Inspector Gadget (1983 TV series)

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Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget print logo.png
Genre Science fiction [1]
Superhero
Comedy
Detective
Created by Bruno Bianchi
Andy Heyward
Jean Chalopin
Developed byJean Chalopin
Written by Peter Sauder (season 1)
Jean Chalopin (season 2)
Directed byBruno Bianchi
Voices of Don Adams
Frank Welker
Cree Summer Francks (season 1)
Holly Berger (season 2)
Dan Hennessey (season 1)
Maurice LaMarche (season 2)
Theme music composer Saban Productions
Composers Shuki Levy
Haim Saban
Country of origin
  • United States
  • France
  • Canada (season 1)
Original languages
  • English
    French
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers Jean Chalopin
Andy Heyward
Tetsuo Katayama
Producers Jean Chalopin
Andy Heyward
Tetsuo Katayama
Patrick Loubert (season 1)
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network First-run syndication (United States)
FR3 (France; season 1)
First Choice Superchannel (Canada; season 1)
ReleaseDecember 4, 1982 (1982-12-04) (pilot)
ReleaseSeptember 5, 1983 (1983-09-05) –
November 13, 1985 (1985-11-13) (series)
Related

Inspector Gadget is an animated superhero science fiction comedy series co-created by Andy Heyward, Jean Chalopin [2] and Bruno Bianchi, [3] [4] and was originally syndicated by DIC Audiovisuel and Lexington Broadcast Services Company. The show revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, dim-witted police officer from Metro City named Inspector Gadget—a police inspector with various bionic gadgets built into his body—who is sent on missions to thwart plans by his nemesis Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization known as "M.A.D.", while unknowingly being assisted by his niece Penny and their dog, Brain. [5]

Contents

The series stars the voice of Don Adams as the titular character, and it first premiered on December 4, 1982, as an exclusive pilot. It is the first cartoon show to be syndicated by DIC, who specifically created the series to help expand into the North American market, and the first animated series to be presented in stereo sound. The program originally ran from 1983 to 1985, broadcasting 86 episodes over two seasons, and remained in syndication into the late 1990s. The TV series proved to be a success for DIC, not only launching the Inspector Gadget franchise, including additional animated productions, such as a 2015 sequel series, and two live-action films, but also encouraging the company to produce additional programs such as Heathcliff . In January 2009, IGN named Inspector Gadget as the 54th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. [6]

Since 2012, the rights to Inspector Gadget have been owned by WildBrain (formerly DHX Media) through its in-name-only unit, Cookie Jar Entertainment. Cookie Jar had purchased DiC and its library of shows in 2008, and was itself acquired by DHX Media in 2012.

Premise

Inspector Gadget, the titular character of the series, is a world-famous cyborg police inspector who works for a secret police organization that combats crime across the globe, with each of his missions focused on thwarting the criminal schemes of M.A.D. (which stands for "Mean And Dirty") [7] —a criminal organization led by the nefarious Dr. Claw, and conducted by his agents. Missions that he undertakes often occur in a foreign locale, or within the fictional city of Metro City. Despite the fact that Inspector Gadget is equipped with numerous gadgets to help him, including a personal vehicle that can morph between a family minivan to a compact police car, he is ultimately incompetent and clueless on each mission - proposing ludicrous theories behind a crime or mistaking M.A.D. agents for friendly locals. He often uses a gadget that he did not call for, and is sometimes prone to causing trouble inadvertently for those around him—an example of this is a running gag, inspired by the "self-destruct" message, in which Inspector Gadget is given briefing messages from his boss Chief Quimby, who primarily hands them to him while in disguise, only to have them unintentionally returned to him before they detonate.

