Gyro Gearloose

Gyro Gearloose is an anthropomorphic chicken created by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. He is part of the Scrooge McDuck comic book continuity, appearing in stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge, and anyone who is associated with them. He was also a frequent star of the animated DuckTales. He first appeared in the Carl Barks comic Gladstone's Terrible Secret. He has been voiced by Will Ryan, Hal Smith, and Corey Burton, and is now voiced by Chris Edgerly.

Character Biography
Gyro is Duckburg's most famous inventor, even though his inventions don't always work the way he wants them to. His outrageous productivity is presented as a factor in the quality of his inventions; because he always comes up with new ideas, the fact that his inventions often lack an important feature, will often cause trouble for Scrooge or Donald who have bought the invention. He is known as being good-natured towards others. Gyro is often assisted by his Little Helper (or just "Helper"), who is a small anthropomorphic robot with a light bulb for a head. Besides Little Helper, he has also a thinking cap, a combination of a roof-top and a nest, with three black birds living in it.

Some of Gyro's relatives include his father Fulton Gearloose, his grandfather Ratchet Gearloose, and Newton Gearloose, his nephew. Occasionally there have been stories about Gyro's girlfriend Matilda. In some stories, Gyro's primary rival is Emil Eagle, although he is also antagonized by the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell. With his inventions, he is also a very important ally of Donald Duck's alter ego, Paperinik, in the Italian Disney comics.

Appearances
Gyro made his first animated appearance on the Sport Goofy Soccermania television special with only one line of dialogue, voiced by Will Ryan: "Scrooge parting with a million dollars?"

DuckTales
In the subsequent 1987 animated series DuckTales, Gyro became a regular character, with the late Hal Smith supplying his voice. Among Gyro's noteworthy inventions in the series was the creation of the GizmoDuck suit, intended to be worn by a security guard for Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin. Although Gyro's shop and house are on the south side of Duckburg, he was born on the north side &mdash; a sign marks his birthplace and mentions one of his inventions - topless hats. Despite Flintheart Glomgold being an enemy of Scrooge's, Gyro built the giant construction robots in "Robot Robbers".

In high school, young Gyro was a baseball pitcher with his "madball" pitch &mdash; actually only a straight-ball pitch. When Gyro is forced to pitch for the Northside, pitting an "unhittable" baseball against another of his inventions, an "unmissable" baseball bat made for the Southside team, the result is total chaos.

Disney on Ice
In the early 1990s, Gyro appeared in two Walt Disney's World on Ice shows.

House of Mouse
Contrary to his entry in Don Markstein's Toonopedia, Gyro never appeared on House of Mouse. Gyro's usual role as an inventor is replaced with Ludwig Von Drake in both House of Mouse and many other cartoons.

Disney's Toon Town Online
In the Toontown universe, Gyro created a robot that, when Scrooge accidentally wired it incorrectly, made the Cogs, the main antagonists of the game. They are grim businessmen-like robots who can't take a joke, so to take care of the infestation, the toons (the main protagonists of the game), destroy them with gags, such as squirting seltzer water and throwing pies at them.

Ratchet Gearloose
Ratchet Gearloose knew Scrooge McDuck: he first met him during his Mississippi riverboat days. They later met on the island of Krakatoa. Nothing was known about Ratchet since then but it is assumed that he wound up in Duckburg since his son Fulton Gearloose is one of the first three Junior Woodchucks.

Fulton Gearloose
Fulton Gearloose is the son of Ratchet Gearloose and the father of Gyro Gearloose. He was first mentioned in Guardians of The Library in Uncle Scrooge Adventures #27 as the inventor of The Junior Woodchucks Merit Badge, as well as the first person it was awarded to (for inventing it). He first appeared in person in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Part 10 as a young child and one of the first three Junior Woodchucks. He appears as an adult in the story Gyro's First Invention. He must have at least one child besides Gyro, or else it would be impossible for Gyro to have a nephew.

Newton Gearloose
Newton Gearloose first appeared in the Gyro Gearloose story in 1960 by Vic Lockman in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #308 as Gyro's nephew in a story titled 'Ting-A-Ling Trouble'. He subsequently appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #309, as well as in Huey Dewey and Louie's Junior Woodchucks #1, 2, 49, and 50.

Newton was a fan of his uncle's work, and wanted to be an inventor like him when he grew up. Newton was also a Junior Woodchuck, as well as a friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie. Newton also went by the nickname "Giggy."

After the early 1970s, Newton ceased appearing in new North American Disney comics. He continued to be used in some Italian and Danish-produced Disney comics into the late 1990s.

There was a similar character in the Ducktales episode "Superdoo", like Newton he was also in the Junior Woodchucks. Though his name is never spoken he does bear a physical resemblance to Newton Gearloose.