Subject: Can't say that one rings a bell...
Author:
Posted on: 2013-01-06 21:45:00 UTC
And quite honestly, the old little kids' shows - like PB&J Otters, Out of the Box!, and Bear in the Big Blue House - those were so much more fun than the newer stuff, like Jake and the Neverland Pirates. You just can't beat arts and crafts shows and talking, anthropomorphic animal puppets.
I feel so old right now...
And now I'm stuck with the Italian opening theme of the cartoon playing in my mind.
And I'm enjoying every single second of it.
No idea what the Italian opening is like, but I do just about remember the English version. That, and the main villain (whose name I can't remember) saying 'I'll get you next time, Gadget' in that very sinister voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WafLY_MDMNw
A chunk is missing at the end, but I think it's more than enough.
...And here I am humming it again.
...now I'm humming it too, only I'm doing it really badly because I haven't heard it enough to remember it properly.
Quite different to the English version. For some reason it made me think of the Pink Panther intro, now I have that stuck in my head too.
I can remind you:
Doctor Claw (because he was missing a hand.)
He wore metal gauntlets on them, though.
It's in the first Disney movie that Claw (yes, only Claw in that movie) had the bionic "claw", but that movie has a lot of continuity issues.
To the point that the second movie is probably in another continuity altogether, since they fixed most of the stuff.
(They kept the rather annoying talking Gadgetmobile, and even painted it purple though. I preferred the one from the toon)
...I need to watch that cartoon again...
His true appearance was revealed only for his action figure:
Quite of a letdown, actually. Especially for Italian fans, as he had a very deep voice in the italian dub... putting it together with that deranged face ended up with a "DOES NOT COMPUTE" from my brain.
(And I was wrong, he wore the metal gauntlet only on his right hand. Some say that it is actually a robotic hand, but nobody knows for sure.)
I could have sworn I saw an episode where the chair spun to face the audience, and it was just an empty chair with a robot arm coming out the back of it...
It's even in the Italian opening. However, it was also clear that it was just a decoy. With a cartoony bomb next to the arm.
I thought he was from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, but it turns out that's 'The Hooded Claw'.
I'm pretty sure there was also 'The Claw' as a villain in some other cartoon... I'm sensing a pattern here, are claws just generally evil?
Well, yeah.
So are dark-colored hoods, ninjas that aren't bright colors, copy-cat heroes, gravel voices and bigger guns than what the heroes have.
Proof that villains these days do not make proper use of the Evil Overlord Guide.
Dark-hooded people and dark-clothed ninjas, remember?
/baps with great prejudice
Afterall, spys are backstabin', dime-a-dozen, sleazeballs. Like you! No offence.
OK, so I messed up the quote, sue me! No, wait, on second thought, DONT sue me. I'm not a fan of glitter.
(While you are right on the whole about spys, you did forget an important fact about them.)
Yeah, what?
{They're right behind you.}
SWEET CELESTIA, HEL-*gurgle*
{...Gentlemen. *vanishes*}
Im'ma go with the cartoon version, because it was AMAZING.
Danananana, Inspector Gadget. Danananana, woohoo!
You know, here in Italy we have an habit of making our own theme to be used both as opening and ending.
Some are amazing, some... less so.
Until a few years ago both big broadcasting coprorations (RAI and Mediaset) used to do their own themes using random chunks of episodes to go along, but recently RAI started using the original openings, only with Italian lyrics (aside from the more mature anime broadcasted on Rai 4, as those keep the Japanese ones.). Mediaset instead started using the video from the original openings along with all-new songs.
The movie... It was fun, but it wasn't a great adaptation.
The movie was corny. Cute, fun, sure, but... really corny.
Now I am going through all these shows I watched as a little guy. Blues Clues, which my mother loves still. Steve taught so much while having fun. Cyberchase, which if you remove most of the blatent 'we are teaching math!' elements, is still a good show. Magic School Bus, my first science teacher, and arguably the best. Bear in the Big Blue House, from which I named my ever-disapearing dog Shadow, because of, well, Shadow. Others, slowly coming back. Man, good times as a little Jumper.
Then again, I would also stick around to catch House of Mouse, which was arguably the best thing the Disney Channel ever did. I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid.
But recently, I found an old disk case from when I was a kid. Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, and Put Put, all from Humongous. Carmen Sandiago, for whom I wrote my first, unknowing, fanfic. No, I do not have it, but I was about seven or eight when I wrote it, so there you go. Do you guys remember these games? How about other computer games from your nerdy youth?
And Bugs In Boxes, let's not forget.
"Nobody breaks their legs like Gaston!" -flings himself down the stairs to the basement-
I still enjoy rewatching it. To think I used to watch it for the science, when the characters are really interesting. (There's actually a thriving teenage fanbase, mostly based around "which of these kids will get with the other kids when they're in high school" Ship wars galore.)
And Blue's Clues--over the summer, my sister and I babysat for a two year old girl, and we watched Blue's Clues with her. And we were laughing more than she was. Memories...
