The Amazing World of Gumball (also known simply as just Gumball) is a British-American surreal comedy animated television series created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. Produced primarily by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, it first aired on May 3, 2011.[4] The series revolves around the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, a blue cat, and his goldfish best friend—adoptive brother 10-year-old Darwin, who attend middle school in the fictional city of Elmore. They frequently find themselves involved in various shenanigans around the city, during which time they interact with fellow family members—younger sister Anais, mother Nicole and father Richard—and an extended supporting cast of characters.
Bocquelet based several of the series' characters on rejected characters from his previous commercial work and making its premise a mixture of "family shows and school shows", which Cartoon Network was heavily interested in. He pitched The Amazing World of Gumball to the network and Turner Broadcastingexecutive Daniel Lennard subsequently greenlit production of the series. It is the first series to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, and is currently co-produced with Studio SOI in Germany and Great Marlborough Productions Limited.
One unique feature of the series is its lack of stylistic unity. Characters are designed, filmed, and animated using multiple styles and techniques (stylised traditional animation, puppetry, CGI, stop motion, Flash animation, live-action, etc.)[5]
The series has made multiple stylistic changes throughout its production, specifically in the transition between its first and second seasons. Such changes include character redesigns, an increase in the use of VFX, higher quality animation, and a shift towards a much darker, more satirical comedic style.
Ben Bocquelet later stated on September 6, 2016 that the sixth season would be his last time working on the show, but production could continue without him. However, on October 7, 2018, he retweeted an article stating that the sixth season will be the last, though the author of the article made a follow-up article saying that more seasons are still possible.[6] The series is currently on a indefinite hiatus, with its future unclear.
Production[]
When Cartoon Network Studios Europe was created in 2007, Ben Bocqueletwas hired to help people pitch their projects to the network. However, when the studio decided to have its employees all pitch their own ideas, he decided to take some rejected characters he had created for commercials and put them together in one series set in a school. Daniel Lennard, vice president of Original Series and Development at Turner Broadcasting System Europe, was impressed by the premise and approved production of the series. The first series to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, thirty-six episodes were produced for its first season in collaboration with Studio SOI, Dublin-based Boulder Media Limited, and Dandelion Studios
Premise[]
The series revolves around the life of a 12-year-old cat named Gumball Watterson (Logan Grove, seasons 1–2 and season 3 episode: "The Kids"; Jacob Hopkins, the remainder of season 3 to season 5 episode "The Copycats"; Nicolas Cantu took over from him to season six; Duke Cutler from "The Gumball Chronicles" onward) and his frequent shenanigans in the fictional American city of Elmore, accompanied by his adopted goldfish brother and best friend Darwin (Kwesi Boakye, season 1–2 and season 3 episode: "The Kids"; Terrell Ransom Jr., the remainder of season 3 to season 5 episode "The Copycats"; Donielle T. Hansley Jr., the remainder of season 5 to season 6 episode "The Cage"; Christian J. Simon, onward). Gumball's other family members—his intellectual sister Anais (Kyla Rae Kowalewski) and stay-at-home father Richard (Dan Russell), both rabbits, and workaholic mother Nicole (Teresa Gallagher), a cat – often find themselves involved in Gumball's exploits. Gumball attends school with his siblings at Elmore Junior High, where throughout the series he interacts with his various middle school classmates, most prominently his love interest Penny Fitzgerald (also Gallagher).
One prominent feature of the series since its third season is "The Void", a dimension inside of Elmore where all the universe's mistakes reside. This includes references to aspects of reality as well as in-series elements. Rob (Charles Philipp, David Warner for episodes "The Nemesis" to "The Disaster", Hugo Harrison from "The Rerun" onwards) is a background character from the first two seasons who became trapped in The Void after becoming "irrelevant". He later escapes in Season 3, after which he becomes Gumball's nemesis and main antagonist. He is shown to be aware of his fictional existence in the Season 4 episode "The Disaster", and his hatred towards Gumball is a result of his role as the protagonist.
