Inspector Gadget: The Gadget Files
List Price: $14.99
Studio: UAV Entertainment
DVD Release Date: July 6, 2004
Run Time: 110 minutes
Video: Fullscreen (Standard) - 1.33:1
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)

Inspector Gadget is the world’s most technologically advanced and blundering detective! Fully aware of his potential for inadvertent destruction, criminals, thieves, and bandits fear for their lives whenever Inspector Gadget appears on the scene. Even his nemesis, the evil Doctor Claw, gets a little nervous. But, thanks to the intelligent help of his young niece, Penny, and his faithful, long-suffering dog, Brain, our hero always manages to vanquish his enemies and emerge victorious in the end.

DVD Features:
• Sneak Peeks
• Original Public Service Announcements
• Interview with Andy Heyward

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INTRODUCTION
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Inspector Gadget originally began airing more than 20 years ago on September 10, 1983. Inspector Gadget has gone on to become one of the most popular and highly recognized cartoons of all time. This volume includes the first five episodes from the original series in order by air date.

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STORY - Rating: 7 (out of 10)
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There really isn’t anything to complain about as far as the story goes. Anyone familiar with the character and the series should have a good idea of what to expect. Every episode follows a similar format. Gadget receives a mission (blowing up Chief Quimby in the process) and stumbles onto Dr. Claw’s plot entirely by accident. He always succeeds at foiling Claw’s plan by a combination of sheer dumb luck as well as through the aid of his loyal dog, Brain, and his niece, Penny. While simple, the story has survived more then 20 years and still appeals to a wide audience.

Winter Olympics (Original Air Date 9-10-83)
The first episode of the series has Gadget safeguarding the Winter Olympics. Dr. Claw unleashes plan after plan in an attempt to destroy Gadget only to fail every time. His final attempt involves a giant mechanical monster who nearly succeeds in ruining the Olympics.

Monster Lake (Original Air Date 9-17-83)
In this episode, Gadget is sent to protect a scientist at a lake rumored to contain a monster. Unfortunately, the scientist has disappeared before Gadget even arrives, forcing him to search for him. Of course, it turns out that the rumors are based entirely on a mechanical monster belonging to Dr. Claw.

Down on the Farm (Original Air Date 9-24-83)
Gadget and Penny are unable to go on a vacation when he is sent on a mission to recover a stolen missile. Of course, Gadget continues his fumbling tradition only to stumble on Dr. Claws farm where he is storing the missile. Of course, Gadget doesn’t notice all the obvious signs that something strange is going on. In fact, he pays no attention to the M.A.D. signs littering various areas of the farm.

Gadget at the Circus (Original Air Date 10-1-83)
Gadget is sent to the circus after rumors spread that M.A.D. agents are using the circus as a base to conduct Dr. Claws dirty work. Gadget is supposed to expose the M.A.D. agents and destroy Dr. Claw’s cover while avoiding Claw’s repeated attempts to destroy him.

Tha Amazon (Original Air Date 10-8-83)
The fifth episode of the series introduces Professor Von Slicksfein, who gave Gadget his gadgets. Dr. Claw kidnaps the professor and forces him to create an army of robots to use against his nemesis. The professor makes several attempts to foil Claw’s plans through creative programming. Penny convinces Dr. Claw to use Gadget’s brainwaves to program the machine. Just before all seems lost, Dr. Claw’s plans are stopped by a simple banana.

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ANIMATION - Rating: 6 (out of 10)
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The animation is about what you would expect for a series of this age. It is starting to show signs of wear, but overall is still quite good. There is, however, one episode worth a closer look. In the first episode, Winter Olympics, fans of the series are sure to notice several things. First, this episode shows the greatest animation problems of all the episodes on this disc. Repeatedly throughout the show, you are likely to notice blemishes similar to those seen on theatrical movies. In other words, there are lines and spots that were likely to have been caused by lint and other particles on the original film. One thing even more notable the quality problems with this episode is the major change which Inspector Gadget underwent between the first two episodes. In Winter Olympics, Gadget actually had a mustache. His mustache appears exclusively in this episode. In fact, while the title sequence remains relatively unchanged, several images had to be substituted in the future episodes in order to completely eliminate all signs of Gadget’s facial hair. More than anything else on this DVD, Gadget’s mustache is the one thing that surprised me the most. Before this, I never knew he had had a mustache at one time. Honestly, I am glad they decided to remove it as it made him look very strange.

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AUDIO - Rating: 8 (out of 10)
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The audio on this DVD was surprisingly good when compared to the animation. While the animation has shown signs of aging, the audio sounds as good as ever. Besides the theme songs, the best part of the audio is the use of Don Adams, from Get Smart, as the voice of Gadget. This just seemed like the obvious choice given the nature of the character. Unfortunately, there are no options for audio playback. The entire DVD utilizes strictly Dolby Digital 2.0 with no option to turn on subtitles. This isn’t entirely unexpected, however, it would have been nice to play the DVD in English with subtitles.

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EXTRAS - Rating: 2 (out of 10)
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Unfortunately, the DVD is very short in the area of special features. In fact, the only special features included on the DVD were the original public service announcements, sneak peeks at the other UAV releases, and an interview with Andy Heyward. While these were all welcome additions, there could have easily been other features that could have been included. Also, the interview with Heyward was extremely short. In fact, 2 of the 10 questions asked weren’t even really answered. He basically said just a couple words on both of them and that was it. One other thing I would have liked to see changed was the packaging. While the artwork is great and it included some useful information (like original air dates), I was annoyed that they chose to use regular keep case packaging. They didn’t include any inserts inside the case (not even a single sheet with basic info-which is quite common). Needless to say, I would have preferred to see them either include some sort of insert or utilize a thin pack instead or, for that matter, they could have done both (this is my preference). At least the case would have taken up less room, something I am already lacking.

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OVERALL - Rating: 6 (out of 10)
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While this release could have been better (especially with the inclusion of extras and the way it was packaged), this release is still a great addition to the library of any Gadget fan. Despite its age, the series has survived well overall although it does show some problems. I definitely recommend picking it up if you get the chance.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4