Inspector Gadget (Don Adams) was a
cyborg police inspector whose body was loaded with absolutely anything he would
need to bring down the evil organization M.A.D. and its leader, Dr. Claw (Frank
Welker & Don Francks). The only problem? Gadget was a bumbling moron whose
gadgets would often foul up--if he didn’t do it first--and was oblivious to who
or what the real threats were. His brilliant niece, Penny (Cree Summer &
Holly Berger), and her equally-smart dog, Brain (Welker), would follow Gadget
on his cases and actually be the ones to defeat the sinister plots, or to help
get Gadget in place to accidentally do so.
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| Gadget showing off some gadgets. |
Gadget was created by DiC
Entertainment’s former chairman and CEO Andy Heyward with Italian-French
cartoonist Bruno Bianchi and
DiC founder Jean Chalopin. Heyward
had just left Hanna-Barbera
Productions in 1981 and was asked to join DiC (then DiC Audiovisuel) and
help transform it into an entertainment company by creating a show that would
appeal to American audiences. Taking inspiration from the Pink
Panther films, Get Smart, The Six Million Dollar Man, and the last show he worked on, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Heyward conceived of a cyborg
inspector who was oblivious to the fact that everything he did was wrong, and
thus DiC had their very first show: Inspector
Gadget. Although the reason behind his cybernetic upgrades was never given
in the series, a 1991
trading card by Impel
revealed it was because he, as John Brown, suffered a near-fatal tumble down
the stairs after slipping on a banana peel.
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| Penny and Brain behind Gadget. |
Brain, so named because of his
intelligence, was initially the only one bailing Gadget out of trouble. But
Heyward was told to add in a little girl character to appeal to the female
audience, and that led to the creation of Penny. Gadget underwent hundreds of
designs, trying to figure out how to depict the character as well as the
functionality of all his gadgetry. Gadget’s basic appearance was based on
Heyward and one of the series’ directors, and he was given a trench coat, hat
and gloves. Each of Gadget’s fingers had a different function; two served as a
portable phone, one as a flashlight, one as a skeleton key, one as a laser, one
as a screwdriver, one as a water pistol, one as a pen, and one as a whistle.
Gadget’s legs could extend with springs that allowed him to bounce; his arms
and neck could telescope; his jacket could inflate; and various other objects
could pop out of his hat, typically held by a robotic hand. Most of Gadget’s
gadgets were activated when he said the phrase “Go, go Gadget [gadget name].” Gadget’s
primary mode of transportation, the Gadget mobile, could also transform from a
sports car (resembling a Toyota
Celica Supra) to a van. Penny wasn’t without a gadget of her own, as she
carried around a computer that resembled a book and a wrist communicator.
Bain’s collar also served as a communication device.
 |
| "I''ll get you next time, Gadget!" |
Each episode featured Gadget’s boss,
Chief Quimby (Dan Hennessey & Maurice LaMarche), contacting Gadget on his
Top Secret Gadgetphone. Gadget then located the Chief in some kind of absurd
disguise or hiding place where he was handed a written message outlining M.A.D.’s latest caper
and Gadget’s assignment to stop it. Borrowing a gag from Mission: Impossible, the
message would self-destruct; usually after Gadget obliviously tossed it back to
the Chief and walked away assuring him of the mission’s success. Another
recurring gag was the fact that it was always teased to the audience that Dr.
Claw’s face would finally be revealed to the audience. As it was, only Dr.
Claw’s arms and metal-gloved hands were ever visible on screen, be he in his
castle base on his large chair or traveling in his M.A.D. Mobile (which could
also transform into a jet or a submarine). Usually keeping Dr. Claw company was
his cat, M.A.D. Cat (Welker), who either received his affection or his ire when
one of his plans failed. In defeat, Dr. Claw would always declare the parting
words: “I’ll get you next time, Gadget. Next time!” Dr. Claw was inspired by
the character of Ernst
Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond series
of books and films.
The series debuted in 1982 with the
pilot episode “Winder Olympics” written by Heyward and Chalopin. It featured a
unique opening sequence compared to the rest of the series, not only including
different scenes but also featuring Gadget with a mustache. Initially, Dynomutt star Gary Owens was tapped for
the role of Gadget until he was deemed a poor fit for the character. Owens did
contribute one of Gadget’s catchphrases: “Wowsers!” Ultimately, Jesse White
played the role for the pilot episode, with Mona Marshall playing Penny. The
pilot was animated by Telecom Animation
Film in Japan and featured the highest budget of the series.
 |
| Chief Quimby contacting Gadget in one of his many hiding places. |
Still not satisfied with the casting, producers tapped Don Adams for the
role of Gadget, further playing up the Get
Smart connections, and had him re-record the pilot’s dialogue. Don Francks
was brought in to replace Welker as Dr. Claw, and played the role for the next
25 episodes before they decided Welker was the better option after all. Francks
stayed on to voice various M.A.D. agents, and his portrayal of Dr. Claw
survived in several episodes that Welker was unable to re-dub. On a request
from Francks, his daughter Cree Summer was auditioned for the role of Penny and
won it; making it the first of a very long voice acting career. John Stephenson
also voiced Chief Quimby in the pilot, but was replaced by Dan Hennessey.
