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Another tribute to Inspector Gadget, a cartoon character created by DIC. I will talk about the history of the Inspector Gadget franchise.

Though not the first part of the franchise, we will talk about Gadget Boy first. I am starting with it due to the common belief that Gadget Boy is Inspector Gadget in his youth. It aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1998. The first season was called Gadget Boy and Heather. Gadget Boy was said to have been given his gadgets by a scientist named Myron Dabble, who had a crush on Agent Heather(who was much like an adult version of Penny). Gadget Boy also had a robotic dog sidekick named G-9, who was a lot like Brain.

Instead of Dr. Claw, the main villain was Spydra, who had a pet vulture named Boris and was assisted by a pair of dumb twin henchmen named Mulch and Humous. Gadget Boy would learn of his missions from Chief Stromboli, who was reminiscent of Chief Quimby from the original show.

The second season was called Gadget Boy's Adventures in History and had the team go back in time to foil Spydra's attempts in ruining history. It's amazing how many shows there are and were that were educational in nature.

Agent Heather was voiced by Tara Strong, Spydra by Louise Vallance, and most other characters by Maurice LaMarche(Gadget Boy was originally voiced by Don Adams, but was voiced by LaMarche later in the show's run. Gadget Boy ran for 52 episodes(26 per season)

Now we move on to the original Inspector Gadget cartoon, which aired from 1983 to 1986, running for 86 episodes(65 in season one, 21 in season two). Inspector Gadget pretty much had a lot of gadgets. His most famous gadgets are the Gadget Legs, Gadget Arms, Gadget Neck, Gadget Copter, Gadget 'Brella, Gadget Coat, and the Top Secret Gadget Phone, but he has much more than those.

Many of Gadget's gadgets were only used in one episode. In every episode, his boss Chief Quimby gives him a phone call on the Top Secret Gadget Phone and(either wearing a disguise or from a special hiding place) gives him a secret message explaining Dr. Claw's current scheme.

The message self-destructs, in a spoof of mission briefings from Mission: Impossible. Gadget's niece Penny and their dog Brain know that Uncle Gadget is a little naive and clumsy, so they secretly help him thwart the schemes of Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. Agents.

Penny has a computer book that can know and do ANYTHING. She uses a wrist communicator to keep in touch with Brain, who disguises himself to prevent Gadget from recognizing him(though this has led the klutzy Inspector to frequently mistake Brain for a M.A.D. Agent).

The gang always arrests the generic M.A.D. Agents(along with the villain of the week hired by Dr. Claw, usually), but Dr. Claw himself always escapes, vowing to get Gadget next time.

It is clear that Dr. Claw is obsessed with defeating Inspector Gadget, as he gets enraged whenever he sees him and some of his plans completely revolved around eliminating him.

Inspector Gadget was voiced by Don Adams of Get Smart fame(though he had a different voice actor in the pilot). Penny was voiced by Cree Summer(later by Holly Berger), Frank Welker voiced Brain, M.A.D. Cat, and Dr. Claw(the latter voiced by Don Francks in some episodes), and Chief Quimby was voiced by Dan Hennessey(later Maurice LaMarche).

The second season was believed to be when the show jumped the shark, mainly because of the introduction of a ridiculous sidekick named Corporal Capeman(who was voiced by Townsend Coleman, who went on to play better roles, namely Leonardo in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon). Capeman appeared in 9 of the 21 season two episodes, making his debut in the fourth episode The Capeman Cometh.

There wasn't another Inspector Gadget cartoon until 2001, where they started Gadget and the Gadgetinis. The show was canceled in 2003 and ran for 52 episodes(26 per season).

In this series, Penny is 12 years old and Gadget has been promoted to Lieutenant and is a top member of W.O.M.P.(World Order of Mega Powers), an elite crime-fighting organization.

Brain has retired due to all the pain and trauma he went through saving Gadget's bacon, and has been replaced by a pair of miniature robotic versions of Gadget, the titular Gadgetinis.

The Gadgetinis are Fidget(colored orange) and Digit(colored blue). While both are more competent than Lt. Gadget, Fidget is a bit more clumsy and tends to mistakenly believe he is human(Digit tends to correct him and point out he is a robot, though sometimes it sounds cruel, such as an occasion where Fidget claims to have almost had a heart attack after Penny startled him, and Digit tells him he doesn't have a heart without adding that he doesn't have one due to being a robot).

Instead of Chief Quimby, Gadget learns his missions from a Colonel Nozzaire, who just straight out tells Gadget what the mission is rather than giving him an explosive message telling him what it is.

Unlike Quimby, Nozzaire completely despises Gadget and it shows(he has fantasized about Gadget's funeral and was shown to have painted a picture of Gadget being eaten by sharks). It isn't helping that Gadget mistakenly calls him Nosehair and always accidentally hurts him.

