The second season of the British-American animated television seriesThe Amazing World of Gumball, created by Ben Bocquelet, originally aired on Cartoon Network in the United States, and was produced by Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe. The season debuted on August 7, 2012 and ended on December 3, 2013. This season consists of 40 episodes. The season focuses on the adventures of Gumball Watterson, a blue 12-year-old cat, along with his adopted brother, Darwin, a goldfish. Together, they cause mischief among their family, as well as with the wide array of students at Elmore Junior High.
Development
Plot
The season focuses on the misadventures of Gumball Watterson, a blue 12-year-old cat, along with his adopted brother, Darwin, a goldfish. Together, they cause mischief among their family, as well as with the wide array of students at Elmore Junior High, where they attend middle school. In a behind-the-scenes video documenting the production of this season, creator Ben Bocquelet expanded on the development of some of the characters, and how they are based on interactions from his childhood.[1]
Production
The second season began filming on February 7, 2012 and ended filming on June 4, 2013. Before the series premiered on Cartoon Network, a second season was announced in March 2011, consisting of 40 11-minute episodes.[2] Production for the season started in June of the same year.[2] Executive producer and vice president of Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe, Daniel Lennard stated his enthusiasm in the series as "one of the most exciting animation shows to launch in recent years. 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."[2]
Episodes for the season were written by Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, Mic Graves, Chris Garbutt, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Tobi Wilson, Yang Benedi, Guillaume Cassuto, and Antoine Perez, and were storyboarded by Aurelie Charbonnier, Chuck Klein, Sebastian Hary, William Laborie, Adrian Maganza, Ben Marsaud, Akis Dimitrakopoulos, Jean Texier, and Charles Schneck. An episode entitled "The Rex", that was going to reveal Mr. Rex's (Tina Rex's father) full appearance, was written for this season but never produced for fiscal reasons.[3] The episode's script was later (apparently) rewritten for the show's fourth season's episode "The Routine", although some fans recommended Bocquelet make the episode as part of the next season.[4]
The season marks a visual change from the prior season; Bocquelet states that he and his production staff had to adapt the art style from the first season in order for more complex animations to work within the 2D and 3D environments.[5] In a subsequent interview with World Screen, he retrospectively described the workflow of the season which proved just as difficult as the first for him and his team; he jokingly stated that he and his staff "went into the second series thinking that we were seasoned animation warriors. The second series proved to be quite hard."[6]
Reception and release
Ratings
The season premiered with the episode "The Remote". The episode was watched by 1.805 million viewers,[7] marking a decrease from the first-season premiere, which had been viewed by 2.120 million viewers for its premiere.[8] The episode with the highest reported viewers for the season was the medial episode, "The Virus", which was watched by 2.570 million viewers.[9] This season had an average of 1.712 million viewers per episode in the United States, a decrease from the previous season which had an average of 1.998 million viewers. The first episode was broadcast on a Tuesday at 8:30 PM. Episodes 2-19 were broadcast Tuesdays at 7:00 PM. Episodes 20-30 were broadcast Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Episodes 31-40 were broadcast Tuesdays at 7:30 PM.
Reviews and accolades
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the season premiere "The Remote" a favorable review. In his article, he praised the visuals, namely "the sophisticated composition of the characters and the show's mastery of pop fun [appealing] to older viewers as well [as young viewers]."[10]
Gumball and Darwin help Hector be more interesting after he rejects their friend request on Elmore Plus and learning about his mother's parenting, only to learn that the latter is to keep Hector the way he is for the good of society.
39
3
"The Knights"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
Aurelie Charbonnier
August 21, 2012 (2012-08-21)
GB201
N/A
Gumball is banned from seeing Penny after her father thinks the entire Watterson family is dysfunctional when passing by, and Tobias swoops in to try to be Penny's love as well.
Song: I Wanna Study with Your Daughter
40
4
"The Fridge"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
Nicole begins recording the other family members' success on a chart hanging on the fridge, and when she finds out Gumball has not achieved anything, she begins pushing him into being a success.
41
5
"The Flower"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
When Gumball buys his first cellphone, he gets mad about not getting any calls and gives it to Darwin, who foolishly gives out his number to their intense classmate Ocho. When Darwin gets addicted to the phone, Gumball takes the phone and accidentally sends an insulting message to Ocho, getting the three into a fight.
44
8
"The Job"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
Richard gets a job as a pizza delivery man, which worries Nicole when, at the same time, strange things begin to occur around the neighborhood. When it becomes apparent that Richard has disrupted the balance of the universe by getting a job, his family desperately tries to get him fired before Richard destroys the universe.
