Turner France Presents the New Gadget Series With TEMP Image!

In the comments to yesterday's news about Boomerang France, Cortoony remarked something I hadn't quite noticed about the promotional screenshot accompanying those news: that it was in fact a work-in-progress image (from the "Game Over, Man" episode; the one the WorldScreen clip includes an excerpt of). This could be evidenced by partly different furniture, something resembling a framed picture on the left wall and, most glaringly, Quimby's freakishly long arm poking through the floor underneath the livingroom table. Well, guess what? In this official PDF from Turner France, I found a higher-res, less cropped version of the image... which shows pretty clearly why the finished episode version removed that framed picture - uh, television screen.

Is that TV channel really on pause, or are the words "TEMP image" trying to tell us something?

Here, again, is the matching episode screenshot for comparison. I find it interesting how the details revealing the temporary state of the above image have been literally covered up in the final version. Maybe that's why they went with a different type of table.

It's charming to get a glimpse into the CGI animation process... but I have to say I'm surpriced to find that glimpse in official promotional material. My guess is, the image was added to the promotional image bank in its temporary state, intended to be replaced with a final rendering later... but for some reason, that replacement didn't happen. And then for some even stranger reason, it snuck into Boomerang France's press material. This picture has come a long way.

While on the subject of Boomerang France, I should mention that the PDF was released on December 8 along with this article on Turner's kids channels from the news site Offre Media. The article specifies a few more details about the French premiere, which is now merely three and a half weeks away:

C'est Boomerang, ciblant les 4-7 ans et toute la famille, qui programmera le plus de nouveautés en 2015. Le samedi 3 janvier, la «chaîne des stars du dessin animé» (Tom & Jerry, Mr Bean...) arborera une nouvelle identité graphique, un nouveau logo, un nouvel habillage et de nouveaux codes de communication. Le même jour à 10h25, la nouvelle version de la série «Inspecteur Gadget» (52x11min) ouvrira le bal des nouveautés programmes.

In English:

It's Boomerang, targeting 4-7 year olds and the whole family, which programs the most news in 2015. On Saturday, January 3, the "channel of the cartoon stars" (Tom & Jerry, Mr Bean...) will sport a new graphic identity, a new logo, a new look and new communication codes. The same day at 10:25, the new version of the series "Inspector Gadget" (52x11 min) will open the show of new programs.

We already knew that the series would premiere on Boomerang France on January 3, the day the channel splits from Boomerang Europe at large; and also that it will air regularly at 10:25 on Saturdays and Sundays. But here we learn that the new Inspector Gadget is in fact the very first series to introduce the revamped schedule of Boomerang France. (And yeah, this is clearly part of the same Boomerang rebrand that's gradually happening around the entire globe. Boomerang France just moves at their own pace, independently of Europe at large.)

The PDF page for the series also included another interesting visual detail (see if you can find it)...

...that's right: the first release of the show's French logo! As with the original series, it is of course just like the English version except for "EU" replacing the "O".

Seeing this kinda makes me wonder if the new series might have a custom-animated, French title logo for the intro, like the 1983 series did. Then again, I doubt it. On the original show, as I mentioned yesterday, the French broadcaster FR3 was a production partner on the financial side... so it makes sense that it would ask for custom-made, French-language titles and end credits. DHX's series, on the other hand, is a 100% Canadian production.

Finally, a quick translation of Turner's French PDF presentation, because I find it a bit charming:

Inspector Gadget returns with a new production unreleased in France! Gadget is a subtle blend of Inspector Clouseau and Robocop. 

Always confident, self-assured, while being a bit careless, he leaves destroyed paths behind without understanding that he is the cause. New stories, new gadgets, new characters. 

It is me who's here, Inspector Gadget, it will be a joy... ooh ooh! [French theme song lyrics.]

The Robocop comparison makes sense, though it's amusing to me considering that the first Robocop movie premiered in 1987, several years after Inspector Gadget. Ah well. Anything to create interesting associations, I guess. (EDIT: As for more Robocop connections - true to his 1980s form of scoring nearly every cartoon show on TV, Shuki Levy of course composed the music for the 1988 animated series adaptation.)