In reality, the investigations are often conducted by Inspector Gadget's niece Penny, who has a gifted sleuthing mind despite her young age and secretly operates behind the scenes to thwart M.A.D.'s plot and ensure that her uncle remains out of harm's way, as Dr. Claw frequently instructs his agents to get rid of Inspector Gadget before he can stop them, in denial that she is his real enemy. Even though Inspector Gadget is incompetent, he always escapes danger due to luck, either from a misfired gadget, or from the secret assistance of the family dog Brain, who usually shadows him in disguise; on most occasions, his disguise often causes Inspector Gadget to chase him in the mistaken belief that he is a M.A.D. agent. While Penny remains in contact with Brain during her investigation, she is often placed in danger and either escapes by recalling Brain to help, or using her own technology. Despite the pair's involvement, both make it certain that Inspector Gadget is seen to have completed the mission in Quimby's opinion; yet in most cases, it is either Penny and Brain's background activities or just luck through which Inspector Gadget actually completes a mission. Dr. Claw always vows revenge on Inspector Gadget for thwarting his schemes, and flees the scene on most occasions having been on site to oversee his plans.

Like many cartoons made in the 1980s, Inspector Gadget always ended each episode with a public service announcement advising how to handle a situation, such as the danger of dealing with strangers.

Characters

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
Pilot December 4, 1982 (1982-12-04)
1 65September 5, 1983 (1983-09-05)December 2, 1983 (1983-12-02)
2 21September 30, 1985 (1985-09-30)November 13, 1985 (1985-11-13)

Production

Origin

In 1981, Inspector Gadget creator Andy Heyward left Hanna-Barbera and traveled to Paris to work with DIC Audiovisuel after being proposed by the company to do so. [10] As the company wanted entertainment for the United States, Heyward combined ideas to originate Inspector Gadget. [10] Many ideas were inspired by Dynomutt, Dog Wonder , Get Smart , and The Six Million Dollar Man . [10] Due to concerns that the show would not appeal to girls, Penny was created for the show. [10] Brain was named to conceive the idea that "he is smart while Inspector Gadget [is the opposite]." [10]

Chalopin, who at the time owned the DIC Audiovisuel studio, helped develop the format and concept for the rest of the episodes together with Bruno Bianchi, who designed the main characters and served as supervising director.[ citation needed ] Part of the project's existence was to recoup costs incurred by DiC and Tokyo Movie Shinsha when a planned collaboration, a spin-off of Lupin the Third called Lupin VIII , was cancelled due to financial disputes with the estate of Arsène Lupin creator Maurice Leblanc.[ citation needed ]

Designs

When production started, the model of Inspector Gadget was broken down for gadgets that needed to be created. [10] The original design of Inspector Gadget was done in Paris. [10] It included helicopter blades and was based on Andy Heyward and one of the directors of the series. [10] It was scrapped from the writers' confusion of the design, and production assistant Mike Maliani and Andy Heyward simplified the designs to avoid confusion. [10] Gadget went through approximately 350 sketches before reaching his final design. [10] Inspector Gadget originally had a mustache (as shown in the pilot). It was removed after DIC received a letter from MGM (which already acquired United Artists) that he looked too similar to Inspector Clouseau from Pink Panther. [10]

Writers

Nelvana writer Peter Sauder was the head writer for season 1, which was co-produced by DiC. [11] [ better source needed ] As Nelvana was no longer part of the production by season 2, the show was written by the DIC studio employees Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Mike O'Mahoney, Glen Egbert, and Jack Hanrahan. [11] [ better source needed ] Hanrahan and Burian-Mohr would later write the Christmas special Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas [12] as well as many episodes of the Gadget Boy spinoff series, and Burian-Mohr additionally wrote dialogue for the educational show Inspector Gadget's Field Trip .[ citation needed ]

Due to various recurring elements in the series, the basic plot of each episode was often the same. The geographic location of each episode differed, and it provided for some variety in the series. [13] The series effectively provided viewers with both comedic and dramatic moments. [13] Despite the censorship standards for American animated series in effect during the 1970s and 1980s, the series also included elements of slapstick comedy. [13] This was nearly forbidden at the time, but the censorship was less strict for a syndication series. [13]

