Inspector Gadget's Original Soundtrack on CD

Well, parts of it, anyway. On May 21 - only 2 days from now - you will be able to own a slice of Shuki Levy and Haim Saban's Inspector Gadget soundtrack on official CD! Click here to pre-order from the production company, or here for the Amazon.fr link. This is the first time any of the background music from the show has ever seen a CD release (or a legal modern-day release at all), making the above CD sensational news.



France's XIII Bis Music Group is the company behind this soundtrack edition, which they're releasing together with several other 80s TV soundtracks under a newly created label dubbed Télé 80 (as evidenced on the above cover). The tag line next to the logo reads, "The cult series from your childhood", which basically sums up what the label sets out to do: Télé 80's business plan is to re-release on CD the original LP soundtracks of numerous famous TV shows from the 1980s... and of course score big nostalgia points by recreating the look and contents of those vintage LPs. Case in point: Their "Inspecteur Gadget" CD even reuses the admittedly clumsy-looking cover of Saban Records' 1983 LP, "Inspecteur Gadget: Bande originale de la serie TV"... with the only major difference being that the image is flipped on the CD cover. (Also, the placing of the Gadget logo was better on the original, but that's nit-picking.)

Télé 80's CD soundtrack, 2012

Saban Records' original LP soundtrack, 1983

Still, as faithful as the Télé 80 edition is to its LP origins, the number of tracks on the CD has me a bit worried. Below, from Télé 80's official site, is the complete track listing (with English track titles added by me):

1. Inspecteur Gadget (Inspector Gadget) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’35

2. La chanson de Fino (Brain the dog - The Song) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’00

3. La chanson de Sophie (Penny's theme) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’30

4. Le Musée de l’art fou (Mad art in Museum) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’05

5. L’usine de chocolat (Chocolate factory) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’00

6. Le thème du Docteur Gang (Mad's theme) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’10

7. Gadget chez les Incas (Gadget with the Incas) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 0’50

8. Le Royaume (Kingdom) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’00

9. La course de voiture (Car race) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 1’10

10. Les Pharaons (Pharaohs) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 1’30

11. Thème d’ouverture (Opening theme, instrumental) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 1’10

12. Inspecteur Gadget (US Version) (Haim Saban / Shuky Levy) 2’50

My big question here is this: Why so few tracks? The original 1983 French LP edition had 22 tracks, and it would definitely not have been a problem to get all of them (and probably more) into one CD. Also, let's not forget the 1986 Australian LP edition "Inspector Gadget - The Music", which featured a few unique tracks worthy of inclusion as well. Why are these not here?

Making matters even more confusing, the blog 80s-records.net actually lists 23 tracks for the CD! This blog revealed the complete track listings for the first batch of Télé 80 CDs back in the beginning of April... and here's the track info they provided for Gadget (once again with English titles added by me):

1/ Inspecteur Gadget. (Inspector Gadget) 2'35.

2/ La chanson de Fino. (Brain the Dog - the song) 2'00.

3/ La chanson de Sophie. (Penny's theme) 2'30.

4/ Gadget sur Mars. (Gadget on Mars) 1'30.

5/ Le fantôme de Gadget. (Ghost) 2'00.

6/ Le musée de l'art fou. (Mad art in Museum) 2'05.

7/ Inspecteur Gadget au Japon. (Gadget in Japan) 2'05.

8/ L'usine de chocolat. (Chocolate factory) 2'00.

9/ Rodéo. (Rodeo) 1'30.

10/ Le thème du Docteur Gang. (Mad's theme) 2'15.

11/ Héros dans la jungle Africaine. (Heroes in African jungle) 1'50.

12/ Gadget chez les Incas. (Gadget with the Incas) 1'00.

13/ Fais gaffe Gadget. (Look out) 1'35.

14/ Gadget en difficulté. (Gadget in trouble) 1'10.

15/ Le désert d'Arabie. (Arabian desert) 1'15.

16/ Gadget le sophistiqué. (Sophisticated Gadget) 1'40.

17/ Thème du train. (Train Machine) 1'55.

18/ Le royaume. (Kingdom) 2'00.

19/ La course de voiture.(Car race) 1'15.

20/ Les Pharaons. (Pharaohs) 1'30.

21/ Le thème de Sophie (Instrumental version) (Penny's Theme) 2'30.

22/ Thème d'ouverture. (Opening theme, instrumental) 1'12.

23/ Inspecteur Gadget (Alternative US version). 2'30.