Casting was handled by Arlene Berman,
with voice direction by Wally Burr and Rob Kirkpatrick.
 |
| "Don't worry, it's only a disguise!" |
After the pilot, DiC soon received a letter from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
complaining that Gadget was far too close to their character Inspector Clouseau,
the protagonist from the Pink Panther films,
due to his antics, wardrobe and mustache. As a result, a fourth version of the
pilot was made and aired as the series’ first episode “Gadget in Winterland”.
It featured a new exchange between Summer’s Penny and Gadget (filled in by
Welker) indicating that the mustache was merely a disguise while Gadget was on
vacation. It disappeared for the remainder of the series. The characters were
designed by Bianchi, Edouard David, Christian Choquet,
Jean Barbaud,
Gilles Astorg,
Charles
Bonifacio and Brian
Lemay.
 |
| Gadget model sheet. |
The series was a co-production between France-based DiC and Canadian
studio Nelvana, where Peter Sauder served as the head
writer for the first season. Chalopin served as creative supervisor while
Bianchi was the Supervising Director. The majority of the episodes were
animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha while
several were done by Taiwan’s Cuckoo’s Nest Studio
(aka Wang Film Productions). Post-production was handled in-house by DiC and
Nelvana, and the latter handled the voice recording. Like many other shows in
the 80s, each episode ended with a public service announcement tied into
elements of the episode with the characters talking to the audience.
 |
| Gadget, the album. |
Saban Music Group provided the series’
music. Shuki Levy composed the theme song with
inspiration from Edvard Grieg’s
movement “In the Hall of
the Mountain King”. Most of the background music was a variation on the
theme. In 1983, Saban Records released an LP in France called Inspector Gadget – Bande Originale de la
Serie TV, featuring many of
the scores Levy composed for the series. The record was reproduced in 1986 in
English as Inspector Gadget – The Music in Australia through ABC Records and featured
five additional tracks. The theme with French lyrics was released as a single
in 1983 and 1985, while the episode “The Curse of the Pharaohs” was released as
an audio story titled “La
Malediction du roi Touthankarton.”
The first season ran in syndication for a total of 65 episodes in the
United States beginning on September 12, 1983. As it was a French
co-production, it began airing in France a month behind the American version.
As well as featuring a French cast, many of the characters’ names were changed
for those broadcasts. Dr. Claw became Docteur Gang (Victor Desy), Penny became
Sophie (Patricia Darnot), and Chief Quimby became Gontier (Gerard Delmas).
Gadget retained his name and was portrayed by Luc Durand. After its initial
run, the series was rerun again for the 1984-85 season. Peter Sauder
served as the head writer.
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| It's not a bomb, it's just Inspector Gadget season 2! |
The second season began in the fall of 1985, now airing weekly on
Saturday mornings. Numerous changes were made both to the show and behind the
scenes. Nelvana was no longer involved with the production of the series, and
DiC moved animation to their new Japanese animation facilities which rendered
the artwork closer to standard anime. DiC’s employees took over writing duties
for the season, and one of them, Jack
Hanrahan, had written for Get Smart. The other writers included Eleanor
Burian-Mohr, Mike O’Mahoney
and Glen Egbert,
with Chalopin serving as story editor and Lori Crawford
as script coordinator. Voice recording was handled at DiC’s new headquarters
in Los Angeles, necessitating the replacing of all the Canadian-based voice
talent with local actors to save on costs. As a result, Holly Berger replaced
Summer and Maurice LaMarche (who was Canadian but relocated to Los Angeles)
replaced Hennessey. LaMarche also occasionally filled in for Adams when needed,
being that he was an accomplished impressionist. Marsha Goodman
served as the casting and voice director. New characters were designed by
Bianchi, Barbaud and Choquet with Francois Allot,
Stephan Martinière,
and Bernard Deyriès.
