Doctor Claw

Dr. Claw^[1] (in the movie, Sanford Scolex^[2]) is a partially seen character who is the main villain in the animated television series Inspector Gadget and the films that followed. He is the antagonist in every single episode of the original series, although in some episodes of the spinoff Gadget and the Gadgetinis, he is replaced by other villains.

Biography

He runs a criminal syndicate called "M.A.D.", whose mascot is an evil cat named "MAD Cat" (which he keeps by his side). His hideout is usually in an old castle first seen in the episode "Winter Olympics". Even though the castle was established to be connected to the railway system (as seen in the episode "Basic Training"), its location is apparently unknown to the police. It is not uncommon for a thunderstorm to be brewing outside Dr. Claw's castle.

When carrying out operations away from his base, Dr Claw uses his personalised black and red vehicle known as the MADmobile. The MADmobile functions as a car, submarine and a jet, enabling Dr Claw to travel easily through almost any environment. It is also armed with rockets, lasers, and other weapons.

Dr Claw frequently concocts various evil plans, usually involving large-scale thefts or other plans to set up bases or procure resources to further his nefarious activities, usually involving the death of Inspector Gadget when he interfered. Occasionally, his plans revolve entirely around getting rid of Gadget (particularly in the second season). Invariably, the Metro City police department learns of his plans in advance and assigns Gadget to stop them, with no explanation of how most of Dr. Claw's crimes could have been even remotely within the jurisdiction of a local police department like the Metro City Police. Dr. Claw's plans are foiled in every episode, normally due to the efforts of Penny, Gadget's 10-year old niece, forcing him to flee from the scene and thereby evading arrest while yelling "I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next time!"

In the spin-off "Gadget and the Gadgetinis", Dr. Claw's hideout is much more out in the open: it is a beachfront mansion with a fancy futuristic design. In this series, he also possesses a family; his mother (or at least her hand) is seen onscreen in one episode. He states that he hates children and doesn't want his nephew William to stay with him.

Face

Though Dr. Claw's gloved hands and arms are often seen, his face is always just out of shot. The device frequently used to block his face was the back of a chair with the M.A.D. logo on it. This spoofs the cat-stroking James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who was initially only portrayed as forearms and hands, with the rest of the body obscured. (M.A.D. is also a play upon Blofeld's SPECTRE.)

Dr. Claw's face was ultimately revealed in sources outside the cartoon series such as licensed action figures and a video game for Super NES, which depicted him as resembling a deranged European nobleman. In the 1999 live-action movie adaptation, Dr. Claw was fully visible with the appearance of a middle-aged English businessman named Sanford Scolex, and portrayed by Rupert Everett, although for a significant portion of the film's opening scenes his face is out of shot in a reference to the cartoon series. He gets his nickname after he lost his left hand and rebuilt it as a mechanical claw. The direct-to-video sequel released in 2003 portrayed Dr. Claw with a few traits more like his cartoon counterpart, like the fact that his face was never shown. Still, he made no attempt in the film to hide it from anybody. He did escape in the end of the movie with the classic quote "I'll get you next time, Gadget!"; flying off in a rocket not too dissimilar from his first transport vehicle in the cartoon series' pilot episode, "Winter Olympics". In the 2003 movie he was played by Tony Martin.

Voice

In the original series, Pete Lee was the original voice(uncredited) Eventually Frank Welker supplied Dr. Claw's low, ominous voice (and the MAD Cat's). Don Francks supplied the voice in several episodes. Dr. Claw's voice is actually the unmodulated voice of Soundwave from The Transformers. This was revealed in a few episodes of Transformers when mistakes were made in the voice editing. It was also the same voice that Frank Welker used for Darkseid on Super Friends, Emperor Krulos in Dino-Riders, Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat, The Cave of Wonders in Disney's Aladdin and the voice of The Devil in both The Golden Child and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The same voice was used in the live action movie Spawn for Malebolgia. The voice was used for Soundwave once again, only without the vocoder modulation, for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In the Garfield show he uses the voice for a talking scale that comes to life and makes fat jokes at Garfield (another character he voice). According to Frank Welker in the commentary for the Robot Chicken episode "Adoption's An Option," the voice originated from an impersonation of Barry White. Usually, Dr. Claw's voice would be given reverb effects for a dramatic effect. This is not present in some early episodes and in the second season.

Most of the dubbed, localized versions of the cartoon used voices similar to the original Claw's (sometimes, e.g. in the Polish version, even deeper), but in some countries, the Doctor's voice was quite different; in at least one dubbed version, he was actually speaking in a rather high pitched tone, much like a comical impotent villain.

In the episodes "Mad Trap", "Basic Training", "Gadget Goes West" and "The Coo-Coo Clock Caper", Frank Welker wasn't available to voice Doctor Claw, and was instead voiced by Don Francks. In fact, one particular episode, "Race to the Finish", had both Welker and Francks portraying Doctor Claw. Resulting in the voice noticeably switching back and forth.

Brian Drummond was Dr. Claw's voice actor in Gadget and the Gadgetinis, Inspector Gadget's Last Case and Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever. M.A.D. Cat was voiced by Lee Tockar in these productions.

