Posted in: Cartoon Network, Hulu, TV | Tagged: The Amazing World of Gumball, The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball Team on Return, Casting & More

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball EPs Matt Layzell, Erik Fountain, and creator Ben Bocquelet discussed the animated universe's return.

Of all the things to be revived these days, it is about as random as it gets with the return of Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball, with a seventh season under Hulu and a rebranding as the more alliterative The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball (2011-2019) from creator Ben Bocquelet. With a variety of animation styles and hybrid live-action, we see the return of Gumball, Darwin, Anais, and the family as they go through wacky misadventures exploring various themes of life in suburbia. Bocquelet, and co-Eps Matt Layzell and Erik Fountain spoke to Bleeding Cool about returning to the Gumball world, if they had to reestablish anything in the series, and re-casting the new leads.

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball EPs on Series Return for Hulu

Ben, when you got the call to revive 'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball,' which I love the new alliteration in the title, what went through your mind?

Bocquelet: I was very excited, a lot of stuff happened in the last six years, and I was glad I found something comfortable and fun to do with my life again.

Erik, Matt, how did you both get involved with the series, and Ben, what did you both bring to the show?

Fountain: Sorry to speak for you, Matt, but he worked on the show in season one in various capacities, but then he found his way. I'm new to the series and worked on other Cartoon Network shows, so I think that was my path to it, like I knew a guy who knew a guy.

Was there any pressure to become a reentry point since this is a revival season to get back to basics? Or did you guys pick up where you left off?

Layzell: We just rolled with it, didn't we? There was a cliffhanger left over from season six, but it will be addressed in the season. In the meantime, it's like what ACGC does, isn't it? You give more of the same, and that's what the audience expects.

Fountain: Restructure the same riff and sing falsetto and…[everyone laughs].

Were there any creative changes you guys could get away with on Hulu that maybe you might not have gotten away with on Cartoon Network, or did you keep the same formula?

Layzell: We wanted this to be a continuation of the show in terms of what we could get away with, maybe had changed a bit, like in the last six years. I feel like we still managed to tell the stories we wanted to tell and felt supported by the studio. It's in 'Gumball's' DNA to like to push the boundaries and go crazy, so I think we succeeded in that.

Bocquelet: Oh yeah, you went insane.

Layzell: Literally

What did it mean to have Alkaio [Thiele], Hero [Hunter], and Kinza [Syed Khan] take over the roles for Gumball, Darwin, and Anais, and what do they bring to the show?

Bocquelet: The kids have always been kid actors. Obviously, every season or so, their voices change despite all our efforts [everyone laughs]. These three have been wonderful to work with; they sound like the originals, and they bring that new sense of delivery. They're really good.

Do you see any instances of bringing back the previous actors for some crossover?

Bocquelet: At some point, we'll have to have an episode where we have them all back in. Maybe not this season, we're waiting to have enough of them to fulfill an entire episode [laughs].

What did it mean to have Theresa [Gallagher] and Dan [Russell] back?

Bocquelet: I wouldn't have it any other way. These guys are the best. They're the original Nicole and Richard, and they will never change their voices, I think.

Was there an episode that might have been more difficult to pull than others with the different themes?

Bocquelet: I don't know. We have like an episode called "The Butts" that ends in twerking frenzy. I don't think anyone's managed to dampen our spirit just yet. Everyone wants us to do this, so they just let us do it.

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball premieres July 28th on Hulu.

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