Thursday, July 24, 2014

RR Gadget & the Gadgetinis


Go-Go-Gadget-Spinoff Number #2!

Go-Go-Gadget-O-Reviews with these following links!

Name: Gadget & the Gadgetinis: Volume One
Created by Jean Chalopin 
Produced by DIC Entertainment
Original run 2001-2003
Genre Cartoon comedy/science-fiction

Here's the second Inspector Gadget "spin-off series", the fourth overall animated series counting Inspector Gadget's Field Trip which I briefly mentioned before.

Like the 1995-1998 Gadget Boy & Heather, it only lasted for two short Seasons for a total of 52 episodes. We're far from the 80+ episodes of the original series.

Once more the series was produced by DIC Entertainment. The show was another French co-production which aired through Jetix originally.

This series was still in the hands of the original Inspector Gadget creators. Jean Chalopin returned to create and develop this show, which he co-wrote every single episode. Bruno Bianchi did the new designs and characters, as well as mostly directing the entire cartoon.

Basically said, Gadget & the Gadgetinis follows the same basic concept of the original show, beside a few minor cosmetic additions. We find back our very clumsy and absent-minded Gadget, while Penny he's the one who actually does all the work and always ends up saving the day thanks to her helpers.... 


Gadget is now a lieutenant, finally!

Our hero now works for "WOMP" - the "World Organization of Mega Powers". And Penny is now 12 years old (she sure seems to grow up awfully slow, doesn't she?).

There's a couple of new robots based around the ol' Inspector Gadget tagging along our duo (remnants from the Gadget Boy concept?). They're called Digit and Fidget, the Gadgetinis! They basically replace Brain (the dog in the original series) who is now retired from the force, but fear not because he is glimpsed again on this show at some point. There's some changes for Chief Quimby as well who is also now back in the field as an informant agent for WOMP.

"Lieutenant Gadget" now works under this Ex-French Foreign Legion Colonel Nozzaire.

Gadget is still trying to put a stop to MAD once and for all. But Doctor Claw himself was made less prominent in this show, and is not the direct antagonist this time. Although he often appears to be scheming something behind the scene.

Gadget & the Gadgetinis is a bit more science-fiction-ysh compared to past series. We even get aliens right on the first episode!

This time "Lt. Gadget" was voiced by Maurice LaMarche, taking over Don Adams as Gadget's voice,  which he does perfectly. You would be surprise to listen to Gadget and know Adams is not returning for the role (Adams would not get to voice Gadget once more, Don Adams has since died in 2005...). Veteran voice actor Maurice LaMarche is joined along by Brian Drummond as Dr Claw and Tegan Moss as Penny. 


This volume 1 DVD here above is the standard and only release of the show, but the same disc has also been repackaged differently a couple of times. Cover art aside, it always covers the same first 5 episodes of the show's first Season.

Which see an alien invasion by very stupid alien under the order of Claw in exchange for the Moon, Lt.Gadget go on a trip to Las Vegas to protect a General trying enjoy his vacation, our heroes taking a jungle adventure where they locate secret MAD headquarters, on the set of a movie under the supervision of MAD agents and finally a visit to Shangrilala island to keep" magic water" out of Dr. Claw's claws - pun obviously intended.

The show doesn't take much time developing the new cast since it all basically relies on Gadget and Penny first and foremost.

Some familiar returning faces would pop up over the series. Such as Dr. Claw's cat. Brain would come back in full form in the later episode 36, while Quimby stars in episode 45.

This time it was Jean-Michel Guirao who composed the music for the show. I have to say, his music really comes off at time. There's some occasional remixes of old Inspector Gadget musical cues. But the new theme song performed by Mike Piccirillo is pretty bad. Strangely, they French version of the show featured a completely different opening theme song, closer to Shuki Levy's original Inspector Gadget theme. I wonder why they changed it radically this way? (there's some stories of SABAN which distributed the show in the US not having the rights to the original animated series...)


Overall, Gadget & the Gadgetinis is a bit silly and childish at times, but nothing like we've never seen from past Inspector Gadget series before.

If you have a soft spot for funny ol' cartoons, you would probably enjoy this! Children would enjoy it no doubt. So I guess I'd Recommend it to both old fans and newcomers alike.

This 2002-ysh incarnation of Inspector Gadget came off a few direct-to-video animated films at the time, which also starred Maurice LaMarche in the titular role.

Gadget & the Gadgetinis was slightly more cartoony than the original, kind of similar in tone to Gadget Boy and Heather in that regards.

Since its quick conclusion, there's hasn't been yet any new iteration of Inspector Gadget, despite a few persistent rumors of a brand new "modern" Inspector Gadget show a couple of times. But at least there's been a lot more "original animated movies" released on DVD, some of the last ones actually went full 3D-rendered, with LaMarch reprising Gadget voice ever since!

All in all, Gadget & the Gadgetinis is a fairly decent follow-up if a bit gimmick-y, when it's all said and done.

I give it:
2 / 3 Felixes!

4 comments:

  1. Hi! Just wanted to add a comment on this...

    "Since its quick conclusion, there's hasn't been yet any new iteration of Inspector Gadget, despite a few persistent rumors of a brand new "modern" Inspector Gadget show a couple of times."

    Actually, the brand new Inspector Gadget series is not a rumor, but a fact. :) A new, CGI-animated TV series is in full production right now (and has been in development for the past several years). You can read more about the new show on my Inspector Gadget fan blog, where I've been reporting about it since 2012: http://nexttime-gadget.blogspot.no/search/label/New%20TV%20Series%20%28Cookie%20Jar%2FDHX%2FTeletoon%29

    Oh, and RE: this...

    "But at least there's been a lot more "original animated movies" released on DVD, some of the last ones actually went full 3D-rendered, with LaMarch reprising Gadget voice ever since!"

