Widget the World Watcher, a four-foot high purple alien from the Horsehead Nebula, first met the airwaves in 1990. He was often accompanied by a disembodied floating pink head with a visible brain (predictably named Mega Brain) and, in later episodes, another small alien named Half Pint.
Widget was produced in the Philippines but distributed by Warner Brothers, and it fit nicely into the legion of early 90s environmentalism cartoons (Captain Planet, et. al.)
Although Widget was capable of shapeshifting, he usually presented as a light purple figure with an elongated, wrinkled head, and he somewhat resembled ET. He lived in a cave by the sea, and his primary responsibility seemed to be saving the planet from ecological disaster. His excessive use of early 90s slang (particularly “awesome”) was either endearing or agonizing, depending on perspective.
With the exception of two single-episode VHS tapes, the majority of Widget the Worldwatcher has been swallowed by the vaults of time, perhaps to resurface next time the Earth hovers at the brink of environmental apocalypse.
credits, courtesy of http://www.imdb.com:
Directed by
Tom Burton
Danilo Cabreira
Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Danté Baez writer
Marc Handler writer
Cast (in credits order)
Russi Taylor .... Widget, the World Watcher (voice)
Cam Clarke .... Additional Voices (voice)
Townsend Coleman .... Additional Voices (voice)
Peter Cullen .... Additional Voices (voice)
Brian Cummings .... Additional Voices (voice)
Jim Cummings .... MegaBrain (voice)
Pat Fraley .... Additional Voices (voice)
Dana Hill .... Kevin (voice)
Tress MacNeille .... Additional Voices (voice)
Kath Soucie .... Brian/Christine (voice)
Cree Summer .... Additional Voices (voice)