The funny thing is - while this information is probably outdated compared to Tele 80's site, the blog DID get the track listing from the official CD producers. Leading me to believe that, somewhere late in the production process of the "Inspecteur Gadget" CD, the producers suddently decided to cut half of the tracks planned for inclusion. This is especially strange as it would have made perfect sense to have all of these tracks on one CD... after all, track 1-22 are the exact tracks that were on the 1983 "Bande originale" LP. So why were they (apparently) taken out?

I sent Télé 80 a Facebook message asking how many tracks their "Inspecteur Gadget" disc REALLY contains - 12 or 23? I didn't get a clear answer, but here's what they wrote back:

"...many masters Saban burns and lost .We decide to make a CD just for Public but no for the fans , just a popular CD simple , when you find master , we are ok to make a Cd integral but the quality is very poor for this CD ...dramatic quality ...all masters lost ...thank you"

So Télé 80 didn't really answer my question... but they did point out one of the main problems of making a CD with Saban's music: the lack of master material. I'm no expert on the current situation of Saban's master recordings from the 1980s; but according to numerous forums and sites I've been visiting over the last few days, the consensus seems to be saying that the masters in most cases are either lost, rotted or burned. This means that CD producers must turn to ripping old LP editions in order to get Saban's soundtrack music in the best quality possible. So maybe - and this is just a theory - maybe the source LP that Télé 80 had for their "Inspecteur Gadget" CD was not in mint condition; and some of the tracks just didn't sound good enough to be released on CD. If this is the case, Télé 80 may have held off from releasing all the music because they want to extract the remaining tracks from a better-quality LP... and possibly release a Volume 2 later on. (Yes, I realize this is very optimistic thinking, but ALL of the available soundtrack music for Inspector Gadget deserves a proper re-release.) The last part of the official press release states that Télé 80 will launch a collection of 80 CDs in total between 2012 and 2015, so hopefully they're not done with Gadget after just this one volume. 

Bottom line: It does seem that the CD contains only 12 tracks, which is certainly a disappointment. But I'll still encourage you to buy and support this release. The compositions included are all great - and it sells for less than 6 €, after all! Sure, this CD is made for the general public rather than the hard-core collector, but think about it this way: We have never before had an official CD release of the show's soundtrack; and now it happens, almost 30 years after the original LPs were available! This is why it's important to support such an initiative: If enough people buy this first CD, it definitely increases the chances of a Volume 2 with the rest of the LP music. Good enough sales may even signal to the CD publishers that there is an interest out there for a bigger, more complete soundtrack edition... and it might prompt someone in charge to start a more thorough search for surviving music masters. Wouldn't it be fantastic to finally get soundtrack music which was never even released on the LPs? (This might be reaching for the stars, considering the status of Saban's masters, but you never know... it wouldn't surprice me if the masters for at least some original Saban scores still exist in usable condition, somewhere in the world; just misplaced and hidden so thoroughly that nobody knows where to find them.)

Personally, I'm gonna buy this CD regardless of what could have been better. And then I'm gonna write to Télé 80 and make suggestions for an "Inspecteur Gadget: Volume 2" CD. I strongly suggest that everybody who wants more of this fantastic soundtrack music does the same... the more people who speak up and show their interest, the bigger the chances are of getting what we want. You can write to Télé 80 several ways: Through the "Contact" section on their site, through their Facebook profile (either as a personal message or as a wall post)... or even to the e-mail address of someone working at XIII Bis Records: smonteiro@13bisrecords.com. (According to a post on the He-Man.org forums, the guy at this address will "forward to the team who's in charge of this [the Télé 80] project".) I'm not sure which option is the best for getting heard by Télé 80, but I recommend trying them all.

Oh, that's right: In addition to all that, I can't really leave this subject without mentioning the following to all you Levy/Saban fans out there: Several of the other Télé 80 soundtracks coming out on May 21 are also collections of their music - including The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Bomber X and He-Man. (Bomber X I've never even heard of, but just seeing that Levy and Saban did the music makes me curious to check it out.)

A few of these shows have gotten more complete soundtrack CDs before (for instance The Mysterious Citites of Gold), but at 5.95 € per piece, the Télé 80 discs are still a steal. Especially when it comes to "Inspecteur Gadget". So pre-order the CD right now either from XIII Bis themselves or from Amazon.fr... and don't forget to contact the producers telling them you want more!

