Gadget & the Gadgetinis
| Gadget & the Gadgetinis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy[1] |
| Created by | Jean Chalopin |
| Written by |
Jean Chalopin Teddy Anasti Pasty Anasti |
| Directed by | Bruno Bianchi |
| Voices of |
Maurice LaMarche Brian Drummond Ellen Kennedy Tegan Moss Colin Murdock Teryl Rothery Alvin Sanders |
| Opening theme | Gadgetinis Theme song |
| Ending theme | Credits with Gadgetinis Theme song |
| Country of origin |
Canada France Italy |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jacquline Tordjiman |
| Producer(s) | Bruno Bianchi |
| Running time | About 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
|
| Distributor |
DHX Media YTV |
| Release | |
| Original network |
YTV Rai 3 Rai Gulp ZDF Fox Kids |
| Picture format | Animation |
| First shown in | Canada |
| Original release | September 1, 2001 – December 27, 2003 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Inspector Gadget |
Gadget & the Gadgetinis is a Canadian–French-Italian[2] TV series spin-off of the 1983 series Inspector Gadget, developed by DiC Entertainment in cooperation with Haim Saban's SIP Animation and released 2001–2003. There are 52 episodes. Gadget & the Gadgetinis is now property of DHX Media after Cookie Jar Group was bought by DHX Media.
Plot
Inspector Gadget returns to television in his first incarnation in 17 years! Having been recruited by an elite international peacekeeping group called, the World Organization of Mega Powers (WOMP), Inspector Gadget is now Lieutenant Gadget, and fights crime with a pair of mechanical assistants called, the Gadgetinis, who are small robot versions of the Inspector who were created by 12-year-old Penny (due to Brain retiring from active duty) and who are the unintended victims of Gadget's bumbling.
Production
The original creators of Inspector Gadget reunited for this series. Andy Heyward initiated the concept and was one of the executive producers; Jean Chalopin created/developed the show and wrote or co-wrote every episode; while Bruno Bianchi designed the main characters as well as directing and producing the series. Gadget & the Gadgetinis follows basically the same plot as the original series, with the clueless Gadget attempting to fight crime while Penny and her helpers do all the work and he takes full credit for it, when he had no idea what happened. Dr. Claw appears less frequently and there are new villains for the group to contend with.
While Brain and Chief Quimby are mainly absent from the show, they do appear in pictures in Gadget's house. Each also appears as a special guest, and only in one episode each. Brain appears in episode 36, No Brainer which reveals that, having been traumatized after years of pain while saving Gadget and Gadget mistaking him for MAD Agents, he retired from crime-fighting to live in a riverside house, which only Penny knows about. The mere mention of the word "gadget" is enough to drive him frantic. Brain was also mentioned in the episode, Roverre. Chief Quimby appears in episode 45, Super Boss Gadget. They both appear on TV in the episode, Too Many Gadgets. Capeman, Gadget's sidekick from the original cartoon, is absent from this series as well.
The French end credits to the series show a series of sketches of Penny going to visit Brain at his riverside home. The pair enjoy an emotional reunion.
Maurice LaMarche continued as Gadget's voice, reprising his role from the "Sunday Movie Toon", "Inspector Gadget's Last Case", as did Brian Drummond (Dr Claw) and Tegan Moss (Penny).
Jean-Michel Guirao composed the musical underscore, and the main title song for the English-speaking version was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. However, the Canadian and French theme songs for "Gadgetinis" were explicitly different: The French version's theme, composed by Noam Kaniel and David Vadant, sounded very close to Shuki Levy and Haim Saban's original Inspector Gadget theme, and was in fact based on the original series' theme song. (The French end credits for the show state: "Musique des génériques: Noam Kaniel, David Vadant, K.I.A. productions. D'après le "Thème de l'Inspecteur Gadget". Musique originale de Haim Saban et Shuki Levy.") The reason this was possible - even though DiC Entertainment (which owned Inspector Gadget) no longer had the rights to Levy and Saban's theme music - is probably that Gadget & the Gadgetinis was produced primarily by the French animation studio SIP Animation, owned by Haim Saban.
