"Inspector Gadget 2" is a new story in the life of one of America's favorite crime-fighting heroes -- a hero with more moving parts than a Swiss watch. Based on the original cartoon series, and building on what the original movie had done, "Inspector Gadget 2" is not a sequel, but rather is a logical character development that takes Gadget into new territory. Alex Zamm, director and co-writer of this new live action adventure, is a fan of the cartoon show and saw this as an opportunity to work his flair for comedy by building on what had been created in the first movie. "Inspector Gadget is a great, funny character," says Zamm. "It was a really good chance to mix comedy, my love of visual effects, and good performance. I thought they created a pretty special world in the first movie, and it was fun to visit it again with a different set of actors, like in the Batman and the James Bond movies." Heading the cast as Inspector Gadget is French Stewart, who was the director's first choice, possessing the perfect mix of physical and verbal comedy as well as accessibility and emotional vulnerability, which were so important for the character to work. And French wasted no time coming on board for this project: "When I first read the script, I found it very funny, but there was also a warmth about it. You know, there was this sort of struggle of him being last year's model while this new character, G2, was being introduced, who is state of the art. I just wanted to do it instantly. The thing I love about Inspector Gadget is that there are basically two rules with him: He is always enthusiastic, and he is always completely incompetent. He's very professional and wants to do things by the book, but he just sort of never can. For audiences, I think the appeal is the fact that he keeps moving on and he keeps trying." Everyone knows there will be gadgets, so it was important to make this production more character driven. Original characters -- with new actors -- returning to this new screen version are Gadget's niece Penny, Brain, the pooch, Mayor Wilson and Chief Quimby, the Gadgetmobile, of course, and the very evil Claw. One of the major new developments is the introduction of an all-new, whizbang, high-tech, leather-clad robot, G2 - who just happens to be female - which paves the way for the possibility of a new love interest for Inspector Gadget. Finding an actor with the range and physicality to play G2, all-robot and all-woman, who could walk the tightrope between being robotic yet emotionally accessible and not play the role as a caricature, were the requirements for this pivotal new character. It is a difficult job made even more difficult because in playing the role before camera, about 25 percent of the movie is not in the movie when they are acting it -- all the effects are added in later. Elaine Hendrix captured the essence of G2 and was very taken by the script and with the possibility of doing G2. "There's not a lot of women's roles written like this, where you get to have fun, do action, and be tough, apart from the fact that I get to wear leather all day long. There's one word that can really sum her up, and that is 'efficiency.' G2 is efficient. Everything she does. That's what she was programmed for, that's what she lives for. Interestingly enough, once she starts taking in the world around her she actually starts to become a little more human." It's an old adage that true love never runs smooth, so add the dynamics of Inspector Gadget, who still operates on batteries, and G2, operating on plutonium, and there are bound to be sparks - and mishaps - which add tension to the relationship and underscores many comical moments between them. But does love conquer all? � Elaine explains it best: "G2 and Gadget? Well, Gadget's got it bad for G2 who just can't be bothered with him. He's too inept and clumsy, but he definitely grows on her. He starts to waken something up in her, to how she sees the world around her. Yes, she ends up having a real soft spot for him." Stylistically the production values in "Inspector Gadget 2" reflect the original cartoon with bold, bright costume and set designs, visual effects and animatronics that seem to pop out of the screen. And the actors have been given license to be broad but believable. Most notable in being true to the original, the character Claw is once again "faceless," a decision made by writer and director Alex Zamm who says, " I know the first one, in order to have a love triangle, needed to show Claw's face. I wasn't constrained by that and decided to have a villain that we never fully see. I thought that would be very dynamic. It's part of the game of the movie -- you almost keep seeing Claw and you don't, at the last minute he turns away. And so in the color timing, in the staging, and in the performance, he's always just about to be seen but you never quite do." A movie like this needs a convincing villain, and as the primary protagonist Tony Martin, as Inspector Gadget's arch-enemy Claw, does a great job. He really is villainous and dynamic. When Tony auditioned for the casting directors, they just heard his voice and knew their search was over -- he was that scary. Tony has another point of view about playing this villain. "I think Claw is misunderstood. He's simply a mean, vicious villain with a heart of wood. He's one of those geniuses that we probably can recognize in a lot of countries around the world where power just takes over them and they want everything to themselves. And that's basically what Claw is out to do. He's out to take control of the world. I think it's good to keep him as a mystery because you can actually impose whatever villain you want onto him then." Apart from the new story line, a terrifying villain, and the introduction of the new character G2, most of all, as the name implies, the movie must also be about gadgets. Although this screen version has revisited a lot of the gadgets established in the first movie, such as the helicopter hat and a number of other devices that come out from every part of his body, in "Inspector Gadget 2" the gadgets are taken a step further. Visual/Special Effects The gadgets for IG2 had to have a "squash and squeeze reality," be much more "cartoony" in style and design, and also have much more playfulness. Employing brighter colors, the gadgets expand and contract and large shapes come out of small places. Making the effects believable was a very elaborate process, with director and writer Alex Zamm having to visualize the movie before it went into production. During the planning process, all of the partners sat at a table for weeks on end then spent months storyboarding it. The over 1,000 pages of storyboards became everyone's bible for the whole movie. "Once I've imagined the movie in my head, then we go to all of our department heads to do the groundwork of figuring out how to achieve each of these effects and events we wanna have in the movie, as well as seeing ways that they can collaborate and contribute," says Zamm. "We hired a great company called Photon GMD. It's two companies that are collaborating to do the effects for Gadget. "Photon has produced really amazing