat edgier than in the original series. Doctor Claw, who in some stories was replaced by other villains - in a few cases aliens - had relatives in a few of the episodes, a move which has been criticized as detracting from his mystery.
Brain and Chief Quimby are no longer regular cast members in the show, but they do appear in pictures in Gadget's house. Also each appears in a single episode of the series, Quimby as head of WOMP's intelligence bureau the Cryptic Intelligence Agency in "Super Boss Gadget" and Brain in "No Brainer".
Maurice Lamarche continued as Gadget's voice. The main title song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. The musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo and Jean-Michel Guirao.
The series is perhaps better known to US fans as the show that inspired a popular and notorious Inspector Gadget "hoax", a second season called "Go Go Gadgetinis", a supposedly much darker comedy series than the previous incarnations with emphasis on nods to the original series and a romantic spouse for Gadget in the form of fan creation "Inspector Prince". The series cemented articles on Wikipedia and IMDB before being exposed, leading to it being taken down at both sites. It has achieved a cult following within the IG fandom in the same regard as Dragonball AF and its "existence" is still promoted as legit.
[edit] Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever: The Case Of The Giant Flying Lizard
This film had the same theme music as Inspector Gadget's Last Case, but used 3D computer animation, and returned Gadget to his position as a police inspector in Metro City. Brain and Chief Quimby also return, although Penny is 16 years old rather than 10-11 as in the original series, or 14 as in "Inspector Gadget's Last Case" and the following series Gadget and the Gadgetinis. Penny's age creates a confusion in the continuity made between the "Last Case" movie and the "Gadgetinis" series: "Gadget and the Gadgetinis", using the same animation designs for the characters, utilized Gadget's new position as a WOMP Lieutenant after having had his last case as an Inspector. Thus, it would have been more logical to let "Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever" take place a few years before instead of afterwards, as Penny's age signalizes.
Dr. Claw, after finally being captured by Gadget - presumably in the previous animated movie Inspector Gadget's Last Case - breaks out of jail. He employs a Scottish agent named Bombaboy and a giant flying lizard to seek revenge on his captors and launch yet another scheme to conquer the world. Dr. Claw's face is never seen in this film, but Inspector Gadget is briefly shown for the first time without his hat. Also, his body and head can survive without being attached to each other, making him more robot-like than the original version of the character. The main title song was written and performed by Stephen Marston. Inspector Gadget is voiced by Maurice LaMarche, who'd voiced Chief Quimby in the original television series. The musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo, Jean-Michel Guirao, and Stephen Marston.
The working title for this movie was "Inspector Gadget Saves The Day... Maybe". It was originally intended to be the first in a series of several CGI animated "Inspector Gadget" movies, though no other films have been announced so far.
[edit] Inspector Gadget (new series)
A brand new cartoon series of "Inspector Gadget" episodes has recently been rumoured at the J. E. Daniels Blogspot [1], which wrote on May 5, 2008, that "According to the current issue of Animation Magazine, DIC Entertainment is going to be reviving their bionic crime fighter for a brand new show to premier in early 2009. (...) The new show will have many of the original characters intact such as Penny, Brain, Chief Quimby and Dr. Claw. Complete with klutz comedy but with more of a darker edge. The series will have a design style that will lean more towards anime and the direction will be more cinematic with unique camera angles and dramatic musical cues." J. E. Daniels ends his blogspot by saying that 52 episodes of this new series will start their television run in the spring of 2009.
[edit] Live-Action Movies
[edit] Inspector Gadget (1999)
See Inspector Gadget (film) (1999)
[edit] Inspector Gadget 2 (2003)
See Inspector Gadget 2 (2003)
[edit] Video games
[edit] Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear
This game was written by Beam Software and was to have been released by Melbourne House in the UK in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It resembled the arcade title Metrocross and was a left-to-right scrolling racing/jumping game with a quasi-isometric forced 3d perspective. Although the game was completed, and preview copies were reviewed (unfavourably) in the computing press, it was scrapped on the verge of release. See also Horace series.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Mission Global Terror
An adventure game released on the PC in 1990 by a company called Azeroth.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Crazy Maze
Video game. Released on the PlayStation
[edit] Inspector Gadget
Released for the SNES in 1993 by Hudson Soft. Notable due to the fact that Dr. Claw's face could be seen.
An NES game was also planned for release by Hudson Soft, but was soon cancelled.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Mad Robots Invasion
Released on the PlayStation 2, only in Europe.
[edit] Inspector Gadget Racers
A racing game featuring the Inspector Gadget characters. Released on the Game Boy Advance in Europe.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission
Also released on the Game Boy Advance by DreamCatcher Interactive. It was released in Europe by Magic Pockets.
[edit] Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkatus
Released on the Game Boy Color by UbiSoft.
[edit] Gadget and the Gadgetinis
Released for the PlayStation 2 and PC in Europe.
[edit] Other
[edit] The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
A live action short titled "Defective Gadgetry" had a guest appearance by Inspector Gadget, in which he came to the Mario Bros. for help in repairing him. Maurice LaMarche plays Gadget in this short.
[edit] Robot Chicken
The episode "Adoption's an Option" featured a sketch featuring the Inspector Gadget characters in a parody of The Terminator. In this sketch, Gadget replaces a faulty part with a Cyberdyne part, only to be turned into an unstoppable killing machine when Skynet goes online. The sketch goes on to revolve around Penny and Brain trying to avoid being killed by the now-evil Gadget, eventually killing him in a factory. Meanwhile, Mad Cat dies of leukemia; at the end of the show, Dr. Claw blames Gadget for Mad Cat's death. Ironically, Dr. Claw claims that he somehow found out it was Penny and Brain who were behind all of Gadget's successful missions, and planned to gain control of Inspector Gadget via Skynet, and use him to kill them using the Cyberdyne technology that gained control of him. (Penny is played by Cree Summer, who was the original voice actor for the character).
In a short sketch in "Easter Basket", Gadget is seen in bed with a (deceased) hooker. Gadget says "Go Go Gadget Hooker Clean", but then notices nothing happening. He then goes "Wowsers".
[edit] External links
- Inspector Gadget at the Internet Movie Database
- Go-Go Gadget - An Inspector Gadget Fan Site
- Inspector Gadget 2
- Inspector Gadget's Field Trip
- Inspector Gadget's Last Case
- Gadget Boy & Heather at TV.com
- Gadget and the Gadgetinis at TV.com
- Gadget Boy's Adventures in History
- Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
- Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever
