Gajetto Keibu! The Japanese Dub of Inspector Gadget

"Does anyone have any Japanese-dubbed clips from Inspector Gadget?" You may be surprised, but talking with and observing fellow Gadget fans online over the years, I've seen this request pop up more than a little often. I find it a bit strange just how strong the interest is, considering that Inspector Gadget was not produced in Japanese language like DiC's earlier series Ulysses 31 and The Mysterious Cities of Gold. But this obviously holds a special fascination for many fans... so today, I'm gonna share the one and only Japanese-dubbed clip I've ever been able to hunt down. Click play to hear Penny and Gadget discuss ladder safety in Japanese...

As you might notice, this is the safety tip from the season 2 episode "Gadget and Old Lace". The original English version can be seen here. Notably, it's followed by a version of the season 2 outro where all written credits have been omitted (!). Makes you wonder – was it really that controversial to show English-language credits for a cartoon on Japanese television? Or did the broadcaster intend to translate the credits, but didn't get around to it? Or both? (Then again, both the outro song and Dr Claw's spoken line is in English, so it's still extremely obvious that this is not a Japanese series.)

Funny thing, by the way: in the comments to one of my old YouTube videos, I actually said almost four years ago to OriginalAkivara that the existence of a Japanese dub "would be news to me". I had apparently completely forgotten about this little clip, which I later rediscovered in my file collection. The clip was originally uploaded to YouTube around six to seven years ago by the user ohitea5963, under the title "ガジェット警部 エンディング" (literally translated: "Inspector Gadget ED"). It has also been up since September 28, 2009 on nicovideo.jp. I first assumed this was the source for ohitea5963's YouTube upload, but since the video description there says "YouTube import", it appears the opposite is the case.

And here's another funny thing. Remember how – before Season 2 was released to DVD – the only place for most of us non-US Gadget fans to watch the second-season episodes was an old torrent with a mixture of TV and VHS rips? Well, a few of the VHS-ripped Season 2 episodes in that torrent were missing their safety tips – and that included "Gadget and Old Lace". So when I first found this Japanese clip on YouTube way back in '09, I had to check a French DVD rip of "Old Lace" on Dailymotion to confirm that this was indeed the safety tip for that particular episode. All I knew was that the scene was nowhere to be found in the English-language AVIs floating around.

Consider that for a moment. During that brief period in time, the safety tip from the Inspector Gadget episode "Gadget and Old Lace" was MORE easily available to watch in Japanese language than in English. Doesn't get much more absurd than that.

So why exactly is the Japanese dub interesting? Again, I'm not really sure. The Japanese dub has nothing to do with the original production of the Inspector Gadget series. Gadget was an outsourced production, with the characters' lipsync animated to the pre-recorded, English-language voices. Furthermore, from what little I've been able to find out, the show was only dubbed to Japanese many years after the actual production took place. I hate to use Wikipedia as a source, but the Japanese Wiki page for Inspector Gadget – "ガジェット警部", a.k.a. "Gajetto Keibu", as the series is apparently titled in Japanese – is one of the few sources of info I've been able to find at all. So here's what it has to say on the broadcast in Japan:

日本ではNHK衛星第2テレビジョンの衛星アニメ劇場の枠で、1990年8月15日から9月14日の間にまず26話が放送され、1994年4月7日から1996年3月21日からの再放送で残りの話数も加えて放送され全65話。

In English, with the "help" of Google Translate:

In satellite animation theater of frame of the NHK satellite second television in Japan, broadcast the first 26 episodes between August 15 and September 14, 1990. From April 7, 1994 to March 21, 1996, all 65 episodes are broadcast, and in addition, also the rest of the story the number of re-broadcast from. 

BOY, is that grammar awful. I'd VERY much appreciate a better translation here, if any of my readers knows Japanese. But the point should be clear: Provided that the Japanese Wikipedia is correct, Inspector Gadget did not air in Japan before 1990. (Additionally, if you use Google Translate on this 2006 forum thread, you'll see Japanese commenters wax nostalgically about the time when Gadget aired on the NHK channel.)

Wikipedia also lists the following Japanese voice actors. Perhaps these are the voices we hear for Gadget and Penny in the above video:

Inspector Gadget: Tesshō Genda (玄田哲章)
Penny: Yumi Takada (高田由美)
Chief Quimby: Masato Tsujimura (辻村真人)
Dr Claw: One-Ozeki (小関一)

ANYWAY. Considering Inspector Gadget's close production links to Japan – and the many anime connections to be found in its animation – I guess I can understand, to an extent, the longings of some fans to watch the show in Japanese. Many Inspector Gadget episodes FEEL so much like anime visually that I can sorta relate to the desire to also hear the characters speak with Japanese voices. Sorta. If this is your cup of tea, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it!

I'll end with a li'l snapshot from Maroin Eluasti and Nordine Zemrak's DiC history book, "Les séries de notre enfance": a sales brochure used to market the series in Japan. A small caption in the book reads, "Plaquette pour la vente de la série aux chaînes japonaises", which means, "Brochure for the sale of the series to Japanese TV". So perhaps this was used to sell "Gajetto Keibu" to the NHK satellite channel...?

Cool Fan Animation: Go Go Gadget Neck

Hey, check out this great fan animation of Gadget by ShinyStrawberry over on DeviantArt!

"Gadget animation" by ShinyStrawberry (Feb 22, 2016)

Off-model, obviously – and the start especially could use some more inbetweens – but I love the lively, spontaneous feeling of this. Very nice timing and bounce to the Gadget neck animation in particular. I wouldn't mind seeing more fan animation in this vein.

The style on Gadget reminds me a little bit of the specific visual design seen in Season One episodes of the original show which were animation-directed by Shingo Araki. (I once misidentified Araki as likely to have worked on an episode like "The Japanese Connection", but have since learned otherwise, thanks in part to the "Les séries de notre enfance" book.) Here are a couple of episode stills showing off Araki's distinctive style:

From "Did You Myth Me?"

From "The Coo-Coo-Clock Caper"

Original Inspector Gadget Animation Drawings from "A Bad Altitude"

Today, a couple of 1983 animation drawings that I found a long time ago on Rubberslug. Animation frame drawings from the original Inspector Gadget series are quite hard to come by -- a number of drawings are for sale on Ebay right now, but they're all from either Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas or Inspector Gadget's Field Trip (despite many of the sellers claiming otherwise). These two drawings, however, are sourced from the vintage Season 1 episode "A Bad Altitude":

"A Bad Altitude" has several standout sequences with great-looking animation, and the extended action scene with Brain on top of a M.A.D. cab is one of 'em. Even by themselves, these two still drawings from the scene have a real dynamic feel. I also enjoy seeing the hand-written Japanese notes on the first one, which I'm guessing are instructions from the key animator to the inbetweener (I believe both of these drawings are key frames).

For comparison, here are the matching frames from the finished episode, seen at ca. 16:15. Go here to see them in motion.

Horseradish? No - I Said Hosh Hash Habalash

I decided today to take a break from reboot-series updates and just do a post for the fun of it. It's been too long since I did that. Here's something I thought was simply fun to stumble across on the net a few days ago... a vintage Inspector Gadget VHS release from Israel! This scan was shared by an administrator on the Israeli forum oldtv.co.il.

There are several things I find fun about this cover art... for one thing, it's the first I've ever seen or heard of Israeli VHS releases of the series. Secondly, it uses a couple of publicity stills that I've never seen before, from the episodes "Gadget at the Circus" and "The Invasion". It's especially amusing to see the utterly dead, wax-figure-resembling circus audience blown up in all their glory. Yup, that ep's animation was CHEAP. On the other hand, I wish the randomly-inserted still from the much better episode "The Invasion" was shown in bigger size.

As you may have guessed from the headline, the series' title in Israel is "Hosh Hash Habalash" (or "חוש חש הבלש" with the local alphabet*). Of all the foreign names I've seen for Inspector Gadget, "Hosh Hash Habalash" may be the funniest. Just try saying it out loud.

As far as I can gather, "Habalash" means 'detective' and "Hosh Hash" is Gadget's name... but the title seems to be a wordplay as well. The most sense I can make of it with Google Translate is, "The detective feels a sense". A sense of a clue, I guess, though there's probably a better translation for it if you speak Hebrew.

Here's the one other related image I could find over on oldtv.co.il... another Israeli Gadget VHS among a huge lot of cartoon tapes offered for sale:

Only the spine is visible in this photo - can you find it? - but it's enough for me to recognize it as a still from (okay, I checked to be sure) "The Amazon". Here's the full motive, as seen on a sticker released with the Spanish magazine Tele Indiscreta back in the 80s (via the blog tardes de phoskitos, where you can see more nice Gadget stickers):

I can think of no better way to round off than with the Hebrew "Hosh Hash Habalash" theme song. This is one of those instances where the local dubbers decided to just do a completely new theme song instead of translating Shuki Levy's original. The Hebrew Inspector Gadget theme is just as weird as the title... and weirdly fun to listen to. Making it even better, though: the uploader of the specific video I'm featuring below has gone to the effort of subtitling the song lyrics in both Hebrew and English! Weirdness accompanied by understanding. Truly the best of both worlds.



(*Yeah, I know those letters don't look like any of the captions on the VHS scan - but it seems to be the only Hebrew spelling I can find of Inspector Gadget. Maybe the VHS uses an older Hebrew alphabet? I genuinely have no idea.)

Boomerang Latin America Premieres the New Inspector Gadget Series on August 10, 2015

Due to a number of things going on in my life right now, I don't have the time or energy to update this site very often. But I've made a traditon here of reporting every international premiere date I can find for the new TV series, so I'm taking a few minutes to jot down this one, as well. As reported by ANMTV back on June 21:

Inspector Gadget llegará en agosto a Boomerang Latinoamérica 

Para comenzar con las novedades que traerá el canal Boomerang para el mes de agosto, una de las más destacadas será el estreno de Inspector Gadget, la nueva versión de la serie en formato CGI y producida por DHX Media. ... 

La más nueva versión del Inspector Gadget llegará a nuestras tierras a partir del día lunes 10 de agosto, de lunes a viernes a las 18h30 Arg/Méx. Vale recordar que la serie cuenta con doblaje al español latino realizado en Caracas, Venezuela.

In English (translated through Google Translate and myself, as usual):

Inspector Gadget arrives in August at Boomerang Latin America

Getting started with news that the Boomerang channel brings for the month of August, one of the highlights will be the premiere of Inspector Gadget, the new version of the series in CGI format and produced by DHX Media. ... 

The newest version of Inspector Gadget reaches our lands from Monday, August 10, Monday to Friday at 18:30 in Argentina/Mexico. It is worth remembering that the series features Latin American Spanish dubbing done in Caracas, Venezuela.

A June 27 article gives additional info on the air time in different parts of South America:

... Las nuevas aventuras del Inspector Gadget con doblaje hecho en Venezuela llegara a Boomerang a partir del lunes 10 de agosto a las 16h30 Col. 17h Ven. 18h30 Mex. con episodios todos los días, tomando el lugar de The Twisted Whiskers Show que dejará la programación del canal luego del episodio del día domingo 9.

In English (you know the rest):

... The new adventures of Inspector Gadget, with dubbing done in Venezuela, reaches Boomerang starting Monday August 10 at 16:30 Colombia, 17:00 Venezuela, 18:30 Mexico, with episodes every day, taking the place of The Twisted Whiskers Show, which will leave the channel's programming after the episode on Sunday, August 9.

Putting together the info in these two articles, it seems a bit unclear to me whether the series will air only every weekday or every day (including Saturday and Sunday), especially since the show Gadget replaces airs for the last time on the Sunday right before. But the premiere time itself is no doubt accurate. We've known ever since December of last year that Boomerang Latin America would air the reboot, but it took a fair amount of time (at least compared with most other Boomerang areas) for a launch date to be announced.

It seems, by the way, that the new series will not be called "El Inspector Truquini", the catchy name the original was known under in South America. Pity.

In case you're wondering: "El Superagente Truquini" is only the name of this specific
VHS editon, while "El Inspector Truquini" was the series' official Latin American title.
You can hear that title spoken out loud in the end of this YouTube video.

The Norwegian Chief Quimby's First Impression of Capeman

Did you know that Chief Quimby's first reaction upon meeting Corporal Capeman in "The Capeman Cometh" was somewhat different in the Norwegian-dubbed version? In the original, English-language version, Quimby exclaims, "Who is that masked marvel?" But in the Norwegian dub, the translators apparently had a much better idea of what he oughta say. So what did he say? Take a look at my latest YouTube video to find out...

HAPPY EASTER!

Though the Easter Bunny could have looked happier...

German Intro and Theme Song For the New Series (With Historical Context Add-On!)

The new German intro sequence recently made it online as a television recording from Super RTL's Toggo block (except for the first few seconds, which are cut off in the below video). Unlike the French theme song, the German version is a straight dubbing of the original, English-language theme. It's worth noting that Super RTL airs the series in full HD, and the picture quality is terrific. It's my understanding that many of the Boomerang channels do not yet broadcast in high definition, though perhaps that varies from region to region.



Anyay, I find the difference between the new German and French theme songs interesting; because the original series' German theme song (below) was actually based on the French 1983 song - complete with German lyrics throughout the song! In fact, the entire German translation of the 1980s series is based on the French dub*, something which explains, for instance, why Penny is named "Sofi" (after Sophie) and Brain "Fino" in Germany.

I suspect this originally had to do with geographical convenience. Because of French channel's FR3's involvement with the series, Inspector Gadget was distributed in both English-language and French-language versions from the very start in the fall of 1983. Germany is one of France's neighboring countries, so it was probably much easier for the German dubbers, back in the 80s, to get access to FR3's French-language PAL masters than to licence the English-language NTSC masters from LBS (Lexington Broadcast Services). And Germany was not the only country to make use of the French masters, either: it varies greatly from country to country around the globe whether their localized dubbing of Inspector Gadget is based on the English- or French-language masters. That's a bigger discussion than what I intended with this post, though. For now, have a listen to the German intro sequence for the original "Inspektor Gadget"...



*Note that I'm saying "dub" here. It's a widespread misunderstanding on the internet that Inspector Gadget's original production language was French, but as I've mentioned before, it really wasn't. The scripts were written and the voices were recorded in English first (for Season 1, at Nelvana in Canada; for Season 2, at DiC in Los Angeles). The French-language version of the series was translated from the English version. (But again, a topic for another day...)

Boomerang Italy Premieres the New "Ispettore Gadget" on February 16, 2015 at 19:00

And we're back! I'm beginning to realize it is not humanly possible for me to feature properly every bit of news popping up these days (as I'm busier than I was during Christmas and already behind), but I'll try to race through some of them. Here's one about another country/channel joining the broadcast lineup, namely Boomerang Italy. According to the Italian news site tvblog.it:

L'Ispettore Gadget, la nuova serie in prima tv da febbraio su Boomerang 

(...) Per le nuove generazioni arriva l'occasione di conoscere il personaggio che ha segnato l'infanzia dei bambini degli anni '80 e '90. La novità è l'arrivo del remake realizzato da DHX Media, in Cgi, in onda dal 16 febbraio tutti i giorni dal lunedì al venerdì alle 19.00 su Boomerang.

In English:

Inspector Gadget, the new series in TV premiere from February on Boomerang 

(...) For the new generations, get the chance to learn about the character that marked the childhood of children of the 80s and 90s. The news is the arrival of the remake by DHX Media, in CGI, airing from February 16 every day from Monday to Friday at 19.00 on Boomerang.

So now you know, all you hundreds of Italian Gadget fans undoubtedly reading this. Hey, anyone think they'll get Cristina D'Avena to sing a new Italian theme tune? The one she did in 1993 for the original series seems to have caught on pretty well...

Merry Christmas from Inspector Gadget and Santa Claw

Forget the 1992 Christmas special and its Gadgetinis follow-up "Santa Claw". Here's some proper Christmas spirit from Gadget, and from the true Santa Claw...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

So Apparently, Boomerang France Airs the New Inspector Gadget From January 3, 2015 (What Happened To France 3?)

Weird broadcast news today... though it seems they are legit, as I've found two sources on this by now. From a December 5 article on CB News:

La chaîne Boomerang déclinée dans le monde à partir de son exemple français

Turner Kids (Time Warner Company), qui édite les chaînes jeunesse Boing, Cartoon Network et Boomerang, annonce que cette dernière sera déclinée dans le monde dès le 3 janvier 2015 à partir de son concept et de son positionnement français. Hors de l’Hexagone, Boomerang s’adressera donc également aux 4-7 ans et à la famille avec des productions originales. Côté programmes, en France, la chaîne proposera à partir de janvier 52 épisodes inédits de l’« Inspecteur Gadget » et de « The Tom & Jerry Show », 26 épisodes de « Mr. Bean »  en avril et 13 épisodes de « Scooby-Doo »  en octobre. Parmi les nouveautés, en février prochain, 52 épisodes des « [Les] as de la Jungle » et 13 épisodes de « Wabbit » en décembre 2015.

In English (via Google Translate and myself):

Boomerang chain worldwide splits from its French example

Turner Kids (Time Warner Company), which owns the children's channels Boing, Cartoon Network and Boomerang, announces that the latter will be split worldwide from January 3, 2015 onwards from its French concept and positioning. Outside France, Boomerang thus also addresses the 4-7 year olds and families with original productions. On the program side in France, the channel offers from January 52 new episodes of "Inspector Gadget" and "The Tom & Jerry Show", 26 episodes of "Mr. Bean" in April and 13 episodes of "Scooby Doo "in October. Among the news next February, 52 episodes of "The Jungle Bunch" and 13 episodes of "Wabbit" in December 2015.

Very curious news, and I'm not sure I quite understand why Boomerang France is splitting from the programming for Boomerang Europe in general; considering that Boomerang France clearly intends to debut numerous new animated series themselves, much like Boomerang Europe will when its rebranded version rolls out in February. But maybe the French channel wishes to keep more of their classic cartoons' schedule? I really don't know.

Anyway, I mentioned there was another source for this, and that souce specifies that the above-mentioned date of the split - the Saturday of January 3 - will also see the French Boomerang premiere of Inspector Gadget. Here's the relevant extract from this December 5 posting on Les Accros aux Séries:

La nouvelle production inédite arrive en France avec Inspecteur Gadget tous les samedis et dimanches à 10h25 à partir du 3 janvier 2015 sur Boomerang, 26 épisodes de 11 minutes. 

In English:

The new and unreleased production of Inspector Gadget debutes in France on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:25 AM from January 3, 2015 on Boomerang, 26 episodes of 11 minutes.

This presentation gets one thing wrong: the new series consists of 52 episodes of 11 minutes (52 x 11 min., produced as 26 x 22), not 26 episodes of 11 minutes. But I'm assuming the rest of it is legit, as it matches and adds to the info from CB News. Plus, the post even includes a promotional image I haven't seen before... which is really just taken from the "Game Over, Man" episode clip on WorldScreen, but with different lighting. I guess this gives more of a normal, daylight glimpse into the home of Gadget, Penny and Brain:

Just for fun, here's the matching episode screenshot:

But ANYWAY. What truly confuses me about these Boomerang France news is the earlier announced info about the series' French airing. This seems to be a reversal to the situation way back in March (which I wrote about in April), when Turner issued a French press release stating that the Gadget reboot would debut on Boomerang (presumably Boomerang France) in November. That's all well and good in itself, and it even sort of makes sense that the Turner deal goes so far back. But only a few months after that press release, in July, French media everywhere was reporting that public channel France 3 had in fact purchased Gadget's reboot. This seemed to be a very good deal for the new series, one which would give it wide-spread exposure in a country where Inspector Gadget is already well-loved and considered a cult classic. So if the current news about Boomerang France are true... what happened to France 3??

There's another reason why I always liked that France 3 would broadcast the reboot: This is the channel which, under its old name "FR3", premiered the original Inspector Gadget series to French television more than thirty-one years ago. FR3 was even a production partner on the original show, putting up some of its financing. In that light, it felt kind of poetically fitting that France 3 of today would premiere the new series in France. I'm really curious what became of that deal.

Anyway, here's to the old days of Gadget on FR3... a vintage magazine ad promoting the first season's premiere run on the channel, from October 1983 to January 1985. (Scan courtesy of a generous collector whom I'll refer to here as "GC".)

Happy Halloween with Dick Dracula!

Just in case people thought we're dead over here... no, in all honesty, that's not the case. I've just become so busy lately that it seems like it (again). So on this, the day when the dead rise from their graves, I thought it was high time to bring this blog back to life.

(And I know what you all want to see - my commentary on this. And it's coming. Really. Hopefully very soon - really. But I wouldn't have had the time to finish it up today, and I wanted to post something for Halloween, so here we are.)

As far as Gadget-related activities go on such a day, I can probably do no better than recommend a watching of the arguably spookiest episode of the original series: "Haunted Castle", in which Gadget, Penny and Brain travel to Transylvania to investigate suspicious activities in the former castle of Count Dracula himself. Here's a cel of the episode's "Dracula" M.A.D. agent to get you in the mood...

...and believe it or not, as I was initially typing the above, I didn't recognize (or had forgotten) that this vampire guy is actually one of the regular agents! That's how good his disguise is, I guess. Here we have him in his undressed model sheet flesh... M.A.D. agent "Dick", as he was nicknamed by character designer Brian Lemay.

My current personal nickname for the guy is "Dick" Dracula, though. This dude's got acting skills!

Of course, "Dick" Dracula is only one of the many great elements of "Haunted Castle". More importantly, the atmosphere of the episode as a whole is spooky. The background designs are moody and beautiful.

The animation and character styling is superb, among the finest of the entire series.

Make no mistake, either: strong animation and design is extremely important to capture and bring out the mood this episode required. One of the lesser animation studios working on the series could not have handled it half as convincingly. Kudos to the entire Japanese crew working on this.

And adding to all that, the script writing is sharp. Without giving away too much (for the few reading this who haven't seen it yet... anyone?), there's some terrific character writing for all the main players - including Gadget, Penny, Brain and Dr Claw. Claw's first line, brilliantly performed by Frank Welker, sets the tone just right: "This nasty Transylvanian atmosphere is goooood for my health!" And that's only the beginning. This script gives Claw numerous chances to really act, and Frank is up to the challenge one-hundred-and-twenty percent... as are the other voice leads.

Through and through, it's the attention to detail - in writing, acting, direction and visuals - that makes this episode a standout.

But I've been pitching it to you long enough. So settle down and watch it... if you dare.

After These Messages

Dang, gotta hate those commercial breaks! But I think I'll sit through this one...

After all, they are promising that Inspector Gadget will return.

The DiC Exposition (Paris, April 25 - May 4, 2015)

Okay, so I'm not a fan of EVERY DiC series from the 80s by a long shot, but damn, does this look cool nonetheless...

The above poster advertises for an art exposition of classic DiC series set to happen in Paris from April 25 to May 4, 2015. From what I understand, it's being arranged by Maroin Eluasti and Nordine Zemrak, the authors of the comprehensive, French-language DiC history book "Les séries de notre enfance". That book contained a ton of great-looking production art from DiC series of the 80s (DiC's golden age to many, including me) - and judging by this comment from the book's Facebook site, so will "DiC - l'exposition":

Elle aura lieu principalement à Paris du 25 avril 2015 au 4 mai 2015 . il y aura enormément de produits dérivés ainsi que Des cellulos, story board, dessins préparatoires, photos d' époques, journaux, magazines et de très belles surprises

And then Google Translate's English version:

It will take place mainly in Paris from 25 April 2015 to 4 May 2015. there will be a lot of merchandise as well as cels, storyboards, preparatory drawings, photos of the era, newspapers, magazines and beautiful surprises.

Sounds very cool. I wouldn't be surpriced if a lot of the drawings, storyboards, cels etc. which didn't make it into the book will be on magnificent display here. Plus, if the book's focus is anything to go by, I'd expect a LOT of artwork from the early shows such as Ulysses 31, Cities of Gold, Inspector Gadget, The Littles, Heathcliff (as well as selections from the shows of the second half of the 80s, up until the point when Jean Chalopin left the company).

Oh, and did you notice that "Entrée gratuite" near the bottom of the poster? Free entry! This really is sounding better and better.

The authors promise more news on Facebook soon, and are encouraging fans to make suggestions for what they want to see in the exposition. I doubt I'll be updating regularly here about the developments, so if you want day-to-day news, head over to Facebook and follow their site.

"Independently Speaking": Interview with Andy Heyward in Animation Magazine, February 2001

Thought I'd post this Andy Heyward interview I found while browsing through my school library's archive of Animation Magazine. The text part of this interview has actually been online forever here, but I think it's nice to know exactly when/where the interview is from and to put it in proper context. First, the magazine cover...

...and now, for the interview. This was conducted right after DiC CEO (and Gadget co-creator) Andy Heyward had managed to buy back the assets of his animation studio from Disney, and was independent once more. (Not that this in any way would enhance the quality of the cartoons his studio did over the following eight years.)

It's interesting to read Heyward's statements about Gadget & the Gadgetinis on the first page. Quite a few things changed from what he states here to when the finished series finally debuted. At the time, the plan was apparently to air the show on Fox Family in the United States, and Heyward even sounds confident that it will premiere sometimes in 2001. In actuality, Gadgetinis didn't finish in production until 2002, and did not air anywhere until the fall of 2002 - in France on the M6 channel from September 2002, in the UK on Channel 5 from August. The United States, meanwhile, never got to see the series at all.

Just for the record, Wikipedia is dead wrong about a number of these details. The episodes did not start aring on YTV in Canada in September of 2001, and Gadgetinis was not a Canadian co-production. While we're at it, the series wasn't produced over two seasons, either. It was a one-season, 52-episode order from the start. As Heyward mentions on the second page, "We're producing 52 episodes of Gadget and the Gadgetinis." But I digress.

Something I also find interesting is the bit about how Heyward ended up reuniting with fellow Gadget creators Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi, as well as with music producer Haim Saban, to make the new spinoff series. I suspect that "Earlier this year" means "Earlier in 2000", by the way... the interview was probably conducted some time before the February 2001 issue was printed. [UPDATE: This Kidscreen article from December 1, 2000 confirms that DiC had already entered a co-production deal with Saban by then.]

Q: Earlier this year, you reunited after nearly 20 years with Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi for Gadget and the Gadgetinis for Fox Kids Europe. What was that like?  

A: Jean [Chalopin] is an extremely creative individual. It was a pleasure and a thrill to work with him in every way. It always has been. Jean, as you know, actually began DIC [DIC Audiovisuel of Paris, a subsidiary of Radio Television Luxembourg] and really didn't want to be in the producing area; he wanted to stay in writing. We were producing this for European content and we needed to have a European writer. I called Jean and asked, 'How would you like to be involved in a new version of Inspector Gadget?' He said, 'That's great. Can we get Bruno [Bianchi], who was the director?' [Bianchi was - and still is - running the creative of Saban Europe.]

   So we contacted Bruno and talked to him about the idea. He said, 'I'm under contract to Saban.' I called Haim Saban [chairman, Saban Entertainment] and said, 'We have an idea we want to show you.' ... We went through the concept [and sold him on it]. This was a reunion of not only Bruno, Jean and myself, but Haim, who with his partnership with Shuki Levy, did the music [for the original Inspector Gadget].

This is the only interview where I've seen these happenstances explained, and it pretty much tells us why the series ended up being produced by Haim Saban's French animation studio, Saban International Paris (which would change its name to SIP Animation before the Gadgetinis series was finished). Even if I'm still no fan of Gadgetinis, I kinda like how the creators got back together for this project after so many years working at different companies. If only their new show had been as great as their original...

Incredible News: Inspector Gadget Fans Are Getting Their Due At Last [APRIL FOOLS]

UPDATE (April 3): Sorry, folks. This was all an April Fools' post. I thought I might as well state it outright here, since the date has now passed (and because more people than I had expected ended up believing it). If anyone has feedback or thoughts on this post, I'd appreciate hearing it in the comments section.

Also - dear DHX Media, La La Land Records, Michael Donovan, Michael Hirsh and Michael V. Gerhard (that's a lot of Michaels in one place): Please don't take this April Fools' post in the wrong way. It's simply wishful thinking from a very dedicated fan, who among other things thinks Inspector Gadget could have easily gotten better treatment on home video than Cinedigm gave it. As for the new series that the team at DHX Halifax is putting together, I'm excited to see it regardless of who you hire to compose or to play the voices (as long as they're good). All I want from the reboot is for it to be a great series. (That said, Frank Welker as Dr Claw would be incredibly cool.)

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I have gotten wind of some very exciting news today, all sent to me via e-mail. They will be announced on their respective, official web sites in a few days, but I've been graciously allowed to share them here first:

News Flash Number One is somewhat related to last year's DVD release of the series, the "Inspector Gadget Megaset" from Cinedigm and Flatiron Film Company, which was also released as four separate volumes. I've neglected to cover this DVD release here on the blog so far (mostly due to lack of time), but Cinedigm's DVD editon has a LOT of problems - among them, audio dropouts throughout several episodes (the audio suddenly disappears for a few seconds, then pops back in); tracking problems at the bottom of the picture in many episodes; one safety tip missing from "Art Heist"; pixillated image quality in "Gadget Goes West"... just to mention a few of the set's amateurish technical issues. Happily, DHX Media is now well aware of Cinedigm's shameful DVD treatment of the series, which is why they e-mailed me today to say they are preparing to properly remedy the show's home video problems once and for all.

As we speak, DHX are in the process of remastering all 86 episodes from the original show in full, high definiton, slated for a collector's edition Blu-ray and DVD release early next year, to coincide with the debut of the new TV series on Teletoon Canada. As DHX's Chief Executive Officer Michael Donovan said in the press release they sent me (which will be posted on DHX's site in a day or two): "We're extremely happy to bring the classic Inspector Gadget series to HD, giving the Inspector's original adventures a new lease of life in the 21st century. As one of the most evergreen properties to emerge from television animation over the past 30 years, Gadget was really a no-brainer for high-def restoration. We're only sorry we haven't done this earlier. The restoration will be done to the highest standards possible - you've never seen the show like this before." While the remastering is not yet ready to be shown to the public, DHX sent along this publicity still from the episode "Snakin' All Over" as an indication of the expected picture quality.

Tentatively planned special features include:
* "Behind The Gadgets" - this 2-hour documentary will delve deeply into the creation, development and production of the series. Including in-depth interviews with creators Jean Chalopin, Andy Heyward and the late Bruno Bianchi, writers Peter Sauder (season 1) and Eleanor Burian-Mohr (season 2), voice actors Frank Welker and Cree Summer and a handful of TMS's Japanese animation crew members, whose names are yet to be revealed.
* All 4 versions of the pilot episode "Winter Olympics" (Version 1 starring Jesse White; Version 2 starring Gary Owens; Version 3 starring Don Adams and Version 4, the syndicated Don Adams cut with the Frank Welker redub explaining Gadget's mustache).
* The original commercial bumpers for both the pilot episode and the standard series. Additionally, the episodes "Winter Olympics" and "Monster Lake" will both include an option to watch with or without the bumpers inserted.
* Audio commentaries for 10 hand-picked episodes by Jean Chalopin, Andy Heyward and Peter Sauder.
* "Original Production Art" - development sketches, model sheets and a selection of storyboards presented in full 1080p HD.
* "Original Pencil Animation" - pencil tests from the original series, presented in full 1080p HD from re-scanned pencil drawings. Including pencil animation from "Bermuda Triangle", "A Bad Altitude" and several other vintage episodes.
* "Brian Lemay's Character Designs" - season 1 designer Brian Lemay was the most prolific designer of secondary characters and props on the series. While we have seen many of Brian's great model sheets on his personal web site over the years, this exclusive featurette will be the most complete tour yet of his work. All model sheets presented in full 1080p HD, with video and audio commentaries by Mr. Lemay himself.
* "Composing For A Klutz" - legendary composer Shuki Levy talks at lenght about the sensibilities and inspirations he brought to the task of composing for Inspector Gadget. Levy also goes into detail about key compositions such as "Chocolate Factory" and "Mad Art Museum", and plays several of them in front of the camera.

News Flash Number Two. DHX's Executive Chairman Michael Hirsh, who famously co-produced season 1 of the original show, e-mailed me with another press release today containing some intriguing news about the upcoming reboot TV series. Most prominently, Shuki Levy has now been officially hired as the new show's composer. "We thought, with the original show's music being as great as it is, why reinvent the wheel? Wonderfully enough, Shuki Levy responded enthusiastically to our request. He is now excited to revisit one of his major works from the era of 80s television cartoons, updated ever so slightly for modern tastes."

The same reasoning, according to Hirsh, lies behind DHX's decision to hire Frank Welker to reprise his role as Dr Claw. "We briefly considered auditioning Brian Drummond, who was used by DiC in their various Gadget reboots from the 2000s; but the general opinion of the entire creative team at DHX was, he sucked. So we just had to go to Frank, the only voice actor who has truly portrayed Dr Claw convincingly over the years. He has started recording for us and is loving every minute of it. I'm thrilled to say Claw in our new series will sound just as gleefully evil as he did in the original, if not more so."

News Flash Number Three. Finally, La La Land Records wrote to inform me that the complete, missing master tapes for Shuki Levy's original score music have been found at last. La La Land is currently working towards releasing a fully remastered CD box set in the United States next year, including approximately 150 tracks. "This will be one of our major releases for 2015," comments La La Land co-founder Michael V. Gerhard. "Shuki Levy is an immensely gifted TV composer, responsible for so many catchy, memorable synth scores which have yet to be properly represented on CD. After bringing numerous famous animated scores to compact disc, including the likes of Batman: The Animated Series, Levy's incomparable Inspector Gadget soundtrack is a new high point for La La Land."

Well, those are the news I had to share with you today. I'd say all of these announcements were way overdue, but better late than never. Stay tuned to see the press releases on the sites of DHX and La La Land within the week.

Jean Chalopin Disguised As Inspector Gadget

Just because it's so damn epic: A photo of Gadget co-creator Jean Chalopin disguised as Gadget. Can anyone even tell this guy apart from the real thing? Via this Facebook post from "Les séries de notre enfance".

Cool Vintage Artwork - And A Question

I've been remiss in sharing any of the Gadget-related updates that the Facebook page for the "Les séries de notre enfance" art book has given us over the past year. Above is a great piece of vintage promotional art that they posted on August 25, 2013. I had already seen this artwork online on some Spanish and French VHS covers, but the above picture finally gave me a proper look at it. I love the classic feel of this drawing. Even if the art and coloring is not 100% perfect, I can't help but find it charming. The characters have an authentic, early 80s feel to them, very true to DiC's original model sheets (heck, I wouldn't be surpriced if some of the characters were traced from those sheets). Also, gotta love the brick wall from the intro and not least, that awesome 3-D effect they're going for. Go-Go Gadget!

The Facebook post featuring the drawing also included a question for the fans: What is your earliest memory of this series? Here's what I answered (slightly modified)...

I was 11 years old when I first discovered this series - I still remember it clearly. It was back in 1999, on the Norwegian channel TV2 (which had bought the series because the Disney movie was about to premiere). By pure coincidence, I zapped into the channel as the episode "Monster Lake" was playing (about midway through - the great scene where Dr Claw tries to swallow Gadget with his mechanical sea monster) and was hooked. I fell in love with the show's humor and action pretty much immediately.

Much of what I state above - my first feelings when seeing the show - still holds true today. Admittedly, I don't find the series quite as exciting now as I did at age 11. Back then, I could buy into Gadget, Penny and Brain being in danger on a whole different level. I could find Dr Claw a bit scary - as in really scary. Today, I appreciate the show more for its humor, its tongue-in-cheek parodies and the relationship between its main characters. It took me a few years to really pick up on Penny's love for her uncle.

Anyway, before I digress too much... what I wanted to get at is that I found the question on the Facebook site interesting. And that's why I've decided to ask it over here, as well: What is your first memory of Inspector Gadget? If you're a fan of the show, how did you become one?

CD Review: Télé 80's "Inspecteur Gadget - Edition Speciale: 30e Anniversaire 1983-2013"

Télé 80's revised Inspector Gadget CD is in many ways a remarkable soundtrack release. It is the most complete collection so far published of Shuki Levy and Haim Saban's score, containing all the compositions officially known to survive today, which were originally released on multiple vinyls and cassettes during the 80s. I do have a few nits to pick with the CD (which I'll get back to later), but overall, this is well worth the money of any fan.

To start with my first impressions, the edition is very nicely designed. The cover illustrations may not be original, but who cares... they're the finest to ever grace a soundtrack release for this series. And the disc itself (below) is fittingly rendered in the style of a 45 rpm vinyl, with the show's colorful logo contrasting the black, white and blue. (The logo's coloring is one thing Télé 80 changed from earlier previews, for the better in my opinion.)

I've seen a few online commenters wishing that this "special edition" would contain some actual "special features", like a booklet with background information. I would love to see something like that myself, but let's face it: The main reason this disc is called a 'special edition' is really to separate it from Télé 80's first, lackluster Gadget CD from May 2012 (which was just called "Inspecteur Gadget"). This new CD is special in that it contains more music than any earlier soundtrack collection, but aside from that detail, it's simply a perfectly normal, good-quality CD.

But just that is not bad at all. The music is the most important thing, and almost all of it sounds terrific. If you have only heard these tracks as the fan-ripped MP3s which have been circulating on the web for years, you owe it to yourself to pick up this disc. Speaking for myself, I had never heard tracks like "Gadget in Japan", "Gadget on Mars", "Arabian Desert" etc. in such great, clear quality before. Actually, nearly all of the tracks have great quality but those were some of the standouts for me, as I had only experienced fan-ripped versions of them (from the French Saban LP) earlier.

After listening and re-listening through the disc, I must admit I'm no longer so sure about my previous theory - presented in detail in this post - that 16 of the tracks are sourced from ABC Music's master tapes for the older Australian LP and CD (from 1986 and 1995, respectively). Mainly, I'm beginning to doubt that theory because two tracks sound slightly different from both ABC's Australian collections and Saban's earlier French collections. "Mad Art Museum" and "Rodeo" (tracks 6 and 9) actually play a few seconds longer than I've heard them play before. The extra run time doesn't add much - just more repetitions of the music as it fades out - but still, the difference is there.

In addition, there is the aforementioned stereo difference in one track that was also on ABC's Australian releases: "Gadget Closing", or "Inspector Gadget (Ending TV)" as it's called on Télé 80's CD (track 28). The theme sounds almost completely alike on ABC's and Télé 80's editions, except that the stereo in the opening and closing is jumping around more in Télé 80's version. Where exactly do these nuance differences come from?

Maybe part of the anwer can be found in a Facebook comment written by Télé 80 on October 13, where they state that Shuki Levy himself provided the master tapes for their new CD. ("Masters fournis par Shuky Levi himself.") Judging by that comment, it would appear that Shuki Levy has actually preserved the master tapes for one or more of his original Gadget LPs from the 80s. (I'm still not sure if it means that ALL 30 tracks on Télé 80's CD are sourced from masters. I felt like I could hear some very slight noise on a few tracks, which I'm wondering might indicate that those tracks were remastered from vinyls.) Whatever the case, an alternate source for master tapes than what I first thought might go some way towards explaining the various small differences.

For me personally, the most interesting part of the CD comes towards the end, simply because some of those tracks are so rare. I've already talked about rarities like the instrumental theme for Brain and the alternate Mad's Theme, but I do want to put the spotlight once more on the following: Track 27, "Inspector Gadget (Opening TV)", gives us the English-language opening theme in true stereo, something I've hoped to see for the longest time, and which i believe no official release has ever done before. It sounds very good. And track 29, "Inspecteur Gadget (generique du film)", is a fun - and strange - theme song which I had never heard before at all. Sourced from this Saban single, it's a version of the French theme that was made for the French-released film "Les dossiers secrets de l'inspecteur Gadget" (1987), where three season 2 episodes were combined to make a theatrical feature. This version has a very different voice than the usual one by Jaques Cardona... much more nasal and kind of sounding like an exaggerated cartoon voice. As a little-known part of Saban's Gadget history (so little-known that the singer is unknown, according to Télé 80), this is a welcome addition.

Unfortunately, an annoying technical error also appears at the very end of the disc. Track 30, the extended English-language "Inspector Gadget Theme", is noticeably sped up from what it's supposed to sound like. The original running length of this song is 02:50, but on Télé 80's new CD it clocks in at 02:44, six seconds too short. The sound is flatter and emptier as a result of the time compression, and the stereo effects have become severely distorted, sometimes disappearing altogether. Below is an audio wave comparison of the version on the Télé 80 CD (Track 1, top) vs. the version on my Australian 1995 CD (Track 2, bottom), showing off the differences in pitch and run time. It's interesting to note how much higher the waves go in the properly pitched version from the Australian CD, which has much more prominent stereo and deeper sound throughout.

The pitch error on Télé 80's version of the track is pretty obviously a digital one. This specific theme has actually been released on CD three times before (30 years of Funtastic TV Toons, 1990; Inspector Gadget - The Music, 1995 and Inspecteur Gadget, 2012), and it sounded good on all of those editions... even on Télé 80's first "Inspecteur Gadget" CD from 2012. As such, the pitch problem would likely have been an easy fix had it been discovered in time. I noticed that, in last summer's preview of the booklet, track 30 is listed with its correct run time of 02:50. In the final, printed booklet (below), the run time has been changed to 02:44. So apparently someone "corrected" the booklet information after the CD had been produced and the pitch mistake on track 30 had been made, rather than thinking to double-check if something could have gone wrong with the digital processing.

I have to say, after waiting for over a year to hold this revised CD in my hands, it was more than a little frustrating to come across an obvious error like this. Especially after I've been reporting about and advertising for the CD - and also have been mailing suggestions to Télé 80 - for so long that I sort of feel personally involved with it. And it's unfortunate as well because Télé 80's new publishing contract doesn't allow them to reprint any CDs, or release music for digital download, so I doubt they'll be able to correct this mistake.

Don't get me wrong, though. On the whole, this CD has been produced with the very best of intentions, and 99% of the time it delivers to those intentions. I know that Télé 80 worked to make a good CD this time around. They have much better quality control now than on their first few CDs, but somehow this slipup still happened. I'm describing it in detail here because it would be irresponsible not to do so... but I'd still like to point out that, ASIDE from that mistake, this is the best soundtrack release Gadget has ever had. Until the lost master material for the rest of the score is uncovered, this is likely just about the best you'll find. So my conclusion after all this is - buy it while you can.

On that note: despite the fact that the CD was printed in just a few hundred copies last fall, it's still very much available, not only on the French Amazon, but also in Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Spain, Italy and even Japan. (Yikes! What does that tell us about the number of sales so far?) Most of these Amazon sites have it in stock, and all of them sell it for a good, reasonable price. Friendly advice, by the way: Do not buy it from the two marketplace sellers on the American Amazon.com, who somehow have the nerve to demand more than 95 dollars even though the CD is cheaply available everywhere else.

New Inspector Gadget iTunes Game Teased on New Official YouTube Channel and Facebook Page

Well, that's a lot of news jammed into one headline. Guess I'll start with what I find most interesting. As the below video points out, "Something's brewing on iTunes"...



...and that something, I believe, is an all-new iOS game starring Gadget! This will be the first video game based on the show since the hit "Inspector Gadget - M.A.D Dash" (2010), which became popular enough to push a new TV series into production. This new game, set to be released in two days, is apparently a sidescroller like M.A.D Dash but otherwise looks pretty different. Let's have a closer look at those flashing images from the video:

I must admit I find this art style both kind of charming and kind of sloppy-looking. It's great that they're using the original series designs, but the drawing style and rendition of those designs seem a bit off, particularly the faces of the M.A.D agents.

Also, here's an amateurish mistake: Gadget's springs are not supposed to come out from under his shoes... they're supposed to be an extension of his legs, which is why this gadget is called "gadget legs". At least the gadget copter looks okay...

Blundering slapstick, always an important part of the Inspector Gadget franchise.

And the cartoony frame below actually makes me curious to see the gameplay in motion.

I guess I'll give this game a shot. It's nice to see DHX Media doing something new with the Gadget franchise (the in-the-making TV series excluded), and timing-wise this ties in well with the series' 30th anniversary. Which brings me to the next piece of news - the YouTube channel that posted the game's teaser video:

Simply titled "Inspector Gadget", at least in the account name, this is not a fan-made tribute channel as I first suspected when I stumbled upon it. Its banner (above) acknowledges Gadget's recent anniversary with "INSPECTOR GADGET - Celebrating 30 Years", whereas the beginning of the info section reads, "Welcome to the OFFICIAL Inspector Gadget Channel". DHX has actually given Gadget his own channel.

Furthermore, when checking out one of the channel's videos, I quickly discovered the link to the official Facebook page. In fact, if you try typing the url "inspectorgadget.com", you will now be redirected to this Facebook Page. As we can see below, it shares the YouTube channel's logos and banner tagline, and its info section reads (direct quote): "H!i Welcome to my official Facebook page. Penny and Brain got me this for my 30th Birthday." Yeaahhhh... this Facebook page is apparently run by Inspector Gadget himself. How... amusing.

Both the YouTube channel and Facebook page have been online since September 27, so it appears that DHX is doing a concentrated effort to create more online awareness of Gadget (and using the 30th anniversary as a springboard for that). This is a great initiative, of course, but I'm a little confused as to whom they're targeting. So far, the Facebook site and YouTube channel consist mostly of short clips and screenshots from classic episodes, many of them accompanied by Gadget's "personal" comments. I guess this might be mildly entertaining for kids. However, as a 30-year old brand, Inspector Gadget has quite a lot of older fans - and almost nothing currently featured on the Youtube or Facebook sites seems particularly geared towards them. (The YouTube channel has one full episode, and the Facebook page features an ad for the new DVD release of the series, but still.) How about some original production artwork on Facebook? How about some rare videos on YouTube, like for instance high-quality versions of these bumpers? There is so much unrealized potential here...

As of now, I'd say the game teaser is the one somewhat interesting thing to be seen on the two sites. But who knows? Maybe that could change with time. Come to think of it, maybe these official outlets for Gadget could even become the first places to feature trailers and previews of the upcoming CGI TV series.

UPDATE (October 19, 2013): The game, entitled "Inspector Gadget M.A.D. Grab", was finally released to iTunes on October 18, after a four-day delay from the date announced in the teaser video (a new video has been added to the YouTube channel to mark the launch). The game is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and is currently available for free, so GRAB it while you can!