Synopsis

After a disastrous encounter with the criminal Sanford Scolex, security guard John Brown is rebuilt as a cybernetic police officer and renamed Inspector Gadget. Equipped with an assortment of mechanical gadgets, he is assigned to stop Scolex, who has become the villainous Dr. Claw. With help from scientist Brenda Bradford, Gadget must overcome his own malfunctioning technology and protect the city.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is a live-action adaptation of the animated television series that began in 1983, but it creates an origin story for both Gadget and Dr. Claw.

• Dr. Claw's face is shown throughout the movie, unlike in the original series, where his face was kept hidden. This was one of the adaptation's most noticeable departures from the cartoon.

• The Gadgetmobile is a talking 1962 Lincoln Continental convertible rather than the cartoon's transforming vehicle. Comedian D.L. Hughley provides its voice.

• Don Adams, the original voice of Inspector Gadget, appears vocally as Brain during the closing credits.

• More than 150,000 Skittles were reportedly used for a sequence in which candy spills inside the Gadgetmobile.

• Brendan Fraser was considered for the title role but declined while working on Dudley Do-Right, another live-action adaptation of a classic animated property.

• Following a test screening, the film was shortened from approximately 110 minutes to its final runtime of about 78 minutes.

• Pittsburgh's distinctive PPG Place serves as one of the film's principal visual locations.

• The movie was the final production released under Caravan Pictures before the company became part of Spyglass Entertainment.

• The film was dedicated to production designer Michael White, who died during production in January 1999.

• A direct-to-video sequel, Inspector Gadget 2, followed in 2003, with French Stewart taking over the title role.