Gyro Gearloose

Gyro Gearloose is an anthropomorphic chicken created by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company, first appearing in Barks' 1952 comic Gladstone's Terrible Secret. He is part of the Donald Duck character cast, appearing in stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and anyone who is associated with them in any way. He was also a recurring character in the 1987-90 Disney Afternoon television series, DuckTales.

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 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.

In high school, young Gyro was a baseball pitcher with his "madball" pitch - 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, resulting in total chaos.

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 on occasions. With his inventions, he is also a very important ally of Donald Duck's alter ego, The Duck Avenger in the Italian Disney comics.

Sport Goofy in Soccermania
Gyro made his first animated appearance in the 1987 television special with only one line of dialogue, voiced by Will Ryan: "Scrooge parting with a million dollars?".

DuckTales
In the subsequent 1987 TV series DuckTales, Gyro became a regular character, with the late Hal Smith supplying his voice. Among Gyro's noteworthy inventions in the series is 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 for him in Robot Robbers.

Gyro also appeared in both of the DuckTales NES games. In the first game, he appears only in the bonus stage that can be accessed if Scrooge exits a level with a 7 in the ten-thousand digit on the score. In DuckTales 2, he can be found in three of the levels, providing upgrades for Scrooge's cane. The HD remake of the first game gives Gyro an expanded role, prominently appearing in cut scenes in the African Mines and Moon levels. Here, he is voiced by Chris Edgerly.

Mickey Mouse
Gyro makes a cameo appearance at the end of the episode "Down the Hatch", together with several other scientists. Notably, this is his only animated appearance alongside Ludwig Von Drake, with whom he does frequently interact in the comics.

Disney on Ice
In the early 1990s, Gyro appeared in two Walt Disney's World on Ice shows, 10th Anniversary and Double Feature... Live!

Disney's Toontown Online
In the Toontown storyline, 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 is Gyro's grandfather from the Carl Barks comic The Fantastic River Race (1957). In the flashback segment of the story, Ratchet is seen using his technical abilities to assist Scrooge on his riverboat adventures. He reappeared by the name Grandpa Gearloose in the comics Flipsy Tootle (1965) and Monotonópolis (1973).

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 Invader of Fort Duckburg as a child and one of the first members of the Junior Woodchucks. In the comic Gyro's First Invention, Fulton retires and leaves his son in charge of his workshop.

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 is a fan of his uncle's work, and wants to be an inventor like him when he grows up. Newton is also a Junior Woodchuck, as well as a friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie. Newton his occasionally been called Giggy.

After the early 1970's, 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 1990's.

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.