 |
| Corporal Capeman to the rescue! |
Changes were also made to the format of the show. Whereas a M.A.D. agent
was introduced, captured and never seen again, now a new M.A.D. agent would be
introduced and appear in three episodes in a row, all sharing the same theme,
and would not always be arrested in their last appearance. Focus was taken off
of Dr. Claw’s schemes and instead was placed on M.A.D.’s attempts to eliminate
Gadget for good. Gadget, Penny and Brain moved into a new high-tech house full
of its own gadgets, and Penny spent less time involved in Gadget’s capers. In
fact, a new sidekick for Gadget was introduced: Corporal Capeman (Townsend
Coleman). Capeman, though more observant than Gadget, was as equally inept and
often believed he had the power to fly. Capeman was a self-proclaimed superhero
and often acted like the stereotypical version of one. Another DiC production, Heathcliff and the Cadillac
Cats, made several cameo appearances
throughout the season, as Gadget did on their own show.
 |
| Gadget comes to regret coming to the Mario Bros. for repairs. |
Following the 20-episode second season, the series was put to rest after
the declining quality in writing and animation, as well as the numerous
changes, led to a drop-off in the ratings. However, it continued to live on and
did well in reruns. In 1989, LaMarche gave the character his first live-action
portrayal in the episodes “Defective Gadgetry” and “Treasure of the Sierra
Brooklyn” of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, also a DiC production, during their live-action bumper
segments. In 1992, Gadget returned to animation when the special Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas was released. Airing on December 4th,
the special featured Dr. Claw taking over Santa’s (Welker) workshop in an
effort to ruin Christmas. Adams, Welker and LaMarche reprised their roles, but
Berger was replaced by Erica Horn
as Penny and LaMarche provided Gadget’s singing voice.
 |
| Go, go Gadget skis! And skates! |
1992 also saw the debut of Inspector Gadget toys. Tiger Toys attempted
to break into the action figure market with a line of figures based on
the series. The line primarily consisted of Gadget variants, each one sporting
a different gadget and accessory and wearing different colored clothing. The
only character missing from the series was Quimby. The most notable part of the
line, however, was the Dr. Claw figure. For the first time, fans got to see the
face
of Dr. Claw. The primary version of Dr. Claw’s figure came with a facial obstruction
on the packaging; forcing the figure to be bought and opened to see it
(although one could angle the package to peek around it). A rare variant
featured standard packaging with Dr. Claw fully visible. In 1993, Galoob released a 12” action figure that
featured several of his gadget accessories and spring-loaded action. The figure
came in two versions, with one being less articulated than the other. Bandai also produced a line of PVC figurines
featuring Penny, Brain, Quimby and Gadget utilizing several gadgets, as well as
two die-cast
transforming vehicles. In 2020, Funko
released a set of POP!s that included three variants
of Gadget and Penny, and Blitzway released
figures of Gadget,
Penny, Brain and Quimby as part of their 1/12th scale MEGAHERO
line.
 |
| The Viper free preview. |
Two lunchboxes
were made by Thermos while Impel printed 6
trading cards as part of the National
Safe Kids Campaign. Life
Cereal also offered Gadget premiums,
including a handheld
game and a watch.
Milton Bradley
produced a board
game in 1983. Jak Pak released a set of Gadget-themed
novelties ranging from toy weapons to iron-ons. In 2011, Viper Comics released a preview issue for Free Comic Book Day followed by a graphic novel based
on the original series.
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| Inspector Gadget Advance Mission for Game Boy Advance. |
In 1984, Bandai developed an LCD Electronic Inspector Gadget game. The first proper video game was meant to be 1987’s Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear by Beam
Software for the United Kingdom version of the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The game
resembled Metro-Cross as it was a perpetual
running game where players had to avoid obstacles and enemies while collecting
items and power-ups. The game was completed, but was ultimately scrapped
before its release. In 1990, Azeroth, Inc.
released a PC adventure game called Inspector Gadget: Mission 1 – Global Terror! A Nintendo
Entertainment System game was planned by Hudson Soft but quietly
cancelled. Instead, Hudson released a Super NES game in 1993
that offered a glimpse of Dr. Claw’s face. In 2001, UbiSoft released Inspector Gadget: Gadget’s Crazy Maze for the PlayStation and Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus for the Game
Boy Color. That same year, DreamCatcher
Interactive and Magic Pockets
released Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission for the Game Boy Advance. In
2003, Light
and Shadow Productions produced Inspector Gadget: Mad Robots Invasion for the PlayStation
2 and Inspector Gadget Racing for the Game Boy Advance. In 2010, XMG Studio released a mobile game, Inspector Gadget’s MAD Dash,
which featured the original theme and voices from the show. Dr. Claw’s face
was once again visible and he was given the name “George.”
 |
| Gadget VHS. |
Several VHS
collections of one or two episodes were released in various languages
through DiC, Lorimar’s
Kideo Video, Family Home
Entertainment and Sterling
Entertainment Group’s Animation Station. In 2004, Sterling (as UAV
Entertainment) released two single disc collections, Inspector Gadget: The Gadget Files, which featured the first five episodes
and Heyward answering fan questions, and Inspector
Gadget Saves Christmas with four bonus episodes. General Mills also
featured Inspector Gadget and Gadget Boy on one of the DiC DVDs included in their cereals that year. In
2006, Shout!
