Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas

Starring:Don Adams, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Erica Horn
Director: Chuck Patton
Studio: Allumination Filmwor
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The evil Dr. Claw has thrown Santa down a manhole and hypnotized the elves into breaking the very toys they've just been making. It's a job for Inspector Gadget (voiced by Don Adams in his irrepressible Get Smart mode) with a big hand from his whip-smart niece Penny and her brainy dog. The trio heads up to the North Pole to rescue the big red guy, cheerfully butcher a Christmas song or two, and restore Yuletide order. Kids ages 3 and older will enjoy the hijinks as the bumbling inspector arrests the real Santa for impersonation and uses his jet propeller hat, spring legs, and other gadgets to great effect in Santa's workshop. This 23-minute video won't teach the kids their ABCs, but it's a lot of fun and there's something endearing about Penny's efforts to help her clueless uncle. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Description

There's trouble at the North Pole... and Doctor Claw, Inspector Gadget's nefarious arch-nemesis, is behind it! By capturing Santa Claus and programming all the Elves into drones, Claw hopes to ruin Christmas. Inspector Gadget is sent to investigate and takes a perilous tour of the Workshop with Santa's replacement - Santa Claw! Will Claw succeed in his diabolical plan or will Gadget, with a little help from Penny and the Brain, save Christmas and bring joy back to the world?

Customer Reviews:

Gadget makes it to DVD again........2006-03-03

This is an unusual DVD. It has the 1992 "Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas" special, as well as three extra episodes from 1983. The special is pretty neat, and the animation is a bit similar to the old series, but with newer music, as well as the original voice cast, too! The three episodes are neat, especially "So It Is Written." Actually, I would've preferred some more winter-themed episodes instead of the other three episodes here, such as "Gone Went the Wind" or "The Coo-Coo Clock Caper." However, like "The Gadget Files" and "The Original Series" DVD set from Shout! Factory, this one has its faults...

PROS
Three good episodes, with a fancy Christmas episode to go with it.

CONS
The lack of special features, and the following edits...

EDITS
The title of each episode is electronically added at the start of the episodes. When these cartoons originally aired, they had no episode titles!
The public service announcements at the end of the 1983 episodes were cut-and-pasted; they were taken out of the episodes and used as special features. This was highly unnecessary.
On the old episodes, the original DiC closing featuring Inspector Gadget dotting the "i" in the logo was cut. It was replaced with the "Incredible World of DiC" logo. The old LBS logo is also gone, while the Shout Factory DVD set keeps the LBS logo. The special also has the Kid in Bed plastered with the new DiC logo. This was completely ridiculous.

Overall, if you remember the "Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas" special, or if you just want to see the show again, this is the DVD for you.

Seven Years Later, Gadget Is Back...To Save Christmas!.......2004-12-02

Seven years after the original series ceased its original run, "Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas" was released as a prime-time special in December 1992.

Gadget is back (and still voiced by Don Adams), and this time, he has to rescue Santa and his hypnotized elves from his old adversary, Dr. Claw. It's up to Gadget, with some help from his niece Penny and loyal dog Brain, to put a stop to his plot to give Santa a bad name.

Most revival series, specials and movies aren't usually up to par, but this one is actually pretty good. Gadget fans will appreciate the similarites between this special and the original series, as opposed to the live-action movie with Matthew Broderick.

Pros:
*Gadget is still voiced by Don Adams.
*Most of the reoccuring gags are still used such as the exploding message, lines such as "Chief, is that you? ...you're where?" Also, Gadget still uses most of his original gadgets: gadget handcuffs, gadget copter, gadget legs, and so on.
*Penny and Brain are still a significant part of the episode.
*Three additional episodes from the series are included with the special: "The Weather in Tibet", "So It Is Written" and "Birds of a Feather"

Cons:
*Unlike the original series, the music for the special was not by Haim Saban & Shuki Levy, but the music is still good nonetheless. (Although there is really nothing that can compare with the original score of the show.) Naturally, the three extra episodes' music are by Saban/Levy so that should be some consolation.
*This Christmas special was a bit more light-hearted than the original series, but it doesn't seem to take away from the charm of the show.

Overall, any Gadget fan would enjoy this. Hopefully, DiC will continue to release additional episodes of the original series.

Not like the old TV series.......2001-11-30

I had seen Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas and I was rather embarassed by it. For one thing, the animation here seems like it was targeted for really small kids. The old animated series was done in the Japanese anime style (fact is, all the animation was made in Japan). With Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas, it looks like all the animation was made right here in America and it comes across as being surprisingly childish, while the original series was anything but childish. I guess the point here was they were trying to target this version of Inspector Gadget to the same kids who watch Barney, totally forgetting that there were plenty of people at that time (1992) who remembered the original series (simply because Nickelodeon was airing it on regular basis at that time, and still did until recently, now ABC Family, formerly Fox Family airs it). While Dr. Claw still sounds like his old self and you still don't see his face, and Penny and Brain is still doing Gadget's real work, I find this really dumbed down and really lacks the charm and appeal of the original series. To me I think this is a disgrace to the Inspector Gadget name, but I can be only thankful it's not quite as bad as the non-animated Disney made in 1999.

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