Widget, un alieno per amico

"Widget" was one of the better enviromental shows they played down here on Rede Globo de Televisão [RGDT] that was not from Japan nor Canada. Most of the US or Latino stuff played was too preachy or it talked down to young audiences. However, Widget (US/Philipine co-production) fit neither of those stereotypes.

The plot focuses around shapeshifting alien (title character) and his race, plus, a talking brain robot and psychic kids noticing the disasters that takes place on Earth and Widget's homeworld, so they must try to enlighten the ignorant and punish the wrong-doing aliens that cannot survive on earth and pollute it with their own chemicals or introduce foreign species to interfere with Earth.

From some sources I have heard, this cartoon was made, due to the fact of the high pollution rate in the Philipines (or at least Manilla anyways), so Pinay animations and various Philipina and America companies decided to come up with this concept.

As a college student, conversations concerning old cartoons constantly come up. They bind us all together. It always starts with Ninja Turtles, then some Ducktales, classics like Thundercats and Transformers. But when we start delving into more obscure cartoons that we all loved, we all get really excited. Eek the Cat, that show that was on after Garfield, and of course, Captain Planet. I always surreptitiously bring up Widget the World Watcher and always I get blank stares, even after I describe the show and sing the theme song. I liked Widget way more than captain planet and they were usually on back to back. Now Captain Planet is fondly remembered and widget is completely forgotten. Why? BTW- my favorite episode was the one where everyone was lured into a mini-mall with no exits and they were all trapped in a consumerist lifestyle with no way out. Considering most cartoons go hand in hand with consumerist culture (duh, they're on TV,) I think it's pretty cool that this cartoon existed. I agree with the other guy who posted here, Widget is awesome. (And I too began to question whether I made Widget up.)

"Widget, the World Watcher" was similar to "Captain Planet" in that both revolved around supernaturally-gifted people... okay, creatures in this case... battling to rescue the earth from environmental catastrophe. This didn't have any Ted Turner backing or name stars doing voices - although I doubt Tom Cruise would have been as good a voice actor as Rob Paulsen - but it was less pretentious, less politically correct in its characters (face it, apart from Wheeler none of the Planeteers were renowned for their looseness) and ultimately more watchable. Plus it did have a sense of humour absent from the good Captain.

The "Awesome!" lingo spouted by Widget really grated, as if the producers were trying too hard to appeal to its audience, but as far as cartoons aired by Channel 4 in the early 1990s went, there were far worse offenders (case in point the American-Dutch cartoon "The Bluffers," which is so (rightly) obscure it isn't even listed on the IMDb). Forget "RI:SE," bring back the Banana Splits and "The Adventures of T-Rex" I say...

I used to watch Widget when I was in kindergarten, every single day before I left. I loved that show!! I'm the only one out of every single person I know that ever watched it...it's like it just disappeared. I'd watch it if they brought it back!!

OK, this is so weird, so i'm 24 years old and i use to watch this cartoon also when i was young. i ask all my friends all the time and they say, what was that? i've been looking for it for a long time and i found it on this website. it was a pretty good show. well just wanted to share my little piece of history. oh and by the way i didn't know you had to write 10 or more freakin lines on this website in order to have your comment posted. well there are also quite a few more cartoons that i remember that i wish would still come on. the new cartoons on TV are so dumb and they are making everything too digital. go back to drawing cartoons, they were funnier and better.