My Commentary on World Screen's Inspector Gadget Reboot Clip, Part 1: The New Theme Song

Does anyone still care about this? I sure hope so, 'cause I finally finished it! Of course, 99.99% of the people reading this will undoubtedly have watched World Screen's 3-minute clip of the new series by now. This video - the first extended preview that DHX released of their Gadget reboot, as a teaser for October's MIPCOM market - was posted online at the end of September, and that's also when I reported about it and promised a full commentary. A lot of unforeseen delays got in the way of that promise, but I always intended to keep it.

When I suddenly and unexpectedly found the World Screen video months ago, it was something of an indescribable moment for me. I had been gathering the smallest little snippets of information related to the new TV series for 2 1/2 years... and suddenly, here was a full, three-minute clip of an episode! I think, partly, that's why I felt I couldn't just jot my thoughts down together with my news post - it was just so big. In retrospect, I really should have. I hated falling behind with the commentary for as long as I did; and the delay of course led me to become more ambitious than I would have otherwise, causing me to take even longer to finish. Sigh. In fact, I realized as I was finalizing this that it was long enough to divide naturally into three posts/parts - which I'm also doing to give each part more focus. The first subject of discussion here is one that's especially close to me personally. Hope you enjoy it... or, well, get something out of it.

THE NEW THEME SONG

I'll have to get this off my chest first - and those who know what I think of the original series' music will probably not be very surpriced. I think the new theme song is not right. I'm not going to call it terrible, but it is, frankly, a huge disappointment to me.

And here is why: IT'S NOT THE ORIGINAL COMPOSITION. It's not the wonderful theme written by Shuki Levy. Just to be 100% clear, I'm not talking about the orchestration here, but about the actual melody. The song. Sure, there is a refrain in the new theme song sounding superficially close to the classic Inspector Gadget theme... but that refrain is in truth not emulating Levy's composition. Instead, as many fans have already remarked on both here and elsewhere, it's emulating "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

And before anyone starts arguing that "In the Hall of the Mountain King" has the same melody as "Inspector Gadget" - because, believe it or not, some people on the internet do - let me just say right away that it doesn't. Yes, there are indeed some very obvious similarities. It might well be that Levy was inspired by Grieg's piece when he wrote the Inspector Gadget theme... though to be fair, I've never heard Levy himself confirm this anywhere, and someone writing it on Wikipedia without a documented source doesn't make it a fact. For all we know, Levy might have channeled Grieg without being consciously aware of it... or it might even have been sheer coincidence that the pieces sound so alike. But I digress.

My point is: regardless of the similarities, there are also important differences between Levy and Grieg's pieces -- differences enough to make the "Inspector Gadget" theme and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" two SEPARATE and UNIQUE compositions. For one thing, while the refrain in both compositions starts out similarly, the Inspector Gadget refrain uses less beats, and ends up becoming a different melody. (Not sure if "beats" is the proper musical term here, but hopefully you get the point.) And of course, there are many other differences aside from the refrain. Let's listen to the new Inspector Gadget series' theme song again... and then, let's compare it to both Edvard Grieg's original masterpiece and Shuki Levy's original masterpiece:

The New Series Theme Song as heard in the World Screen video (embedded from Behind The Voice Actors):

In the Hall of the Mountain King ('I dovregubbens hall') by Edvard Grieg:

Inspector Gadget Theme (1983) by Shuki Levy (embedded from Levy's site):

In the new series' theme song, especially near the end, it's painfully clear that the composer is adapting "In the Hall of the Mountain King" rather than "Inspector Gadget". Not just the main refrain, either: The beats at 00:32 in the intro, where Dr Claw slams his fist into the desk and Talon does a surpriced take, are lifted directly from the tail end of Grieg's piece.

You might argue, "Why expect a reboot to use the original Inspector Gadget theme, when the soundtrack music is owned by a different company?" Well, there is that... but that situation is a bit different than it used to be. Yes, it's true that the original music for Inspector Gadget - including the famous theme song - has always had separate owners from the TV series. Back in the 80s, the music's owner was Haim Saban and Shuki Levy's company Saban Records, through which the score was produced. This posed a problem for the Gadget franchise later. Due to a conflict that occurred between DiC and Saban in the early 90s, Saban stopped providing music for DiC's shows in 1991 - and none of the Gadget reboots and spinoffs that DiC produced after that point could use Shuki Levy's original music or compositions, including the famous theme song. For a long while, it seemed like this would always be the case...