Animation

Alongside The Care Bears Movie , [14] Inspector Gadget was Nelvana's first foray into animation outsourcing. [15] Most of episodes from the first season were animated in Japan by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, while a few episodes were animated in Taiwan by Cuckoo's Nest Studio, before being finished in post production by DiC and Nelvana.[ citation needed ] The pilot episode, "Winter Olympics" (a.k.a. "Gadget in Wonderland" [11] [ better source needed ]), was animated by TMS's subsidiary Telecom Animation Film, who had a slightly higher budget than the rest of the episodes.[ citation needed ] The additional production facilities are AIC, Oh! Production. Sunrise, and Toei Animation who helped with the cel painting process for the TMS-animated episodes.[ citation needed ]

Nelvana was not involved with the show's 21-episode second season, for which pre-production was moved to DiC's own Los Angeles-based headquarters.[ citation needed ] The animation and post-production was generally done at K.K. DiC Asia (later Creativity & Development Asia), a Japanese animation house Jean Chalopin co-founded that DiC had some ownership in at the time.[ citation needed ]

Voice cast

The role of Inspector Gadget went through two different voice actors before Don Adams was cast. [16] The first voice of Inspector Gadget was provided by Jesse White, but his voice characteristics were not tested well. [16] Gary Owens auditioned the voice of Inspector Gadget with ad-libs, including his catchphrase "Wowsers!". [16] Eventually, producers decided to cast actor Don Adams in the role, re-recording all of Inspector Gadget's dialogue in the pilot from Jesse White and Gary Owens. [16] [a]

Dr. Claw, M.A.D. Cat, and Brain were voiced by Frank Welker. [11] [ better source needed ] Welker and Adams recorded their dialogue in separate sessions in Los Angeles, while the rest of the first season's cast recorded in Toronto.[ citation needed ] Don Francks initially replaced Welker as Dr. Claw for 25 episodes following the pilot before Welker was called in to replace him for those episodes. However, Welker was unable to re-record a few episodes, where Francks' voice remained. [17] [ failed verification ] Francks remained with the show, however, and usually performed the voice of a henchman of Dr. Claw.[ citation needed ] Sometimes Francks would portray a secondary M.A.D. agent, with Welker (who usually performed the voices of the agents otherwise) as the other in episodes where Francks' voice was necessary.[ citation needed ] Penny was originally voiced by Mona Marshall in the pilot and was subsequently portrayed by Don Francks' daughter, Cree Summer, for the rest of the first season in her first voice acting role. Chief Quimby was voiced by John Stephenson in the original pilot, and later by Dan Hennessey for the remainder of the first season.[ citation needed ]

After the pilot, all of the first season episodes were voice-recorded in Toronto at the Nelvana facilities.[ citation needed ] When production of Inspector Gadget moved from Nelvana in Toronto to DiC's headquarters in Los Angeles for the second season, all of the Canadian-based voice artists were replaced.[ citation needed ] Holly Berger replaced Cree Summer Francks as the voice of Penny while Maurice LaMarche replaced Hennessey as the voice of Chief Quimby.[ citation needed ] Occasionally, LaMarche would fill in for Don Adams as Inspector Gadget whenever necessary.[ citation needed ]

Music

The theme music was inspired by Edvard Grieg's movement "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and was composed by Shuki Levy. [18] [2] For many years, Levy had a partnership with his friend Haim Saban, with Levy composing the music and Saban running the business. Their record company, Saban Records, (now Saban Music Group) has provided music for many DiC cartoons and children's shows in the 1980s and 1990s, and is still running today. [19] 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. [20] Wagram Music made it available on online services such as Spotify and iTunes. [21] [22] [19] An English-language soundtrack LP, entitled Inspector Gadget – The Music, was released in Australia in 1986 through ABC Records.[ citation needed ] While many of its tracks overlapped with those of the French LP, five tracks were exclusive to the Australian LP.[ citation needed ]

In her book Robot Takeover: 100 Iconic Robots of Myth, Popular Culture & Real Life, Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic says she considers the theme music to be widely recognized around the world. The series was a "global hit" and its theme song became "iconic". However, she notes that copies of the original television soundtrack had become extremely rare by 2010. [23]

