Like an amazing amount of TV-based dogs, Brain wasn't your average kind of dog. Like Lassie, Scooby-Doo and even Family Guy's Brian, Brain was a lot more intelligent than you might initially think. I'm not really sure who's dog he was, whether he was Gadget's or Penny's. But, one thing I do know, is that he was the other half of the crime-solving double act that was him and Penny.
Interestingly, Brain was voiced by the same person as Dr. Claw, and that person was probably one of the voice acting industries most well-known and respected voice actors: Frank Welker.Even if the name doesn't mean anything to you, I promise you that you will know his work and his voice talent, even if you don't realize it. How do I know that? Because he's provided the voices for so many well-loved characters. But, it's incredibly difficult to know which ones to pin down, because there really are too many of them, and it seems unfair to miss any out.
However, a few of his more popular roles include:
Fred: Scooby-Doo
Fred in various incarnations of Scooby-DooGol in classic Studio Ghibli film Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind
Several Gremlins in both of the Gremlins film.
Megatron, Soundwave and other voices in Transformers animations
Totoro in another classic Studio Ghibli My Neighbor Totoro
Dumbo and various other voices in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (although these role were uncredited)
Slimer, in The Real Ghostbusters
Max (the dog) in Disney's The Little Mermaid
The Devil and Station in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
Kermit, Skeeter and Beaker in Muppet Babies
Abu in Disney's Aladdin
Welker also provided various voice talents for:
Slimer
DuckTalesPotsworth and Co.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
TaleSpin
Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Jetsons
Dinosaurs
Where's Wally?
This may seem like quite a lengthy list, but trust me when I say that this is barely the tip of the ice berg, with the amount of work that Frank Welker has done throughout his career, and I very much doubt that he'll be retiring any time soon.
Well, that's it for the Inspector Gadget Mini Series. I hope that you enjoyed it, as much as I enjoyed researching the three main voice actors. Even though I grew up watching this show, I didn't have a clue what kind of histories the voice actors had, so it's been interesting.
If there are any other TV shows, or films that have had you wondering "I wonder what happened to them..." then, please do get in touch, and I'll happily do a little research for a future series :)
Thanks for reading.