...however... a few years after DiC was purchased by Cookie Jar (in 2008), I was suddenly filled with hope regarding the theme song situation. Cookie Jar, then later DHX, put out a couple of pretty cool official iOS games. The first, 2010's "Inspector Gadget - M.A.D. Dash", used Levy's theme song outright; the second, 2013's "Inspector Gadget - M.A.D. Grab", used a remade theme song adapted directly from Levy (part of that remake can be heard in this animated ad). Finally, it seemed to me, someone in charge had realized how important Shuki Levy's theme song is to the Gadget franchise -- and more importantly, had spent the necessary dough to licence the music from its current owner. Today's owner, by the way, is Warner Chappell, as seen in the below end credits snapshot from the "Inspector Gadget - M.A.D. Grab" game:

So: If DHX can afford to license Shuki Levy's theme song for a low-budget iOS game, then they should certainly be able to afford it for a full-fledged, high-budget TV series. Which leads me to believe (or at least speculate) that it was actually a creative choise by them to do a similar-sounding, yet different theme song for the reboot series, rather than something they had to do because of copyrights. Maybe I'm wrong and it still has something to do with copyrights -- but as I said, I just don't get why DHX would NOT pay the music fee for an actual TV series, when they DID pay the fee for a little iOS game. It makes no sense. 

In truth, this makes no sense either way. The new theme song is nowhere near as good, catchy or memorable as Levy's amazing original. To me, the 1983 "Inspector Gadget" is one of the greatest theme songs ever composed for television. I'm far from the only one of that opinion either. So what on earth were they hoping to achieve by doing a different-yet-obviously-similar song? The mind boggles. 

The worst part is, the superficial similarities make the new theme song come off as cheap. Now, based on my thoughts above, I can't quite get myself to believe that they did this to save money. But considering that the new theme song sounds superficially close to the 1983 theme, but different - and also considering that it adapts a similar-sounding piece of public domain, classical music - it does kind of give off that feeling. And that's never a good thing, regardless of the reasoning behind the scenes.

Well! That's how I feel about the new Inspector Gadget series' theme song. Have I made it loud and clear yet that I'm very disappointed? I had really, genuinely, expected an actual remix of Shuki Levy's work; and the substitute offered is nowhere near good enough. Now the question remains... will I rant my way through the rest of this commentary as well, or will I actually find something I like in parts 2 and 3? Only one way to find out. Tune in tomorrow for... Part 2: The Intro Sequence!

Boomerang EMEA Premieres the Reboot on January 14, 2015

Quick post here to get this update in: The other day, I noticed a Toonzone comment in the 'Boomerang International News and Discussion Thread' stating, "Inspector Gadget premieres on Wednesday January 14th on Boomerang EMEA." I couldn't see any source link for the info, but since then, I've come across the following info on Cable Vision, the site of the leading cable TV company in Lebanon:

Inspector Gadget
on channel BOOMERANG (...)

Premiere show: 1/14/2015 wednesday @5:15pm
From Monday 19/2015 to Friday 23/2015 @5:15pm and 7:40am
Repetition on Saturday 24/2015 and Sunday 25/2015 @7:40am, 6:05pm, 8:10 pm

Inspector Gadget is back! Catch him in action in this rebooted CGI show. Dr Claw has reactivated his global crime syndicate MAD and only the bumbling Swiss-army-knife detective can stop him! With his rocket roller-skates, his niece Penny and her dog, Brain, Gadget must combat his sinister foe before Claw and his nephew TALON can take over the world!

The premiere date matches the Toonzone comment... so I guess this is indeed the date for Boomerang EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), even if Lebanon is a country in Western Asia. However; as far as I know, Lebanon is not one of the countries covered in the already mentioned Boomerang Asia deal, so I suppose Cable Vision provides the EMEA feed to Lebanese viewers.

(Final note: I've reported before that "Boomerang Europe" will premiere the series on February 2. If I understand correctly, that date is indeed still valid; but encompasses only the Boomerang CEE feed (Central and Eastern Europe), which operates independently from Boomerang EMEA. At least I think that's how it works. If anyone knows better, feel free to correct me. For now, I'm changing the "Boomerang Europe" premiere date in the news margin to "Boomerang CEE"...)