Personal life

In the 2000s follow-up cartoon series Gadget and the Gadgetinis, more of Dr. Claw's past was revealed (such as his first name being revealed as George) and the villain was given an extended family, including an equally evil brother, Dr. Thaw, and career-criminal parents - mother Marilyn and father Gordon Claw. As tradition dictated, the faces of Gordon and Thaw were kept hidden. Claw also has a nephew, William "Billy" Thaw, who befriends and has a crush on Penny (which his Uncle George would not allow).

Henchmen

In the series, Claw's henchmen are the MAD agents. A new agent would be introduced in most episodes, along with a set of generic agents who appeared repeatedly.

In Inspector Gadget, Claw's henchmen are Sikes, Kramer, and RoboGadget.

In Inspector Gadget 2, Claw's henchmen are McKibble and Brick. Claw's other henchmen are Jungle Bob, Squintz, and the Ninja.

MAD Cat

Since the viewers never saw Dr. Claw's face (or his body) in the cartoon series, MAD Cat was another way to reinforce Dr. Claw's emotions. When Dr. Claw was happy, MAD Cat would laugh and snicker along with him, or for him. When Dr. Claw was angry, MAD Cat would follow through with his terrible yowl.

Dr. Claw showed great affection for MAD Cat, stroking the sinister feline often. This became a trademark of his on the show (other than his "hands" shtick, though the two are often indistinguishable). However, Dr. Claw was also sometimes an abusive pet owner, and would bully MAD Cat when he perceived the feline as annoying. In an episode that took place in the first season, Dr. Claw was depicted laughing over a triumph, and MAD Cat, in typical "copycat" manner, laughed along with him. Dr. Claw then demanded what the cat was laughing about, adding furiously, "I did all the work!" An episode or two later, Dr. Claw was engaged in tongue-lashing his minions. MAD Cat did the same. Dr. Claw again abused the cat and angrily growled out that he was that one who gave the orders. Sometimes MAD Cat didn't have to do anything at all to inspire punishment, and Dr. Claw's maltreatment was almost casual or even unnoticed and reckless on some level. In more than one episode Dr. Claw would simply slam down his fist, not caring where the cat was in his anger or if his pet would escape in time. (However, in one episode, MAD Cat was ready for him and glued his fist to the desk) Dr. Claw once broke MAD Cat's Inspector Gadget toy bank after Gadget foiled one of Dr. Claw's plots, and MAD Cat cried uncontrollably. In another, he simply caressed the feline's head until it hurt, with MAD Cat's expression betraying discomfort. MAD Cat always forgave Dr. Claw (often by the next scene).

MAD Cat seems to understand English well: in Launch Time, MAD Cat takes instructions from Dr. Claw and operates the controls of the Mad Jet (firing a missile). It is unknown if MAD Cat is male or female.

Other media

Non-Traditional Appearances

Frank Welker reprises his role of Doctor Claw in the Robot Chicken episode "Adoption's an Option." He uses Skynet to take over Inspector Gadget in order to eliminate Penny. At the same time, MAD Cat comes down with the feline leukemia virus (when Doctor Claw gets a call from the vet) and dies. While at MAD Cat's funeral in the post credits, Doctor Claw says to the mourners that he wants to say a few words which happened to be "Next time, Gadget. Next time."

Dr. Claw appears in the iOS game Inspector Gadget's MAD Dash by XMG Studio. Users can unlock the mysterious Dr. Claw's face by unlocking puzzle pieces throughout game play.^[3].

Toys

The original Inspector Gadget action figure line included a Dr. Claw toy. But there was a sticker covering his face and the only way to see it was to buy the figurine. It was ultimately the same as the depiction used in the video games.

Films

Inspector Gadget

Main article: Inspector Gadget (film)

Portrayed by Rupert Everett, Dr. Claw (originally Sandford Scolex) kills Dr. Bradford and steals the "foot" of the Gadget Program. Security Officer John Brown chases him and after an exploding cigar blows Brown up, Scolex's hand is crushed by a bowling ball that was kept in Brown's car. He makes a prosthetic "claw" and dubs himself Dr. Claw. At the end of the movie, he is arrested by Brown (then dubbed "Inspector Gadget").

Inspector Gadget 2

Main article: Inspector Gadget 2

Claw escapes the prison and writes a letter to Gadget, stating that to catch Claw he has to go to the science convention the next day. He is able to control Gadget like a puppet at this point. Gadget gets fired for this, as the police department are unsuspecting of him being controlled. Claw steals the ruby of the Indian Maharajah to power a laser which freezes time. He then robs Riverton Bank and keeps Penny as hostage he escapes with time still frozen. Gadget, G2 and Penny finally stop his plans, though Dr. Claw himself manages to escape. He was portrayed by Tony Martin.

External links

• Dr. Claw revealed

References

1. ^ Gadget and the Gadgetinis trivia at IMDb.com
2. ^ Inspector Gadget at IMDb.com
3. ^ "Inspector Gadget’s MAD Dash Brings Endless Fun to the iPhone" App Modo, December 15, 2010