Dr. Claw actually shows more of himself. He is shown to have a muscular build(though his arms were skinny in the original cartoon) and his face is hidden in shadow. It is revealed(at least in this incarnation of Gadget) that his head is square-shaped.

Lieutenant Gadget, Fidget, and Digit were voiced by Maurice LaMarche, Penny was voiced by Tegan Moss, Colonel Nozzaire was voiced by Colin Murdock, and Dr. Claw was voiced by Brian Drummond.

Before moving on, I'd like to give my opinions. I like the original series the best. Gadgetinis was great, but it just isn't as good as the original show. The same goes for Gadget Boy.

In 1992, they made a Christmas special to the original series aptly named Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas. Dr. Claw's scheme was that he would capture and impersonate Santa Claus, then replace his toys with defective ones, which would ruin Christmas for everyone and ruin Santa's reputation in the process.

Penny and Brain secretly save the day as usual, while Gadget hilariously mistakes Claw for the real Santa(believing the poorly disguised M.A.D. Cat to be a real reindeer that does cat impressions) and believes the real Santa is the impostor(mistaking his eight reindeer for spiky-haired goons. That's right. I said eight reindeer. It kinda gets disappointing when they leave out old Rudolph).

In the end, Christmas is saved and Dr. Claw gets stranded on an iceberg, both making his usual promise of defeating Gadget next time and complaining about how it is the worst Christmas ever for him.

I've seen the Christmas special twice. The first time was a rerun on TV(I was only a baby in 1992). I saw it on YouTube last Christmas and I plan to watch it again this Christmas. It is without a doubt one of the most heartwarming Christmas specials ever(too bad they had to have those annoying singing elves).

They also made four movies about Inspector Gadget.

The first movie was released in 1999 and was made by Disney. It had Matthew Broderick in the role of Inspector Gadget and Dr. Claw was played by Rupert Everett.

The movie was a poor attempt at explaining the origins of Gadget(and I say poor because the movie contradicted many aspects of the cartoon).

In the movie, Gadget was originally a security guard named John Brown who dreamed to be a police officer. Claw was originally a business tycoon named Sanford Scolex.

They showed that John Brown became Inspector Gadget and Scolex became Claw in the same accident(a cool concept, but it doesn't change how flawed the movie is). John Brown tried to stop Scolex and his men from stealing lab equipment, and Scolex threw an explosive cigar at him.

The explosive cigar horribly injured Brown, and also sent a bowling ball into Scolex's car, crushing his hand. John Brown recovers from his injuries after a female scientist named Brenda Bradford gave him his gadgets(in the cartoon, it was established a male scientist named Professor Von Slickstein gave Gadget his gadgets).

He also gets a car known as the Gadgetmobile(voiced by D. L. Hughley). In the original cartoon, the Gadgetmobile never spoke, but was able to change between the forms of a police car and a red van. In Gadget and the Gadgetinis, they expanded on this by having it be capable of changing into a jet, a boat, and other vehicles.

Sanford Scolex, meanwhile, has his crushed hand replaced with a robotic claw(rather than wearing a pair of metallic gloves like in the cartoon). He eventually learns of Inspector Gadget and plots to kill him.

Penny and Brain were also present in the film, but they play more minor roles(Gadget is portrayed as a more competent detective).

After defeating an evil twin of himself named Robo-Gadget(this wasn't the first doppelganger of the Inspector, though), Gadget arrests Claw, who vows to get Gadget next time.

The movie was okay, but it lacks the charm of the cartoon, and is very different(the movie takes place in a town called Riverton instead of Metro City, Chief Quimby doesn't give Gadget explosive messages). It's also annoying how they never hide Claw's face(they actually do at one point, but it is very brief and it happens before he even BECOMES Claw).

The second film was released as a DTV movie in March 2003. In this version, Gadget is played by French Stewart and Claw is played by Tony Martin.

It is explained that crime has gone dry since Dr. Claw was sent to jail, but he later breaks out of jail. Gadget is also paired with G2, who is essentially a female, robotic, and more competent version of the Inspector.

While it is a bit more faithful to the original cartoon(Gadget being a ditz, his gadgets occasionally malfunctioning, and Dr. Claw (mostly) hiding his face and escaping at the end), the sequel is actually worse than the original film.

There were also two animated DTV movies. The first one was called Inspector Gadget's Last Case(which used character designs from and may even be a precursor to Gadget and the Gadgetinis. The only thing not convincing me is that Chief Quimby and Brain's designs in Last Case are different from the ones in Gadgetinis).

Last Case was released in 2001. Like in the live action movies, Gadgetmobile can speak, but is more likable(no stereotypical funny African American nonsense). The story revolves around Gadget's decline in popularity brought on by both Gadgetmobile's tendencies to fall apart on missions(which pisses off Chief Quimby) and the popularity of a new hero named Devon Debonair.

Things go bad when the Gadgetmobile is sent to Super Eddie's, a used car store for superheroes and skilled police officers. Devon buys him and he becomes the Debonairmobile.

