Chief Quimby's New Series Design Revealed (And More)!

Via the French news site Ozap.com... our first look at the redesigned Chief Qumby!

...and with this, I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief. You see, for over a year now, a question had been percolating in the back of my mind: would Chief Quimby be part of the new show? I always assumed he would, but then again, none of the synopses or press statements have even mentioned him up to this point. So the above visual certainly feels reassuring. And I think Quimby looks pretty good here, too. It is a bit odd to see him with glasses, and I miss the pipe in his mouth - will he be smoking at all? - but his original facial design seems to lend itself nicely to CGI. In fact, this redesign seems more faithful to the original facial shape than for any of the other characters. If his (season 1) personality is kept, and if the disguises and self-exploding messages are included at the start of every single episode, I think I'll be good!

(And seriously, how could the self-exploding message NOT be included? It's one of the most brilliant running gags ever conceived for a cartoon.)

On a similar note, I love Penny in the new picture above. That previously revealed image looked fine, but... here she just seems much more alive, and truly looks and feels like Penny. (Gadget, meanwhile, looks a bit generic.) Also, what's that thing floating in mid-air that Penny is controlling with her hands? A hologram? Some kind of modern-day replacement for the computer book? Man... by this point, each new image just makes me want to see more.

Now for something that might be a slight disappointment, though. The French article with the picture also contained some fresh information about the new series which - if correct - contradicts some of the previously revealed details. Let's have a look via Google Translate (and my own grammar tweaking)...

"Eh la qui va là ? Inspecteur Gadget ! Eh la ça va pas ? Ouh ouh". [French theme song lyrics.] The unforgettable theme song of "Inspector Gadget" will soon return to echo on France 3. The public broadcaster has pre-purchased from the Canadian production company DHX Media the rights to a new version of the cartoon series about the adventures of the famous inspector who delighted children in the 80s.

In 2015, the bumbling police character, assisted by the young Sophie [Penny] and dog Finot [Brain], will try to capture a new generation of children. For this, the inspector created in 1983 by Bruno Bianchi, Andy Heyward and Jean Chalopin will be revised and updated in 3D. Gadgets coming out of his trenchcoat will themselves also be updated for the twenty-first century. In short, his world will be upgraded but the plot of the series will not be changed. 

(...)

This new series of 52 episodes of 11 minutes will be delivered in June 2015 by the Canadian production but it will take a few months to France 3 for the translation, dubbing and production of a less dated theme song. The channel should therefore not broadcast "Inspector Gadget" 2.0 before fall 2015. 

So, okay... IF this new info is accurate, then we have some serious contradictions on our hands. Instead of Boomerang France, as we learned from a Turner press release back in February, the series is now apparently set to air on the public channel France 3. Note also that the planned French premiere time is no longer November 2014, but fall 2015 (!). To be specific, June 2015 is the tentative release time for Canada and fall 2015 for France. Considering the announcements we got half a year ago, I'm really surpriced to hear now that the series will not be ready for a Canadian premiere until the summer of 2015. Seriously, this feels like a major postponement.

And then, the part I feel particularly (potentially) disappointed by: The series will apparently consist of 52 episodes á 11 minutes, rather than 26 episodes á 22 minutes. As you might remember, the show presentation in DHX's distribution catalogue from January was the first source to state that 26 x 22 minutes would be the format for the new series. Back then, I expressed hope that this meant each episode would be 22 minutes long. But if this new French article is accurate -- apparently not. This is not necessarily a contradiction to DHX's distribution catalogue. In many cases, TV shows consisting of 11-minute episodes are still produced in a half-hour format, a 22-minute package containing 2 episodes (making sales and distibution deals easier, I imagine). That seems to be the case here. However, it IS definitely a change from the June 2013 press release, where the format was stated to be 26 x 11 minutes.

I've already written a little here about why I feel sceptical towards an 11-minute format. It's not that the series can't possibly work with this shorter run time - that depends on the execution. But I've kind of been hoping that this new show will be just slightly darker than the original, and have a little more room for character development and plot continuity... and that, to me, seems hard to cram into a mere 11 minutes. I hope the writers are at least given the freedom to do an occacional, full 22 minute episode if the plot requires it (this should be doable as long as the series is produced in a half-hour format anyway). Shows like Phineas and Ferb work well like that.

(Thanks to Nbu for the picture link.)

More Photos of the DHX Crew Animating Gadget

The photo shoot from DHX Halifax continues! This time via the Twitter account of politician Geoff Regan (the husband of Kelly Regan, who tweeted the first photo I showcased). What's up with DHX and all these politicians? Well, the photos circulating around Twitter all seem to stem from an 'open house' tour DHX arranged on the evening of June 24, the day they officially opened their new and larger Halifax studio offices. Here are Geoff's Gadget-related photos:

The original Twitter caption for this one included a little tidbit about the production process:
"Creating animated comedy takes time. A week's work = 40 seconds of a show."

