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110-432: Inspector Gadget is an animated superhero science fiction comedy series co-created by Andy Heyward , Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi , and was originally syndicated by DIC Audiovisuel and Lexington Broadcast Services Company . The show revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, dim-witted police officer from Metro City named Inspector Gadget—a police inspector with various bionic gadgets built into his body—who

220-411: A stop motion technique to two- and three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts , puppets , or clay figures . A cartoon in the animation sense is an animated film, usually short, featuring an exaggerated visual style. The style takes inspiration from comic strips , often featuring anthropomorphic animals , superheroes , or the adventures of human protagonists. Especially with animals that form

330-515: A 2015 sequel series , and two live-action films, but also encouraging the company to produce additional programs such as Heathcliff . In January 2009, IGN named Inspector Gadget as the 54th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. Since 2012, the rights to Inspector Gadget have been owned by WildBrain (formerly DHX Media) through its in-name-only unit, Cookie Jar Entertainment . Cookie Jar had purchased DiC and its library of shows in 2008, and

440-496: A PSA about child abduction airing after the episode. After My Sister Sam was canceled in 1988, surviving cast members: Pam Dawber , Joel Brooks , Jenny O'Hara , and David Naughton were reunited to film a PSA for the center to Prevent Handgun Violence on gun control after the murder of their co-star, Rebecca Schaeffer , who was gunned down by a crazed fan on July 18, 1989, at Schaeffer's apartment in Los Angeles. During

550-490: A consistent way to whatever style is employed on a particular film. Since the early 1980s, teams of about 500 to 600 people, of whom 50 to 70 are animators, typically have created feature-length animated films. It is relatively easy for two or three artists to match their styles; synchronizing those of dozens of artists is more difficult. This problem is usually solved by having a separate group of visual development artists develop an overall look and palette for each film before

660-422: A dedicated Disneyana Fan Club (since 1984). Disneyland opened in 1955 and features many attractions that were based on Disney's cartoon characters. Its enormous success spawned several other Disney theme parks and resorts . Disney's earnings from the theme parks have relatively often been higher than those from their movies. As with any other form of media, animation has instituted awards for excellence in

770-586: A direct-to-video feature that contained three episodes of the TV series. It was made to tie in with the Disney film, Inspector Gadget . On July 6, 2004, Sterling Entertainment released a VHS/DVD called Inspector Gadget: The Gadget Files . The release contains the show's pilot Winter Olympics alongside the first two episodes of the series, which are "Monster Lake" and "Down on the Farm". The DVD version contains "Gadget at

880-408: A foreign locale, or within the fictional city of Metro City. Despite the fact that Inspector Gadget is equipped with numerous gadgets to help him, including a personal vehicle that can morph between a family minivan to a compact police car, he is ultimately incompetent and clueless on each mission - proposing ludicrous theories behind a crime or mistaking M.A.D. agents for friendly locals. He often uses

990-438: A four-disc set featuring the first 22 episodes of the series on DVD on April 25, 2006. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment would later acquire the home video rights for the series. On September 9, 2009, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released a single-disc DVD, Inspector Gadget: The Go Go Gadget Collection which features ten episodes from the series. On May 24, 2013 TV Shows on DVD noted that New Video Group had acquired

1100-407: A gadget that he did not call for, and is sometimes prone to causing trouble inadvertently for those around him—an example of this is a running gag, inspired by the "self-destruct" message, in which Inspector Gadget is given briefing messages from his boss Chief Quimby, who primarily hands them to him while in disguise, only to have them unintentionally returned to him before they detonate. In reality,

1210-478: A moderate box office success, the film was panned by both critics and fans, earning a 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes . A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2003. Broderick did not reprise his role as the title character; he was replaced by French Stewart . Elaine Hendrix was the lead female character as G2, and Caitlin Wachs portrayed Penny replacing Trachtenberg. D. L. Hughley reprises his role as

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1320-426: A natural predator/prey relationship (e.g. cats and mice, coyotes and birds), the action often centers on violent pratfalls such as falls, collisions, and explosions that would be lethal in real life. A cartoon can also be a still humorous drawing, often with the same elements as animated cartoons but with still versions. The illusion of animation—as in motion pictures in general—has traditionally been attributed to

1430-451: A new life on the small screen and by the end of the 1950s, the production of new animated cartoons started to shift from theatrical releases to TV series. Hanna-Barbera Productions was especially prolific and had huge hit series, such as The Flintstones (1960–1966) (the first prime time animated series), Scooby-Doo (since 1969) and Belgian co-production The Smurfs (1981–1989). The constraints of American television programming and

1540-402: A secondary M.A.D. agent, with Welker (who usually performed the voices of the agents otherwise) as the other in episodes where Francks' voice was necessary. Penny was originally voiced by Mona Marshall in the pilot and was subsequently portrayed by Don Francks' daughter, Cree Summer , for the rest of the first season in her first voice acting role. Chief Quimby was voiced by John Stephenson in

