Inspector Gadget
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Inspector Gadget is an animated television series about a clumsy, absent-minded, and oblivious detective, Inspector Gadget, who is a cyborg 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 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. The television series was modeled after Get Smart!, in which Don Adams played the title role of Agent Maxwell Smart.
The series was later adapted into a movie of the same name, which spawned a direct-to-video sequel.
The name has passed into common parlance to refer to people similarly obsessed with gadgetry.
Cast of characters
- Inspector Gadget (voiced by Don Adams, then voiced by Maurice LaMarche in later episodes) - Bumbling and somewhat quixotic cyborg detective, who is also the title character. The character is similar to Adams' Get Smart character Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther film series.
- Penny (voiced first by Cree Summer, then by Holly Berger) - Gadget's 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 cluelessness. Unknown to any of the recurring characters other than Brain, she is the one truly responsible for foiling MAD's schemes. The name Penny may be a joke on the "detective adventures," particularly the James Bond film series, that the series constantly parodied. Penny thus is to Miss Moneypenny like Doctor Claw and MAD are to Ernst Stavro Blofeld and S.P.E.C.T.R.E., respectively. Her name is Sophie in the French version.
- Brain (voiced by Frank Welker) - Penny's dog. He assists her in keeping Gadget out of danger and solving the crime. 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 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. It is not known what breed of dog Brain is, although some Inspector Gadget internet fan fiction stories say that he is a golden retreiver.
- Doctor Claw (voiced by Frank Welker) - The main villain in the series and leader of the evil organization known as MAD. His face and the majority of his body is only shown at the very end of the series; only his arms and gloved hands are visible. Dr. Claw shares many characteristics with Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond films.
- 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 stupidity, 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.
- Corporal Capeman (voiced by Townsend Coleman) - A nerdy sidekick who dressed in stereotypical superhero garb and, accompanied Gadget in a few episodes during the second season. He was even more clueless and dumber than Gadget. The two had a student/mentor relationship, though Gadget was rarely teaching anything nor was Capeman learning. Capeman was obsessed with learning to fly and often mistakenly believed he had miraculously acquired the power of flight while in the midst of dire circumstances. His last appearance was in the series' last episode: "Gadget and the Red Rose" (#86).
- Mad Cat (voiced by Frank Welker) – Dr. Claw's fat pet cat. He is always at Dr. Claw's side. In many episodes he attempted to do something simple, but failed. He didn't have a voice of any kind but would laugh when Dr. Claw laughed.
Plot
Inspector Gadget was apparently employed by the Metro City police department, and most 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, with little variation:
- Gadget, Penny, and Brain are engaged in some family activity that is interrupted by Police Chief Quimby calling on the Gadget Phone. He then appears in an outlandish disguise - a gas barrel, a gypsy fortuneteller, even a gargoyle on Gadget's house.
- Quimby gives Gadget a mission on a self-destructing sheet of paper. As Gadget reads the message, his eyes dart back and forth and we hear the sound of a typewriter. The last line of the message will always read "This message will self destruct.", a spoof of the exploding taped messages from the television series Mission Impossible. Gadget will say his catchphrase, which is "Don't worry, Chief, I am always on duty.", before he crumples up that paper, then unintentionally throws the message back at Chief Quimby and walks away in total ignorance. The message will explode seconds later in Quimby's face, who will ask himself something like "Why do I put up with him?". The only episode without the exploding paper is "Health Spa" (#5), in which Gadget does not even get a mission. Instead, Gadget slams the door into Chief Quimby shortly after Quimby says, "At last, an assignment that didn't blow up in my face."
- 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 supervillain employee to the viewers. The schemes nearly always include trying to eliminate Gadget as well as stealing things that very valuable in most episodes.
- Gadget bumbles through his mission oblivious to what is going on around him, almost invariably mistaking hostile enemy agents for helpful allies, and vice versa.
- Brain is always instructed by Penny to follow Gadget to make sure he does not get hurt. 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 Inspector Gadget falls into a MAD agent trap, he always escapes by using his gadgets.
- Penny investigates the crimes and is usually the one to solve the case with the help of her Computer Book. With this book she can override the controls of just about anything electronical. She often stops the MAD agents when she overides 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 Doctor Claw's evil machines, causing it to overload and explode. On occasion, Inspector Gadget unintentionally solves the case without being aware of it. Penny may get captured and escape the criminals during her investigation, when Brain 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.
- Shortly before Penny solves the case, she calls Chief Quimby to the crime scene.