French New Series Trailer and Episode Titles

The first French-language Boomerang trailer is online via Univers Freebox, which will offer Boomerang for free in France from January 5 until February 1, 2015. (As we know, the French premiere weekend for Gadget is January 3-4, so this is not quite early enough to catch the premiere of the first two episodes.) Notably, this trailer includes a number of clips which are obviously from the premiere episode "Gadget 2.0". Watch for Claw's M.A.D. Mobile in the Antarctic and Gadget being dressed up anew to resume his old job.



We also get to hear Gadget's new French-language actor for the first time. I'd say he sounds pretty close to the first French Gadget voice by Luc Durand, but not completely alike. (Not that I really have much of a relationship with the French dubbing.) Something I found more striking, though, is this:

The French-language version gets its own title card after all! Now I'm curious if this will happen in every country with a localized title. Considering the strong tradition of "Inspecteur Gadget" with French fans, I suppose this custom-made logo might be a one-off exception, but who knows?

In related news, Télérama now has the schedule for the above-mentioned premiere weekend on Boomerang France, including the French episode titles for half-hours 1 and 2 (and also including synopses, though I've decided not to post those for spoiler reasons):


Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 10:25 AM - Episode 1
1a Gadget 2.0 (1/2)
1b Gadget 2.0 (2/2)

Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 10:25 AM - Episode 2
2a La tour gigantesque [The Gigantic Tower] - Towering Towers
2b Arrête ton petit jeu [Stop Your Little Game] - Game Over, Man

UPDATE (December 27): It will probably interest French viewers to know that Boomerang France will rerun half-hours 1 and 2 on Wednesday, January 7; at 12:20 and 12:42am respectively. So for those watching the channel through Freebox from January 5, there will still be an occasion to catch them.

The end of the Boomerang trailer. "Inspector Gadget - Saturday and Sunday, 10:25"

Univers Freebox ad. "Boomerang - AVAILABLE until February 1"

Boomerang Australia Pre-Premieres Inspector Gadget's Reboot In Two Days (December 27, 2014)

Insane world premiere news here, folks! At least I'm pretty sure that's what this is. I have found out that episode 1a of the reboot series - "Gadget 2.0 Part 1" - will get a pre-premiere in Australia before the series' official launch on January 5! Moreover, that pre-premiere is less than two days away! According to the Boomerang schedule on The Official Foxtel Australia TV Guide (navigate to 'Sat 27 Dec' in the link), the 11-minute episode segment will be aired twice on Saturday, December 27; at 10:00 AM in the morning and 5:15 PM in the afternoon.

Even if I won't be watching this myself (unless I find a way to teleport myself to Australia during the next 44 hours), I think it kinda sucks that they will only be airing Part 1 of the series' opening episode... which is of course a two-parter. I can see the reasoning, of course, as they're likely intending this to be an effective teaser for the full-fledged premiere of "Gadget 2.0" on January 5; but I think airing the entire first half-hour could have worked fine too.

By the way -- the episode synopsis I found by clicking on the show title offers at last an explanation of the whole 'Dr Claw in hibernation' mystery from Super RTL's presentation. Believe it or not, it's just as literal as it sounded before:

Gadget 2.0 Part 1: When Dr Claw returns from being frozen in the Antarctic, Inspector Gadget is brought out of retirement to defeat him - again!

Riiight. Claw has actually been frozen in the Antarctic all the while Gadget was retired. I wonder if we'll get to know why and how that happened. For the moment, this sounds slightly better to me than the thought of Claw having been captured by the police (which I had feared that 'hibernation' part of the German synopsis might really mean). Then again, did he end up being frozen during a battle with Gadget, Penny and Brain? I really don't like the thought of him ever having been defeated to such a degree. (Wow, that pun came out of nowhere!)

While we're at it: Foxtel's schedule covers the next 14 days of broadcast, meaning that it also offers schedule and synopsis information for the first three days of Gadget's proper Australian launch: January 5-7. As we know, the series will air every weekday at 4:30 PM, so naturally "Gadget 2.0" gets its full, half-hour premiere in the afternoon of Monday, January 5. Here are the synopses for the next two half-hours (likely the only ones I'll be posting):

Episode 2 - Towering Towers/Game Over Man - January 6, 2015 at 4:30 PM 

Towering Towers: Dr. Claw plots to take over every satellite in the sky, using the antenna on top of the world's tallest building, to cripple the world's communication systems and have access to every hilarious cat video on the internet./Game Over Man: Astronauts are going missing on the Multinational Space Station, and it's up to Gadget to find the truth: is it aliens, or something more sinister?

