The Amazing World of Gumball

Production

When Cartoon Network Development Studio 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 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 Development Studio 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, rest of season 3 to "The Copycats", Nicolas Cantu, rest of season 5 onward) and his frequent shenanigans in the fictional American city of Elmore, accompanied by his adopted goldfish brother/best friend Darwin (Kwesi Boakye, season 1–2 and season 3 episode: "The Kids"; Terrell Ransom Jr., rest of season 3 to "The Copycats", Donielle T. Hansley Jr., rest of season 5 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 and eventual girlfriend 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 (Hugo Harold-Harrison, David Warner for episodes "The Nemesis" to "The Disaster") 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

The first season of The Amazing World of Gumball premiered on May 3, 2011 with the episode "The DVD" and ended on March 13, 2012, with "The Fight". A 40-episode second season was announced on March 17, 2011, prior to the premiere of the series' first season. Speaking of the renewal, executive producer Daniel Lennard stated: "Commissioning a second series before the first show has aired shows our absolute commitment and belief in the series and we're hoping audiences the world over will embrace this show as much as we have." The Amazing World of Gumball was renewed for a third season consisting of 40 episodes in October 2012. In February 2013, the series was put on hiatus, but returned in June 2013. On September 6, 2016, Ben Bocquelet announced he would be departing production of Gumball upon completing the sixth season, but production may continue without him.

Crossovers

On September 17, 2015, series creator Ben Bocquelet announced on his Twitter page that a crossover episode with another Cartoon Network show would air as part of the fifth season.

Gumball had a cameo appearance on the Uncle Grandpa episode "Pizza Eve", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.

The fifth season episode The Boredom featured characters from Clarence, Regular Show, and Uncle Grandpa making cameo appearances.

Comic

On June 18, 2014, a comic book adaptation of the series, written by Frank Gibson, was released. Art for the collection of works is handled by Boom! Studios.

Critical reception

The Amazing World of Gumball received critical acclaim. In a favourable review, Brian Lowry of Variety described the series as "mostly a really clever spin on domestic chaos" and "first-rate silliness." Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly 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." Reviews from the Daily Mail praised The Amazing World of Gumball as a "gloriously surreal chunk of fast and funny telly" and "the kind of clever children's comedy that parents can also enjoy."

The A.V. Club'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 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."

Ratings

On May 3, 2011, the series premiere of The Amazing World of Gumball was watched by 2.120 million viewers in the United States.

Possible film

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.

Broadcast

The first and second seasons have been released on Cartoon Network channels in over 126 countries, with the third season rolling out through 2014.

On December 1, 2014, The Amazing World of Gumball began airing on Boomerang in the United States, alongside its broadcasts on Cartoon Network.