1650-520: A separate background, computer animation is usually based on programming paths between key frames to maneuver digitally created figures throughout a digitally created environment. Analog mechanical animation media that rely on the rapid display of sequential images include the phenakistiscope , zoetrope , flip book , praxinoscope , and film. Television and video are popular electronic animation media that originally were analog and now operate digitally . For display on computers, technology such as

1760-471: A slightly higher budget than the rest of the episodes. The additional production facilities are AIC , Oh! Production . Sunrise , and Toei Animation who helped with the cel painting process for the TMS-animated episodes. Nelvana was not involved with the show's 21-episode second season, for which pre-production was moved to DiC's own Los Angeles-based headquarters. The animation and post-production

1870-646: A total of 400 PSAs produced by the KOBACO. China's first PSAs in 1986 were about saving water and were broadcast on Guiyang television. In Hong Kong , terrestrial television networks have been required since National Day 2004 to preface their main evening news broadcasts with a minute-long announcement in the public interest which plays the Chinese National Anthem in Mandarin over various patriotic montages. Filem Negara Malaysia (FNM) became

1980-450: A true powerhouse of animation production, with its own recognizable and influential anime style of effective limited animation . Animation became very popular on television since the 1950s, when television sets started to become common in most developed countries. Cartoons were mainly programmed for children, on convenient time slots, and especially US youth spent many hours watching Saturday-morning cartoons . Many classic cartoons found

2090-531: A very long history in automata . Electronic automata were popularized by Disney as animatronics . The word animation stems from the Latin animātiōn , stem of animātiō , meaning 'bestowing of life'. The earlier meaning of the English word is 'liveliness' and has been in use much longer than the meaning of 'moving image medium'. Long before modern animation began, audiences around the world were captivated by

2200-499: A week, and it's reinvigorated the TV brand with a new TV series in production." In September 2012, Cookie Jar issued a short press release about the upcoming series, as part of the advertising for it during the MIPCOM market that October, stating: "Cookie Jar Entertainment is celebrating Inspector Gadget's 30th anniversary with the launch of a brand-new series with its Canadian broadcast partner Teletoon. The series will again revolve around

2310-409: A wide variety of styles, relatively often including stop motion and cutout animation techniques. Soviet Soyuzmultfilm animation studio, founded in 1936, produced 20 films (including shorts) per year on average and reached 1,582 titles in 2018. China, Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic, Italy, France, and Belgium were other countries that more than occasionally released feature films, while Japan became

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2420-720: Is a technique combining hand-drawn characters into live action shots or live-action actors into animated shots. One of the earlier uses was in Koko the Clown when Koko was drawn over live-action footage. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created a series of Alice Comedies (1923–1927), in which a live-action girl enters an animated world. Other examples include Allegro Non Troppo (Italy, 1976), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (US, 1988), Volere volare (Italy 1991), Space Jam (US, 1996) and Osmosis Jones (US, 2001). Public service announcement The earliest public service announcements (in

2530-483: Is incompetent, he always escapes danger due to luck, either from a misfired gadget, or from the secret assistance of the family dog Brain, who usually shadows him in disguise; on most occasions, his disguise often causes Inspector Gadget to chase him in the mistaken belief that he is a M.A.D. agent. While Penny remains in contact with Brain during her investigation, she is often placed in danger and either escapes by recalling Brain to help, or using her own technology. Despite

2640-427: Is made up of about 15 persons nominated by advertising academia, broadcasting, advertising industry, and civic groups. The organization evolved from the 'Broadcasting Advertising Improvement Advisory Committee' formed on August 18, 1981. After going through the 'Public Service Advertising Improvement Advisory Committee' on February 7, 1983, the name was changed to the current name on July 1, 1988. As of 2020, there are

2750-413: Is pointless for a studio to pay the salaries of dozens of animators to spend weeks creating a visually dazzling five-minute scene if that scene fails to effectively advance the plot of the film. Thus, animation studios starting with Disney began the practice in the 1930s of maintaining story departments where storyboard artists develop every single scene through storyboards , then handing the film over to

2860-404: Is sent on missions to thwart plans by his nemesis Dr. Claw, the leader of an evil organization known as "M.A.D.", while unknowingly being assisted by his niece Penny and their dog, Brain. The series stars the voice of Don Adams as the titular character, and it first premiered on December 4, 1982, as an exclusive pilot. It is the first cartoon show to be syndicated by DIC, who specifically created

2970-449: Is that once a film is in the production phase, the marginal cost of one more shot is higher for animated films than live-action films. It is relatively easy for a director to ask for one more take during principal photography of a live-action film, but every take on an animated film must be manually rendered by animators (although the task of rendering slightly different takes has been made less tedious by modern computer animation). It

3080-404: Is the best known and most extreme example. Since first being licensed for a children's writing tablet in 1929, their Mickey Mouse mascot has been depicted on an enormous amount of products , as have many other Disney characters. This may have influenced some pejorative use of Mickey's name , but licensed Disney products sell well, and the so-called Disneyana has many avid collectors, and even