Episodes[]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| Pilot | May 9, 2008 | ||||
| 1 | 36 | May 3, 2011 | March 13, 2012 | ||
| 2 | 40 | August 7, 2012 | December 3, 2013 | ||
| 3 | 40 | June 5, 2014 | August 6, 2015 | ||
| 4 | 40 | July 7, 2015 | October 27, 2016 | ||
| 5 | 40 | September 1, 2016 | November 10, 2017 | ||
| 6 | 44 | January 5, 2018 | June 24, 2019 | ||
| Specials | 14 | December 14, 2019 | June 20, 2021 | ||
Crossovers[]
On September 17, 2015, series creator Ben Bocquelet announced on his Twitter page that a crossover episode with an unknown show would air as part of the fifth season. This turned out to be the episodes, "The Puppets", which features characters and settings from Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. Additionally, "The Copycats" featured the characters interacting with ones similar to those from Miracle Star, a Chinese clone of the show.
"The Boredom" featured characters from Clarence, Regular Show, and Uncle Grandpa making cameo appearances.
Gumball made a cameo appearance on the Uncle Grandpa episode "Pizza Eve", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.
Gumball also made a cameo appearance on the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode and Cartoon Network special "Crossover Nexus", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.
Waiting for Gumball[]
Waiting for Gumball is a series of thirteen shorts based on The Amazing World of Gumball, or more specifically, "The Puppets".
Darwin's Yearbook[]
A six-episode miniseries called Darwin's Yearbook aired on Cartoon Network from December 14 to December 28, 2019. The miniseries features Darwin attempting to complete Elmore Junior High's yearbook by examining who he thinks should fill up the best spot. The miniseries predominantly consists of recycled clips from previous episodes of the original series presented in a clip show style.
The Gumball Chronicles[]
Another series of clip show episodes titled, The Gumball Chronicles, premiered on October 5, 2020, with The Curse of Elmore. On November 2, 2020, four more episodes (each beginning with Vote Gumball...and) themed around the 2020 United States presidential election were aired back-to-back.
Gallery[]
Future[]
In an interview with The Times newspaper, series creator Ben Bocquelet mentioned plans for a feature film based on the series. However, after Bocquelet announced his departure from the show following the sixth season, he stated that he doubted a film would be made.
In March 2018, Bocquelet's interest in a Gumball film was seemingly revitalized as he stated that he "might have a good idea" for a film. He later added that he had two ideas, one for a potential theatrical film and one for a potential direct-to-video film.
On September 29, 2018, during a Q&A with the series director Mic Graves at Cartoon Network UK's 25th anniversary screening, he confirmed that a script for The Amazing World of Gumball film is in the works. He also said that he hopes for the film to happen. Bocquelet retweeted a tweet which states that the script for a film based on The Amazing World of Gumball is being written, however it was then unknown if the film would actually be made. After the season six finale "The Inquisition", was met with mixed reviews from fans of the series due to its cliffhanger ending, Bocquelet stated it was not his choice to conclude the episode that way, adding that it would be resolved if a film based on the series were produced.
On February 17, 2021, WarnerMedia announced that a television film was in development under the working title The Amazing World of Gumball Movie. On September 21, 2021, Cartoon Network announced that the upcoming film had been officially greenlit under the title The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie!, with original series creator Ben Bocquelet serving as director and executive producer. The movie will focus on Gumball’s biggest fan finding a missing episode from the television show and accidentally opening a portal that connects Gumball’s cartoon world to his own. After meeting the characters, he’ll team up with Gumball, Darwin, Anais, Richard, and Nicole to try and save Elmore from a nefarious menace looking to overtake the town. The movie will act as the "epic conclusion" to the original series, but also establish the world for a new accompanying show with the working title The Amazing World of Gumball: The Series. The movie as well as the new series will be released on Cartoon Network and HBO Max.
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