Songs: Pizza Rap, Pizza Pizza Pizza
45
9
"Halloween"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, and James Lamont
Aurelie Charbonnier, William Laborie, and Sebastian Hary (uncredited)
Gumball, Darwin, and Anais try to solve an adventurous mystery of why their family cannot afford anything besides cheap knockoffs and non-descript groceries.
Gumball and Darwin are owed apologies by Miss Simian after they are falsely accused of insulting her, but she stubbornly refuses to give them and goes to great lengths to prove that they are bad kids. When that does not work, she tries to frame them instead, which gets her in deep trouble with Principal Brown.
Darwin is too polite to speak his mind, so Gumball teaches him to be more direct, but this backfires when Darwin starts insulting everyone in the school.
Songs: What He Thinks About Us!, No More Mr. Nice Guy!
49
13
"The Skull"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
Clayton accidentally causes destruction in the men's locker room with Gumball and Darwin and lies about what happened to cover up for their deed. However, Gumball and Darwin soon begin to feel his influence—and incur the wrath of an Elmore student who got expelled. NOTE: Most international versions of this episode (including versions shown in the United States) cut an entire sequence showing Gumball, Darwin, and Clayton using electroshock collars to curb their lying.
A homeless man (voiced by Brian Blessed), believed to be Santa Claus, gets accidentally run over by the Wattersons during a visit to Elmore, so it is up to them to save Christmas.
Songs: It’s Christmas Eve, Christmas is Cancelled
NOTE: This episode premiered a day before in the UK.
After bailing on him while getting chased by Tina, Gumball and Darwin have a falling-out and the only way they can make up is with the help of Anais—while all of them have to look after the house and an anesthetic-addled Richard while Nicole is at work.
55
19
"The Authority"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Mic Graves
Richard is put in the hospital after trying to fix the satellite television in the house, so Granny Jojo moves in and safeguards the entire house, causing Gumball, Darwin, and Anais to become fat and unintelligent like Richard.
Richard becomes saddened when he hears his sons at school thinking of him as a laughing stock, and when Nicole punishes Gumball and Darwin by forbidding them to have anything (including food) until they apologize to Richard for their actions, the boys decide to stage a dangerous rescue in order to make a hero out of Richard.
Song: My Little Ones
59
23
"The Dream"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Gumball and Darwin's attempts to get a game back from Tobias are hampered when Darwin begins to feel like a mere sidekick to Gumball and decides to be the leader by abducting Tobias' mother.
61
25
"The Photo"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Richard and Mr. Robinson are both put under house arrest after fighting over a trash can and after trying to continue the fight through Gumball and Darwin, the duo take it upon themselves to end the feud.
Song: Baby
63
27
"The Storm"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Jon Foster, and James Lamont
A plot to improve Alan and Carmen's relationship backfires, and Gumball has to reunite them. NOTE: In the original version, Gumball's line before he accidentally kisses Carmen is "Gumball Watterson may be a lot of things, but he is not a cheap, corruptible bimbo!" Most versions, particularly the version shown on Cartoon Network's American channel, replaces "bimbo" with "coward".
64
28
"The Lesson"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Gumball and Darwin resort to cheating on their math test after procrastinating on studying for it the day before and end up receiving a detention similar to a maximum security prison over spring break from Principal Brown and meet their school's worst students.
Song: The Baddest Kid In Prison
65
29
"The Game"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Nicole gets upset with the family at the supermarket when they attempt to get candy, sending them to the car as punishment each time they try to rebel. Their refusal to give up pushes her too far and makes her lose her sanity.
Song: Who’s Gettin’ Candy?
67
31
"The Voice"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
After mocking everyone on social media, Gumball and Darwin receive a threatening e-mail from somebody anonymous. The pair set out to apologize to everyone at school to avoid the consequences.
68
32
"The Promise"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Darwin wants to delay a promise to play video games with Gumball in order to ease tensions with Banana Joe, but Gumball wants his own promise fulfilled so much that he keeps Darwin trapped against his own will.
69
33
"The Castle"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
To their uninterest, Gumball and Darwin's reputations are challenged by two human students named Carlton and Troy from a neighboring high school, after a new girl named Sarah urges Gumball and Darwin to defend their honor.
Thinking that their mother is being courted by a man named "Daniel Lennard", the Watterson siblings come up with a plan to save her, but end up wasting their time trying to devise it.
75
39
"The World"
Mic Graves
Ben Bocquelet, Jon Brittain, Tom Crowley, Jon Foster, James Lamont, and Tobi Wilson
Chabassol, Raphaël (March 27, 2013). "Animation Design"(Production codes are located in the "episode" field of each character model sheet.). Casamokë. Blogger. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
Laborie, William (January 8, 2013). "[no title available]". Johnny Boulgour. Blogger. Archived from the original(Production codes are located in the "episode" field of each character model sheet.) on May 27, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2013.