Gadget Boy & Heather
| Gadget Boy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as |
'Gadget Boy & Heather (Season 1 title) Gadget Boy's Adventures in History (Season 2 title) |
| Genre | Comedy[1] |
| Starring | Don Adams |
| Theme music composer | Mike Piccirillo |
| Country of origin |
Canada France United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
DIC Entertainment France Animation Tribune Entertainment |
| Distributor | DHX Media |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Métropole 6 (France) First-run syndication, The History Channel (United States) TCC (United Kingdom) |
| Original release | September 9, 1995 – March 7, 1998 |
Gadget Boy & Heather is an animated television series from DIC Entertainment. The series debuted in 1995 in first-run syndication in the United States and on M6 in France.
This series is about "Gadget Boy", a bionic kid-detective with a personality similar to that of Inspector Gadget. Just as maladroit as the original Inspector Gadget, Gadget Boy was usually bailed out of situations by the more practical Heather, though he was also helped greatly by his myriad high-tech gadgets and extendable arms and legs. Gadget Boy's bionic implants were installed by Switzerland-based inventor Myron Dabble (Maurice LaMarche) who has an unrequited crush on Heather. Gadget Boy and Heather receive their assignments from Italy-based Chief Stromboli (Maurice LaMarche), who, much like Chief Quimby, is a frequent, long-suffering victim of Gadget Boy's bungling. Gadget Boy is assisted by the beautiful and resourceful agent Heather (Tara Charendoff), a very tall equivalent of sorts to Penny (the difference being that Heather is in her early 20s). He is also assisted by a robotic dog named G-9 (Maurice LaMarche), who serves as the "Brain" of this series, which shows through his morphing capabilities to get the gang out of the stickiest situations.
The main villain of this series, instead of Dr. Claw, is the mask-wearing six-armed villainess Spydra (Louise Vallance) who is accompanied by Boris, a frequently abused, wisecracking, sarcastic vulture with a Russian accent, along with her henchmen Mulch and his twin brother Houmous, all played by Maurice LaMarche.
The main title theme song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. Musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo and Jean-Michel Guirao.
Characters
Heroes
- Gadget Boy: Gadget Boy, voiced by Don Adams and later Maurice LaMarche, is a bionic police detective working for Interpol in New York City. He is equipped by his dog, G-9, and assisted by Agent Heather. He was conceived as a bionic "child" with the personality of a "perfect adult detective" (although as with the aforementioned Inspector Gadget, he is anything but). Like Inspector Gadget, Gadget Boy is equipped with gadgets in his body and is as clumsy as Gadget, but will use the gadgets to get himself out of sticky situations. The bionic implants were installed by the inventor Myron Dabble. Agent Heather bails Gadget Boy out of danger, though he was also helped greatly by his myriad high-tech gadgets and extendable arms and legs. However, Gadget Boy is usually seen with Agent Heather and G9, unlike Gadget, who in the original series, will usually inform Penny and Brain once he receives his assignment that the mission is too dangerous and that he will be going on the mission alone, and usually be convinced that a disguised Brain is a M.A.D. agent. Gadget Boy and G-9 appear to switch between being fully robotic to being half robotic in different episodes. In #10, "Gadget Boy and the Uncommon Cold", it is revealed that Gadget Boy is half robot and thus catches the cold while G-9 does not. However, in #20, "Boy Power of Babble", Gadget Boy is unaffected by the "babblizer ray" because he is half robot with a mechanical brain, whereas G-9 is completely robotic. Don Adams voices Gadget Boy, similar to being the original voice of Inspector Gadget. Gadget Boy commonly says "Sowsers! Bowsers!", similar to Inspector Gadget's catchphrase, "Wowsers!".
- Agent Heather: Agent Heather, voiced by Tara Charendoff, is an Interpol agent and the aide to Gadget Boy. She is a more resourceful agent and is the equivalent of Penny in Inspector Gadget, except Agent Heather is much taller than Penny and appears to be in her early 20s, and is the love interest of the inventor Myron Dabble. Agent Heather has short red hair and blue eyes and wears a green jacket, white shirt, blue jeans, and dark blue ballet shoes. Her name is Estelle in the French version. It is revealed in Gadget Boy and the Wee Folk that her Blood Line is Irish.
- G-9: G-9, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is Gadget Boy's robotic dog, similar to Brain in Inspector Gadget. He can morph into anything and assists Gadget Boy to get him and his gang out of the stickiest situations. Gadget Boy and G-9 appear to switch between being fully robotic to being half robotic in different episodes. Although G-9 is a robot dog, in #20, "Boy Power of Babble", G-9 is revealed to be half robot when he is affected by the "babblizer ray", enabling him the ability to speak in an old English, intelligent accent. Unlike Brain, G-9 is usually seen with Gadget Boy, and Gadget Boy does not mistake him for being an enemy agent, as opposed to when the original Inspector Gadget will usually, on the case, mistake Brain appearing incognito for being a M.A.D. agent.