Later, Gadget is fired and is down on his luck. He and Gadgetmobile later reunite and they discover that Devon Debonair is actually Dr. Claw, who was using a transformation formula invented by agent Dr. Ganglion to change his appearance. The formula was previously used by a pair of M.A.D. Agents arrested in the beginning of the movie, the Abominable Snowbot, and one of the Linguinis from the old cartoon episode Gadget in Minimadness(though he is just a short person and not an imp).

Gadget and Gadgetmobile arrest Claw's agents(Claw himself escapes as usual), and Chief Quimby decides they deserve to be rehired.

The second animated DTV movie was Inspector Gadget's Greatest Caper Ever, released in 2005. It was CGI and a touch ill-received. I've seen it on the internet, but I was only able to see it in Portuguese. I did eventually get the actual DVD, though.

It had Penny portrayed as a teenager(a little outrageous, but it didn't really bother me much). Like Last Case, Gadgetmobile can speak, but also appears more like the Gadgetmobile in the original cartoon.

They explain that Inspector Gadget has successfully captured Dr. Claw sometime ago, but Claw manages to break out of prison and plans to eliminate Gadget.

In an effort to emulate the formula of the old cartoon, Claw also has a special M.A.D. Agent named Bomba Boy, who is Scottish and was the one who helped Claw get out of jail.

Morty Markham, the eccentric mayor of Metro City, also wants to start an event to attract tourists. He gets an idea when Gadget investigates the ruins of Metro City Jail and finds a living egg of the Iguana Giganto, a now extinct race of giant flying lizards. The idea is to start an egg-hatching ceremony to invite tourists to watch the egg hatch and at the same time sell a bunch of merchandise.

The giant flying lizard hatches, but goes on a rampage and eats everything metallic in its path(and yes, even Inspector Gadget gets in danger of becoming the creature's next meal).

Dr. Claw plans to use a device to gain control of the lizard and get rid of Gadget, but a few things go wrong. Eventually, Penny's boyfriend Loony Purkle(who is suspiciously similar to Myron Dabble from Gadget Boy) uses his flawed growth serum to shrink the evergrowing giant flying lizard to a smaller size. The lizard reforms, Bomba Boy gets arrested, and Claw himself vows to yet again get Gadget next time.

Biggest Caper Ever was meant to be the first in a series of CGI Inspector Gadget films, but they failed due to lack of sales. Too bad though, because I actually liked it and it had lots of clever jokes and allusions(from Chief Quimby implicitly telling Mayor Markham he has his head up his butt by telling him his brain is at Uranus, to Gadget telling the Gadgetmobile not to ogle Jaguar brochures while he's gone).

I will wrap this up by talking about the Inspector Gadget video games.

The very first Inspector Gadget video game was Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear, released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It generally had Gadget in a 2D perspective racing to the end of a level. Touching certain icons would activate one of his gadgets and temporarily make progressing easier(e.g., touching a helicopter will activate the Gadget Copter and touching the skates will activate the Gadget Skates).

In 1990, they released an MS-DOS game called Inspector Gadget Mission 1: Global Terror, a standard point-and-click adventure where you control Penny and Brain. The mission is that Dr. Claw has captured international world leaders. I learned from the ten-minute gameplay video on YouTube that Penny and Brain also rescue Gadget and have to restore all his removed gadgets.

Hudson Soft released a game for the SNES in 1993 where Inspector Gadget had to rescue his niece Penny from Dr. Claw. Gadget goes to different locations around the world(ranging from a haunted castle in England to Incan ruins), each level ending with a boss fight against a chair with a robotic Dr. Claw arm attached to it(and the boss fights actually have a good deal of variety).

The final boss is Dr. Claw himself, who even shows his face(resembling the action figure in the 1992 toyline by Rand). He fights in a mecha, but is defeated and Gadget saves Penny. Unfortunately, the game ends with Dr. Claw kidnapping Chief Quimby, who gives one last message that self-destructs to Gadget and his friends.

In the early 2000's, LSP(Light and Shadow Productions) had the rights to make Inspector Gadget games(this obscure company also made games based on the Gremlins film series and the Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon show, two other childhood favorites of mine).

The first LSP game was Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus, released December 1, 2000 in Europe and released March 2001 in North America. It was on the Game Boy Color and is one of the three Inspector Gadget games I own(it's really fun, too).

The story is that Chief Quimby tells Gadget that customers who purchased cacti from the M.A.D. Cactus company have disappeared and that he must go to Dr. Claw's secret base to investigate.

Gadget can attack using a hammer that comes out of his hat and can use Gadget Bonuses(the Gadget Bonuses are the Gadget Plunger, the Gadget Web, the Gadget Copter, and the Gadget Flash).

Brain can double-jump and Penny can hack into computers.

The game consists of five levels, and each level ends with a boss(M.A.D. Agent in M.A.D. Cat cannon, Computer Trinity, Cactus Monster, Train, and Dr. Claw in his M.A.D. Jet).