That little blue dog was way too adorable.
And instead I got a mental Australian terrier. -gives up-
The Magic School Bus computer games were amazing - my favorite was the human body one (forget what it was called) where they shrink the school bus down and explore one of the students' insides. Best. Game. EVER.
The one I played the most though, I can't remember what it was caleld.
You played this robot, and you lived in this ominous empty museum. IIRC, the curator's blond, pigtailed daughter went around and screwed with the exhibits (with time travel for the history, and shrinking for molecules) and you had to play minigames to fix them.
I remember there being a mini-game where you had to launch the character at the ceiling and break clumps of bubbles, then move your cursor around to keep bouncing him up. And ten years or so since I've played it, saying 'we gotta work quick!' instantly brings to mind the rest of the starting quote ('click on the mouse to launch me!').
Not the books, I mean the computer games - especially I Spy: Haunted House. That was the creepiest computer game I ever played as a little kid, even if nothing exactly jumped out and shrieked at you.
I didn't watch it that often, though. I did watch Cyberspace, I remember. Anyone else see that?
Last episode I saw, Hacker had just taken over the giant computer and deleted Motherboard. I didn't see anything after that.
I remember that show! I LOVED that show! Most of the math I knew at all was because of that show.
But clearly, its plot was awesome.
The three main characters would be summoned into Cyberspace by the Motherboard, this cgi-d sorta-Zordon character, who would send them to thwart Hacker and his two minions, who would be messing around with something in Cyberspace. And it would be solved with math, though that kinda varied - I remember one of the episodes had tangrams, and another involved the black girl character beating this monk guy in a sorta-chess strategy game.
It also had a ridiculously catchy theme song that, years after I watched thee show, will still come into my head at the word 'Cyberspace.'
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9wfQ2KnCMJY
I mean, Hacker-
{That's THE Hacker, to you!}
(Sorry Bout' that, small rip in space, time, and the internet. Working on it now, don't mind me.)
…Alright Jumper, I trust you.
Anyway, as I was saying, the Hacker was so much fun, and could be truly intimidating if he wanted to. Plus he had an epic chin. Do not deny the power of the chin.
One item suethor!World-Jumper lusts after is in this continuum, and should any cyberchase badfic be found, is the first thing the agents need to look out for: The Rad Ring of Radopolus. Laugh at the name, fear the power. This ring (used to teach kids about circles, radii, and circumference...s) can grant the wearer unlimeted free wishes, complete with full understanding of what you want, so it is not a jerkass djin (not genie, that's the blue disney character). Should anyone, even an agent, get their hands on it...
Suffice it to say, it was a cool show. My favorite is the pilot, due to it's strangely dark subject matter, and how well they pulled it off.
{You have not defeated me! The Hacker will return! You'll see, YOU'LL SEEE…!}
(Sheesh, I thought he would never return to his continuum. One last thought though; Because Cyberchase was set in the internet, what does 4chan look like? Fanfiction.net? The Circle of Lemmings? This very board? Think on it.)
I didn't have cable growing up, so I would always catch this show at my grandma's house or something, and I loved it! It was this show and PB&J Otter. Holy mrfle did I love PB&J Otter.
Our grandma used to look after us when we were little guys, so we only ever saw these shows at her house (which made for a bit of whiplash when we got home and got to watch Forensic Files and The Investigators before bed). PB&J Otter was one of my top three favorite programs - right behind Out of the Box! and Bear in the Big Blue House. I think after about a year I had the Noodle Dance memorized.
That show got me into steampunk, actually.
I used to watch PB&J too!
Cheese n' cwackers was one of my favorite lines, even.
There wasn't that show when I was little :/
In fact I've never heard of it before ._.
Oh well~
That show was awesome when I was a little guy.
I always loved Zoombafoo more, though.
THAT SHOW IS CHILDHOOD.
But I can't remember the Lemur's nammmee!
They called him Zaboo!
Dude, that lemur was BOSS.
I still do, actually. It makes me so sad that it's not on regular TV anymore. I think what I loved most was the ridiculous trouble they always had with the snack machine. Zobooland was sweet too.
Though even at that age I sort of realized "These guys are inadequately cautious around wild animals!" Still loved it, though.
...I was only just old enough to realize that lemur was wiping the floor with everyone else any time they got into a battle of wits.
...Though my current stance on shows for little kids is that I find them incredibly annoying.
Now Kratt's Creatures, THAT was a great show. Anyone remember that?
And quite honestly, the old little kids' shows - like PB&J Otters, Out of the Box!, and Bear in the Big Blue House - those were so much more fun than the newer stuff, like Jake and the Neverland Pirates. You just can't beat arts and crafts shows and talking, anthropomorphic animal puppets.
I feel so old right now...
Kitty and I watched this during snack time as little kids when we would spend our after-school time at Grandma and Grandpa's house!
My feels have been nostalgia punched SO HARD.
And my second crush overall. Sadly, Clopin from Hunchback of Notre Dame came first... -sighs-
Of course, being five, I didn't know any better.
*palm through face*