Penny Inspector Gadget
“Inspector Gadget” is a TV series of animated cartoons which are presenting the adventures of Inspector Gadget and his friends. He is a clumsy detective and a human with all sorts of bionic gadgets that are coming out of his body. The cartoons were really popular at their time, and they still are today. They were launched in 1983 and since then there were made 2 seasons and 86 episodes. The main character is of course Inspector Gadget, while his worst enemy is Dr. Claw.
But in his adventures the inspector is helped by some friends and one of them is Penny. Penny is actually the niece of Inspector Gadget and she is a young blond girl which wears a red and white t-shirt, green pants and red shoes. The inspector seems to be her legal guardian because her parents are never mentioned. She is a very smart young girl, a master amateur detective and an expert in technology and she is always helping her uncle in his missions.
Penny herself has some gadgets that she use, and these are: a computer book which helps her find useful information and override electronic devices and a wrist watch that has a laser beam and which is also used as a communication device with other characters (Brain, Chief Quimby and Gadget). Her computer book is usually carried in a tote bag or a backpack.
Since Inspector Gadget is so clumsy and always gets in trouble, most of the times Penny is the one responsible in solving the crime. She always tries to investigate all the clues and to find out which are the plans of the evil M.A.D. organization. Sometimes when M.A.D wants to steal a precious object she is tricking them by replacing that object with a fake. And she does this so good, that not even the mastermind criminal Dr. Claw doesn’t notice anything.
During the many episodes Penny has worn all sorts of outfits, depending on the occasion. But even though she is a smart girl, many times it happens that she finds herself in many danger situations. But of course she manages to escape safely each time, either if she saves herself or she is saved by Brain or by her uncle.
Along the episodes Penny has made a lot of friends and she usually got very well with all of them. Some of these characters that became friends with her are: Rick Rocker, The Dolphin, Atsuko, Prince Akar, Anya, Tabu, Harold and others. If you are curious her voice in the pilot episode was made by Mona Marshall (which put her voice in many other famous cartoons such as: Captain Planet and the Planeteers, G.I. Joe, Rugrats, Scooby Doo, South Park, Spider Man and others). In the first season her voice was made by Cree Summer, which is another famous voice actress who put her voice in productions such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Rugrats, All grown up, Atlantis: the lost empire (the video game), 101 Dalmatians, Batman, Ben 10 and many more others. And finally, in the second season the voice of Penny was interpreted by Holly Berger, which seems to put her voice just for the Inspector Gadget series.
Since the Inspector Gadget series were really popular all over the world, they were translated in many languages. And since Penny is an American name, her name was changed for more authenticity. In the French, Spanish and German version of the series she was called Sophie, in the Israeli version she was called Karen and in the Polish version she was Lilly.