Release

Broadcast

The original Inspector Gadget television series was the first production of DIC Entertainment intended for American television. [13] The series first premiered as an exclusive pilot on December 4, 1982. [24] On March 14, 1983, it was announced the series would be released in late 1983, consisting of 65 episodes. [25] The earliest-known debut was on September 5, 1983, on WFSL-TV in Lansing, Michigan. [26] According to the Syndication Leaders chart in Electronic Media issued on March 1, 1984, the series was renewed for a second season. [27] On August 20, 1984, Television/Radio Age explained that the series was renewed for a second season due to its success, ordering 20 to 25 additional episodes. [28] On October 15, 1984, Broadcasting Magazine announced that the second season would begin in September 1985. [29] The second season debuted on September 30, 1985, and ended on November 13, 1985. [30]

Repeats of the series briefly appeared on CBS's Saturday morning cartoon lineup from 1991 to 1992.[ citation needed ] Nickelodeon also aired reruns of the show from October 1, 1987, until August 31, 1992, and again from November 4, 1996, until April 29, 2000. Internationally, it aired on various TV stations and remained in syndication into the late-1990s.[ citation needed ] Various stations, such as Global Television Network, and The Family Channel aired Inspector Gadget until the late-1990s. [31] [32] Inspector Gadget was seen on Qubo from August 31, 2019 until the channel's shutdown on February 28, 2021.[ citation needed ] It started rerunning on MeTV Toons on June 25, 2024, on its launch day. [33]

Home media

During the 1980s and 1990s, several VHS tapes of the series were released by labels such as Family Home Entertainment (distributed by MGM/UA Home Video and International Video Entertainment), [34] [35] [36] Kideo Video (distributed by Karl-Lorimar Home Video), [37] [38] The Maier Group and DIC Toon-Time Video (distributed by Buena Vista Home Video).[ citation needed ] In 1999, Buena Vista Home Video released Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets, a direct-to-video feature that contained three episodes of the TV series. It was made to tie in with the Disney film, Inspector Gadget .[ citation needed ] On July 6, 2004, Sterling Entertainment released a VHS/DVD called Inspector Gadget: The Gadget Files. The release contains the show's pilot Winter Olympics alongside the first two episodes of the series, which are "Monster Lake" and "Down on the Farm". The DVD version contains "Gadget at the Circus" and "The Amazon" as bonus episodes, alongside an interview with Andy Heyward answering 10 questions voted upon by fans. The Sterling release of Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas contains the episodes "Weather in Tibet" and "Birds of a Feather" with "So It is Written" as a bonus episode.[ citation needed ]

In 2006, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series and subsequently released Inspector Gadget: The Original Series, a four-disc set featuring the first 22 episodes of the series on DVD on April 25, 2006. [39] 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment would later acquire the home video rights for the series.[ citation needed ] On September 9, 2009, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released a single-disc DVD, Inspector Gadget: The Go Go Gadget Collection which features ten episodes from the series. [40] On May 24, 2013 TV Shows on DVD noted that New Video Group had acquired the home video rights to the series. [41] New Video Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in four volume sets on October 8, 2013.[ citation needed ] They also re-released Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas on October 29, 2013.[ citation needed ]

The series is available on Amazon Prime Video for purchase. [42] Inspector Gadget can be streamed on Paramount+, The Roku Channel, and Pluto TV. [43] [44] [45]

Reception

Critical response

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the series four stars out of five, writing, "Bumbling bionic detective offers worry-free laughs for kids." [46]

Ratings

On November 28, 1983, Broadcasting Magazine reported that Inspector Gadget tied with Woman to Woman and Hour Magazine at No. 5 for Monday-to-Friday daytime programming in independent stations, with an average of a 7% share on each three stations. [47] On May 7, 1984, an advertisement revealed that Inspector Gadget appeared in 16 of the Top 20 markets and increased its Nielsen rating by 37% from October 1983 to February 1984. [48] On August 20, 1984, an advertisement from McNaught Syndication Inc. reported that Inspector Gadget was seen in the Top 20 of 19 markets and experienced an average increase of 56% in Kids 2-11 in 16 markets and 69% in Kids 6-11 in 17 markets from the previous year. [49] Television/Radio Age also reported that the series ranked at No. 8 in the kids' animation category, getting a 7.9 Nielsen rating with kids and a 2.1 Nielsen household rating with a share of 11%. [28] According to Henry Siegel, chairman of Lexington Broadcast Services, the series' success led to produce the 1984 animated adaptation of Heathcliff. [28]

