Inspector Gadget Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Gadget and the Gadgetinis

Gadget and the Gadgetinis title card

Gadget and the Gadgetinis was a spin-off series of Inspector Gadget that aired on M6 from September 11, 2002 to November 29, 2003.

Premise[]

Inspector Gadget returns to television in his first incarnation in 17 years! Having been recruited by an elite international peacekeeping group called, the World Organization of Mega Powers (WOMP), Inspector Gadget is now Lieutenant Gadget, and fights crime with a pair of mechanical assistants called, the Gadgetinis, who are small robot versions of the Inspector who were created by 12-year-old Penny (due to Brain retiring from active duty) and who are the unintended victims of Gadget's stupidity.

Voice cast[]

Episodes[]

Gadget and the Gadgetinis (2001-2003): Episode Guide

Production[]

The original creators of Inspector Gadget reunited for this series. Andy Heyward initiated the concept and was one of the executive producers; Jean Chalopin created/developed the show and wrote or co-wrote every episode; while Bruno Bianchi designed the main characters as well as directing and producing the series. Gadget & the Gadgetinis follows basically the same plot as the original series, with the clueless Gadget attempting to fight crime while Penny and her helpers do all the work and he takes full credit for it, when he had no idea what happened. Dr. Claw appears less frequently and there are new villains for the group to contend with. Each episode would be budgeted at approximately $400,000 per episode. Saban was originally intended to distribute internationally Gadget & the Gadgetinis. There were also going to be more Gadgetinis as the show would progress.

While Brain and Chief Quimby are mainly absent from the show, they do appear in pictures in Gadget's house. Each also appears as a special guest in one episode. Brain appears in episode 36, No Brainer, which reveals that, having been traumatized after years of pain while saving Gadget and Gadget mistaking him for M.A.D. Agents, he retired from crime-fighting to live in a riverside house, which only Penny knows about. The mere mention of the word "gadget" is enough to drive him frantic. Brain is also mentioned in the episode, Roverre. Chief Quimby appears in episode 45, Super Boss Gadget. They both appear on television in the episode, Too Many Gadgets.

The French end credits to the series show a series of sketches of Penny going to visit Brain at his riverside home. The pair enjoy an emotional reunion.

Maurice LaMarche continued as Gadget's voice, reprising his role from the Sunday Movie Toon, "Inspector Gadget's Last Case", as did Brian Drummond (Dr. Claw) and Tegan Moss (Penny).

Jean-Michel Guirao composed the musical underscore, and the main title song for the English-speaking version was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. However, the European and French theme songs for "Gadgetinis" were explicitly different: The French version's theme, composed by Noam Kaniel and David Vadant, sounded very close to Shuki Levy and Haim Saban's original Inspector Gadget theme, and was in fact based on the original series' theme song. (The French end credits for the show state: "Musique des génériques: Noam Kaniel, David Vadant, K.I.A. productions. D'après le "Thème de l'Inspecteur Gadget". Musique originale de Haim Saban et Shuki Levy.") The reason this was possible - even though DiC Entertainment (which owned Inspector Gadget) no longer had the rights to Levy and Saban's theme music - is probably that Gadget & the Gadgetinis was produced primarily by the French animation studio SIP Animation, which at the time of production was owned by Haim Saban.

Broadcast[]

The show was broadcast across various European countries on Fox Kids starting in late 2002, and remained on some stations after the Jetix rebranding.

  • In the United Kingdom, the show aired on Channel 5, who were one of the co-producers. They first aired the show in August 2002, a month before it aired in France on M6.
  • In the United States, the show was planned to air on Fox Family; but since Fox Family Worldwide was purchased by Disney, it never did.
  • In countries where the channel operated from, it also re-ran on Jetix Play.
  • In Canada, the show aired on Family Channel from August 23, 2003 to Late 2004.

Merchandise[]

An event was held at Quick restaurants in France in April 2003.

Video game[]

A video game called Gadget & Gadgetinis was released for the PlayStation 2 and PC in November 2004, developed by Eko Software and published by Hip Games, who had acquired the Inspector Gadget video game license after acquiring Light & Shadow Production in February of that year. It was first unveiled at E3 2004, following an announcement on May 5, 2004, only released in PAL regions, much like with Mad Robots Invasion.

The game's gameplay was mostly criticized for its unoriginality, as well as the character designs and the music. The controls and the game's appeal to children received praise.

Advertisement