Characters
Main characters
- Now working for WOMP as a Lieutenant, Gadget is still the same cyborg he was in the 1983 series, except he has been upgraded with several new gadgets. He is usually blind to MAD's interference in missions or their presence, sometimes making it easier for them to continue with Dr. Claw's evil plans, but they are nearly always thwarted, usually by accident. Gadget's appearance is somewhat different from his original design, as his hat and coat are now dark grey and his gloves are yellow and looks a lot younger. He also wears green sunglasses in most episodes. Voiced by Maurice LaMarche.
The Gadgetinis
- Fidget and Digit are two small robots created by Penny who are miniature versions of Gadget. They frequently aid Gadget on his missions and each have their own arsenal of hidden gadgets and devices, including video communicators in their chest-pieces. Penny created them after Brain ran away. Fidget is the most easily spooked of the pair and is colored orange. He secretly wants to be a human, and often does things robots cannot do, such as feel pain or sneeze, which Digit usually questions. He appears to have a crush on Penny. Digit, the blue robot, is the smarter, sarcastic, and more literal of the Gadgetinis. He often reminds Fidget that he is a robot, not a human when Fidget does something that robots can't do.
Penny
- Gadget's know-it-all 12-year-old niece is the creator of the Gadgetinis. Instead of secretly following Gadget, she contacts the Gadgetinis to offer advice and information from home. She usually does this from the attic, using her laptop computer and many other hi-tech tools, which replace her computer book and video watch. She also usually corrects Fidget about being a robot and not a human when he does something robots can't do and isn't as patient as she was in the original series, and has a bit if a short temper. Penny wears her hair in pigtails as she did in the original 1983 series.
Colonel Nozzaire
- Colonel Nozzaire is a former member of the French Foreign Legion and Gadget's new superior. Nozzaire hates Gadget, because he is stupid and constantly hurts him and/or wrecks his office. Nozzaire constantly tries to partake in missions himself, only to get captured by MAD or become badly injured as a result of Gadget's interference or incompetence.
General Sir
- The leader of WOMP, the General assigns missions to Gadget. He is oblivious to Gadget's incompetence. He favors Gadget over Nozzaire because he's kinder than Nozzaire.
- Unlike the original series, you can actually see his feet and torso from time to time, his gauntlets are now gold with black joints and knuckles, and with the MAD logo printed on them. Most of the time, instead of banging his hand on his desk and hitting his cat, he scratches the arm of his chair when angered. Voiced by Brian Drummond.
Minor characters
Ms. Miffet
- Secretary of General Sir. Just like Nozzaire, she hates Gadget and his antics because they often hurt or annoy her.
Brain
- After years of Gadget constantly mistaking him for MAD Agents and trying to apprehend him, Brain is now phobic and nervous when he hears Gadget's name, and has taken refuge in a shack by a lake.
Chief Quimby
- Now he's an agent of WOMP, working as General Sir's top informant of the Cryptic Intelligence Agency (an obvious parody of the real life Central Intelligence Agency, CIA). He still uses self destructing messages for old times sake.
Maryland Claw
- Claw and Thaw's mother and William's grandmother. She first met Claw's father in jail, the same day Gadget's parents met. She has higher authority over Claw, even going as far as to stop him in his evil deeds. Dr Claw once had his MAD agents turned invisible so that they could try to rob her house, apparently to get some childhood trophies from her. Like her son, only her right hand is seen. But in Erasing Gadget, her face does appear when Gadget travels back in time.
References
- ↑ "Gadget & the Gadgetinis". FilmAffinity. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- 1 2 "Un Gadget De Trop". Season 1. Episode 6 (in French). Event occurs at 21:00. Missing or empty
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