The second game was Gadget's Crazy Maze, released in 2001 on the PlayStation. It was a puzzle game where Dr. Claw has set a bunch of mind-controlling crystals in several locations.

To get rid of the crystals, Gadget has to align any crystals with the same color and shape into a row, turning them into collectable Gadget Coins.

M.A.D. Agents are everywhere to try and stop Gadget, so he has to be careful(he can't hurt them unless he has a gadget equipped). Gadget's usable gadgets include the Gadget Hammer and the Gadget Copter.

The next game by LSP was Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission for the Game Boy Advance, released in November 2001. It is another Inspector Gadget game I have. It uses many sprites from Operation: Madkactus. Instead of hacking into computers, Penny is able to gain control of robots and make them explode.

Brain is also able to use a penguin disguise to sneak past M.A.D. Agents.

Gadget has to break mind-controlling machines planted in five major touristic locations. He travels to New York, Paris, China, London, and Egypt.

Five locations means five levels, but only three have bosses(the boss of New York is a robotic Statue of Liberty, the boss of China is a M.A.D. Agent disguised as a spiky tree for some reason, and the final boss is a M.A.D. Agent in a flying machine shaped like the M.A.D. logo).

The last Inspector Gadget game by LSP is Inspector Gadget: M.A.D. Robots Invasion for the PlayStation 2, released exclusively in Europe in 2003. It is yet another Gadget game in my possession, but I haven't been able to play it yet because I do not have a PAL-to-NTSC converter.

The story is that Dr. Claw kidnaps Penny and invades five major touristic attractions with an army of robots. He also disables Gadget by using a bomb to neutralize most of his gadgets, making it so that Gadget needs to use Gadget Batteries to use most of them.

The gadgets Inspector Gadget can use any time are the Gadget Hammer, the Gadget Tennis Racket, the Gadget Hand, and the Gadget 'Brella.

The gadgets that require Gadget Batteries are the Gadget Legs(enables him to jump farther and higher than normal), the Gadget Parachute(glide), the Gadget Coat, the Gadget Copter, and the Gadget Skates.

While most of the battery gadgets run on limited energy, the Gadget Copter and Gadget Skates have unlimited energy and only stop working when you make it to your destination.

Gadget goes to New York, Paris, London, Mexico, and the Subterranean. Every level ends with a boss, plus London has a miniboss(In order, the bosses are a robotic Statue of Liberty, a robot ape throwing bombs from the Eiffel Tower, a M.A.D. Agent disguised as a rabbit, a robotic British guy holding an umbrella, a mechanical Quetzalcoatl, and a group of M.A.D. Cat robots).

Gadget saves Penny and Brain in Mexico after defeating the boss and learns from her that Claw's base is in the Caribbean Sea. He stops an operation producing robotic clones of him(it seems to be pretty popular to have evil Gadget clones) and ruins Dr. Claw's scheme yet again.

Dr. Claw once again escapes, but Gadget isn't too upset, noting he was very close in catching him this time. The Chief also decides Gadget has deserved a vacation.

The last Inspector Gadget video game was a game based on Gadget and the Gadgetinis, which was made by Hip Interactive(who purchased the rights of LSP at the time) and released in Europe and Australia in 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and PC.

The story is that Lt. Gadget and the Gadgetinis learn from Colonel Nozzaire that Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. Agents are at it again. This time they are using a crazy gas to make people go mad.

The game has four levels. The levels take place in Las Vegas, China, W.O.M.P. Headquarters, and M.A.D. Headquarters.

Gadget is equipped with a lot of gadgets in this game. His gadgets include Gadget Arms(used to punch people), Gadget Umbrella, Gadget Copter, Gadget Legs, Gadget Coat, Gadget Magnets, Gadget Plunger, and Gadget Rocket(a special attack that kills all enemies onscreen). He can also obtain new gadgets by collecting all the icons in each level(Boxing gloves in Las Vegas upgrade the Gadget Punch, Screwdrivers in China enable you to regenerate health with the Gadget Screwdriver, and revolvers in W.O.M.P. HQ unlock the Gadget Bubble Gum Gun)

Fidget and Digit can only fire lasers or missiles at a set number of M.A.D. Agents during their vignettes, clearing the area to make it safe for Gadget to progress.

Out of the four levels in the game, only two have bosses. The first level in Las Vegas has a M.A.D. building that is fought by using the Gadget Coat to send back missiles shot from above while avoiding any below. The second and final boss is a M.A.D. gas machine that sort of has the same strategy, except instead of other missiles, the obstacles you must watch out for are the M.A.D. gas, and later, a giant electric beam.

The ending has Penny hug and congratulate her uncle for once again ruining Dr. Claw's schemes as Fidget and Digit look on.

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Another tribute to Inspector Gadget, a cartoon character created by DIC. I will talk about the history of the Inspector Gadget franchise.