I'm intrigued by these shots of Penny and Gadget (edit: and apparently also Brain in the back seat) inside a car. Is it supposed to be new version of the Gadget Mobile? Also, might this be an example of Penny and Gadget officially working together on a case (since she's an inspector/agent-in-training in the new series)?...

Not much Gadget here, but I believe we might be seeing
an Inspector Gadget model sheet on the wall
right above those computer screens...

And finally, via the Twitter of PR Professional Michelle Crosby, another photo of Len animating on that shot we've already seen. This time around, we see a little more of the on-screen action. Is that possibly Brain in the edge of the left-hand screen, being chased by Gadget?

Thanks to Cortoony for the photo links!

Looking Over the Shoulder of Inspector Gadget Animator Len

Look look look! HE'S ANIMATING!

After just discovering the new series designs of Penny and Brain, here we have our very first behind-the-scenes glimpse of the CGI animation process. It's pretty fresh, too: The photo was posted to the Twitter account of a lady named Kelly Regan three days ago, on June 24, with the caption, "Len is animating Inspector Gadget here at DHX Media." (Meaning specifically DHX Halifax.) Adding to that, I think we can also glimpse the storyboard Len is working from right underneath his computer screen. I kinda like that frame of Gadget; it seems to be a slapstick-based shot. One detail which seems a bit weird: there's apparently a lot of space between his eyes and hat. Then again, this might be an extreme moment.

How long has the series been in animation? I'm not sure exactly, but I would guess at least for a couple of months. I learned the name of another animator, Evan Madinsky, through this article on DHX, and Evan's LinkedIn profile tells me that he started out on the show as a layout artist in January but has also been animating since April. So that should give an indication of the production process, though it doesn't necessarily tell us exactly when animation for the series (in general) started.

(I must admit I don't know anything more about the animator Len (his surname is not included), and I'm not 100% sure how the photo uploader Kelly Regan ties into DHX, either. Regan is a politician in Halifax, which doesn't tell me much; but I'm guessing she might be related to David Regan, an executive vice president at DHX.)

New Series Designs of Penny and Brain Revealed!

And it's ON!

More than a whole year after we got to see the redesigned Gadget in CGI, we get our very first look at Penny and Brain. Courtesy of this Chronicle Herald article, they and Gadget (and The Doozers, unrelated show) pose together with supervising producer Phillip Stamp (hey, don't we already know him?) at DHX Halifax's newly opened space at Park Lane Terrace.

Wow. Just wow. I really don't know what to say at the moment. Will I have a more reflected view on this later on? Possibly. But right now... these are my gut instincts speaking.

Penny: The moment I saw her design, I wasn't sure it rubbed me the right way... but the more I look at it, the more I like it. At least I think I like it. She is different from the original series, to be sure, but her look retains some of the same spirit and personality. Maybe her head shape is slightly generic, but the face and eyes feel like Penny... though I wish I could see those parts in higher resolution to judge properly. And I like how part of the original hair style is kept, but the hairdo still looks slightly different. One question, though, exactly how old is she supposed to be? I'm getting a 15-16 years vibe from the photo, personally.

Brain: Not quite so sure about his design. I do think it looks kind of charming, but... this design doesn't quite say "Brain" to me the way the two other designs say "Penny" and "Gadget". He looks less cartoony and more like a real dog than in the original series - which is surpricing to me, since I find the designs of Penny and Gadget VERY cartoony (in a good way). Although, maybe there will be a contrast between his look when standing on all fours, acting like a normal dog, and his look as a humanized dog standing on his hind legs. We know that he will don disguises in the new series, like in the old, so I'm expecting a lot of cartoony slapstick and action from that. Also, I like his suspicious facial expression - that does feel like Brain.

What would the original Penny and Brain say about their revamped look?

Before I forget... the Chronicle Herald piece also included a few written observations on the new series, including a very enthusiastic quote from Phillip Stamp:

DHX has three series in production at the Halifax studio, including the highly anticipated Inspector Gadget relaunch, and an announcement of a couple of other titles to be produced at the site is expected soon. 

There was a glow of Inspector Gadget-like characters, gadgets and backdrops emanating from most computer screens during the tour, providing evidence of the mammoth nature of the conversion of the decades-old children’s favourite into a 3D format animated series. 

“It’s a safe bet you’re on to something good when you’re laughing out loud at sequences during production,” Stamp said.

Oh, and... Need I mention that, despite my design criticisms above, I'm excited as hell to see more of this? C'mon, DHX, give us more! High-res character designs! Clips! Trailers! Time to roll out the advertising!

