Widget, the World Watcher

"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...

Every morning, if I got up early enough, like 4 or 5 a.m, I would find "Widget: the World Watcher." Many would say it wasn't the best, but it was cool enough to get up for.

Anybody that hasn't ever seen this, here's the scoop: This alien comes to earth dedicated to protect the planet. He's purple, he can morph,and can even talk to animals. His pals? Two earth brothers and a overactive head and hands called MegaBrain that lives in a watch on Widget's wrist.

Imagine my shock getting up from bed and discovering that this show's gone. WHERE'D IT GO??!!

though not the best cartoon ever, the sheer pursuit of finding anyone else in the world who'd seen it was enough to start a cult following. i seriously almost began to believe that i had imagined the whole thing. everyday before school i'd watch it. it used to come on right before Captain Planet. when both shows ended i knew it was time to go to school. where did this show go and why doesn't anyone else remember it?

I was eight years old when I first saw this cartoon, and think I was ten when I last saw it. I'm 21 now, so it's been a while, but about three years ago, while looking through the credits of voice actor Jim Cummings on IMDb, I came across "Widget, the World Watcher", which brought back memories! As a Canadian, the only station I ever saw this show on was TVO, and if it wasn't aired on that station, I would have never heard of it, but they did air it, and I liked it a lot!

Widget was a little purple shape-shifting alien who lived in a cave on Earth, and was known as a "World Watcher". Each episode would show him on a mission to fight evil and pollution, and help protect the planet, whether it was aliens or humans causing the trouble! To help him on his missions, there was the intelligent but goofy MegaBrain, a being with only a floating head and a pair of hands. The top of MegaBrain's head was see-through, so you could see his brain. Also accompanying Widget on his missions were two young Earthling brothers named Brian and Kevin.

This show could entertain kids with its exciting adventures, interesting characters, humour, etc. From what I remember, most of the humour was provided by MegaBrain, a very funny character. The show also had a catchy theme song, one which I recently got to hear again on Youtube. Unfortunately, it appears the cartoon was always pretty obscure, and at one point back in elementary school, I remember some of my peers were familiar with it, but I don't think too many of them were. I guess episodes of "Widget, the World Watcher" are very rare now, and I doubt it will ever be shown of TV again, but at least some people who were kids in the '90s still have fond memories of it, including me.

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.)