Though not the first part of the franchise, we will talk about Gadget Boy first. I am starting with it due to the common belief that Gadget Boy is Inspector Gadget in his youth. It aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1998. The first season was called Gadget Boy and Heather. Gadget Boy was said to have been given his gadgets by a scientist named Myron Dabble, who had a crush on Agent Heather(who was much like an adult version of Penny). Gadget Boy also had a robotic dog sidekick named G-9, who was a lot like Brain.

Instead of Dr. Claw, the main villain was Spydra, who had a pet vulture named Boris and was assisted by a pair of dumb twin henchmen named Mulch and Humous. Gadget Boy would learn of his missions from Chief Stromboli, who was reminiscent of Chief Quimby from the original show.

The second season was called Gadget Boy's Adventures in History and had the team go back in time to foil Spydra's attempts in ruining history. It's amazing how many shows there are and were that were educational in nature.

Agent Heather was voiced by Tara Strong, Spydra by Louise Vallance, and most other characters by Maurice LaMarche(Gadget Boy was originally voiced by Don Adams, but was voiced by LaMarche later in the show's run. Gadget Boy ran for 52 episodes(26 per season)

Now we move on to the original Inspector Gadget cartoon, which aired from 1983 to 1986, running for 86 episodes(65 in season one, 21 in season two). Inspector Gadget pretty much had a lot of gadgets. His most famous gadgets are the Gadget Legs, Gadget Arms, Gadget Neck, Gadget Copter, Gadget 'Brella, Gadget Coat, and the Top Secret Gadget Phone, but he has much more than those.

Many of Gadget's gadgets were only used in one episode. In every episode, his boss Chief Quimby gives him a phone call on the Top Secret Gadget Phone and(either wearing a disguise or from a special hiding place) gives him a secret message explaining Dr. Claw's current scheme.

The message self-destructs, in a spoof of mission briefings from Mission: Impossible. Gadget's niece Penny and their dog Brain know that Uncle Gadget is a little naive and clumsy, so they secretly help him thwart the schemes of Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. Agents.

Penny has a computer book that can know and do ANYTHING. She uses a wrist communicator to keep in touch with Brain, who disguises himself to prevent Gadget from recognizing him(though this has led the klutzy Inspector to frequently mistake Brain for a M.A.D. Agent).

The gang always arrests the generic M.A.D. Agents(along with the villain of the week hired by Dr. Claw, usually), but Dr. Claw himself always escapes, vowing to get Gadget next time.

It is clear that Dr. Claw is obsessed with defeating Inspector Gadget, as he gets enraged whenever he sees him and some of his plans completely revolved around eliminating him.

Inspector Gadget was voiced by Don Adams of Get Smart fame(though he had a different voice actor in the pilot). Penny was voiced by Cree Summer(later by Holly Berger), Frank Welker voiced Brain, M.A.D. Cat, and Dr. Claw(the latter voiced by Don Francks in some episodes), and Chief Quimby was voiced by Dan Hennessey(later Maurice LaMarche).

The second season was believed to be when the show jumped the shark, mainly because of the introduction of a ridiculous sidekick named Corporal Capeman(who was voiced by Townsend Coleman, who went on to play better roles, namely Leonardo in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon). Capeman appeared in 9 of the 21 season two episodes, making his debut in the fourth episode The Capeman Cometh.

There wasn't another Inspector Gadget cartoon until 2001, where they started Gadget and the Gadgetinis. The show was canceled in 2003 and ran for 52 episodes(26 per season).

In this series, Penny is 12 years old and Gadget has been promoted to Lieutenant and is a top member of W.O.M.P.(World Order of Mega Powers), an elite crime-fighting organization.

Brain has retired due to all the pain and trauma he went through saving Gadget's bacon, and has been replaced by a pair of miniature robotic versions of Gadget, the titular Gadgetinis.

The Gadgetinis are Fidget(colored orange) and Digit(colored blue). While both are more competent than Lt. Gadget, Fidget is a bit more clumsy and tends to mistakenly believe he is human(Digit tends to correct him and point out he is a robot, though sometimes it sounds cruel, such as an occasion where Fidget claims to have almost had a heart attack after Penny startled him, and Digit tells him he doesn't have a heart without adding that he doesn't have one due to being a robot).

Instead of Chief Quimby, Gadget learns his missions from a Colonel Nozzaire, who just straight out tells Gadget what the mission is rather than giving him an explosive message telling him what it is.

Unlike Quimby, Nozzaire completely despises Gadget and it shows(he has fantasized about Gadget's funeral and was shown to have painted a picture of Gadget being eaten by sharks). It isn't helping that Gadget mistakenly calls him Nosehair and always accidentally hurts him.

Dr. Claw actually shows more of himself. He is shown to have a muscular build(though his arms were skinny in the original cartoon) and his face is hidden in shadow. It is revealed(at least in this incarnation of Gadget) that his head is square-shaped.