- Inspector 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.
- After this, Dr. Claw is seen either in his hideout or escaping in some advanced jet, car, or submarine, delivering his catch phrase: "I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next Time!!!".
- In common with many 1980s American children's TV shows, Inspector Gadget's last scene is a safety tip often relating to the episode.
Episodes
Unexplained facts
One element of Inspector Gadget's popularity was the fact that a lot of the show's premises were never fully explained, which in turn led to open speculation. The show offered virtually no back-story, which forced viewers to use their imaginations to explain the unexplained.
For example:
- Dr. Claw's identity; no backstory is ever given to him, and we never see his face (although an action figure line released after the series' cancellation featured a Dr. Claw figure with a face, which was hidden by the packaging)[link].
- How Dr. Claw is able to visually monitor virtually any event anywhere.
- How Chief Quimby acquired detailed information about every one of Dr. Claw's plans.
- How Chief Quimby can appear wherever Inspector Gadget is.
- How the message Chief Quimby gives to the Inspector explodes after he reads it.
- The source of Dr. Claw's wealth.
- The history of Dr. Claw's feud with Gadget (they are long-time enemies in the pilot).
- The location of Penny's parents. Usually, fans assume she is an orphan.
- Where Brain gets his endless amount of costumes and disguises.
- Gadget's first name and/or real name. (In the series, he introduces himself by saying, "My name is Inspector Gadget", while Penny always calls him "Uncle Gadget". Other references make it clear that "Inspector" is his legal first name and "Gadget" his legal last name.)
- The circumstances under which Gadget had his gadgets installed. (We only know that they were installed by Professor von Slickstein, making the first of his few appearances in the fourth episode to air, The Amazon.)
- The location of Dr. Claw's hideout, and why, if Quimby was able to obtain all of his other information about Claw, he never discovered and raided the hideout (most episodes depict Claw in the same fortress in the same location).
- The source and nature of Penny's Computer Book, a phonebook-sized machine that functioned like a laptop computer — a device virtually unheard of during the show's run — and was apparently capable of hacking into and interfacing with any piece of electronic equipment, and some nonelectronic equipment, like a safe.
- How Chief Quimby always thinks Gadget solved the case when Penny is the one who calls him in.
Inspector Gadget's gadgets
Inspector Gadget's gadgets were the most unique aspect of the show, and although they were central to his character, they rarely ever actually did him any good when it came to solving his case. The Inspector could activate each of his gadgets by calling its name, "Go-go gadget arms!" (for example). More often than not, either the called gadget would malfunction, or the wrong one would be activated. When this happened, he would muse that he desperately needed to get them fixed, although he apparently neglected to ever actually do so. Some of the gadgets were activated by reflex rather than being called, but this was rare.
The inspector seemed to have an infinite supply of gadgets located all over his body. However, there were several that appeared regularly.
List of Inspector Gadget's gadgets:
- Gadget Binoculars: Binoculars lowered down out of his hat and over his eyes.
- Gadget 'Brella: A hand holding an umbrella that came out of his hat. It could 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 inflated when he pulled one of its buttons and enabled him to float. It was almost always deflated by being punctured, causing him to fall from a great height.
- Gadget Copter: Helicopter propeller blades that came out of his hat that enabled him to fly.
- Gadget Cuffs: A handcuff came out of his forearm just above his hand.
- Gadget Ears: Metal cones that deployed from his head, around his ears, allowing him to hear better.
- Gadget Hands: Several mechanical hands could pop out of Gadget's hat. These hands would 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. They also seem to occasionally have a bit of a mind of their own.
- Gadget Lasso: His necktie turned into a lasso.
- Gadget Legs/Arms/Neck: His neck, arms, and legs could telescope and extend to great lengths.
- 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. It is sometimes useful when attempting to avoid slipping on slippery surfaces.
- Gadget Mallet: A wooden hammer held in a robotic hand that also came out of his hat. It usually wound up bopping someone it should not — sometimes even the Inspector himself.
- Gadget Phone: A telephone in his hand. The antenna came out of one finger and the speaker and receiver on others. This was one of the few gadgets that were not voice activated. (At one point, there was also a regular telephone inside Gadget's hat.)
- Gadget Respirator: A self-contained breathing mask and the only hat gadget that Gadget has to physically reach for and pull on.
- Gadget Siren: A police light and siren popped out of the top of his hat.
