New Inspector Gadget Cartoon

[Dontebell]

Inspector Gadget is coming back to TV next year.

http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/2008/05/wowsers-more-gadget-in-09.html

[A little *too* Raph]

could be pretty cool, I used to love that show

[ZariusTwo]

This will be the third animated Gadget attempt made in the past few years, the others being the largely rarely aired European series "Gadget and the Gadgetinies" (which spawned an infamous hoax), and the MAINFRAME CGI Gadget movie that combined the movie, "Gadgetini" and orginal concepts.

The series revival ought to be something a little more arc-driven, but maintaining it's classic "Get Smart" humour. I hope he goes back to the classic trenchcoat and that the f*cking Gadgetmobile doesnt talk.

[Ninjinister]

Dammit, they need to hire me to play Dr. Claw.

[Drtooth]

The series revival ought to be something a little more arc-driven, but maintaining it's classic "Get Smart" humour. I hope he goes back to the classic trenchcoat and that the f*cking Gadgetmobile doesnt talk.

I don't understand why it would need arc. The original 80's series never had arcs. unless you count season 2, when Capeman moved in as an arc.

But, PLEASE. No talking Gadgetmobile. It's the worst idea from the movies, and why the hell did they feel they needed to incorporate it into a cartoon?

And we need Brain to be Brain. not a whimpering, whining putz that's afraid of Gadget.

I just want to see the show return to its roots, and not become the movies.

Dammit, they need to hire me to play Dr. Claw.

More like, Dammit, they need to hire Frank Welker to play Dr. Claw. I have no problem with the fact they needed a Canadian voice cast, but if they can get Maurice LaMarche to play Gadget, why can't they have gotten Frank to play his respective parts? The recent Dr. Claw doesn't sound sinnister enough.

[DrSpengler]

Just about the only thing I've liked about recent Gadget cartoons is that they've aged Penny. I hope they don't take any steps backward in that regard and turn her into a little kid again.

Personally, what I really want is the American cast back. I've really hated the Canadian voices they've been using since "Inspector Gadget's Last Case".

Maurice LaMarche can work in both the US and Canada because he belongs to both voice acting unions, but people like Frank Welker, Cree Summer and Townsend Coleman don't, which is why we haven't had them since the original Gadget series.

DiC also needs to get less stingey with the animation budget. The animation is "Last Case" and "Gadgetinis" made my eyes bleed.

And count me among those that want Gadgetmobile to shut the **** up.

[Drtooth]

DiC also needs to get less stingey with the animation budget. The animation is "Last Case" and "Gadgetinis" made my eyes bleed.


I hate Dic's current animation studio. I really do. I accept we can never have them go back to TMS animation (and they were probably only involved with them at the time due to the illfated Lupin the 8th series), but that doesn't mean we should have the outright ugliness we've been seeing out of them recently. Maybe they should team up with the other French studio, Xiliam (their animation is pretty top notch from what I've seen) or someone like that.

[DrSpengler]

Or, hell, plenty of high-quality Korean studios have been showing up, lately. Both Dong Woo and Lotto do good work, and considering how frequently they're used for US productions, I imagine they're more affordable than most Japanese studios.

Korean Animation has come a long way since the days of AKOM, Sun Woo and Hanho Heung-Up. They've actually gotten...good.

[ZariusTwo]

I don't understand why it would need arc. The original 80's series never had arcs. unless you count season 2, when Capeman moved in as an arc.

I think arcs will give it a slightly more distinct advantage, I wouldnt complain about that, it's one of the few things that Gadget needed to stand out again

[Aelia]

Personally, I am excited for this. It really couldn't be any worse than Gadget and the Gadgetini's or the live action films. Could it? I hope not.

I'll approach this with caution, no matter how excited I am.

[Drtooth]

Or, hell, plenty of high-quality Korean studios have been showing up, lately. Both Dong Woo and Lotto do good work, and considering how frequently they're used for US productions, I imagine they're more affordable than most Japanese studios.

They're so affordable, even Japanese cartoons are being outsourced to Korea.

I say there are some great studios out there. Toon City does a smashing job. Seriously, watch the new Curious George cartoon. Even for a couple minutes. That is some of the best made for Tv animation I've seen in years. Full, fluid stuff.

not the junker studio DIC's been using. The animation is stiff and lifeless, and even the flash TV cartoons have better movement and looks.

