''The Amazing World of Gumball'' (also known simply as ''Gumball'' or by its abbreviation ''TAWOG''; retitled ''The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball'' beginning with its seventh season) is an

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of a television sitcom that is animation, animated instead of being filmed live-action, and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''The Simpsons'', ''SpongeBob SquarePan ...

created by

Ben Bocquelet Benjamin Bocquelet (born 27 June 1980) is a French animator, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the Cartoon Network animated series ''The Amazing World of Gumball.'' He was also the director o ...

for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. The series follows the lives of 12-year-old

Gumball Watterson The ''Amazing World of Gumball'' characters appear in the British-American animated sitcom ''The Amazing World of Gumball''. The series revolves around the daily life of 12-year-old cat Gumball Watterson and his family—adoptive brother Darwi ...

, an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

blue

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, and his adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend middle school in the fictional city of Elmore. 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 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was an American television and media conglomerate founded by Ted Turner in 1965. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (later WarnerMedia) on October 10, 1996. As of April 2022, all of its ass ...

executive Daniel Lennard green-lit the production of the series. The show was produced by

Cartoon Network Studios Europe Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe Ltd. (also known as Great Marlborough Productions or simply Hanna-Barbera), formerly Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe and Cartoon Network Studios Europe, is a British animation studio headquartered in London ...

, in association with

Boulder Media Boulder Media Limited is an Irish animation studio founded by filmmaker Robert Cullen in 2000. It is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian media company Princess Pictures, which purchased the company in 2022 from its previous owner ...

(Ireland; season 1) and Studio Soi (Germany). ''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 Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawing, drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there wa ...

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

, CGI,

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

Flash animation Adobe Flash animation (formerly Macromedia Flash animation and FutureSplash animation) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) platform or similar animation software and often distributed in the SW ...

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

, etc.). in Toonzone Although it is a

children's series A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

, ''Gumball'' comments on topics that are often considered serious or mature, including

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

, political intolerance,

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, and the

human condition The human condition can be defined as the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, reason, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered ...

. The series has received critical acclaim and developed a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

, with particular praises for its extensive references to

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

and

internet culture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

sarcasm Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflectio ...

, subtle

innuendo An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called in ...

dark humor Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

, and

metahumor Self-referential humor, also known as self-reflexive humor, self-aware humor, or meta humor, is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—is self-referential in some way, int ...

. On 6 September 2016, Bocquelet announced the series would end after season 6; he reaffirmed his position on Twitter in October 2018. However, Turner Northern Europe was unable to confirm at the time whether the sixth season would be the show's last. Following the season 6 finale, two miniseries were released: the six-episode ''

Darwin's Yearbook ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series follows the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and his adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who atten ...

'' in November 2019 and ''The Gumball Chronicles'' in October 2020. On 17 February 2021, Cartoon Network revealed that a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

based on the series was in development. 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

and

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

alongside the film. 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. 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. On 15 June 2023, it was confirmed at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

that the spin-off series would instead serve as the seventh season of the show. It is scheduled for release in 2025.

Premise

The series revolves around the life of a 12-year-old cat named Gumball Watterson and his frequent shenanigans in the fictional American city of Elmore,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, accompanied by his adopted goldfish brother and best friend Darwin. Gumball's other family members—his intellectual sister Anais and

stay-at-home father A stay-at-home dad is a father who is the main caregiver of the children and is generally the homemaker of the household. The female equivalent is the stay-at-home mother or housewife. As families have evolved, the practice of being a stay-at- ...

Richard, both rabbits, and

workaholic A workaholic is a person who works Compulsive behavior, compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no ...

mother Nicole, 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. 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 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

While most of the 11-minutes episodes premiered on their own and all are considered as individually released, the 11-minutes episodes of the series that Cartoon Network ordered were still originally produced in pairs of 22-minutes each. So was the case with ''The Amazing World of Gumball'', with seasons 1-3 actually being produced by Cartoon Network Development Studios Europe in packages of two 11-minutes stories and being aired so outside of America. However, starting with Season 4, the rest of the series began to be produced as individual 11-minutes episodes, the same being the case of the special miniseries.

Crossovers

On 17 September 2015, series creator

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 episode "The Puppets", which features characters and settings from ''

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'' (''DHMIS'') is a British surrealist adult puppet musical horror comedy web series created by Becky Sloan and Joe Pelling. The series is notable for its blending of surrealism and morbid humour with horror and musi ...

''. 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 ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its Regular Show season 8, eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the cours ...

'', and ''

Uncle Grandpa ''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that ran from September 2, 2013, to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from '' The Cartoonstitut ...

'' making cameo appearances. Gumball made a cameo appearance on the ''

'' episode "Pizza Eve", along with other characters from other Cartoon Network shows. Gumball made a cameo appearance on the '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' episode and Cartoon Network special "Crossover Nexus", along with other characters from other Cartoon Network shows.

''Waiting for Gumball''

''Waiting for Gumball'' is a series of thirteen shorts featuring Gumball and Darwin and inspired by the episode "The Puppets".

''Darwin's Yearbook''

A six-episode miniseries called ''

'' aired on Cartoon Network from 14 to 28 December 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 A clip show is an episode of a Television program, television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicte ...

style.

''The Gumball Chronicles''

Another series of

episodes titled, The ''Gumball Chronicles'', premiered on 5 October 2020, with ''The Curse of Elmore''. On 2 November 2020, four more episodes (each beginning with ''Vote Gumball...and'') themed around the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

were aired back-to-back, revolving around Gumball's attempts to get a running mate so he can run for school president.

