The Amazing World of Gumball

The Amazing World of Gumball
Also known as
  • Gumball
  • TAWOG
Genre
Created byBen Bocquelet
ShowrunnerBen Bocquelet
Directed by
Voices of
Composers
  • Ben Locket
  • Neil Myers (S6)
  • Xav Clarke (S6)
Country of origin
  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland (S1)
  • Germany
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes240 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Editors
  • Richard Overall
  • Tony Hull (S2-6)
  • Lucy Benson (S4-5)
Running time11 minutes[6]
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network
Release3 May 2011 (2011-05-03) –
present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Amazing World of Gumball (also known simply as Gumball or by its abbreviation TAWOG) is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network.[7] The series follows the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and his adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend middle school in the fictional city of Elmore, California. They often find themselves in various shenanigans around the city, during which they interact with fellow family members—younger sister Anais, mother Nicole, and father Richard—along with an extended supporting cast of characters.

Bocquelet based several of the series' characters on rejected characters from his previous commercial work while making its premise a mixture of "family shows and school shows", which Cartoon Network was heavily interested in.[8] After Bocquelet pitched The Amazing World of Gumball to the network, Turner Broadcasting executive Daniel Lennard green-lit the production of the series. The show was produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, in association with Boulder Media (Ireland; season 1) and Studio Soi (Germany; seasons 2–6).

Gumball is noted for its intentional stylistic disunity, with characters designed, filmed, and animated using various styles and techniques, oftentimes within the same scene (stylized traditional animation, puppetry, CGI, stop motion, Flash animation, live-action, etc.).[2] Although it is a children's series, Gumball comments on topics that are often considered serious or mature, including philosophy, marriage, cyberbullying, political intolerance, mental illness, and the human condition. The series has received critical acclaim and developed a cult following, with particular praises for its extensive references to popular culture and internet culture, sarcasm, subtle innuendos, dark humor, and metahumor.[5][9]

On 6 September 2016, Bocquelet announced the series would end after season 6; he reaffirmed his position on Twitter in October 2018.[10] However, Turner Northern Europe was unable to confirm at the time whether the sixth season would be the show's last.[11] Following the season 6 finale, two miniseries were released: the six-episode Darwin's Yearbook in November 2019 and The Gumball Chronicles in October 2020.[12][13] On 15 June 2023, it was confirmed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that the seventh season of the show was in the works,[14][15] and is scheduled for release in 2025–2026.[16]

On 17 February 2021, Cartoon Network revealed that a television film based on the series was in development.[17] On 21 September 2021, it was announced that a new spin-off series, to be a follow-up for both the show and the movie, had been greenlit for Cartoon Network and Max alongside the film.[18] On 22 August 2022, it was reported that the film would no longer be heading to Max, but would be shopped to other outlets instead.[19] However, at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it was announced that the film is still being worked on, with the story and script currently being revised.[20]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference animag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c "Toonzone Interviews "The Amazing World of Gumball" Creator Ben Bocquelet". Toonzone. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. in Toonzone
  3. ^ Allison, Austin (19 January 2022). "10 Best Cartoon Network Originals of the 2010s, Ranked". Collider. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ReadyToRoll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Alexander, Julia (17 February 2017). "Amazing World of Gumball perfectly tackles the biggest stereotypes found in RPGs". Polygon. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  6. ^ "The Amazing World of Gumball". Turner Broadcasting. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  7. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  8. ^ "gumball". studio soi. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  9. ^ White, James (13 February 2022). "How 'The Amazing World of Gumball' Uses Meta Humor to Appeal to Generations New and Old". Collider. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  10. ^ "The Amazing World of Gumball: Cartoon Network Series Ending? No Season Seven? (Updated)". canceled + renewed TV shows - TV Series Finale. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  11. ^ "More Seasons Of The Amazing World Of Gumball Is Still A Possibility". RegularCapital. 12 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  12. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (4 November 2019). "CN Brings Back 'Gumball' with Special "Darwin's Yearbook" Episodes". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. ^ Gumball Chronicles: The Curse of Elmore, Futon Critic, 2 November 2020, archived from the original on 18 February 2021, retrieved 2 November 2020
  14. ^ Giraud, Kevin (15 June 2023). "Annecy: New Animated Offerings from Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network & Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference s7rollout was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Dominguez, Noah (17 February 2021). "Amazing World of Gumball Returns as a Cartoon Network Movie". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  18. ^ Nash, Anthony (21 September 2021). "The Amazing World of Gumball Returning With New Movie & TV Series". Coming soon. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  19. ^ Zogbi, Emily (23 August 2022). "Amazing World of Gumball Movie, Damian Wayne Special Canceled at HBO Max". CBR. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  20. ^ @MidouMir (13 June 2024). "GUYS! Guess who asked the first DUMB DUMB DUMB question? ME! And I asked about the movie. @benbocquelet said it's not canceled, he's working on it but with everything that happened, the movie changed and could be made but differently" (Tweet) – via Twitter.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).