Lieutenant Gadget, Fidget, and Digit were voiced by Maurice LaMarche, Penny was voiced by Tegan Moss, Colonel Nozzaire was voiced by Colin Murdock, and Dr. Claw was voiced by Brian Drummond.

Before moving on, I'd like to give my opinions. I like the original series the best. Gadgetinis was great, but it just isn't as good as the original show. The same goes for Gadget Boy.

In 1992, they made a Christmas special to the original series aptly named Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas. Dr. Claw's scheme was that he would capture and impersonate Santa Claus, then replace his toys with defective ones, which would ruin Christmas for everyone and ruin Santa's reputation in the process.

Penny and Brain secretly save the day as usual, while Gadget hilariously mistakes Claw for the real Santa(believing the poorly disguised M.A.D. Cat to be a real reindeer that does cat impressions) and believes the real Santa is the impostor(mistaking his eight reindeer for spiky-haired goons. That's right. I said eight reindeer. It kinda gets disappointing when they leave out old Rudolph).

In the end, Christmas is saved and Dr. Claw gets stranded on an iceberg, both making his usual promise of defeating Gadget next time and complaining about how it is the worst Christmas ever for him.

I've seen the Christmas special twice. The first time was a rerun on TV(I was only a baby in 1992). I saw it on YouTube last Christmas and I plan to watch it again this Christmas. It is without a doubt one of the most heartwarming Christmas specials ever(too bad they had to have those annoying singing elves).

They also made four movies about Inspector Gadget.

The first movie was released in 1999 and was made by Disney. It had Matthew Broderick in the role of Inspector Gadget and Dr. Claw was played by Rupert Everett.

The movie was a poor attempt at explaining the origins of Gadget(and I say poor because the movie contradicted many aspects of the cartoon).

In the movie, Gadget was originally a security guard named John Brown who dreamed to be a police officer. Claw was originally a business tycoon named Sanford Scolex.

They showed that John Brown became Inspector Gadget and Scolex became Claw in the same accident(a cool concept, but it doesn't change how flawed the movie is). John Brown tried to stop Scolex and his men from stealing lab equipment, and Scolex threw an explosive cigar at him.

The explosive cigar horribly injured Brown, and also sent a bowling ball into Scolex's car, crushing his hand. John Brown recovers from his injuries after a female scientist named Brenda Bradford gave him his gadgets(in the cartoon, it was established a male scientist named Professor Von Slickstein gave Gadget his gadgets).

He also gets a car known as the Gadgetmobile(voiced by D. L. Hughley). In the original cartoon, the Gadgetmobile never spoke, but was able to change between the forms of a police car and a red van. In Gadget and the Gadgetinis, they expanded on this by having it be capable of changing into a jet, a boat, and other vehicles.

Sanford Scolex, meanwhile, has his crushed hand replaced with a robotic claw(rather than wearing a pair of metallic gloves like in the cartoon). He eventually learns of Inspector Gadget and plots to kill him.

Penny and Brain were also present in the film, but they play more minor roles(Gadget is portrayed as a more competent detective).

After defeating an evil twin of himself named Robo-Gadget(this wasn't the first doppelganger of the Inspector, though), Gadget arrests Claw, who vows to get Gadget next time.

The movie was okay, but it lacks the charm of the cartoon, and is very different(the movie takes place in a town called Riverton instead of Metro City, Chief Quimby doesn't give Gadget explosive messages). It's also annoying how they never hide Claw's face(they actually do at one point, but it is very brief and it happens before he even BECOMES Claw).

The second film was released as a DTV movie in March 2003. In this version, Gadget is played by French Stewart and Claw is played by Tony Martin.

It is explained that crime has gone dry since Dr. Claw was sent to jail, but he later breaks out of jail. Gadget is also paired with G2, who is essentially a female, robotic, and more competent version of the Inspector.

While it is a bit more faithful to the original cartoon(Gadget being a ditz, his gadgets occasionally malfunctioning, and Dr. Claw (mostly) hiding his face and escaping at the end), the sequel is actually worse than the original film.

There were also two animated DTV movies. The first one was called Inspector Gadget's Last Case(which used character designs from and may even be a precursor to Gadget and the Gadgetinis. The only thing not convincing me is that Chief Quimby and Brain's designs in Last Case are different from the ones in Gadgetinis).

Last Case was released in 2001. Like in the live action movies, Gadgetmobile can speak, but is more likable(no stereotypical funny African American nonsense). The story revolves around Gadget's decline in popularity brought on by both Gadgetmobile's tendencies to fall apart on missions(which pisses off Chief Quimby) and the popularity of a new hero named Devon Debonair.

Things go bad when the Gadgetmobile is sent to Super Eddie's, a used car store for superheroes and skilled police officers. Devon buys him and he becomes the Debonairmobile.