    Actually, no. After the direct-to-video movie Inspector Gadget's Last Case and the Gadget & the Gadgetinis TV series (both 2002), there has only been one (1) direct-to-video movie released - "Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever" in 2005. This one *was* CGI-rendered and *did* star LaMarche... but it was in my opinion a terrible movie, with awful animation; and apparently was not very successful either, since no animated Gadget productions have been released since. So it's actually a pretty big deal that a new TV series is finally being produced again, almost 10 years after Gadget's last animated appearance. The designs revealed so far for the upcoming series actually look very appealing, and the producers have stated that it will mainly have the same tone and style as the original. I'm certainly eager to see it. :)

    (Additionally, I must admit I noticed some mistakes regarding the production and origins of the Gadgetinis series, but I don't think I'll delve into them, as I could tell you got them from the severely misinformed Wikipedia site for the show.)

    One last thing, I'm enjoying your custom-made illustrations for these reviews. Your illustrations for the "Gadget on the Orient Express" comic book actually had more life to them than the comic book artwork itself.

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    Replies
    1. Wow.
      A Gadget fan, I see?

      Actually my source was 2 IG fansites on this, I think there's some confusion behind the Gadgetinis production out there. Plus internet wasn't that huge or common at the time, which doesn't help keep track of such older series.

      I'll believe the new show when it finally airs. There's been various reports of a new IG cartoon for years. I remember people reporting/announcing a new 2-d animated IG series about 10 years ago.. and that didn't go anywhere.
      (the same goes for a new Felix the Cat cartoon, they come and go just as fast)

      The new one's been planned since 2012? I really hope it gets actually released, then!

      What I mean is... it's really easy for these kind of productions to get stuck, scrapped altogether and end in "development hell". I'll believe the new show whenever it starts.

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    2. "Wow.
      A Gadget fan, I see?"

      I'll plead guilty to that charge. ;) Yeah, I'm a pretty big fan. It's part of what has prompted me to run a fan blog about the series for the past 3+ years.

      "Actually my source was 2 IG fansites on this, I think there's some confusion behind the Gadgetinis production out there. Plus internet wasn't that huge or common at the time, which doesn't help keep track of such older series."

      Ah, right, those sites probably got their info from the Wiki, too, as the faults I'm talking about match stuff I've seen there. (Was one of the sites inspector-gadget.net? That one has a "Gadgetpedia" which was copied straight off of Wikipedia back in 2007-2008.) In case you should be curious, the two standouts are the stuff about a Franco-Canadian production (Canada had nothing to do with the production of Gadgetinis) and 2 seasons (it was really only one season of 52 episodes produced all at once).

      "There's been various reports of a new IG cartoon for years. I remember people reporting/announcing a new 2-d animated IG series about 10 years ago.. and that didn't go anywhere."

      The one 2D series you're referring to was being developed by DiC about 6 years ago, back in 2008... and yeah, that didn't go anywhere. The reason was that Dic was suddenly and unexpectedly bought by the Canadian Cookie Jar company that same year. Cookie Jar apparently didn't like what DiC had developed, because they shut down the series pretty quicky after taking over. But then a few years after that, in late 2011/early 2012, they started developing their own reboot of Inspector Gadget. That reboot is the series currently in full production at DHX Media - in animation production, even.

      "The new one's been planned since 2012? I really hope it gets actually released, then!"

      Oh, come ON! Are you really gonna use that as an argument? Most animated series which *get* released have all spent an extended period of time in development before the release date. It's natural. Besides, the major announcements for the new Gadget series were not made before the summer of 2013. Before that, I was picking up on some industry reports which mentioned briefly and matter-of-factly that a new series was in development.

      "What I mean is... it's really easy for these kind of productions to get stuck, scrapped altogether and end in "development hell"."

      I can understand where you're coming from, to an extent. I've been there myself... I was pretty disappointed when I found out that the show in development back in 2008 had been shut down. But still...

      "I'll believe the new show whenever it starts."

      I have to ask here: Did you check the link I posted to the news reports on my blog? Did you see the new CGI design of Gadget - and the just-recently revealed designs of Penny, Brain and Chief Quimby? Did you see the photos of the crew at DHX Halifax in Canada, actually animating on the new show?

      The point I'm trying to make here is, this new series is way past the development stage. It was in development for quite some time... but now, it's in full production, and it's *been* in full production for at least half a year. The series is really happening. I find it a little hard to understand all the doubt out there when the evidence is right in front of our eyes. It seems that a lot of fans, after being burned by the 2008 series which didn't go anywhere, have now decided to approach ANY news of a new series with doubt and sceptisism, even when the facts are there to prove otherwise.

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    3. I took that mention about Canada out (though if I remember correctly, DiC did use a Canadian Animation Studio overseas to help out.)

      I'll stand by my point, I actually saw plenty of cartoons in the past being pulled out despite fairly advanced productions. Even live series scrapped despite a few episodes filmed.
      Once done, they need a distributor and some marketing, and I haven't seen anything on that front yet.

      I live in Switzerland, so getting news of French cartoons - we get all the French channels over here - should usually be easier. I've only seen mentions online of the show starting on "Boomerang" and lately France 3, but nothing officially really, nothing "live" or concrete. The new show hasn't even been mentioned or acknowledged by the channel itself directly (F3). And they moved the date from this year to 2015 already! It still is possible for them to scratch it all altogether! I'm talking kinda negatively here, but "things like this happen". (from recent memory I can think of a Looney Tunes show, being scrapped and absorbed into the Looney Tunes Show, a Plastic Man series scrapped.. and sort of rebranded and resurrected as new animated shorts and a new Felix cartoon entirely scrapped)

      I'll wait and see nonetheless.

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