3190-529: Is the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films that regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement, having a smooth animation. Fully animated films can be made in a variety of styles, from more realistically animated works like those produced by the Walt Disney studio ( The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast , Aladdin , The Lion King ) to the more 'cartoon' styles of

3300-432: Is the process that was used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels , which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on

3410-763: The Internet ( web cartoons ). Rotoscoping is a technique patented by Max Fleischer in 1917 where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings, as in The Lord of the Rings (US, 1978), or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in Waking Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (US, 2006). Some other examples are Fire and Ice (US, 1983), Heavy Metal (1981), and Aku no Hana (Japan, 2013). Live-action/animation

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3520-525: The Warner Bros. animation studio . Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full animation, as are non-Disney works, The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982), The Iron Giant (US, 1999), and Nocturna (Spain, 2007). Fully animated films are often animated on "twos", sometimes on "ones", which means that 12 to 24 drawings are required for a single second of film. Limited animation involves

3630-556: The animated GIF and Flash animation were developed. In addition to short films , feature films , television series , animated GIFs, and other media dedicated to the display of moving images, animation is also prevalent in video games , motion graphics , user interfaces , and visual effects . The physical movement of image parts through simple mechanics—for instance, moving images in magic lantern shows—can also be considered animation. The mechanical manipulation of three-dimensional puppets and objects to emulate living beings has

3740-408: The entertainment industry . Many animations are either tradtional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation , in particular claymation , has continued to exist alongside these other forms. Animation is contrasted with live-action film , although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of

3850-462: The flip book (1868), the praxinoscope (1877) and film . When cinematography eventually broke through in the 1890s, the wonder of the realistic details in the new medium was seen as its biggest accomplishment. It took years before animation found its way to the cinemas. The successful short The Haunted Hotel (1907) by J. Stuart Blackton popularized stop motion and reportedly inspired Émile Cohl to create Fantasmagorie (1908), regarded as

3960-439: The persistence of vision and later to the phi phenomenon and beta movement , but the exact neurological causes are still uncertain. The illusion of motion caused by a rapid succession of images that minimally differ from each other, with unnoticeable interruptions, is a stroboscopic effect . While animators traditionally used to draw each part of the movements and changes of figures on transparent cels that could be moved over

4070-891: The "Sonic Says" segments from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog . PSAs are used as placeholders for unsold commercials . PSAs in South Korea are produced by the Public Service Advertising Council, an organization under the Korea Broadcasting Advertisement Corporation (KOBACO) . The Public Service Advertising Council is in charge of advisory roles such as selecting the topic of PSAs broadcast in Korea for one year, establishing public relations measures, and seeking strategies. The Public Service Advertising Council

4180-538: The 1960s, and European producers looking for affordable cel animators relatively often started co-productions with Japanese studios, resulting in hit series such as Barbapapa (The Netherlands/Japan/France 1973–1977), Wickie und die starken Männer/小さなバイキング ビッケ (Vicky the Viking) (Austria/Germany/Japan 1974), Maya the Honey Bee (Japan/Germany 1975) and The Jungle Book (Italy/Japan 1989). Computer animation

4290-603: The 1960s. The most common topics of PSAs are health and safety, such as the multimedia "Emergency Preparedness & Safety Tips On Air and Online" talk radio campaign. A typical PSA is part of a public awareness campaign to inform or educate the public about an issue such as obesity or compulsive gambling . One of the earliest television public service announcements came in the form of Smokey Bear whose "Only you can prevent forest fires" campaign ran for decades. Other common early themes were traffic safety, especially safe crossing, wearing seat belts and not driving drunk, and

4400-652: The 1980s, Inspector Gadget always ended each episode with a public service announcement advising how to handle a situation, such as the danger of dealing with strangers. In 1981, Inspector Gadget creator Andy Heyward left Hanna-Barbera and traveled to Paris to work with DIC Audiovisuel after being proposed by the company to do so. As the company wanted entertainment for the United States , Heyward combined ideas to originate Inspector Gadget. Many ideas were inspired by Dynomutt, Dog Wonder , Get Smart , and The Six Million Dollar Man . Due to concerns that

4510-602: The 1980s, many American cartoon shows contained PSAs at the end of their shows to satisfy federal regulations that required programming for children to be educational. Examples include the closing moral segments at the end of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , the "Knowing is Half the Battle" epilogues in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero ,’’ The Transformers (TV series) ’’, Jem , M.A.S.K. , Inspector Gadget , and

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4620-522: The Beast was the first animated film nominated for Best Picture , in 1991. Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) also received Best Picture nominations, after the academy expanded the number of nominees from five to ten. The creation of non-trivial animation works (i.e., longer than a few seconds) has developed as a form of filmmaking , with certain unique aspects. Traits common to both live-action and animated feature films are labor intensity and high production costs. The most important difference

4730-527: The Christmas special Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas as well as many episodes of the Gadget Boy spinoff series, and Burian-Mohr additionally wrote dialogue for the educational show Inspector Gadget's Field Trip . Due to various recurring elements in the series, the basic plot of each episode was often the same. The geographic location of each episode differed, and it provided for some variety in