work -- their 3D work is fantastic, and their two dimensional work is great. Choosing the right company is integral to the end result. You've got your photography, your actors, and choosing this effects team was a very important part of the movie. A major part of Gadget's character is all these effects. "And so when I met Daniel Harvey and Trevor Hawkins, our effects producer and visual effects supervisor, I really thought they would be great partners in the project, creative partners for me," adds Zamm. There are close to 300 visual effects, so it's a really interesting process for the actors because 25 percent or more of the movie isn't there when they're acting to it. Animatronics John Cox, who won an Oscar® for his work on the movie BABE, had the job of working the animatronic effects for "Inspector Gadget 2." Ten weeks before shooting began, and working constantly throughout the shoot, John created over 50 effects for both Inspector Gadget and G2. He was given very specific guidelines in preparing his work: They must be very "cartoony," full of color, and be lots of fun. With that in mind, another set of hurdles presented themselves in creating these new animatronic devices: how to make them functional and achieve the desired effects, and how to make them look like they were part of the body when it came to shooting. In executing the work, a couple of levels of sophistication were involved in creating the parts, such as G2's wrists. The prosthetics and mechanical parts in G2 had to show all the working parts, and for shooting purposes they had to look as if all the gadgets were actually working. This took John's team to a new level of discovery and they had to develop new techniques to succeed. The most complex gadget, and the one they like the most, is Inspector Gadget's rocket scooter, which is a shoe extension propelled along the ground that must look as if it is floating off the ground. This took a lot of trial and error but finally they worked it out using micro switches to operate the device hidden under the handlebars of the scooter. Upon the command "go go gadget scooter," digitally the scooter starts to deploy then cuts to a real scooter that has things that open and fold on it. This involves mechanical and animatronic effects. The end result is a wonderful orchestration between the digital and the physical. From concept to completion there have been constant conferences between all department heads in an effort to bring the movie to life. As Zamm says, "I feel like a conductor a lot of the time, trying to choreograph all these events so that they are believable." Locations - Brisbane, Queensland As the script was being developed, it became evident that the locations for this film would be of paramount importance. When the production team first started thinking of where to make the movie, they considered a lot of different places. Initially, Canada and South Africa were strongly considered as possible locations. Deciding that the movie needed a bright, sunny fun look, Australia started to become the favored destination. They looked at Melbourne, which has a very historic feel, and Sydney, which is beautiful, but they felt it was too recognizable, especially after the Olympic Games coverage the city received. The choice became Brisbane, which has a lot of new architecture while still retaining elements of the old. Producer Peter Green thought "We could get that Norman Rockwell in the 21st century look. So you'd have classical images we associate with a wonderful small city and bright new things that are uniquely Australian." Consistently good weather along with beautiful architecture combined to make Brisbane a very attractive film location. The William Jolly Bridge, for example, has all the features needed to shoot an exciting action scene that transfers beautifully to film. "The city of Brisbane has closed down this major thoroughfare just for us to film this crucial sequence for the movie. We're right here on the William Jolly Bridge, which is a beautiful old bridge built in the '30s. It has beautiful curved arches, which offsets the city beautifully. It's the perfect place for a kind of a western-style showdown between the hero and the villain," Alex Zamm said during shooting. "I think there's a lot of cities in the world that are very film friendly, and I've found Brisbane extremely film friendly in terms of giving us amazing locations. We were in an old abandoned sugar plant which we turned into Claw's lair, the University of Queensland, the South Bank Parklands, all of them with a uniqueness and style that can only be found here. And now we've used this great bridge that the city has been nice enough to give to us. It's been wonderful." Thanks must go to the Brisbane City Council and the people of Brisbane for making the city so film friendly. Not only does "Inspector Gadget 2" showcase the beautiful city of Brisbane to the world, but it also provides valuable employment for Queensland cast and crew. Collaboration - US & Australia Filming "Inspector Gadget 2" in Australia and engaging Australian actors and crews to work alongside their American counterparts has proved a benefit to all involved with this project. It's been a really wonderful opportunity to get to build the mythology of Inspector Gadget. Although not too different in many ways from the Americans, there were enough cultural differences to provide a stimulating working environment. "As soon as we came here I just found great people, great crews, people whose work on films I had admired for years. I just think Australia's an amazing place visually to shoot as well as talent-wise. Great acting pool, great talent pool," says director Alex Zamm. Multi-award winning Australian actor Sigrid Thornton takes up the story from here. "Well, we're an enormously egalitarian culture," says Sigrid. "We come from convict stock," she adds with a wicked laugh. "And what it's created is this kind of mad 'Jack's as good as his Master' mentality in Australians; we bring it onto every film set. I've worked with a lot of Americans here, and in the States as well, who really respond to it. I think Americans love it because there is a genuine sense of collaboration and a genuine sense of inter-dependence." Perhaps the last word on "Inspector Gadget 2" is best left for the writer/director who has been living with the movie for years, first on paper, then transferring those ideas to film, bringing together artists, production crews, technical crews, special effects people, musicians, and, of course, the actors who breath life into a script. "I love working with the actors. I love the moment between action and cut. I worked so hard to visualize this movie on paper, and then to communicate it to every department head to build these enormous sets and to have all these camera angles and to have colorful costumes and great-looking shapes and great effects. But it's all in the effort of making something that feels alive and believable, and truthful and funny, and memorable between action and cut. And that's all it's about. Then I get the pleasure of being hidden away in the dark for months in the editing suite," laughs Zamm.