You know what they say: one good revival of a beloved 1980s animated series deserves another. We’ve already celebrated the upcoming remake of Disney’s DuckTales today, and Netflix announced they’ll be bringing audiences a new version of the classic cyborg detective Inspector Gadget, and they’ve also acquired the upcoming Danger Mouse remake, an adaptation of the children’s book series Bottersnikes & Gumbles, and a couple of other series aimed at the streaming service’s younger viewers. Go go Gadget party hat!
Inspector Gadget, somehow over 30 years old, is getting a CGI facelift with this DHX Media-produced remake, which will premiere in March. It looks like it’ll take place in the years after the original series, as Gadget’s niece Penny looks a little older in the picture above. In the show, the dreaded Dr. Claw and his crime organization MAD are douse the world in evil, and Gadget is back to use his endless array of body-tech to serve up justice. And obviously, Penny’s genius dog Brain will be back to assist his owner in saving her uncle from himself. Take a very brief peek at what we can expect below.
You may recall the last time Inspector Gadget entered pop culture was for the live-action 1999 film, in which Matthew Broderick played the bumbling detective, and Rupert Everett gave Dr. Claw a face and body. (It’s still blasphemous to me.) That said, nobody can hate on Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby. And the less said about the French Stewart-starring direct-to-dumpster sequel, the better. I’m pretty sure it will only take one of the new series’ 26 episodes to make us forget all about the big screen versions.
Coming in Spring 2016 is Danger Mouse, a revival of the classic British cartoon that served as a spoof of James Bond and other tech-savoring superspies. The new series will bring back all of the classic characters, including hamster sidekick Penfold, chinchilla spy boss Colonel K. (voiced by the hilarious Stephen Fry), archenemy crow Baron Silas Greenback and many more. Expect the state-of-the-art weaponry to be a tad more impressive than it was on the show’s 1981-1992 run. (And please, please let there be some Count Duckula involved.)
Also coming in Spring 2016 is Bottersnikes & Gumbles, based on the beloved book series from author S.A. Wakefield and illustrator Desmond Digby. This is being called a “fast-paced community comedy,” with a trio of joy-filled Gumbles attempting to stay out of the hair of their foul-mood neighbors, the Bottersnikes.
Also coming is Some Assembly Required, a live-action series in which a toy business-owning teenager hires some of his schoolmates to help him design new toys. (We can presumably expect to see their creations on store shelves everywhere after it premieres this summer.) Then there’s Super 4, a CGI-animated series that owes its existence to Playmobil toys that will follow a knight, a pirate, a secret agent and a fairy as they explore their planet and take down evildoers.
I don’t expect any of these shows to win me over as a 32-year-old, except for maybe Danger Mouse, but all I really want is for the original Inspector Gadget theme to be used. Go, Gadget, go!