4840-537: The Circus" and "The Amazon" as bonus episodes, alongside an interview with Andy Heyward answering 10 questions voted upon by fans. The Sterling release of Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas contains the episodes "Weather in Tibet" and "Birds of a Feather" with "So It is Written" as a bonus episode. In 2006, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series and subsequently released Inspector Gadget: The Original Series ,

4950-720: The Environment also produces PSAs focusing on environmental pollution. PSAs on corruption and bribery were produced by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (now Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ). Most of these PSAs were aired on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and TV Pendidikan between the 1990s and 2000s. Private TV networks like TV3 have also produced in-house PSAs, covering topics such as not downloading pirated content, some of which feature actress and infotainer, Janna Nick ; and domestic violence which features actress Eyra Hazali. There

5060-712: The Friendly Ghost (1945), Warner Bros. Cartoon Studios ' Looney Tunes ' Porky Pig (1935), Daffy Duck (1937), Elmer Fudd (1937–1940), Bugs Bunny (1938–1940), Tweety (1942), Sylvester the Cat (1945), Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (1949), MGM cartoon studio 's Tom and Jerry (1940) and Droopy , Universal Cartoon Studios ' Woody Woodpecker (1940), Terrytoons / 20th Century Fox 's Mighty Mouse (1942), and United Artists ' Pink Panther (1963). In 1917, Italian-Argentine director Quirino Cristiani made

5170-606: The Gadgetmobile; he is the only star from the first film who appears in the sequel. In 2011, a new Inspector Gadget comic book was published in the United States by Viper Comics . Written by Dale Mettam and illustrated by José Cobá, the style of the book is based on the original 1983 television show. A preview comic was released on May 7, 2011, as part of the Free Comic Book Day , before the entire story

5280-799: The Government, after the War. In the US, the Ad Council (initially called the War Advertising Council) was set up in 1941, when America entered World War II. It began implementing on a massive scale the idea of using advertising to influence American society on a range of fronts. Its first campaigns focused on the country's needs during World War II, such as encouraging the American public to invest their savings in government bonds . After

5390-650: The No. 26 to No. 4 syndicated kids show in one year. It was also revealed that since October 1983, it rose 156% in ratings, 189% in shares, 89% in homes, 100% in Kids 2-11, and 78% in Kids 6-11. As of May 28, 1985, the original series was seen in 112 stations that covered 85% American households. In May 1986, a "Fat Cats" advertisement from DIC Audiovisuel revealed that Inspector Gadget topped all other kids cartoons in Los Angeles, California , with an 18 Nielsen rating for kids. It

5500-405: The Top 20 markets and increased its Nielsen rating by 37% from October 1983 to February 1984. On August 20, 1984, an advertisement from McNaught Syndication Inc. reported that Inspector Gadget was seen in the Top 20 of 19 markets and experienced an average increase of 56% in Kids 2-11 in 16 markets and 69% in Kids 6-11 in 17 markets from the previous year. Television/Radio Age also reported that

5610-594: The Tramp (1955) failed at the box office. For decades afterward, Disney would be the only American studio to regularly produce animated features, until Ralph Bakshi became the first to also release more than a handful features. Sullivan-Bluth Studios began to regularly produce animated features starting with An American Tail in 1986. Although relatively few titles became as successful as Disney's features, other countries developed their own animation industries that produced both short and feature theatrical animations in

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5720-476: The US. Successful producer John Randolph Bray and animator Earl Hurd , patented the cel animation process that dominated the animation industry for the rest of the century. Felix the Cat , who debuted in 1919, became the first fully realized anthropomorphic animal character in the history of American animation. In 1928, Steamboat Willie , featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse , popularized film-with-synchronized-sound and put Walt Disney 's studio at

5830-469: The animation begins. Character designers on the visual development team draw model sheets to show how each character should look like with different facial expressions, posed in different positions, and viewed from different angles. On traditionally animated projects, maquettes were often sculpted to further help the animators see how characters would look from different angles. Unlike live-action films, animated films were traditionally developed beyond

5940-521: The animators only after the production team is satisfied that all the scenes make sense as a whole. While live-action films are now also storyboarded, they enjoy more latitude to depart from storyboards (i.e., real-time improvisation). Another problem unique to animation is the requirement to maintain a film's consistency from start to finish, even as films have grown longer and teams have grown larger. Animators, like all artists, necessarily have individual styles, but must subordinate their individuality in

6050-651: The character was in the works. Like the live-action movies, it would be by Disney, with Dan Lin producing it. In October 2019, Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell were hired to write the film. Go Go Gadget: The Creation of Inspector Gadget by Andy Heyward ; 2016. ISBN   978-0-692-77628-5 Animated Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images . In traditional animation , images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets ( cels ) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within

6160-493: The dangers of cigarette smoking. A charitable organization may enlist the support of a celebrity for a PSA; examples include actress Kathryn Erbe telling people to be green and Crips gang leader Stanley Williams speaking from prison to urge youths not to join gangs or commit crimes. Some television shows featuring very special episodes made PSAs after the episodes. For example, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit talked about child abduction in one episode, with

