In the original pilot, Inspector Gadget had a mustache. However, DIC received a letter from MGM that Gadget closely resembled the animated incarnation of MGM's Inspector Clouseau, and infringed on intellectual property. Ergo, DIC decided to remove Gadget's mustache.
Andy Heyward came up with the idea for Inspector Gadget in 1981 while working on Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. He wrote the pilot episode script himself, which was produced for television in 1982.
Jesse White and Gary Owens were originally considered for the role of Inspector Gadget. Owens created the catchphrase of "Wowsers". But Don Adams read the lines best of all so he was hired.
Dr. Claw's face was never shown throughout the entire run of the show, though his cartoon face was finally revealed via his action figure release.
The recurring MAD agents in the series actually had names. The names were used by the production staff, though none of their names were spoken on air during the series. The following are the names of the MAD agents followed by a brief description of their appearances. - Fred: Large, hulking build, low brow, no visible neck. - Dick: Tall, thin, wiry limbs, combed-over hair, pointy nose. - Pops: Bald, grumpy old man with a big jaw. - Jarvis: Fat, balding middle-aged man with no neck. - Bruce: Muscular build, large chin. Resembles Buzz Lightyear. - Slick: Slicked-back hair with a goatee. - Lenny: Tall and lumbering, has a dopey-looking face with a long nose. - Squirt: Short and toad-like in appearance.
MAD is known as an acronym for two things: Malevolant Agency [of] Destruction and Mean And Dirty. It has also been speculated as meaning Men Against Dogs.
According to Andy Heyward and Michael Maliani on the DVD bonus features, about 150 sketches were made of Inspector Gadget before his appearance was settled on.
According to the trading cards of the series, Inspector Gadget is said to have 14,000 gadgets in his body. Other facts include that Inspector Gadget works for INTERPOL (International Police) on worldwide missions and was surgically reconstructed as a bionic man after an accident when he was chasing a villain (presumably Dr. Claw), slipped on a banana peel, and fell down many flights of stairs.
Dr. Claw is based on Blofeld from the James Bond series. Much like Blofeld, his face is usually kept hidden, and only the character's hands can be seen. Another similarity is that he is almost always petting a cat with those visible hands.
Jim Carrey auditioned for the voice of Corporal Capeman.
The theme song seems to be a musical paraphrase of Edvard Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King," a song written for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt.
Don Adams reused some of Get Smart (1965)'s catchphrases for Gadget's character. These included "Would you believe...?" and "Sorry about that, Chief."
Frank Welker was unavailable to voice Dr. Claw in several episodes (_"Inspector Gadget" (1983) {M.A.D. Trap (#1.20)_, "Inspector Gadget" (1983) {Basic Training (#1.21)}, "Inspector Gadget" (1983) {Gadget Goes West (#1.25)} and "Inspector Gadget" (1983) {The Coo-Coo Clock Caper (#1.28)}), so Don Francks instead provided the voice. The difference in voices is quite noticeable. In fact, in "Race to the Finish", Francks provides some of the lines for Claw, while Welker provides the rest of the lines, resulting in the voice switching back and forth, at one point even in mid-sentence. As Francks delivers the line "More trouble than you think, little girl", Welker delivers the laughter that follows and the next line "Bye-bye, Gadget."
The first animated TV show whose sound was in stereo.
Penny and Chief Quimby were voiced by different people in the pilot.
This was the pilot episode of the series. One of the most notable differences from the series is that Inspector Gadget sports a mustache, which was dropped in later episodes because it made him look too much like the trademarked likeness of rival MGM Studios' character Inspector Clouseau (animated version).
At the end when Gadget goes over all the times he was "almost right", he adds, "would you believe close?" This is possibly a throw back to Maxwell Smart (also voiced by Don Adams and whom Inspector Gadget was loosely based), one of his many catchphrases being "would you believe...?"
The only episode where Chief Quimby is not blown up by a message.
This is the only episode in which Inspector Gadget and Dr. Claw appear in the same scene together.
The name of Waruda-san's cat is never mentioned. However, in the original storyboards and character designs, its name is Syco.
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