Later, Gadget is fired and is down on his luck. He and Gadgetmobile later reunite and they discover that Devon Debonair is actually Dr. Claw, who was using a transformation formula invented by agent Dr. Ganglion to change his appearance. The formula was previously used by a pair of M.A.D. Agents arrested in the beginning of the movie, the Abominable Snowbot, and one of the Linguinis from the old cartoon episode Gadget in Minimadness(though he is just a short person and not an imp).

Gadget and Gadgetmobile arrest Claw's agents(Claw himself escapes as usual), and Chief Quimby decides they deserve to be rehired.

The second animated DTV movie was Inspector Gadget's Greatest Caper Ever, released in 2005. It was CGI and a touch ill-received. I've seen it on the internet, but I was only able to see it in Portuguese. I did eventually get the actual DVD, though.

It had Penny portrayed as a teenager(a little outrageous, but it didn't really bother me much). Like Last Case, Gadgetmobile can speak, but also appears more like the Gadgetmobile in the original cartoon.

They explain that Inspector Gadget has successfully captured Dr. Claw sometime ago, but Claw manages to break out of prison and plans to eliminate Gadget.

In an effort to emulate the formula of the old cartoon, Claw also has a special M.A.D. Agent named Bomba Boy, who is Scottish and was the one who helped Claw get out of jail.

Morty Markham, the eccentric mayor of Metro City, also wants to start an event to attract tourists. He gets an idea when Gadget investigates the ruins of Metro City Jail and finds a living egg of the Iguana Giganto, a now extinct race of giant flying lizards. The idea is to start an egg-hatching ceremony to invite tourists to watch the egg hatch and at the same time sell a bunch of merchandise.

The giant flying lizard hatches, but goes on a rampage and eats everything metallic in its path(and yes, even Inspector Gadget gets in danger of becoming the creature's next meal).

Dr. Claw plans to use a device to gain control of the lizard and get rid of Gadget, but a few things go wrong. Eventually, Penny's boyfriend Loony Purkle(who is suspiciously similar to Myron Dabble from Gadget Boy) uses his flawed growth serum to shrink the evergrowing giant flying lizard to a smaller size. The lizard reforms, Bomba Boy gets arrested, and Claw himself vows to yet again get Gadget next time.

Biggest Caper Ever was meant to be the first in a series of CGI Inspector Gadget films, but they failed due to lack of sales. Too bad though, because I actually liked it and it had lots of clever jokes and allusions(from Chief Quimby implicitly telling Mayor Markham he has his head up his butt by telling him his brain is at Uranus, to Gadget telling the Gadgetmobile not to ogle Jaguar brochures while he's gone).

I will wrap this up by talking about the Inspector Gadget video games.

The very first Inspector Gadget video game was Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear, released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. It generally had Gadget in a 2D perspective racing to the end of a level. Touching certain icons would activate one of his gadgets and temporarily make progressing easier(e.g., touching a helicopter will activate the Gadget Copter and touching the skates will activate the Gadget Skates).

In 1990, they released an MS-DOS game called Inspector Gadget Mission 1: Global Terror, a standard point-and-click adventure where you control Penny and Brain. The mission is that Dr. Claw has captured international world leaders. I learned from the ten-minute gameplay video on YouTube that Penny and Brain also rescue Gadget and have to restore all his removed gadgets.

Hudson Soft released a game for the SNES in 1993 where Inspector Gadget had to rescue his niece Penny from Dr. Claw. Gadget goes to different locations around the world(ranging from a haunted castle in England to Incan ruins), each level ending with a boss fight against a chair with a robotic Dr. Claw arm attached to it(and the boss fights actually have a good deal of variety).

The final boss is Dr. Claw himself, who even shows his face(resembling the action figure in the 1992 toyline by Rand). He fights in a mecha, but is defeated and Gadget saves Penny. Unfortunately, the game ends with Dr. Claw kidnapping Chief Quimby, who gives one last message that self-destructs to Gadget and his friends.

In the early 2000's, LSP(Light and Shadow Productions) had the rights to make Inspector Gadget games(this obscure company also made games based on the Gremlins film series and the Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon show, two other childhood favorites of mine).

The first LSP game was Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkactus, released December 1, 2000 in Europe and released March 2001 in North America. It was on the Game Boy Color and is one of the three Inspector Gadget games I own(it's really fun, too).

The story is that Chief Quimby tells Gadget that customers who purchased cacti from the M.A.D. Cactus company have disappeared and that he must go to Dr. Claw's secret base to investigate.

Gadget can attack using a hammer that comes out of his hat and can use Gadget Bonuses(the Gadget Bonuses are the Gadget Plunger, the Gadget Web, the Gadget Copter, and the Gadget Flash).

Brain can double-jump and Penny can hack into computers.

The game consists of five levels, and each level ends with a boss(M.A.D. Agent in M.A.D. Cat cannon, Computer Trinity, Cactus Monster, Train, and Dr. Claw in his M.A.D. Jet).