Episode 3 - Rock Out/Strike A Pose - January 7, 2015 at 4:30 PM 

Rock Out: Gadget and Penny are sent to provide security detail for World Whistling Popstar Nigel St De La Peppertone IV Esquire III, whose army of loyal fans proves to be an attractive target for Dr. Claw./Strike a Pose: Professor Von Slickstein sets out to present at the fashion technology show in Paris, with Gadget as his security against MAD and their plot to steal Slickstein's invention whatever it is.

Etc. New schedules/episodes are added daily at the Foxtel site for those who want to keep up. I might post more episode titles, but I doubt I'll be doing that with the synopses, as they all veer a bit too much into spoiler territory for me. (Admittedly, it's still hard to keep from reading them, especially where the opening episode is concerned.)

One more thing before I leave you...  I found the schedules via Foxtel Insider, a news report on Boomerang's Australian rebrand. Weirdly, the piece doesn't mention the December 27 pre-premiere, and it even erroneously claims that the daily air time in January will be 4:00 PM, while the correct slot is 4:30. Regardless, one interesting thing it does offer is the first, proper television trailer I've seen for the series. This contains a bunch of animated shots we haven't seen before:

Note that the clip at the end, where Gadget puts the finishing touch on his huge 'Dagwood' sandwich, is obviously from the same scene as this image from an earlier Australian press release:

...oh, and... sorry, I almost forgot that I have another last thing to end this post with. If you clicked on the Foxtel Insider link up there, you'll have noticed that the news report is illustrated with an image, and not just any image. It's the one and only... the favorite of every press release maker... the Inspector Gadget reboot series TEMP image! In a poetic effort to add to the screenshot's raw state, Foxtel has even stretched it to the wrong proportions:

Honestly, at this rate I wouldn't be surpriced if the image turns up on future Blu-ray and DVD covers. It certainly seems to have struck a chord with admakers. And why not? Unfinished CGI looks CHARMING! Even more expressive than a rough pencil sketch!

Anyway, to all Australians out there: remember to tune in on December 27 for the exclusive pre-premiere of "Gadget 2.0 Part 1"... or on January 5 if you prefer to watch the whole episode in one go. And, should readers from other countries have heard of other exclusive pre-premieres, please let me know in the comments.

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!!!

More New Episode Titles and Screenshots [UPDATED]

TV Info has added the German schedule information for two more half-hours of the new Gadget series in addition to the five we already knew. One English episode title is missing, sadly, but here's the full updated list, including episodes 6 and 7 at the bottom:

Episode 1
1a. Gadget 2.0 - Part 1
1b. Gadget 2.0 - Part 2 

Episode 2 
2a. Towering Towers
2b. Game Over Man, Game Over 

Episode 3
3a. Rock Out 
3b. Strike A Pose 

Episode 4
4a. Better Class Of MAD
4b. Cough Due To Claw 

Episode 5
5a. Dog Show Days Are Over
5b. One Bad Apple

Episode 6
6a. Sucks Like MAD
6b. ? (titled "Eine Krallen-Hand für Titus" in German).

Episode 7
7a. Gadget's Da Bomb
7b. Gadget Management


Now, as you can see, episode 6b's English title is missing... and the reason for that is, the episode guide sent out by Super RTL mistakenly lists the English titles for both #6a and #6b as "Sucks Like MAD". Looking at the German title and synopsis for #6a, "Der Saugotron 9000", it's quite obious that this is "Sucks Like MAD", since the plot is centered around a vacuum cleaner. (Yep, I know enough German to see that without translating.) So that leaves us without a known English title for #6b right now. Ah well. Here's the German Super RTL schedule for episodes 6 and 7, including my direct translations of the German titles...

Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 19:45 - Episode 6
6a. Der Saugotron 9000 [The Suck-O-Tron 9000] - Sucks Like MAD
6b. Eine Krallen-Hand für Titus [A Claw Hand For Talon] - ?

Friday, January 30, 2015 at 19:45 - Episode 7
7a. Eine explosive Pizza [An Explosive Pizza] - Gadget's Da Bomb
7b. Das MAD-Agenten-Treffen [The M.A.D. Agent Gathering] - Gadget Management

And not least, here's the rest of the new screenshots...