I think arcs will give it a slightly more distinct advantage, I wouldnt complain about that, it's one of the few things that Gadget needed to stand out again

I think arcs, while welcome, really are a different direction. of course, coming from a huge Gadget fan like myself, the old series was basically just Gagdet running around the world (and season 2, just his home town, Outer Space, and back in time for no good reason) fighting Claw. I actually do think that arc based stories would be great, but how would it pan out?

I hope the US actually GETS this show this time. Gadgetinis, for all its flaws, I would have loved to have seen on TV, instead of just seeing a couple episodes on Youtube. I just hope that we get a network to air it on. And I hope it's not CBS. They'd be liable to ruin the show by shoving a hundred pointless morals into the story, all while ruining the plotline. Look at Sushi Pack.

[Drtooth]

I found the current Animation Magazine that was referred to, and read the interview with Andy Heyward. I was able to thumb through it quickly, and I have to add on to the blogger's comments:

The new show will have many of the original characters intact such as Penny, Brain, Chief Quimby and Dr. Claw. Complete with klutz comedy but with more of a darker edge.
The series will have a design style that will lean more towards anime and the direction will be more cinematic with unique camera angles and dramatic musical cues.

That is definately the intent, but this is (paraphrasing what was written in the interview) what's really going down.

Andy mentioned the cues from Anime that the Inspector Gadget series originally had (due in part to various Japanese studios animating it, TMS in season 1, and I forget the other studio in season 2 Studio something with a K). If you ever check out the old season 2 episode "Gadget and the Red Rose" (or was it verses the red rose?), there's a very anime looking flashback sequence. A monchrome red scene of the St Patrick's day massacre. I wish I could post the example, but cannot find it.

The "darker" tone is something more like (again, paraphrasing) there will be a clear and present danger (some of the older episodes reflect that), all while keeping the original bumbling concept.

And of course, the last picture shown on the page (the blocky conceptual designs) ARE the new Gadget designs. Kicking it old school, but redesigning it to look more modern.

And here's what the blog doesn't mention...

They have secured worldwide .....


MERCHANDISING RIGHTS

I don't know exactly what they have planned, but it sounds like we'll FINALLY get the franchise relaunch we Gadget fans deserve. I hope it includes adult sized T-shirts.

[Spike Spiegel]

Will this show be on Cable or network TV??

[CudleyCowlick]

I liked the original as a kid, but didn't like the movie. Haven't seen any of the more recent animated attempts. What I DO wanna see is an Adult Swim version with a sexy, cigarette smoking Penny (like the illustration in Cereal Geek #1 or 2, I forget), a truly menacing Dr. Claw, a rabidly vicious Brain and a drug-addled but well-meaning Inspector Gadget.

Now that would be cool.

[Drtooth]

What I DO wanna see is an Adult Swim version with a sexy, cigarette smoking Penny

Funny. I have 2 theories about an adult Penny.

1) Shell Shocked, truely tramatised Penny... similar to the way Brain was portrayed in Gadgetinis, only... well... laughing crazy. In a mental institution, talking to her bare wrist....

2) Lazy, shut in, overweight, Pimply computer geek Penny, spending her entire life in front of her computer, hacking into various different computers, and giggling about the minor mischief she can cause.

[ZariusTwo]

What she lacks is a steady (even an ironic) love interest. She ought to have been saddled with Claw's nephew in the Gadgetinis series rather than create two Mary Sue robots to replace Brain...

[Drtooth]

What she lacks is a steady (even an ironic) love interest. She ought to have been saddled with Claw's nephew in the Gadgetinis series rather than create two Mary Sue robots to replace Brain...

I have to say, there's always been something up with her (giving rise to my theory 2 about her being a shut in). You rarely see her hang out with anyone in the TV show, unless they're helping her to defeat Claw. There's something about her that seems to suggest she likes to distance herself from others outside the circle of Gadget, Brain, and Quimby.

I think that they had something going in the "Gadget's Biggest Case" film, with her being as equally oblivious to that guy who had feelings for her as her Uncle is to... well... basically everything. Out of the entire film, I think that was the best concept.

[Buslady]

If there's no Don Adams as Gadget, they should give it up. He is the best and only voice for Gadget.

