In a shocking move, Cartoon Network’s popular the Amazing World of Gumball is rebranding as the Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball and moving to Hulu. The new season is set to be released later this year on Hulu and Disney+ with Hulu. While the Hanna Barbara Europe cartoon will air internationally on Cartoon Network, the series will go direct to streaming in the United States. This season was announced at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, but details have been scarce until now.
Here’s the new teaser trailer:
The trailer begins with a glitchy looking house, then Gumball and Darwin waking up covered in dust after sleeping from seven years, worrying they’ll be late for school, then going back to sleep.
Several characters have been recast for the new season. Gumball’s original voice in seasons 1-3 was Logan Grove. In seasons 4-5, he was voiced by Jacob Hopkins. In season 6, Nicholas Cantu provided his voice. In later specials and miniseries, Duke Cutler voiced Gumball. Now, a fifth voice has been chosen with Alkaio Thiele providing voiceovers for Gumball in the upcoming season.
Darwin has been recast as often as Gumball. Initially he was voiced by Kwesi Boakye in seasons 1-3. In seasons 4-5, Terrell Ransom Jr. became the new voice. In season 6, Donielle T. Hansley Jr. played Darwin. In specials, Darwin was played by Christian J. Simon. His new voice actor will be Hero Hunter.
More surprisingly, Anais, who has never been recast before, is no longer played by Kyla Rae Kowalewski. Her new voice actress will be Kinza Syed Khan. Dan Russell remains the voice of Richard. Teresa Gallagher stays as Nicole’s voice actress.
Gumball has been one of the most popular cartoons on Cartoon Network during the 2010s, but has long been on hiatus. Season 6 ended on September 12, 2019. Gumball has remained a constant part of the Cartoon Network lineup, even after its initial production ended. The network aired Gumball and Teen Titans Go heavily throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, before cutting back somewhat in recent months. Gradually, Cartoon Network lost hours to Adult Swim. Gumball is not shown as much as it once was due to the recent return of other CN staples like Scooby Doo, Looney Tunes, and Tom and Jerry.
Recent events have shown that the children’s demographic has collapsed for Warner Bros-Discovery, with Max’s kids library being gradually removed due to low viewership. Only a few Cartoon Network classics like Courage the Cowardly Dog and Powerpuff Girls remain on Max, likely due to being watched by primarily the Checkered Past demographic of nostalgic adults. With new kids animation no longer a focus for Max as it transitions to the adult focused rebranding of HBO Max, Gumball was left in an uncertain place. Hulu has for a decade been the home of many Cartoon Network programs, including several delisted from Max. Recent attempts to air CN classics on Saturday morning seem to be floundering, as Powerpuff Girls is facing removal on June 7, after only a month on Saturday mornings. Even new kids animation like Iyanu has failed to chart in the ratings or develop a viral following, and is being pulled from Saturday mornings before finishing its season. This has left an opening for Hulu to exploit as the core destination for kids animation. Recent advertisements for Hulu on Disney+ bundle emphasizing it is the way to watch both Gumball and Bluey show that Disney now is taking more of an active role in distributing Cartoon Network kids animation than Warner Bros Discovery.
Are you looking forward to the return of Gumball?
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