Inspector Gadget was a little past my cartoon watching prime, but I can understand the appeal that he has. He definitely reminds me of one of my childhood favorites, Dynomutt. Changeable robotic limbs and an array of hidden gizmos made the Scooby-esque pooch very appealing to my young eyes, not to mention the fact that he was partnered with the very cool looking Blue Falcon.
That's a winning team right there!
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ReplyDeleteAh, yes! One of Don Adams' last performances for international television. Sort of a cross between GET SMART and THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. But, produced with Japanese-style animation by the same French-owned outfit that later did TOTALLY SPIES.
ReplyDeleteRIP, Agent 86. We still miss you.
P.S. @ Ross: Don passed away 11 years ago, this coming Sunday.
ReplyDeleteRoss, you and I must be close to the same age because I can relate to the childhood memories that you share. As I grew more into superhero stories, I thought about some of the cartoons that I had watched. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, by then, struck me as a comedic show. Don't misunderstand, I am not claiming anything wrong with that. But I wondered what if he had been more serious and what if there were no Dynomutt? I would love to see him in team ups with some of the characters of DC and/or Marvel. I looked back and saw some of those that you put together, and those are stories that I would love to read. I'll say as I have said before: I get that these companies cannot do crossovers all the time. But I wish that when they do, they would take a page from your ideas.
ReplyDeleteITEM: Ross, you said, "past my cartoon watching prime." There is no such thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteITEM: Great combination and great theme!
ITEM: I don't know if you considered it, but I kinda wish you had included Secret Squirrel. He had a gizmo for just about every situation, right down to his car fitting in his briefcase.
Oh, you couldn't find a good image of Gizmoduck? (Or did you just not think of him, over Gyro?)
ReplyDeleteThough I'm about the same age as you, Ross, I have more vivid memories of Inspector Gadget than of Dynomutt. I did think that Dynomutt as cool, though, as he was the featured character of the series even though his job was as an animal sidekick.
@ Cary: Don later (after IG) briefly returned to the role of Maxwell Smart for the 1989 TV-movie Get Smart, Again!, and again for the Get Smart revival starring Andy Dick, on Fox in 1995.
(Don also had a voice-only end-credits cameo as the voice of Brain, the dog, in the 1999 Inspector Gadget movie starring Matthew Broderick. This, by the way, the only film in which I've ever seen Matthew miscast; the sequel with French Stewart is much much truer to the spirit of the original cartoon. Nonetheless, the first film was a great origin story.)
@Bob Greenwade: I know. That's why I said "One of..."
ReplyDeleteI never watched any Secret Squirrel, didn't know he was a gadget guy. I'm not that familiar with Gizmo Dick either, Gyro was always my preference.
ReplyDelete@ Cary: Yes, I recognize that. I just thought that that part warranted pointing out, in general. Sorry to (unintentionally) imply otherwise.
ReplyDelete@ Ross: That's Gizmoduck. Your typo looks like someone who would be teamed up here with Stripperella.
@BG (re: your reply to Ross): SUPER-LOL!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWould I be right in guessing that image is from a more recent series of Gadget? If you haven't watched it much, the first season was by far the better.
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