Factory and Sony BMG Music
Entertainment released Inspector Gadget: The Original Series containing the first 22 episodes, while
Magna
Pacific released Inspector Gadget – The Original Series: Box
Set 1, 2 and 3 in Australia containing all of season
one except for the episode “Quiz Master.” It was also the first known release
of the Owens pilot. In 2008, the three box sets were repackaged as Inspector Gadget: 25th
Anniversary Collection. In
2009, 20th Century Fox Home
Entertainment released Inspector Gadget: the Go Go Gadget
Collection featuring 10
episodes. In 2013, New Video Group
released the complete series as the Inspector Gadget Megaset with the movie Inspector Gadget’s Last Case and re-released
Christmas, whose disc was also included in some versions of the Megaset New Video also released the
complete series in individual sets, breaking up the first season between three
volumes. In 2024, it became part of the debut
line-up of retro animation channel MeTV
Toons.
In 1999, Inspector Gadget made
the jump to the big screen when Disney made
Inspector Gadget. Originally optioned
in 1993 by Universal Pictures, the film
was set to have Ivan Reitman
produce it with a script by Jeph
Loeb and Matthew Weisman.
But, production shifted studios after Disney bought out DiC. Written by Kerry Ehrin and Zak Penn and directed by David Kellogg, the film starred Matthew Broderick as the titular
hero in what was essentially the first on-screen origin of the seemingly
less-inept character and his rival, Sanford Scolex aka Claw (Rupert Everett). Michelle Trachtenberg was Penny
and Dabney Coleman was Chief
Quimby, while Adams provided the voice of Brain. The film received negative
reviews from critics and fans of the show over the numerous liberties the film
took with the source material, but regardless it managed to turn a profit with
a $134 million box office. The film’s theme song, “I’ll Be Your Everything”
by Youngstown
sampled the cartoon theme. A direct-to-video sequel, Inspector Gadget 2, followed in 2003 written by Heyward and
directed by Alex Zamm. The
only actor to return from the first movie was D.L. Hughley as the voice of the
Gadgetmobile. French Stewart
assumed the Gadget role with Caitlin
Wachs as Penny, Mark Mitchell
as Chief Quimby and Jeff Bennett
as Brain.
To promote the film, a direct-to-video movie called Inspector Gadget: Gadget’s Greatest Gadgets was released by DiC.
The movie was essentially a clip show, with “flashbacks” to scenes from the
episodes “The Capeman Cometh,” “Prince of the Gypsies” and “Gadget’s Gadgets.” Summer
returned to voice Penny during the modern segments, and this movie marked
LaMarche’s assumption of the role from Adams for the next few incarnations.
Adams did reprise the role for most of the 1995-98 series Gadget Boy and for the 1996 educational series Inspector Gadget’s Field Trip, which featured an animated Gadget over live footage as he took
viewers on a tour around the world.
 |
| Gadget on Family Guy. |
Over the years, the theme song had become heavily sampled, particularly
in rap music. In 1985, The Kartoon
Krew released “Inspector
Gadget” which also included voice samples from the series, and Bad Boys
& K-Love sampled the theme for their song “Bad Boys.” Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh used it in their song “The Show” as did Raw Fusion for “Rockin’ to the P.M.” and
Lee “Scratch” Perry for “Inspector Gadget”.
Beginning In 2006, the Cartoon Network
show Robot Chicken featured Gadget in several episodes. The episode
“Adoption’s an Option”
featured a mash-up of Inspector Gadget with
the premise of The Terminator in which Welker and
Summer reprised their respective roles, while Joe Hanna played Gadget. Seth Green voiced Chief Quimby, and
then Gadget for the episodes “Easter Basket”, “Executed by the State”
and “Legion of
Super-Gyros”, the latter of which Welker returned as Dr. Claw once again. Green
also voiced Dr. Claw in the episode “Chocked on a Bottle Cap”.
In 2007, a short film entitled Rainbow Brite: The True Saturday Morning Story featured Gadget played by Trip Ross. In 2013, Gadget appeared on the Family
Guy episode “Bigfat” voiced
by series creator Seth MacFarlane.
"Gadget at the Circus" (9/15/83) - The Gadget family's trip to the circus is disrupted by the M.A.D. agents working there.
“School for Pickpockets” (12/8/83) – A M.A.D. pickpocket tries to steal Gadget’s watch while he’s on vacation.
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1 comment:
And even with the new CGI cartoon, the lasting legacy of the original is creepy deviantart pedophiles who pine over a fictional 8 year old.
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