The Amazing World of Gumball (also known simply as Gumball or by its abbreviation TAWOG) is an animated television series created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and 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. 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.). 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
Production[]
When Cartoon Network Studios Europe was created in 2007, Ben Bocquelet was 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 inside of 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 in 2006. The first series to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, making the show a British production, thirty-six episodes were produced for its first season in collaboration with Studio Soi, Dublin-based Boulder Media Limited, and Dandelion Studios. On February 17, 2021, the Cartoon Network Twitter account confirmed that a film based on the series is currently in development.
At the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, a seventh season of The Amazing World of Gumball was announced to be in production, with no release date confirmed yet. An EIDR listing would reveal that the seventh season would have 40 episodes.
Main Characters[]
Gumball Watterson: He is the main protagonist of the series. A male 12-year-old trouble-making cat who repeatedly does idiotic things but never learns his lesson. He can get really angry at some points. He has an unbearable crush on Penny, the (formerly) antlered peanut, and the (currently) shape-shifting fairy, and once after cracking her shell open, they started dating. Despite his rambunctious behavior, he can be loyal, serious and often kind-hearted. He is often victim of circumstance.
Darwin Watterson: Gumball's 10-year-old best friend and brother. More naive than anyone else in the series, and has a tendency to have moments of smartness. Loyal to Gumball, despite Gumball being a negative influence on him at times.
Anais Watterson: A prodigy at 4 years old, she is a rabbit who is considered to be the youngest and smartest member on the family, often being called a genius and attending school with her much older brother. Gumball resents the fact that she is always telling him what to do, but deep down, he actually loves her, and knows she's always right. Although impatient with her brother, she often tags along with him on his misadventures as a voice of reason. She also helps Gumball out of any situation.
Nicole Watterson: A 38-year-old workaholic cat mother, who also works long hours cleaning the house, she is the only responsible member of the family aside from Anais. She has a short temper and can get quite angry, and is also competitive by nature. She often acts like a guide when Gumball and Darwin get in a tough spot with their misadventures. She often gets over-stressed. In addition she is very protective of her family.
Richard Watterson: A big rather overweight 38-year-old rabbit stay-at-home dad. Richard Watterson tends to give off signs that he no intelligence or responsibility, and most likely might get into mayhem a couple times. His usual daily routine is sleeping, eating, and usually generally slacking off and being lazy. Might not get dressed sometimes. Richard also eats a lot, possessing an extreme appetite. In addition he is just the third wheel in his sons misadventures. However despite all of Richards faults, he is a very caring, loving dad.. His favorite child in the family is Darwin. He's also a fan of fantasy related things. Example; he is in a club that pertains to fantasy and playing a Dungeons and Dragons styled roleplaying game.
Supporting Characters[]
Bobert 6B: A robot. goes to school, is friends with Gumball and Darwin. He often seeks life lessons from Gumball and Darwin. Bobert also happens to have a powerful, destructive array of built in weaponry, and can transform into a bigger, more combat suited version of himself. In addition, Bobert can be eccentric, and has no emotion.
Tina Rex: A female dinosaur who tends to be more on the havoc causing side for Gumball and Darwin. But under it all, Tina is an upright girl who's mainly misunderstood. After Season 1, she and Gumball became friends.
Penny Fitzgerald: A shapeshifting creature and Gumball's girlfriend.
Tobias Wilson: A multi-colored cloud-like creature. He thinks that he is a cool Jock and a smooth ladies man while he is the opposite. He is also spoiled rotten by his very wealthy parents. Tobias and Gumball has a bit of a rivalry, both fighting for Penny's love in "The Knights". He has a sister named Rachel, who doesn't like immature "old babies" like the people Tobias hangs out with.
Banana Joe: A hyperactive talking banana who enjoys fun, and cracking jokes, the class clown of Elmore Junior High. He is always jokes about whatever he can, whenever he can, without realizing that the joke is usually on him. Joe is quite restless and dim-witted, which usually leads to him getting hurt in some heinous way. Joe is mostly seen hanging out with Tobias, and the two sometimes hang out with Gumball and Darwin. Banana Joe is prone to becoming sliced or smashed, since he is a banana, although he goes back to his regular self and shape afterwards.
Leslie: A pink daisy who is gentle and friendly. He is very effeminate and can usually be found hanging around the girls. Leslie plays the flute in the school band, and is really good at it. He is also Penny’s cousin as revealed in “The Flower” as Gumball was jealous when Penny started hanging out with Leslie.