Ahem. Anyway, now you've heard my spontaneous rambling. I would love to hear yours. Please, everybody out there who has an opinion about Penny and Brain's new look - voice your opinion in the comments. Are these designs a stunning triumph or a total catastrophe? Or everything-in-between?


UPDATE (June 26): I've been having some interesting discussions about the redesigns with fellow Gadget fans Daniel and Cortoony over in the comments section. One of the main topics has been the colors chosen for Penny and Brain's new designs, compared to those in the original series. Well - just for fun, Cortoony went ahead and actually did his own color edit, changing both Penny's jeans and Brain's overall coloring to match the 1983 colors more closely... and I just had to show it to you. The official version is to the left, Cortoony's edit to the right:

I really like what he's done with Brain, bringing back the brighter colors of the old design; and I think Penny's jeans look awesome with the vibrant green and the added knee pads (not to mention the matching green sweater emblem). That is not to say I don't like the official versions of the designs... in fact, I like them a lot, and Brain is beginning to grow on me. But it's still interesting to compare like this, wouldn't you say? For more, see Cortoony's first color edit attempt, with a more subdued green and without knee pads. And to compare with the original series... here's a cel scan with better-looking colors than the cel photo I posted up above:

Cartoon Network Will Air the New Inspector Gadget Series in the United States

Some days, the news just keeps popping up. And some days, even one sentence mentioned in passing can contain big news - as seen in yesterday's Globe and Mail piece on DHX's revival of Teletubbies:

DHX is scouring its own library, looking for other titles that could merit a remake. New Teletubbies episodes will stick closely to the original feel, but another of its ongoing reclamation projects involves a substantial refresh of the popular 1980s cartoon Inspector Gadget, which will air on Teletoon in Canada and the Cartoon Network in the U.S.

So now we know. The new Gadget series has an American home - on Cartoon Network. Considering that Boomerang picked it up in France, I suppose CN in the U.S. was always a pretty likely scenario (in fact, commenter wile-e2005 guessed it several months ago).

Any CN viewers out there looking forward to this?

New Inspector Gadget Series Will Be "Slightly Reinvented" But "True to Its Roots" According to Episode Director Bill Gordon

I can be terribly late with reporting them, but: New news about the upcoming TV series is always welcome here. A few hours ago, I came across an article from The Chronicle Herald about the Halifax division of DHX Media - in other words, the division making the new Gadget series. The piece, titled "DHX Media digs in with The Doozers", is strangely not dated, but the mobile version of the site tells me it's 3 days old. So this is pretty fresh stuff. Anyhow; three paragraps in, we get a few words about the Halifax crew's work on their Inspector Gadget series, by now deep into production:

(...) The Doozers is just a small fraction of what DHX produces out of its Downtown Halifax studios. 

Today, the computer screens at the DHX studios are lit up with 3D animated images of Inspector Gadget. DHX has secured the license to the series and it will be produced entirely out of Halifax. “The show will be slightly reinvented, but will maintain the old Gadget feel and be true to its roots,” says episodic director Bill Gordon. Production manager Karen Yetman is excited to see the show evolve. 

“I watched Inspector Gadget as a kid and it’s fun seeing these shows come back to life,” she enthuses. DHX is building incredible momentum. Only 60 people worked there last year, and they anticipate growing to at least 170 employees by this summer. DMX Media is proud to foster local talent and the company often calls on students of NASCAD to join the team, sometimes before they even graduate.

Right here and now, this is sounding pretty good to me. I like director Bill Gordon's statements about the tone and feel they're aiming for in the new show. This is what a reboot of the franchise needs, I think -- enough of the 1983 series' essence to appeal to older fans, but at the same time develop the concept and try new things. Finding the balance between those elements is the challenge, of course, and I'm really curious to see how they pull it off. Just another reason I'm eagerly anticipating this series. Hey DHX, how about releasing a trailer sometime soon?

Also, I like the part about how the entire series is being produced in-house in Canada at the Halifax studio. It creates an interesting contrast to the original 1983 series, which had its animation done overseas at Japanese and Taiwanese studios. Of course, at the time, the show being outsourced was also a big reason why many episodes ended up looking so good, as they were often handled by very talented Japanese animation crews. So the issue has many sides to it. But ideally, I'm thinking an in-house production could lead to a stronger communication between crew members and a stronger sense of direction for the show, and I hope that's the case here.

Oh, and while we're at it: Here's a picture of the new CGI Gadget which you haven't seen on this blog before! WHOOO! I'm really spoiling you today!

(The image is old news, really, as this recruitment ad popped up several months ago on the site Canadian Animation Resources. I guess you can say it reflects how DHX has been ramping up recently for Gadget and other large, in-house productions. In fact, if you check the career section of DHX's site right now, there's still a number of job positions available at the Halifax studio. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those positions are for the Gadget series...)

"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...