6270-714: The demand for an enormous quantity resulted in cheaper and quicker limited animation methods and much more formulaic scripts. Quality dwindled until more daring animation surfaced in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s with hit series, the first cartoon of The Simpsons (1987), which later developed into its own show (in 1989) and SpongeBob SquarePants (since 1999) as part of a "renaissance" of American animation. While US animated series also spawned successes internationally, many other countries produced their own child-oriented programming, relatively often preferring stop motion and puppetry over cel animation. Japanese anime TV series became very successful internationally since

6380-422: The drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery media, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media with digital video . The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved, and the character animators ' work has remained essentially the same over the past 90 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" (a play on

6490-415: The early pioneers of PSAs from its establishment in 1946. PSAs produced by FNM have topics such as dengue fever , drug addiction , environmental pollution , road safety and electricity usage . Governmental agencies such as Ministry of Health have produced PSAs to promote their Healthy Lifestyle Campaign which held annually since 1991, with the "Utamakan Kesihatan" ("Prioritize Health") logo appearing at

6600-436: The end of their ads, most notably PSAs about AIDS . PSAs on road safety were produced by Ministry of Transport , particularly on accidents amongst motorcyclists and alcohol consumption amongst drivers. Some of their ads also using "Anda Mampu Mengubahnya" ("You Can Make a Difference") slogan and also using some of famous actors and actresses including the late Adibah Noor and Nabil Ahmad . Ministry of Science, Technology and

6710-868: The field. Many are part of general or regional film award programs, like the China's Golden Rooster Award for Best Animation (since 1981). Awards programs dedicated to animation, with many categories, include ASIFA-Hollywood 's Annie Awards , the Emile Awards in Europe and the Anima Mundi awards in Brazil. Apart from Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film (since 1932) and Best Animated Feature (since 2002), animated movies have been nominated and rewarded in other categories, relatively often for Best Original Song and Best Original Score . Beauty and

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6820-458: The first feature-length film El Apóstol (now lost ), which became a critical and commercial success. It was followed by Cristiani's Sin dejar rastros in 1918, but one day after its premiere, the film was confiscated by the government. After working on it for three years, Lotte Reiniger released the German feature-length silhouette animation Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed in 1926,

6930-469: The first season's cast recorded in Toronto. Don Francks initially replaced Welker as Dr. Claw for 25 episodes following the pilot before Welker was called in to replace him for those episodes. However, Welker was unable to re-record a few episodes, where Francks' voice remained. Francks remained with the show, however, and usually performed the voice of a henchman of Dr. Claw. Sometimes Francks would portray

7040-406: The forefront of the animation industry. Although Disney Animation's actual output relative to total global animation output, has always been very small; the studio has overwhelmingly dominated the "aesthetic norms" of animation ever since. The enormous success of Mickey Mouse is seen as the start of the golden age of American animation that would last until the 1960s. The United States dominated

7150-514: The form of moving pictures) were made before and during the Second World War years in both the UK and the US. In the UK, amateur actor Richard Massingham set up Public Relationship Films Ltd. in 1938 as a specialist agency for producing short educational films for the public. In the films, he typically played a bumbling character who was slightly more stupid than average and often explained

7260-492: The home video rights to the series. New Video Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in four volume sets on October 8, 2013. They also re-released Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas on October 29, 2013. The series is available on Amazon Prime Video for purchase. Inspector Gadget can be streamed on Paramount+ , The Roku Channel , and Pluto TV . Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave

7370-611: The humour it can provide. Some animated characters in commercials have survived for decades, such as Snap, Crackle and Pop in advertisements for Kellogg's cereals. Tex Avery was the producer of the first Raid " Kills Bugs Dead " commercials in 1966, which were very successful for the company. Apart from their success in movie theaters and television series, many cartoon characters would also prove lucrative when licensed for all kinds of merchandise and for other media. Animation has traditionally been very closely related to comic books . While many comic book characters found their way to

7480-471: The iconic bionic bumbling detective." On June 9, 2013, Teletoon officially announced the reboot series with two press pictures of Inspector Gadget's new look as well as a press release. The TV series is produced by DHX Media , which purchased Cookie Jar Group in 2012. The series premiered on Boomerang in Australia on January 5, 2015. In May 2015, it was announced that a new film with a rebooted version of

7590-411: The investigations are often conducted by Inspector Gadget's niece Penny, who has a gifted sleuthing mind despite her young age and secretly operates behind the scenes to thwart M.A.D.'s plot and ensure that her uncle remains out of harm's way, as Dr. Claw frequently instructs his agents to get rid of Inspector Gadget before he can stop them, in denial that she is his real enemy. Even though Inspector Gadget

7700-435: The late 1980s, in a style similar to traditional cel animation. The so-called 3D style, more often associated with computer animation, became the dominant technique following the success of Pixar's Toy Story (1995), the first computer-animated feature in this style. Most of the cel animation studios switched to producing mostly computer-animated films around the 1990s, as it proved cheaper and more profitable. Not only

