During the 1990's in Hollywood, a funny thing happened. Studios began to suddenly think that by re-imagining previous cartoons as live-action films, they could stand to make a tidy little profit. The Walt Disney Studios got off to quite a huge start when their 1996 starring vehicle 'George of the Jungle' (taken from the cartoon of the same name by legendary creator Jay Ward) made upwards of $100 million. Suddenly, a new trend had caught on. But not wanting to stop there, Disney thought they'd try again. Though this time, with a hot cartoon property from the 1980's, dubbed 'Inspector Gadget.'
The previews touted a fun, rollicking film, where Gadget would be a live-action crime-fighting 'tool,' complete with Gadgetcopter, extendo-legs, and much more. But aside from all the cool, techno-gadgetry, the film became the stuff of typical executive schlock. The town where our characters reside is colored so garish that you'd assume color-blind monkeys did the decorating work. What's more, most of the plot devices that made the cartoon series memorable have been jettisoned in favor of a jive-talking Gadgetmobile with trademark-friendly sponsors, pop-up-video-style memory flashbacks, and more.
What made the cartoon series work so well, was we never did learn most of the big questions, like 'how did Gadget get his gadgets?' 'Why does Dr Claw hate Inspector Gadget?' And even the most important one: 'what does Claw look like?'
For this film, those questions are answered for us, and it gets to the point where you just want them not to tell you these things.
'Inspector Gadget' is a throwaway summer film, as well as a mindless babysitter for when you need to do your laundry.
what Disney Studios crafted here was something so brainless that parents most likely got bored while their children were held in place with cheap live-action gags and the usual round of fart and poop jokes.
The previews touted a fun, rollicking film, where Gadget would be a live-action crime-fighting 'tool,' complete with Gadgetcopter, extendo-legs, and much more. But aside from all the cool, techno-gadgetry, the film became the stuff of typical executive schlock. The town where our characters reside is colored so garish that you'd assume color-blind monkeys did the decorating work. What's more, most of the plot devices that made the cartoon series memorable have been jettisoned in favor of a jive-talking Gadgetmobile with trademark-friendly sponsors, pop-up-video-style memory flashbacks, and more.
What made the cartoon series work so well, was we never did learn most of the big questions, like 'how did Gadget get his gadgets?' 'Why does Dr Claw hate Inspector Gadget?' And even the most important one: 'what does Claw look like?'
For this film, those questions are answered for us, and it gets to the point where you just want them not to tell you these things.
'Inspector Gadget' is a throwaway summer film, as well as a mindless babysitter for when you need to do your laundry.
what Disney Studios crafted here was something so brainless that parents most likely got bored while their children were held in place with cheap live-action gags and the usual round of fart and poop jokes.