MAJOR NEWS: New TV Series In Production Thanks To the Success of the "M.A.D Dash" Video Game

I really haven't got much time to blog at the moment, but when you come across information like this, it's hard not to. You might argue that it isn't exactly "news", as the quotes I'm presenting here are almost three months old already; but for some reason, I only heard about this a little while ago. And extremely few web sites seem to have even mentioned it so far. Read on to get the full story...

I've neglected to write much here about XMG Studios' hit mobile game Inspector Gadget: M.A.D Dash, mostly because I haven't yet had an opportunity to play it (I own neither an Iphone nor an Ipod Touch). But the previews and videos I've seen of the game generally look great, and its popularity has grown steadily since the release in December of 2010, easily making M.A.D Dash the most successful Inspector Gadget video game ever created. Still, the latest result of its success is something I would never have dreamt of.



A bit of context: Back in January, at the Mobile Games Forum 2012, XMG's CEO and co-founder Ray Sharma held a lecture about "transmedia" in the mobile game industry... using his Inspector Gadget: M.A.D Dash as an example of a mobile game that had successfully crossed over into non-game medias. Here's what Sharma had to say, according to a January 26 article by Jon Jordan of Pocket Gamer Biz:

"Go, go, again 

In terms of XMG's history, when it released its Inspector Gadget iOS game in late 2010, and you could buy the ringtone and unlock the 10 most popular TV episodes too. 

"We did 1 million downloads in a week, and it's reinvigorated the TV brand with a new TV series in production," Sharma revealed."

Yes, really. A mobile game has laid the groundwork for a new TV series. At first I thought this couldn't be true, but the Pocket Gamer Biz site seems genuine enough. Jordan repeats the fact in another article from January 30, again while on the subject of XMG's transmedia success:

"...its Inspector Gadget game was so successful that a new TV series has been commissioned."

And finally we also have this post from Pocket Gamer's Twitter account, posted the same day as Jordan's first article appeared:

pgbiz‏ @pgbiz 

'Son of Inspector Gadge't TV show in production on the back of Gadget iOS game success #mgf2012

Obviously hastily written, but let's ignore the misplaced quotation mark in "Gadget" and take a look at what these words seem to reveal. "Son of Inspector Gadget"? Is that possibly the title for this new TV series that Sharma mentions? The quotation marks in the post certainly seem to indicate it... and if that really is the case, then we can probably assume the following: This new TV series will not be a direct revival of the original series, but rather a continuation - canon or not - set years after the original.



The words "Son of" raise as many questions as they answer, though. Let's say, just for theory's sake, that this upcoming show will literally be about Inspector Gadget's son. Does that mean Gadget actually got married at some point? And got a family? Even more importantly, where do Penny and Brain fit into this picture... they're his family already, remember? Not to mention that I find it extremely hard to see how all of this will be pulled off convincingly. Sigh... part of me wishes that the new show's title could have been "Niece of Inspector Gadget" instead. That certainly sounds much more intriguing to me, as well as easier to fit into the show's established themes/universe.



On the other hand, I could be really jumping to conclusions here. The fourth source of information I came across is from a different source altogether, namely an article by Joost Rietweld on the site Gaming Business Review. Interestingly enough, it seems to slightly contradict the above Twitter post. Published on January 31, here's the relevant quote from Rietweld's piece, "Mobile Games Forum 2012: Industry Shows Signs of Maturing":

"...Sharma was looking ahead by exploring cross-media, or transmedia, strategies. XMG’s mobile game for the somewhat forgotten animated TV series ‘Inspector Gadget’ spun-off a range of side products including best-selling ringtones, up to the point where the game “reinvigorated the TV series”. Indeed, a new season of the series is currently in the making."

Interesting how Rietweld's statement appears to be saying that "the series" - as in "the original series" - will simply be getting a new season. I would love for this to really happen, but it's a bit hard to believe given that almost any revival of a creative property these days insists on changing around everything that made the property great to begin with.

   However... there is one thing which sorta kinda supports the theory that the upcoming TV series MIGHT be a revival of the original series: That's what "M.A.D. Dash" is.



           



For those not familiar with the game, just take a look at the above gameplay video and you'll see what I mean. The design and animation instantly evoke the 1983 series. The game makers use original voice clips, sound effects with an authentic feel... even the theme music is there! (This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. M.A.D Dash marks the first time an Inspector Gadget game has used Shuki Levy's theme song since the late 80s, due to a monetary conflict that arose between DiC and Saban's company. Someone involved in this new game - at Cookie Jar or at XMG - apparently realized how extremely important that music is to the success of Inspector Gadget, and cleared the rights issue. Smart move.) In short, nearly everything about this game seems to cleverly bring back memories of the original TV show... and that accounts for a huge part of its popularity among older gamers.