- Gadget Skates: Roller skates came out of the bottom of his shoes. Also, sometimes rockets would come out of the sides.
- Gadget Skis: Skis extended out of the ends of his shoes.
- Gadget Spring: A spring came out of his hat, enabling him to bounce usually when falling head first and hitting his head against the ground.
- Gadget Teeth: His teeth popped out of his mouth, and the teeth would float around, biting the air. He couldn't talk when this was in use (at least not well).
- Hand Gadgets: There were several gadgets inside his fingers, accessed by taking the end off his finger to expose the gadget. These included a flashlight, key, laser, pen, screwdriver, drillbit, snow gun, corkscrew, and whistle.
Gadgetmobile
Similar to his body, Gadget's car, the "Gadgetmobile", was also fully loaded with a seemingly limitless arsenal of gadgets. It had 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, ability to drop a trail of tacks to blow out a pursuing vehicle's tires, and a winch on the front.
Besides having all of the typical features, it had 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 were voice activated in the same way that the gadgets on his body were activated, by calling its name, "Go go gadget van!" (for example), although when changing into the van and back, he usually moved a lever while saying it.
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.
MAD
MAD is an organization whose chief operation is committing crime and wreaking havoc. 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 two, Knuckles and Dr. Noodleman, are named. MAD is obviously a spoof on large scale evil organization (such as S.P.E.C.T.R.E.) 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 (fiction).
Background information
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.The first season was aired from September 10, 1983 to November 1984, comprising 65, 22 1/2 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 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 would have recurring roles, appearing in as many as three episodes in a row without being arrested. Even though this allowed for better continuity, the show lost some of its moral fiber that way, and it also became confusing that the villains merely disappeared from the show after their third episode, still not in jail.
- The crime would center more often around simply getting rid of Gadget.
- Gadget, Penny, and Brain moved into a high-tech house filled with many gadgets, where a few of the episodes were actually located - probably another result of the lower budgets.
- Penny didn'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. He appeared in eight non-consecutive episodes.
The first 65, 22 1/2 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 the same Canadian studio Nelvana 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 American o was changed with the French eu).
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.
Trivia
- Prior to creating Inspector Gadget, Andy Heyward had previously been a writer for Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. Fittingly, this show also featured a cyborg as the titular character, only he was a dog.
- Gadget Made Several Guest appearances in Heacliff and the Cadilac Cats, also made by Dic, as a character on television.
- Around the same time Inspector Gadget was being made, DiC Entertainment was also making a syndicated cartoon version of the comic strip Heathcliff, which was done by the same animators. It is not at all uncommon to see characters from one show make a brief cameo on another show produced by the same company, and Inspector Gadget and Heathcliff were no exceptions. For example, on one episode of Heathcliff, some characters are watching a television program called "Inspector Gadget on Ice" and the inspector is visible on the television figure skating. Also, Inspector Gadget
' s "Bad Dreams Are Made Of This", a detour through an alley in the Gadgetmobile startles Hector, Mungo, and Wordsworth from Heathcliff, who are eating out of trashcans there.
- Inspector Gadget was occasionally mentioned in the live-action segments of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Episode #60, Defective Gadgetry, even featured a special guest appearance by Maurice LaMarche playing the role of Gadget. Lamarche would later take over the role as Gadget's voice artist from Don Adams (see the Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations).
- Inspector Gadget appeared in the pilot episode sporting a mustache. It was never seen afterwards. The reason for its removal was because MCA was threatening to sue on account of the character looking too similar to Inspector Clouseau.
- 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, meaningless bit of information on the other side with the cereal logo. (The canonicity of this information is unknown - the actual Inspector Gadget card claims he received his gadgets after slipping on a banana peel.)
- In the Series II episode "Gadget's Gadgets", the MAD agent "Dr. Noodleman" is assigned by Claw to get rid of the Inspector's gadgets. "Dr. Noodleman" also appeared in Get Smart, albeit as Maxwell Smart's physician.
Inspector Gadget's Custom Closing Logo
For the 1983 season of Inspector Gadget, it had a unique closing logo. A green DiC logo 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. He then clumsily exits on the left side of the screen. The music is a trumpet 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" when they're now shown. The Gadget logo is deleted on all current DVD releases of the show, including the 4-disc DVD set 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).
See also
- Inspector Gadget spinoff incarnations
- Robocop is another police cyborg, but in a much darker tone.
External links
- [DiC Page]
- [Character sheet for Inspector Gadget]
- [] at TV.com
- [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 0304358711
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