7810-753: The late-1990s. Various stations, such as Global Television Network , and The Family Channel aired Inspector Gadget until the late-1990s. Inspector Gadget was seen on Qubo from August 31, 2019 until the channel's shutdown on February 28, 2021. It started rerunning on MeTV Toons on June 25, 2024, on its launch day. During the 1980s and 1990s, several VHS tapes of the series were released by labels such as Family Home Entertainment (distributed by MGM/UA Home Video and International Video Entertainment ), Kideo Video (distributed by Karl-Lorimar Home Video ), The Maier Group and DIC Toon-Time Video (distributed by Buena Vista Home Video ). In 1999, Buena Vista Home Video released Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets ,

7920-421: The magic of moving characters. For centuries, master artists and craftsmen have brought puppets, automatons , shadow puppets , and fantastical lanterns to life, inspiring the imagination through physically manipulated wonders. In 1833, the stroboscopic disc (better known as the phenakistiscope ) introduced the principle of modern animation, which would also be applied in the zoetrope (introduced in 1866),

8030-492: The message of the film by demonstrating the risks if it were ignored. The films covered topics such as how to cross the road, how to prevent the spread of diseases, how to swim, and how to drive without causing the road to be unsafe for other users. During the war, he was commissioned by the UK Ministry of Information to produce films for the war effort. Massingham began to produce longer films, for both private companies and

8140-576: The music and Saban running the business. Their record company, Saban Records, (now Saban Music Group ) has provided music for many DiC cartoons and children's shows in the 1980s and 1990s, and is still running today. A soundtrack LP to accompany the series, named Inspecteur Gadget: Bande Originale de la Serie TV , was released in France in 1983 by Saban Records. Wagram Music made it available on online services such as Spotify and iTunes. An English-language soundtrack LP, entitled Inspector Gadget – The Music ,

8250-824: The oldest extant animated feature. In 1937, Walt Disney Studios premiered their first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , still one of the highest-grossing traditional animation features as of May 2020 . The Fleischer studios followed this example in 1939 with Gulliver's Travels with some success. Partly due to foreign markets being cut off by the Second World War, Disney's next features Pinocchio , Fantasia (both 1940), Fleischer Studios' second animated feature Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941–1942) and Disney's feature films Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Lady and

8360-510: The oldest known example of a complete traditional (hand-drawn) animation on standard cinematographic film. Other great artistic and very influential short films were created by Ladislas Starevich with his puppet animations since 1910 and by Winsor McCay with detailed hand-drawn animation in films such as Little Nemo (1911) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). During the 1910s, the production of animated " cartoons " became an industry in

8470-602: The original pilot, and later by Dan Hennessey for the remainder of the first season. After the pilot, all of the first season episodes were voice-recorded in Toronto at the Nelvana facilities. When production of Inspector Gadget moved from Nelvana in Toronto to DiC's headquarters in Los Angeles for the second season, all of the Canadian-based voice artists were replaced. Holly Berger replaced Cree Summer Francks as

8580-404: The original television soundtrack had become extremely rare by 2010. The original Inspector Gadget television series was the first production of DIC Entertainment intended for American television. The series first premiered as an exclusive pilot on December 4, 1982. On March 14, 1983, it was announced the series would be released in late 1983, consisting of 65 episodes. The earliest-known debut

8690-509: The pair's involvement, both make it certain that Inspector Gadget is seen to have completed the mission in Quimby's opinion; yet in most cases, it is either Penny and Brain's background activities or just luck through which Inspector Gadget actually completes a mission. Dr. Claw always vows revenge on Inspector Gadget for thwarting his schemes, and flees the scene on most occasions having been on site to oversee his plans. Like many cartoons made in

8800-552: The pilot). It was removed after DIC received a letter from MGM (which already acquired United Artists ) that he looked too similar to Inspector Clouseau from Pink Panther . Nelvana writer Peter Sauder was the head writer for season 1, which was co-produced by DiC. As Nelvana was no longer part of the production by season 2, the show was written by the DIC studio employees Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Mike O'Mahoney, Glen Egbert, and Jack Hanrahan . Hanrahan and Burian-Mohr would later write

8910-528: The project's existence was to recoup costs incurred by DiC and Tokyo Movie Shinsha when a planned collaboration, a spin-off of Lupin the Third called Lupin VIII , was cancelled due to financial disputes with the estate of Arsène Lupin creator Maurice Leblanc . When production started, the model of Inspector Gadget was broken down for gadgets that needed to be created. The original design of Inspector Gadget

9020-768: The screen (which is often the case in Japan, where many manga are adapted into anime ), original animated characters also commonly appear in comic books and magazines. Somewhat similarly, characters and plots for video games (an interactive form of animation that became its own medium) have been derived from films and vice versa. Some of the original content produced for the screen can be used and marketed in other media. Stories and images can easily be adapted into children's books and other printed media. Songs and music have appeared on records and as streaming media. While very many animation companies commercially exploit their creations outside moving image media, The Walt Disney Company