This is the reason why the "Son of Inspector Gadget" title (true or not) doesn't quite make sense to me. The upcoming TV series is obviously being produced "on the back of the iOS game's success", right? And the game is based directly on the 1983 TV series. Why, then, would they follow up this game's success with a new TV show making a lot of changes to the original series? Wouldn't it, in fact, be logical to give viewers more of the original instead?



I don't know... I'm not gonna pretend I understand corporate logic. I do know, however, that I want more facts about this show! Information so far is pretty vague, with two of the above-mentioned sources even outright contradicting each other. And it's a bit strange that Cookie Jar - whom I at least presume is the production company behind this TV series - hasn't made any official announcements yet. Still, we don't know how far into production the show is... judging by Sharma's direct qoute, the only thing we know is that it IS somewhere in production. Let's hope it gets finished and released. Yes, the new show can wind up being both good and bad; but until we know more, I'm gonna remain enthusiastic about the fact that a new Gadget series is FINALLY being made! Think about it: For the first time ever, we're getting a reboot series without the involvement of DiC -  the company which almost ruined the franchise during the 90s and 2000s with their own, awful Gadget reboots. Cookie Jar has every chance of raising the bar, and I'm hoping they intend to do just that. Whether their new series proves to be a complete reimagining or a faithful recreation of the original... I want to see what they can do with Inspector Gadget.



But enough of my babbling. You've heard my theories and thoughts, now it's time to voice your own! What do you think?

Vintage Merchandise: It's Greek to Everybody

This must be one of the weirder merchandise illustrations I've seen in a while... but somehow it still has a cool vibe to it. Up for sale on Ebay (directly from Greece) is this Greek edition of an Inspector Gadget board game that was released in the 80s. They get a lot of strange touches into this cover drawing: All of Gadget's clothing has the wrong colors (except for the pants), Penny's eyes look REALLY freaky (and dead)... and then you have M.A.D. Cat, who's actually integrated into the Greek Inspector Gadget logo, from which he pops out and grins at our heroes like the Chechire Cat from "Alice in Wonderland". (Is M.A.D. Cat a fan, I wonder?) Gadget even points at him with a playful smile... now what the heck is THAT supposed to mean? Of course, he probably doesn't know that M.A.D. Cat belongs to Dr. Claw, but I almost get the feeling that he's saying: "You rascal, you... sitting on top of my logo like that!"



It's hard to explain why I kinda like this drawing, but then again, a lot of stuff in this world is hard to explain...

Gadget, Nozzaire & the Gadgetinis Storyboards

Came across a couple of Gadgetinis storyboards at the French blog BOO! Illustrations! I've never seen storyboards from Gadget & the Gadgetinis before, so I thought I'd showcase them here for those interested. I assume they were done by the person running the blog, a storyboard artist, illustrator and teacher who simply calls him or herself "Boo".

     Not sure which episode this first board is from (as I've still not seen the entire series)... so if anyone can identify the exact episode, please do so in the comments!

The second storyboard below, though, I managed to recognize. It's from episode 50, "Operation Get Gadget", about 5 1/2 minutes in. Briefly explained, this scene is about Gadget's superior in the spinoff, Colonel Nozzaire, being hit by some high-tech radio waves (shot at him by an off-screen MAD agent) which hypnotises the colonel into wanting one thing only: To destroy Gadget. Pretty bad timing, considering that Nozzaire had just brought Gadget some chocolate to apologize for his generally aggressive attitude. And just as Gadget receives this chocolate, the colonel is hit...

I can't seem to find the episode online anywhere... but below, you can check out the matching screenshots from the finished scene. (By the way, for anyone caring about such small details: Note that the short close-up of Gadget eating yet another chocolate (panel 6-7 in the above storyboard) was dropped from the final scene.)

"Cro et Bronto" - Bruno Bianchi's Very First Cartoon Series?

Wow, I stand corrected! In my December 10 post, reminiscing about Gadget's late creator Bruno Bianchi, I wrote that the original Inspector Gadget series was Bianchi's first outing as a director. That's what I always thought... but it appears not to be the case. Bruno Bianchi actually had experience from directing at least one TV cartoon series before Inspector Gadget! Presenting... CRO et BRONTO from 1980!