Idaho: A country potato with old-fashioned beliefs. He seems to be quite simple minded, and is one of the less popular students of Elmore Junior High. Like Banana Joe and Anton, Idaho is usually seen being injured in some fashion.
Steven Small: A tall, fluffy creature who is the counselor of Elmore Junior High. He is interested in New Age culture and can also be considered a bit of a hippie. Mr. Small's strange and unorthodox teaching methods are usually more confusing to the children than helpful, and most of the kids leave his office confused and no better off than they were previously.
Ms. Simian: A baboon who is Gumball and Darwin's sadistic teacher. She takes great pleasure in giving her students pop quizzes and being generally unpleasant, which is somewhat justified by the fact that she has been teaching for over 300,000 years. She is madly in love with Nigel Brown, and he seems to gladly return the feeling. Lucy Simian utterly despises Gumball and will do anything to ruin his mischievous plans.
Principal Brown: A brown, hairy slug who runs Elmore Junior High as Principal Brown has been dating Ms. Simian, leaving him incapable of attending to Elmore Junior High. Gumball and Darwin tend to visit his office often.
Carrie Krueger: An emo ghost who is quite depressed at times. She was born a ghost, so she was never actually alive. She sometimes helps Gumball and Darwin when they need supernatural help. She seems to care about them very much as she is always looking out for them. She and Darwin have romantic-interest in each other, but none have confessed to the other.
Masami Yoshida: A cloud creature who is spoiled rotten by her parents. Masami is used to getting whatever she wants, and takes it for granted. Masami usually resorts to lying to impress her friends or get what she wants. For instance, on one occasion she pretended to be Darwin's girlfriend in order to impress the other girls. At times she is kind hearted and helps Gumball and Darwin when they need it.
Cast[]
- Logan Grove as Gumball Watterson ("The DVD" to "The Kids")
- Jacob Hopkins as Gumball Watterson ("The Kids" to "The Copycats")
- Nicolas Cantu as Gumball Watterson ("The Copycats" to "Darwin's Yearbook: Teachers")
- Duke Cutler as Gumball Watterson (since "The Gumball Chronicles: The Curse of Elmore")
- Kwesi Boakye as Darwin Watterson ("The DVD" to "The Kids")
- Terrell Ransom Jr. as Darwin Watterson ("The Kids" to "The Copycats")
- Donielle T. Hansley Jr. as Darwin Watterson ("The Copycats" to "The Anybody")
- Christian J. Simon as Darwin Watterson (since "The Anybody")
- Kyla Kowalewski as Anais Watterson
- Teresa Gallagher as Nicole Watterson and Penny Fitzgerald
- Dan Russell as Richard Watterson and Tina Rex (Season 1)
- Lewis MacLeod as Lucy Simian and Rocky Robinson
- Rupert Degas as Gaylord Robinson
- Stefan Ashton Frank as Tina Rex (Season 2 onwards)
Series Overview[]
| Season: | Episodes: | premiere: | finale: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early reel | TV: (Unaired) May 9, 2008 VOD: January 18, 2013 | ||
| 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 5, 2017 |
| 6 | 44 | January 5, 2018 | June 24, 2019 |
| 7 | 40 | TBA 2025 | TBA 2026 |
| Darwin's Yearbook | 8 | December 14, 2019 | December 28, 2019 |
| The Gumball Chronicles | 8 | October 5, 2020 | June 20, 2021 |
Home media[]
DVD releases:
- The DVD (August 2012)
- The Mystery (January 2013)
- The Party (August 2013)
- Volume 4 (November 2014)
Digital releases:
All six seasons are on iTunes and Amazon Prime.
The series was released on Hulu in 2015, on HBO Max on May 27th, 2020, was available on Max from May 23rd, 2023 to October 1st, 2024, and finally on Disney+ (as part of the Hulu merger) on December 6th, 2023.
Appearances in other works[]
Gumball made an appearance in the Uncle Grandpa episode, Pizza Eve.
In the Teen Titans Go! episode, Squash and Stretch, there was a cartoon cat and a cartoon goldfish resembling Gumball and Darwin.
Gumball was featured in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, Crossover Nexus, where he appeared both as stone and as one of Ben 10's transformations to defeat Strike.
The series was acknowledged in Cartoon Network’s 30th Anniversary video in October 1, 2022.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- This would be the second show to be made outside the US, the first one being Ed, Edd n Eddy which was made in Canada.
- The episode, The Puppets, was a collaboration with the crew member of the web series, Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared.
- The series was originally going to end after six season before it renewed for a seventh season.
- The Amazing World of Gumball, along with Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, are the only Cartoon Network shows to have DVD releases from Warner Archive.
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