9130-517: The second season would begin in September 1985. The second season debuted on September 30, 1985, and ended on November 13, 1985. Repeats of the series briefly appeared on CBS 's Saturday morning cartoon lineup from 1991 to 1992. Nickelodeon also aired reruns of the show from October 1, 1987, until August 31, 1992, and again from November 4, 1996, until April 29, 2000. Internationally, it aired on various TV stations and remained in syndication into

9240-447: The series four stars out of five, writing, "Bumbling bionic detective offers worry-free laughs for kids." On November 28, 1983, Broadcasting Magazine reported that Inspector Gadget tied with Woman to Woman and Hour Magazine at No. 5 for Monday-to-Friday daytime programming in independent stations, with an average of a 7% share on each three stations. On May 7, 1984, an advertisement revealed that Inspector Gadget appeared in 16 of

9350-424: The series ranked at No. 8 in the kids' animation category, getting a 7.9 Nielsen rating with kids and a 2.1 Nielsen household rating with a share of 11%. According to Henry Siegel, chairman of Lexington Broadcast Services , the series' success led to produce the 1984 animated adaptation of Heathcliff . On December 10, 1984, an advertisement from LBS Communications revealed that Inspector Gadget rose from being

9460-543: The series to help expand into the North American market, and the first animated series to be presented in stereo sound . The program originally ran from 1983 to 1985, broadcasting 86 episodes over two seasons, and remained in syndication into the late 1990s. The TV series proved to be a success for DIC, not only launching the Inspector Gadget franchise, including additional animated productions, such as

9570-404: The series. The series effectively provided viewers with both comedic and dramatic moments. Despite the censorship standards for American animated series in effect during the 1970s and 1980s, the series also included elements of slapstick comedy. This was nearly forbidden at the time, but the censorship was less strict for a syndication series. Alongside The Care Bears Movie , Inspector Gadget

9680-465: The show would not appeal to girls, Penny was created for the show. Brain was named to conceive the idea that "he is smart while Inspector Gadget [is the opposite]." Chalopin, who at the time owned the DIC Audiovisuel studio, helped develop the format and concept for the rest of the episodes together with Bruno Bianchi, who designed the main characters and served as supervising director. Part of

9790-458: The side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film. The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. In modern traditionally animated films, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color

9900-425: The synopsis stage through the storyboard format; the storyboard artists would then receive credit for writing the film. In the early 1960s, animation studios began hiring professional screenwriters to write screenplays (while also continuing to use story departments) and screenplays had become commonplace for animated films by the late 1980s. Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation)

10010-462: The two . As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery , filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX). Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation , while 2D computer animation (which may have the look of traditional animation) can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth, or faster real-time renderings . Other common animation methods apply

10120-791: The use of less detailed or more stylized drawings and methods of movement usually a choppy or "skippy" movement animation. Limited animation uses fewer drawings per second, thereby limiting the fluidity of the animation. This is a more economic technique. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America , limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression, as in Gerald McBoing-Boing (US, 1951), Yellow Submarine (UK, 1968), and certain anime produced in Japan. Its primary use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media for television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation , and other TV animation studios ) and later

10230-565: The value had increased to an estimated US$ 370 billion. Animated feature-length films returned the highest gross margins (around 52%) of all film genres between 2004 and 2013. Animation as an art and industry continues to thrive as of the early 2020s. The clarity of animation makes it a powerful tool for instruction, while its total malleability also allows exaggeration that can be employed to convey strong emotions and to thwart reality. It has therefore been widely used for other purposes than mere entertainment. During World War II, animation

10340-401: The very popular 3D animation style was generated with computers, but also most of the films and series with a more traditional hand-crafted appearance, in which the charming characteristics of cel animation could be emulated with software, while new digital tools helped developing new styles and effects. In 2010, the animation market was estimated to be worth circa US$ 80 billion. By 2021,

10450-401: The voice of Inspector Gadget with ad-libs, including his catchphrase "Wowsers!". Eventually, producers decided to cast actor Don Adams in the role, re-recording all of Inspector Gadget's dialogue in the pilot from Jesse White and Gary Owens. Dr. Claw, M.A.D. Cat, and Brain were voiced by Frank Welker. Welker and Adams recorded their dialogue in separate sessions in Los Angeles, while the rest of

10560-517: The voice of Penny while Maurice LaMarche replaced Hennessey as the voice of Chief Quimby. Occasionally, LaMarche would fill in for Don Adams as Inspector Gadget whenever necessary. The theme music was inspired by Edvard Grieg 's movement " In the Hall of the Mountain King " and was composed by Shuki Levy . For many years, Levy had a partnership with his friend Haim Saban , with Levy composing

10670-541: The war, PIFs were used to educate the public on a broader range of issues. In the UK, they were produced for the Central Office of Information (COI), and again by private contractors, which were usually small film companies, such as Richard Taylor Cartoons . They were supplied to broadcasters free of charge for use at any time. Their utility as a cost-free means to fill the gaps in commercial breaks left by unsold advertising airtime has led to their regular usage since