From episode 6a, "Sucks Like MAD".

From episode 6. Penny and Brain are chasing Talon... or trying, anyway.
Note: The site caption for this actually says they're chasing "den Sohn
von Doktor Kralle", i. e. Dr Claw's son. Get your info together, TV Info. 

From episode 6.

From episode 7a, "Gadget's Da Bomb". 

...and a rerun of the top image, which i find cute and a bit interesting. This is from episode 6, though I don't know which part. Looking at the background, it's hard not to make associations to the classic episode "Haunted Castle", and the strong use of purple in the background indicates to me that this is one of Dr Claw's castles... 'cause, like it or not, purple is M.A.D.'s new black. Might we be seeing a new horror-themed episode? (I do hope, by the way, that this really is only ONE of Dr Claw's castles, and that he has multiple bases and headquarters around the world, as in the original season 1. The thought driven home by later reboots that he would have only one home base, which everybody knows the location of, is ridiculous.)

Is Gadget protecting himself or his family here? Maybe both.

UPDATE (December 15): The TV Info site for episode 6 (specifically for its rerun on January 25, at 09:35) actually added one screenshot after I checked it on Saturday. Here it is... and look who's fighting...

UPDATE #2 (December 16): I just noticed that, for some bizarre reason, I had misspelled the title of episode #7a as "Gadget Da Bomb", whereas its real title is "Gadget's Da Bomb". This is especially weird to me as I distinctly remember double-checking all the episode titles and coming to the conclusion that "Gadget Da Bomb" was correct. But I've now checked three different sources, and the correct title is indeed "Gadget's Da Bomb". I've corrected the mistake throughout the post.

Gadget Reboot Dates Announced For Boomerang Asia and Boomerang Australia

Listen up, Asians and Australians! Turns out you'll be getting the new Inspector Gadget series earlier than (almost) anyone else that's been announced so far! Let's look at the premiere date for Boomerang Australia, via Toonzone's Boomerang International News and Discussion Thread. This press sheet has apparently been out since at least November 6 (and the Australian rebrand began already on November 3):

So: Boomerang Australia's premiere date is Monday, January 5, 2015, with the series slated to air regularly at 4:30 PM every weekday, Monday through Friday. Here's a transcript of the show presentation for reference, and because I like it:

Evil has reawakened and threatens to spread its MADness across the world. There's only one man who has what it takes to stand in its way ... Go Go Gadget! Once again the world's greatest[ish] detective is here to go gadget-to-claw with the forces of evil. Part man, part machine, part unstoppable natural disaster, Inspector Gadget - the world's first, and only, top secret bionic police investigator - is out of retirement and raring to go in this brand new CGI series!

And now, how about Boomerang Asia? Well, according to news announced yesterday, just a few hours ago...

Boomerang refresh continues with Asia move 

Boomerang will relaunch in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar. 

In the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Myanmar, Boomerang will replace Cartoonito channel feed on January 1, 2015. 

Boomerang was last on air in Southeast Asia in December 2012, a Turner spokesman told TBI. 

“The channel is powered with premium content from Warner Bros. meaning that it will now be the home in Southeast Asia for the likes of Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo,” said Mark Eyers, chief content officer, kids, Turner International Asia Pacific. 

“The re-launch is a global initiative with a commitment to acquire the world’s very best animation, and we’ll be one of the first regions to unveil the new-look brand. Right from the start, we’ll be airing the all-new Inspector Gadget [pictured] and Turbo FAST series.” 

The network will also have the animated reboot of UK comedy Mr Bean. 

Boomerang’s move to an all-animation youth and family-targeted channel began in October, with a plan to reposition it as a ‘second flagship’ Turner kids channel that would sit alongside Cartoon Network. 

The new look began rolling out on September 29 and then debuted in Australia on November 3. It completes next year.

Summing up: Boomerang Asia's premiere date for the reboot - likely across all of the above-mentioned areas - is Thursday, January 1, 2015; the day the Asian rebrand rolls out. It's impossible to tell, but this New Year's date airing just might become the show's first. It's certainly the earliest date I've seen 'till now.

Oh, and here's yet another cropped (though sharp) version of that there picture. This one has the title logo removed from Gadget's hat hand... I wonder what Chief Quimby is so anxious about now.