Fancy some more sleuthing while we look forward to the 2023 Mitcham Band Festival?
The title character of the Inspector Gadget franchise is a bionic police inspector who is always getting into trouble. You can see in him elements of Maxwell Smart (actor Don Adams spoke the part in the original series) and Inspector Jacques Clouseau (a Clouseau-like moustache featured in the original Inspector Gadget pilot, but was subsequently removed for copyright reasons). He is clumsy, dim-witted, and often relies on his powerful gadgets to get him out of sticky situations. However, despite his shortcomings, Gadget is always willing to help those in need and always puts his life on the line to fight crime. Does he sound like one of our favourite (Great) Detectives? But who is actually the real detective?
While Gadget may be the star of the show, he is not the “real” detective. That honour belongs to his niece, Penny. She is a brilliant young girl who is a master of disguise, martial arts, and technology. She is the one who is responsible for planning Gadget's missions, gathering intelligence, and foiling Dr. Claw's evil schemes.
But, whoever is really doing the detective work, the iconic musical theme from the TV series (music written by Shuki Levy) is a real hoot when arranged for a wind band to play (as Second-Wind Ensemble can prove)! Can you pick the underlying musical inspiration from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite? How about the ELO version?