10780-683: The words "traditional" and "digital") to describe cel animation that uses significant computer technology. Examples of traditionally animated feature films include Pinocchio (United States, 1940), Animal Farm (United Kingdom, 1954), Lucky and Zorba (Italy, 1998), and The Illusionist (British-French, 2010). Traditionally animated films produced with the aid of computer technology include The Lion King (US, 1994), Anastasia (US, 1997), The Prince of Egypt (US, 1998), Akira (Japan, 1988), Spirited Away (Japan, 2001), The Triplets of Belleville (France, 2003), and The Secret of Kells (Irish-French-Belgian, 2009). Full animation

10890-482: The world market of animation with a plethora of cel-animated theatrical shorts. Several studios would introduce characters that would become very popular and would have long-lasting careers, including Walt Disney Productions ' Goofy (1932) and Donald Duck (1934), Fleischer Studios / Paramount Cartoon Studios ' Out of the Inkwell ' Koko the Clown (1918), Bimbo and Betty Boop (1930), Popeye (1933) and Casper

11000-520: Was Nelvana 's first foray into animation outsourcing. Most of episodes from the first season were animated in Japan by Tokyo Movie Shinsha , while a few episodes were animated in Taiwan by Cuckoo's Nest Studio , before being finished in post production by DiC and Nelvana. The pilot episode, "Winter Olympics" (a.k.a. "Gadget in Wonderland"), was animated by TMS's subsidiary Telecom Animation Film , who had

11110-567: Was a series of animated PSAs that was made by Filem Negara Malaysia from 2008 till 2013 which is also commonly known as "Pak Abu PSAs" and was frequently shown in Malaysian TV channels. In 2021, the Malaysia Government produced a series of PSAs known as "Lindung Diri, Lindung Semua" ("Protect Yourself, Protect All"). The PSAs cover information about COVID-19 vaccines and the benefits of vaccination. The series also features

11220-429: Was also revealed that its rating for Kids 2-11 increased by 25% from November 1985 to February 1986. Inspector Gadget was adapted into a 1999 live action film by Disney starring Matthew Broderick as the titular character, Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, and Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw, with Gadget's original voice actor, Don Adams, as Brain in a post-credits scene. Despite being

11330-464: Was done in Paris. It included helicopter blades and was based on Andy Heyward and one of the directors of the series. It was scrapped from the writers' confusion of the design, and production assistant Mike Maliani and Andy Heyward simplified the designs to avoid confusion. Gadget went through approximately 350 sketches before reaching his final design. Inspector Gadget originally had a mustache (as shown in

11440-417: Was generally done at K.K. DiC Asia (later Creativity & Development Asia), a Japanese animation house Jean Chalopin co-founded that DiC had some ownership in at the time. The role of Inspector Gadget went through two different voice actors before Don Adams was cast. The first voice of Inspector Gadget was provided by Jesse White , but his voice characteristics were not tested well. Gary Owens auditioned

11550-543: Was gradually developed since the 1940s. 3D wireframe animation started popping up in the mainstream in the 1970s, with an early (short) appearance in the sci-fi thriller Futureworld (1976). The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film to be completely created digitally without a camera. It was produced using the Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), developed by Pixar in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company in

11660-467: Was itself acquired by DHX Media in 2012. Inspector Gadget, the titular character of the series, is a world-famous cyborg police inspector who works for a secret police organization that combats crime across the globe, with each of his missions focused on thwarting the criminal schemes of M.A.D. (which stands for "Mean And Dirty")—a criminal organization led by the nefarious Dr. Claw, and conducted by his agents. Missions that he undertakes often occur in

11770-581: Was officially published as a 48-page book in August. A new CGI animated Inspector Gadget TV series was developed in 2012. It was commissioned by Teletoon and put into pre-production by Cookie Jar Entertainment . It was mentioned by Ray Sharma, the CEO of XMG Studio , in January 2012. Sharma described how the success of the game had resulted in a new TV series being in the making: "We did 1 million downloads in

11880-612: Was on September 5, 1983, on WFSL-TV in Lansing, Michigan . According to the Syndication Leaders chart in Electronic Media issued on March 1, 1984, the series was renewed for a second season. On August 20, 1984, Television/Radio Age explained that the series was renewed for a second season due to its success, ordering 20 to 25 additional episodes. On October 15, 1984, Broadcasting Magazine announced that

11990-597: Was released in Australia in 1986 through ABC Records. While many of its tracks overlapped with those of the French LP, five tracks were exclusive to the Australian LP. In her book Robot Takeover: 100 Iconic Robots of Myth, Popular Culture & Real Life , Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic says she considers the theme music to be widely recognized around the world. The series was a "global hit" and its theme song became "iconic". However, she notes that copies of

12100-482: Was widely exploited for propaganda. Many American studios , including Warner Bros. and Disney, lent their talents and their cartoon characters to convey to the public certain war values. Some countries, including China, Japan and the United Kingdom, produced their first feature-length animation for their war efforts. Animation has been very popular in television commercials, both due to its graphic appeal, and

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