The second game was Gadget's Crazy Maze, released in 2001 on the PlayStation. It was a puzzle game where Dr. Claw has set a bunch of mind-controlling crystals in several locations.

To get rid of the crystals, Gadget has to align any crystals with the same color and shape into a row, turning them into collectable Gadget Coins.

M.A.D. Agents are everywhere to try and stop Gadget, so he has to be careful(he can't hurt them unless he has a gadget equipped). Gadget's usable gadgets include the Gadget Hammer and the Gadget Copter.

The next game by LSP was Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission for the Game Boy Advance, released in November 2001. It is another Inspector Gadget game I have. It uses many sprites from Operation: Madkactus. Instead of hacking into computers, Penny is able to gain control of robots and make them explode.

Brain is also able to use a penguin disguise to sneak past M.A.D. Agents.

Gadget has to break mind-controlling machines planted in five major touristic locations. He travels to New York, Paris, China, London, and Egypt.

Five locations means five levels, but only three have bosses(the boss of New York is a robotic Statue of Liberty, the boss of China is a M.A.D. Agent disguised as a spiky tree for some reason, and the final boss is a M.A.D. Agent in a flying machine shaped like the M.A.D. logo).

The last Inspector Gadget game by LSP is Inspector Gadget: M.A.D. Robots Invasion for the PlayStation 2, released exclusively in Europe in 2003. It is yet another Gadget game in my possession, but I haven't been able to play it yet because I do not have a PAL-to-NTSC converter.

The story is that Dr. Claw kidnaps Penny and invades five major touristic attractions with an army of robots. He also disables Gadget by using a bomb to neutralize most of his gadgets, making it so that Gadget needs to use Gadget Batteries to use most of them.

The gadgets Inspector Gadget can use any time are the Gadget Hammer, the Gadget Tennis Racket, the Gadget Hand, and the Gadget 'Brella.

The gadgets that require Gadget Batteries are the Gadget Legs(enables him to jump farther and higher than normal), the Gadget Parachute(glide), the Gadget Coat, the Gadget Copter, and the Gadget Skates.

While most of the battery gadgets run on limited energy, the Gadget Copter and Gadget Skates have unlimited energy and only stop working when you make it to your destination.

Gadget goes to New York, Paris, London, Mexico, and the Subterranean. Every level ends with a boss, plus London has a miniboss(In order, the bosses are a robotic Statue of Liberty, a robot ape throwing bombs from the Eiffel Tower, a M.A.D. Agent disguised as a rabbit, a robotic British guy holding an umbrella, a mechanical Quetzalcoatl, and a group of M.A.D. Cat robots).

Gadget saves Penny and Brain in Mexico after defeating the boss and learns from her that Claw's base is in the Caribbean Sea. He stops an operation producing robotic clones of him(it seems to be pretty popular to have evil Gadget clones) and ruins Dr. Claw's scheme yet again.

Dr. Claw once again escapes, but Gadget isn't too upset, noting he was very close in catching him this time. The Chief also decides Gadget has deserved a vacation.

The last Inspector Gadget video game was a game based on Gadget and the Gadgetinis, which was made by Hip Interactive(who purchased the rights of LSP at the time) and released in Europe and Australia in 2004 on the PlayStation 2 and PC.

The story is that Lt. Gadget and the Gadgetinis learn from Colonel Nozzaire that Dr. Claw and his M.A.D. Agents are at it again. This time they are using a crazy gas to make people go mad.

The game has four levels. The levels take place in Las Vegas, China, W.O.M.P. Headquarters, and M.A.D. Headquarters.

Gadget is equipped with a lot of gadgets in this game. His gadgets include Gadget Arms(used to punch people), Gadget Umbrella, Gadget Copter, Gadget Legs, Gadget Coat, Gadget Magnets, Gadget Plunger, and Gadget Rocket(a special attack that kills all enemies onscreen). He can also obtain new gadgets by collecting all the icons in each level(Boxing gloves in Las Vegas upgrade the Gadget Punch, Screwdrivers in China enable you to regenerate health with the Gadget Screwdriver, and revolvers in W.O.M.P. HQ unlock the Gadget Bubble Gum Gun)

Fidget and Digit can only fire lasers or missiles at a set number of M.A.D. Agents during their vignettes, clearing the area to make it safe for Gadget to progress.

Out of the four levels in the game, only two have bosses. The first level in Las Vegas has a M.A.D. building that is fought by using the Gadget Coat to send back missiles shot from above while avoiding any below. The second and final boss is a M.A.D. gas machine that sort of has the same strategy, except instead of other missiles, the obstacles you must watch out for are the M.A.D. gas, and later, a giant electric beam.

The ending has Penny hug and congratulate her uncle for once again ruining Dr. Claw's schemes as Fidget and Digit look on.

Dear Viewer,

I hope you enjoyed this picture and the information on the Inspector Gadget franchise.

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