Gushing about Gumball

If you were to ask me what was one of the best cartoons to come out of the 2010's, I would almost instantly say 'The Amazing World of Gumball". No hesitation.

I feel like Gumball is a cartoon unlike any other from Cartoon Network or any other cartoon that was airing during its run. From a comedy standpoint, the show is absolutely hilarious. I don't think I've seen a show that, for me at least, has had almost EVRY episode hit with how funny it is. Whether it's the witty dialogue, visual comedy, slapstick, meta humor or the satirical humor that I feel gives South Park a run for its money. From a character standpoint, I think the show has given The Simpsons a run for its money with just how many diverse characters populate the world of Elmore and have been given time to shine in either a gag or a full episode. That's not to forget The Wattersons who, while they aren't perfect as characters or a family, are just easily lovable for how much they care about each other and how "human" they can be amongst all the craziness. 

But the big thing that sets Gumball apart from a lot of other cartoons is obviously the style and look of the show, which still continues to baffle me. 

Gumball combines a wide variety of styles into one show. 2D animation, stop motion, computer generated imagery and puppetry to bring its wild world to life. All over the foreground of live action background templates. 

What has always baffled me the about the look of the show is not only how they pull it off but how they make it look THIS high quality every episode. In both the distinctive designs of the characters and the look of the animation. Each episode of the show feels like I'm watching a movie, not a Cartoon Network show that's part of their late night schedule. 

And I do mean it when I say each episode feels like a movie, almost every episode of the show has a climax that has a scale and energy out of a theatrical animated film. My favorite being a high speed police chase filled with gags and high speed action feeling like it took inspiration from the movie "Speed" and "Die Hard": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMz0ax6228M

French-British animator Ben Bocqulet, the creator of the show, gave an explanation as to why the show has the unique look it has. Saying that a lot of the designs of the characters came from his own pitches for shows and commercials that were turned down. With "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" being the big inspiration for the look of the show and the quality they try to deliver each episode. 

One of the composition artists who worked on the first season of the show gave some insight into how they make the show:

"We tried to integrate flat/vector flash animation and 3d into realistic backgrounds (which were either rendered by Studio Soi or vector+photoshop paintings) and added handheld camera moves, effects, and more traditional cg things like noise, motion blur, depth of field, aberration, extra lighting, the usual. There's a heavy use of of afters effects"

I love this show and I have a massive amount of adoration for what it does on a visual level. The combination of 2D, 3D, and tons of other styles is something to behold and I hope to learn to utilize someday. Gumball has really been a big inspiration to me as to on both comedy the type of stuff I wish to create as a aspiring filmmaker.