[ZariusTwo]

I have to say, there's always been something up with her (giving rise to my theory 2 about her being a shut in). You rarely see her hang out with anyone in the TV show, unless they're helping her to defeat Claw. There's something about her that seems to suggest she likes to distance herself from others outside the circle of Gadget, Brain, and Quimby.

I think that they had something going in the "Gadget's Biggest Case" film, with her being as equally oblivious to that guy who had feelings for her as her Uncle is to... well... basically everything. Out of the entire film, I think that was the best concept.

Yeah, I thought it was something exceedinly refreshing and gave Penny precisly the kind of "ironic" development that made her more "sensibly" clueless....it'd have been funny if Gadget was the one who was suspicious of that and tried to help the guy out the way Penny does with Gadget

Part of me regrets that Brain HAD to be a dog, otherwise Penny would have been all over him in a few episodes (heck, she WAS all over him in a few episodes, sometimes too much without it looking ackward), it would have added an extra layer to the lovable loser who got the short-end of the stick . I loved that character, had Penny's awareness, but bungled as much as Gadget.

Applying it to a male would have been better

[Drtooth]

If there's no Don Adams as Gadget, they should give it up. He is the best and only voice for Gadget.

So, do you wanna dig him up, or should you wait for Dr. Frankenstine? :tcouch:

Nothing disgusts me to the core like saying "______ was the best role, and since he died, no one else can ever play them ever ever ever."

I feel Maurice is doing a great job. in fact, I can recal something else from the interview in Animation magazine where Andy told this anecdote about how Don said (multiple times), Maurice, can you do this? I think you can do it better. Something to that extent.

Just because a voice actor dies does NOT mean they should retire the character forver if they cannot find the right voice. I mean, look how many Looney Tune recasts they have. Are they as good as Mel Blanc? No. They're all doing the best of their ability, not the best of someone else's.

[ZariusTwo]

I agree. Absolutely stupid to even suggest someone is the end-all, be-all.

David Kaye IS Megatron

[DrSpengler]

I can third that.

LaMarche's Don Adams impression is absolutely immaculate. He was Adams' alternate from the very start and I dare anyone to try and pick his lines and episodes out of the original series. You can't tell them apart.

Adams has been a perfectly suitable replacement for Gadget, just as Tony Anselmo has been a perfectly suitable replacement for Clarence Nash or how Brian Dobson was a perfectly suitable replacement for Alan Oppenheimer.

[Dontebell]

More Concept art of Gadget from the 2008 Licensing Show.

http://74.52.193.82/events/main.php?g2_itemId=107749

[Drtooth]

http://74.52.193.82/events/main.php?g2_itemId=108117

This picture has me both worried and enticed.

So, now it's a Gadget squad? That doesn't sound too bad, but I don't think Gadget needs a partner. Look at how the Gadgetinis turned out.

But is that blonde pigtailed girl....?

[ZariusTwo]

If they've FINALLY aged Penny, then hats off to 'em...though the grey trenchcoats all being standard dress code does come off as a litte too contrived and gimmicked

[DrSpengler]

Glad to see they didn't turn Penny back into a 10 year old girl and kept her status as a teenager intact. I was worried about that.

I totally dig the new look, but let's just hope the quality of animation can make the designs work (please god, don't saddle us with anything like Speed Racer: the Next Generation).

Not sure why he's teamed up with Cable, but I'm not so worried. Gadget fighting alongside a gruff old man can in no way be as annoying as him fighting alongside the Gadgetinis.

[Drtooth]

Hey, as long as Dr. Claw has his original silver gauntlets with spiked bracelettes, and not having that stupid golden one that looked like the one Waruta or Chow did (Forget which), I could care less about change.

[ThirdMarioBro]

I probably won't watch this. Too many times have I seen horrible reboots of childhood favorites. They better have the original voice cast. Even Robot Chicken could pull that off a four minute skit.

Heh, how odd that I just downloaded the original soundtrack to the classic Gadget cartoon, and then this shows up.

[Drtooth]

Personally, I always wanted to see a gadget prequal show. Something that explained how he became a cyborg, and how he got to unofficially adopting Penny (after all, he seems to be her legal guardian, and we never have any word on her mother or father). And most importantly of all, how he started to tangle with MAD.

I always wished I could go to DIC and pitch that idea.