Villains
- Spydra: Spydra, voiced by Louise Vallance, is the main villain of Gadget Boy & Heather. Spydra wears a pink mask and has six arms, speaks in a loud voice, and is almost the female version of Dr. Claw. Her primary goals are to bring down Gadget Boy and commit grand crimes of all kinds. Usually, Spydra is seen in her lair, much like Dr. Claw is seen at his computer terminal, either in his castle or on the M.A.D.mobile, but does not run a large scale criminal organization similar to M.A.D. Also, Spydra's whole body can be seen, unlike Dr. Claw in the original series, where only his arms are seen and he is hiding behind a chair, and Spydra can get out of her chair. Spydra is named for resembling a spider, sporting six arms and keeping her face hidden under a mask. She occasionally takes her mask off to use one of her main powers: the ability to petrify anyone who sees her real face. Of course, the unmasking is always done off-screen or is obscured. Her pet is the vulture Boris, and she is usually abusive towards Boris, often using alliterations to insult Boris. Spydra's minions are the twin brothers Mulch and Hummus, the only recurring minions in the series, as opposed to the different recurring unnamed M.A.D. agents in Inspector Gadget (and sometimes a supervillain who will have a name and appear once, which is less apparent in the second season of the series). Her name is Arachna in the French version.
- Boris: Boris, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is Spydra's pet talking vulture. Boris is frequently abused by Spydra, and is wisecracking and sarcastic. He speaks in a Russian accent. Boris differs from M.A.D. Cat in that M.A.D. Cat is a foil to Dr. Claw, in which he will either be petted or pounded on, whereas Boris is only abused in many ways by Spydra, such as being insulted, thrown, or, in extreme cases, petrified by Spydra. He tends to remind Spydra he has a desk job and likes food.
- Mulch and Hummus: Mulch and Hummus, both voiced by Maurice LaMarche, are twin brothers and the criminal henchmen to Spydra. Spydra sends out Mulch and Hummus to do her dirty work. The design of Mulch and Hummus is somewhat like the recurring M.A.D. agents in the original Inspector Gadget series. Unlike this, however, Mulch and Hummus are the only henchmen to Spydra, as opposed to the large number of M.A.D. agents working for Dr. Claw. The running gag is she can't tell which is which (Boris says Hummus is the one with the big nose).
Other characters
- Myron Dabble: Myron Dabble, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is an inventor from Switzerland working for Interpol. He is the man who, like Professor von Slickstein, equipped Gadget Boy with his gadgets. Myron Dabble wears glasses and has an unrequited crush on Agent Heather. In the season 2 episode "Back to the Vulture", it is revealed that he was really born in Cleveland and spoke in a Swiss accent because he moved to Switzerland in his youth.
- Chief Drake Stromboli: Chief Stromboli, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, is the chief of Interpol. He is Italian and speaks in an Italian accent. Chief Stromboli has white hair and a white mustache and gives Gadget Boy and Heather their assignments. Like Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget, Chief Stromboli is a frequent, long-suffering victim of Gadget Boy's bungling. Assignments are printed on a long sheet of paper, often coming out of his tie, compared to the self destructing paper on which Inspector Gadget will receive his messages, and don't blow up in his face.
Gadget Boy's Adventures in History
In 1997, Gadget Boy appeared in Gadget Boy's Adventures in History, a special educational series. In this series, the young detective has to stop the evil Spydra across time. This version, like Inspector Gadget's Field Trip, an Inspector Gadget spin off, aired on The History Channel, and airs on This is for Kids on This TV until September 23, 2011.
At times Spydra's fails to use or change time to her liking during the series.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally Aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Aired | Last Aired | |||
| 1 | 26 | September 9, 1995 | March 16, 1996 | |
| 2 | 26 | September 6, 1997 | March 7, 1998 | |
Episode list
(Episodes are in chronological order, with place and time by it in parenthesis)
DVD release
On February 21, 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment released Gadget Boy's Adventures in History- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 3-disc set featured all 26 episodes from the second season of the series.[2] They also release a 10 episode best-of collection on the same day.
All 26 episodes of Gadget Boy & Heather are available on iTunes.
Airing
Initially shown in the UK on BBC One and BBC Two from 1997 to 2001 as Gadget Boy; it also ran in the early hours of the morning on Cartoon Network until 2009 and on Boomerang channel. In the United States, reruns were shown on Toon Disney, between 1998 and 2001. Until September 23, 2011, in the United States, the series airs on the This TV network. From 1998 to 2000, the series was broadcast in Canada on Family.
Spacetoon until 2013 and on Net Media channel in the Indonesia. Gadget Boy also made an appearance (of sorts) on Inspector Gadget's Field Trip in an episode where he drank the Fountain of Youth.
See also
References
- ↑ "Gadget Boy & Heather". FilmAffinity. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- ↑ "Gadget Boy DVD news: Announcement for (Season 2) Adventures in History: The Complete Series AND Adventures in History: Stopping Evil Across Time". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-13.