This show is interesting to Inspector Gadget fans not only because of the involvement of Bruno Bianchi, but also as a piece of ancient DiC history! Yep, this cartoon was of course made by DiC, where Bianchi had already been working since 1977. First broadcast in March of 1980, Cro et Bronto was a co-production between DiC and Antenna 2, the French channel that aired all of the show's 45 episodes, running for 1 minute and 20 seconds each. Below is the series' title screen:

I've never seen this show and it appears extremely hard to see at all. In fact, I can't locate a single clip of it online, not even an intro - and that in itself is saying a lot. The only proper information available anywhere seems to be on the French cartoon site Planete Jeunesse, which at least provide an article containting a few detailed facts and some screenshots.

According to Planete Jeunesse, Cro et Bronto was clearly inspired by chase cartoons from the classic Hollywood era (think Chuck Jones' Roadrunner-Wile E. Coyote cartoons as well as Tex Avery and a plethora of others). It had no dialogue and focused entirely on slapstick comedy accompanied by music. The plots center around a hungry little stone age man named Cro and his obsessive attempts to catch and eat the dinosaur Bronto. Oh, but there is a twist to this predator-prey setup: Bronto, a peace-loving and plant-eating brontosaurus, actually has a crush on Cro... and never realizes that Cro is out to harm him (or her?)! Wow, Bronto's absent-minded personality almost reminds me of... Inspector Gadget!... 

And, needless to say, Cro's ambitious plans and traps for capturing Bronto has a tendency to backfire on him...

                               

The series was co-directed by Bruno Bianchi and Edouard David, with music by Claude Mann. Interestingly enough, Edouard David would go on to collaborate with Bruno Bianchi on the main character designs for Inspector Gadget. Knowing this, it wouldn't surprice me at all if Bianchi and David also did the character designs for Cro and Bronto. The designs in these screenshots certainly feel like Bianchi's style.

To finish off, here's an excerpt of a French comic book adaptation of the cartoon, originally published in the magazine Télé Récré A2 (and found online over at the blog Le Grenier de Récré A2). This comic book version is credited by Planete Jenuesse as part of the reason why Cro and Bronto is still remembered by some viewers today, since they apparently vanished from the television screens long ago. For the record, Télé Récré A2 was a magazine adapting the TV cartoons from Antenna 2's program block of the same name into comic book stories. Unlike the TV series, Cro and Bronto talk a lot... and they appear to have a semi-friendly relationship in some of these pages. What's the deal, is Cro out to catch Bronto or to mock him? Maybe the comic book artist (someone called Gen-Clo, according to the source blog) toyed a little with the characters' personalities...

Hope you enjoyed this slightly Gadget-related post about one of Bruno Bianchi's earlier projects. It may not be Inspector Gadget, but this show is certainly fascinating as a piece of DiC history I was never aware of before, as well as (possibly) Bruno Bianchi's first work as a cartoon director. (Don't quote me on that, though... I've been wrong before!)

The cover for a record edition featuring Cro et Bronto's theme song. I'd 

love to at least hear the song, but like the series itself, it seems pretty 

unfindable online...

Viper's Inspector Gadget Comic Gets Published in Spain

Well... what do you know?



         



It seems that Viper Comics' first Inspector Gadget issue (yes, issue -- I still can't get myself to call it a graphic novel when it's only 40+ pages long) is going abroad. If I'm interpreting the facts I've found correctly, the comics department of the Barcelonian publishing house La Galera is publishing "Inspector Gadget: Gadget on the Orient Express" in Spanish (left) and Catalan (right) language editions on February 21, 2012.



I'm sorta surpriced to see this happening in Spain before a country like France, which is probably still the place in the world where Gadget's popularity ranks the highest. On the other hand, it's nice to see the Inspector's new comic book extend its reach outside the United States, even if the comic itself is not exactly perfect.

Cinemassacre + Inspector Gadget = Review

I just found out that James Rolfe of Cinemassacre (probably best known as The Angry Video Game Nerd) came out with an in-depth, 2-part review of the Inspector Gadget series back in November! He starts out by saying it's one of his favorite cartoons of the 80s (cool to hear!) and goes on to make a lot of other (mostly) good points about the show's storylines, its inspirations and its characters. Watch and enjoy!



UPDATE (December 18, 2012): The Youtube video I had originally embedded are no longer working, so I'm embedding the review directly from Cinemassacre's official Blip Channel instead.