On December 10, 1984, an advertisement from LBS Communications revealed that Inspector Gadget rose from being the No. 26 to No. 4 syndicated kids show in one year. [50] It was also revealed that since October 1983, it rose 156% in ratings, 189% in shares, 89% in homes, 100% in Kids 2-11, and 78% in Kids 6-11. [50] As of May 28, 1985, the original series was seen in 112 stations that covered 85% American households. [51] In May 1986, a "Fat Cats" advertisement from DIC Audiovisuel revealed that Inspector Gadget topped all other kids cartoons in Los Angeles, California, with an 18 Nielsen rating for kids. [52] It was also revealed that its rating for Kids 2-11 increased by 25% from November 1985 to February 1986. [52]

Franchise

Live-action films

Inspector Gadget was adapted into a 1999 live action film by Disney starring Matthew Broderick as the titular character, Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, and Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw, with Gadget's original voice actor, Don Adams, as Brain in a post-credits scene. Despite being a moderate box office success, the film was panned by both critics and fans, earning a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [53]

A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2003. Broderick did not reprise his role as the title character; he was replaced by French Stewart. Elaine Hendrix was the lead female character as G2, and Caitlin Wachs portrayed Penny replacing Trachtenberg. D. L. Hughley reprises his role as the Gadgetmobile; he is the only star from the first film who appears in the sequel.

Comic books

In 2011, a new Inspector Gadget comic book was published in the United States by Viper Comics. Written by Dale Mettam and illustrated by José Cobá, the style of the book is based on the original 1983 television show. A preview comic was released on May 7, 2011, as part of the Free Comic Book Day, before the entire story was officially published as a 48-page book in August. [54]

CGI reboot

A new CGI animated Inspector Gadget TV series was developed in 2012. It was commissioned by Teletoon and put into pre-production by Cookie Jar Entertainment. It was mentioned by Ray Sharma, the CEO of XMG Studio, in January 2012. Sharma described how the success of the game had resulted in a new TV series being in the making: "We did 1 million downloads in a week, and it's reinvigorated the TV brand with a new TV series in production." [55] In September 2012, Cookie Jar issued a short press release about the upcoming series, as part of the advertising for it during the MIPCOM market that October, stating: "Cookie Jar Entertainment is celebrating Inspector Gadget's 30th anniversary with the launch of a brand-new series with its Canadian broadcast partner Teletoon. The series will again revolve around the iconic bionic bumbling detective." [56] On June 9, 2013, Teletoon officially announced the reboot series with two press pictures of Inspector Gadget's new look as well as a press release. [57] The TV series is produced by DHX Media, which purchased Cookie Jar Group in 2012. [58] The series premiered on Boomerang in Australia on January 5, 2015. [59] [60]

Live-action reboot

In May 2015, it was announced that a new film with a rebooted version of the character was in the works. Like the live-action movies, it would be by Disney, with Dan Lin producing it. [61] In October 2019, Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell were hired to write the film. [62]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In the DVD commentary Wowsers! A Retrospective Look At Inspector Gadget, Andy Heyward stated that Gary Owens was the first to voice Inspector Gadget before it went to Jesse White. It is unknown which source has accurate information. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Scott 2014, p. 151.
  2. ↑ Arrant, Chris (December 2, 2011). "Animator Bruno Bianchi ("Inspector Gadget") Passes Away". Cartoon Brew . Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  3. ↑ Rowan 2016, pp. 101–102.
  4. ↑ "Inspector Gadget". Cookie Jar Entertainment . Archived from the original on September 27, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  5. ↑ "54, Inspector Gadget". IGN.com. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Watch Out, Evildoers and Bad Guys, Here Comes Inspector Gadget". PostIMG.org. Lexington Broadcast Services Company, Inc. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
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Sources

Further reading

Go Go Gadget: The Creation of Inspector Gadget by Andy Heyward; 2016. ISBN   978-0-692-77628-5

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