Gadget Boy & Heather
Gadget Boy & Heather is a French-American animated television series. The series is a co-production between DIC Productions, L.P.. France Animation and M6.[3] The series originally debuted in September 1995 in first-run syndication in the United States on Bohbot Entertainment's Amazin' Adventures II block and in October 1995 on M6 in France on the channel's M6 Kid block.
| Gadget Boy and Heather | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Gadget Boy (Season 1 title) Gadget Boy's Adventures in History (Season 2 title, English) Gadget Boy: Détective à Travers le Temps (Season 2 title, French) |
| Genre | Comedy[1] |
| Created by | Eleanor Burian-Mohr Phil Harnage |
| Based on | Inspector Gadget by Bruno Bianchi Andy Heyward Jean Chalopin |
| Developed by | Christophe Izard (season 1) Jack Hanrahan (season 1) Eleanor Burian-Mohr (seasons 1-2) |
| Directed by | Pascal Morelli Charlie Sansonetti |
| Voices of | Don Adams Tara Charendoff Stevie Vallance Maurice LaMarche |
| Theme music composer | Mike Piccirillo |
| Country of origin | France United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | DIC Productions, L.P. France Animation |
| Distributor | United States DIC Entertainment Bohbot Entertainment (Syndicator) Europe M6[2] |
| Release | |
| Original network | France M6 United States First-run syndication (Gadget Boy) The History Channel (Adventures in History) |
| Original release | September 9, 1995 – March 7, 1998 |
Plot
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.[4] 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.
Cast
Main characters
- Gadget Boy: Gadget Boy, voiced by Don Adams and later Maurice LaMarche in English, and Luq Hamet and later Élie Semoun in French, 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). Much like Inspector Gadget, Gadget Boy is equipped with gadgets in his body while he is 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 a 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 in English and Catherine Privat in French, is an Interpol agent and the aide to Gadget Boy. She is a more resourceful agent and is the equivalent of Penny from 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 from 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.
Supporting
- Spydra: Spydra, voiced by Louise Vallance in English and Monique Thierry in French, is the main villain of the series. 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 a vulture named 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 his 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 from the original Inspector Gadget series. Unlike this, however, Mulch and Hummus are the only henchmen to Spydra, as opposed to a 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).
- 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 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 from 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
The second season of the series was produced in 1997, and was titled Gadget Boy's Adventures in History. In this series, the young detective has to stop the evil Spydra across time and was made to fulfill E/I criteria. This version, like Inspector Gadget's Field Trip, an Inspector Gadget spin off, aired on The History Channel. The series was later repeated on Toon Disney like with Season 1, and also on This is for Kids on This TV until September 23, 2011.
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
Home media
On May 28, 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a DVD/VHS titled "Gadget Boy Saves the World", containing four episodes (three on the VHS) of the series. The DVD was re-released by NCircle Entertainment in 2008 alongside another DVD titled "Along Came A Spydra", which also contained four episodes.
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 and also contains bonus episodes from other Cookie Jar-owned cartoons.[5] Mill Creek also released a 10 episode best-of collection titled "Stopping Evil Across Time" on the same day, also containing a bonus episode of Johnny Test.
Airing
The first season originally aired on First-run Syndication through Bohbot Entertainment's Amazin' Adventures II block, while Adventures in History and reruns of Season 1 aired on The History Channel until 2000.
In the United States, reruns were shown on Toon Disney, between 1998 and 2001. From 2010-September 2011, the series reaired on This TV on their Cookie Jar Toons block.
In the United Kingdom, the series aired on BBC One and BBC Two on the CBBC block from 1997 to 2001, after which from 2002-2012 (approx) it ran during the early hours of the morning on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
From 1998 to 2000, the series was broadcast in Canada on Family Channel.
References
- "Gadget Boy & Heather". FilmAffinity. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- https://kidscreen.com/1996/04/01/16975-19960401/
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 300. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 429–432. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- "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.