Production

When

was created in 2007,

was hired to help people pitch their projects to

the network The Network is an American six-piece new wave band. they released their debut album '' Money Money 2020'' on Adeline Records on September 30, 2003. After a 15-year hiatus, the band became active again in 2020, releasing a follow-up album tit ...

. 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 Warner Bros. Discovery Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery. The division is responsible for managing the collection of their cable and satellite networks around the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions ...

, was impressed by the premise and approved production of the series in 2009. 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 Boulder Media Limited is an Irish animation studio founded by filmmaker Robert Cullen in 2000. It is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian media company Princess Pictures, which purchased the company in 2022 from its previous owner, ...

, and Dandelion Studios. On 17 February 2021, the Cartoon Network Twitter account confirmed that a film based on the series is currently in development.

Broadcast

The first two seasons were released on

channels in over 126 countries, with the third season rolling out through 2014. The series debuted on

Cartoon Network UK Cartoon Network (commonly abbreviated as CN) is a British pay television channel aimed at children which airs animation, animated programming targeting children and young aged 6 to 12.

on 2 May 2011, one day before the US premiere. The show aired on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

from 1 December 2014, to 23 October 2015, its second run from 30 November 2015, to 25 December 2015, its third run from 1 February 2016, to 2 April 2017, its fourth run from 2 May 2022, to 31 October 2022, and its fifth run from April 4, 2023 to September 29, 2023.

Reception

Ratings

On 3 May 2011, the series premiere of ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' was watched by 2.120 million viewers in the United States. "The Goons" is currently the highest viewed episode of the series, with 2.72 million viewers. "The Potion" is the lowest viewed episode, with only 0.42 million viewers, approximately 15% of its series high.

Critical reception

''The Amazing World of Gumball'' has received critical acclaim. In a favorable review, Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the series as "mostly a really clever spin on domestic chaos" and "first-rate silliness."

Ken Tucker Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and nonfiction book author. Early life and education Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' was also positive, writing: "There are few examples of mainstream children's programming as wildly imaginative, as visually and narratively daring, as ''The Amazing World of Gumball''." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

''s Noel Murray graded the DVD release of the series' first 12 episodes a B+, writing that "what sets 'The Amazing World of Gumball''apart from the many other super-silly, semi-anarchic cartoons on cable these days is that it features such a well-developed world, where even with the eclectic character designs, there are recognisable traits and tendencies." ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' writer Z noted that the series "manages to have genuine heart even as the plots themselves transition from well-worn TV tropes to all out madness."

Awards and nominations

Related media

Comics

On 18 June 2014,

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

began publishing ''The Amazing World of Gumball''

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series, which would end in 2015 after eight issues. The series was written by Frank Gibson and illustrated by

Tyson Hesse Tyson Hesse (born August 30, 1984) is an American artist and animator. Hesse is the creator of the webcomic ''Boxer Hockey'' and the graphic novel ''Diesel'' and ''Diesel: Ignition''. He contributed art to the video game ''Dream Daddy'' and the ...

. Eight original graphic novels were also released.

Home media

Video games

Characters and locations from ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' are depicted in the crossover video game '' Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers''.

Future

Continuation

At the 2023

, 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. At the following year's festival, details on the seventh season were revealed, including the announcement that it was now under full production, and a preview of the episode "The Burger", which will open the season, was showcased. No set release date is confirmed yet, but it was announced that the season would release by 2025. In May 2025, it was announced that the seventh season would officially be retitled ''The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball'', and released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

in the United States and on

in other countries. It was also announced that Alkaio Thiele, Hero Hunter, and Kinza Syed Khan were cast as the new voices of Gumball, Darwin, and Anais respectively, with

Teresa Gallagher Teresa Gallagher is a U.S-born British actress. She is best known for her role as Nicole Watterson in the Cartoon Network animated sitcom ''The Amazing World of Gumball''. Career Gallagher is known for her role as Ellen Smith in ''The Bill ...

and Dan Russell returning as Nicole and Richard Watterson.

Feature film

In an interview with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper, series creator

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 29 September 2018, during a Q&A with the series director

Mic Graves Mic Graves is an English animation director, writer, producer, and voice actor known for his work on Cartoon Network's ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' and co-creating '' Elliott from Earth''. Animation career Graves first worked at Studio AKA ...

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 A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

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 17 February 2021,

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

announced that a

was in development under the working title ''The Amazing World of Gumball Movie''. On 21 September 2021, Cartoon Network announced that the upcoming film had been greenlit under the title ''The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie!'', with original series creator Ben Bocquelet serving as director and executive producer. The film would 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, they will join Gumball, Darwin, Anais, Richard, and Nicole in saving Elmore from a nefarious menace looking to overtake the town. It would act as the "epic conclusion" to the original series and establish the world for a new accompanying show with the working title ''The Amazing World of Gumball: The Series''. On 22 August 2022, the film was announced as one of six projects that will no longer be debuting on the streamer

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

, but will instead be shopped at a different outlet. Bocquelet later said, in a 1 September 2022 tweet, that the film's fate is "a bit of a

Schrödinger's cat In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat in a closed box may be considered to be simultaneously both alive and dead while it is unobserved, ...

question". He still expressed hope that the film will continue at some point. Nothing was heard about the film until almost two years later, when, at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Bocquelet was asked about the film during a Q&A session. He confirmed that the film is still being worked on, with the story and script currently being revised.

References

External links

Official website

at