Review #1: "The Responsible" from The Amazing World of Gumball

 Hi! Lionel and Cherry here!

And this is our look at “The Amazing World of Gumball”!

The Amazing World of Gumball was an animated series created by Ben Bocquelet for the Cartoon Network that started on May 2nd, 2011, and has a 7th season and a movie in the works at the time we write this.

But if you’re here, chances are that you already know about the series. You’re here for the reviews!

First up:

THE RESPONSIBLE.

[first aired: May 2nd [U.K.]/May 9th, 2011 [U.S.]]

SUMMARY: Gumball [Logan Grove] and Darwin [Kwesi Boakye] are left in charge of looking after their little sister, Anais [Kyla Rae Kowalewski], while their parents Richard [Dan Russell] and Nicole [Teresa Gallagher] attend a parent-teacher conference.

THE REVIEW: For anyone familiar with Gumball, he’s a lot different from how he eventually becomes. In season 1, he and Darwin are way more naive and childlike. Depending on what era of the series you enjoyed, this will either be a positive or a negative. At this point in time, all we had to go off of for the characters are online bios from the Cartoon Network website.

Considering Gumball is inclined towards making stupid decisions, and Darwin’s barely got any life experience, it comes as no shock when Nicole [reluctantly, of course] puts them in charge of Anais, that things spiral out of control. Also…Anais is confirmed to be smarter than them. She cooks them breakfast, she helps them with their homework, and she’s even in school with them—all of this, despite being a mere four-year-old! What could possibly go wrong? This is what will go wrong…

They tackle her when she tries to go upstairs [because “79% of stair accidents happen on the stairs”], they completely destroy the TV when a commercial comes on (because “they’ll corrupt [her] mind). So they destroy the TV with a baseball bat because there’s too much violence on TV anyway—so naturally, the responsible thing to do is to smash the TV right in front of a toddler. This feels like a deleted episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia…

Meanwhile, in the b-plot, Richard and Nicole are at the school, waiting to be called in by Miss Simian [voiced by Lewis McLeod]. After all, it’s very scary when you’re about to meet your kids’ teacher and the first thing you hear is another set of parents receiving an F-minus for parenting the class clown, who happens to be a banana. Banana Joe’s parents come running out of the classroom, bawling their googly eyes out, and Miss Simian emerges to meet the Wattersons. First thing she says after name-dropping them is, “Are you aware that your husband isn’t wearing any pants?”

Back at home, Gumball and Darwin have really started babying Anais, treating her like she’s a helpless toddler—even though she’s smarter than them both. So, to quell her anger, they decide to take her for a walk in the park…

…on a dog leash. After she bites some old guy out of frustration, the boys decide she must be hungry, so they take her home and make her “lunch”.

I mean, doesn’t THIS look like a perfect meal for a toddler?

I know what you’re thinking…it’s way too chunky. So they pre-chew it! After all, that’s way too much food for a little baby like her, she could choke! But not without a bendy straw. Naturally, she sprays it back in their faces, so Gumball decides that it’s her bath time, oh boy! [Anyone who still reads Calvin and Hobbes will understand this reference.]

 So they draw her a bath as needed and make sure it’s a good temperature until the fish sibling reminds us that water is dangerous so the boys yank their little sister straight out of the tub.

ANAIS: How do you expect me to wash without water?

GUMBALL: Haven’t you heard of dry-cleaning?

I will admit, that made me chuckle.

So Anais shuts them out for some privacy… until they hear water running and she insists that she only flushed… which she is then rewarded with a diaper. This is the final straw, and Anais absolutely REFUSES.

A chase ensues through the house, which culminates in the boys thinking their sister climbed out the window…but turns out, she was just hiding, so she locks them outside by shutting the window.

Of course, there’s still the matter of that bathtub. Say, I wonder if anyone actually shut off the faucet?

Judging from how Anais leaps off the bed and lands in a flooded bedroom…I’d say “no, they didn’t”.

It's not much easier for the parents, while they lament about how their children could’ve possibly set fire to the swimming pool. Damn, this sounds like an episode’s worth of mischief. Wish we’d seen it.

After Richard inadvertently reminds Nicole that the kids are all home alone, she panics and they speed off. Fortunately for the family, one of their kids is a fish… but everyone else is kinda screwed.

Back at the homestead, the first plan to get back in fails—ramming the door in—but Plan B—swimming in through the toilet—works like a charm! Gumball’s a little low on air, but Darwin gives him some of his own, in the first of multiple kisses between these two. [Trust me, in a later season episode they really start to point it out]. So the kids go 20,000 leagues Under the Sea…in the living room to look for a way out. This is so stressful, it’s enough to make a fish sweat underwater…but that’s another episode for another day. How are the siblings going to get out of this one, especially on our first day meeting these characters? 

Luckily, hope isn’t lost yet. The kids get the couch out of the way so the water can drain out through the chimney…and shoot into the air!

…sadly, gravity kicks in, and they come plummeting down. Gumball’s plan to use the diaper as a parachute goes nowhere fast when they hit the ground. Like they just belly-flopped into a pool. I can hear you winceing, and no, I don't blame you.

Richard and Nicole return, only to see that the house was totally flooded. Of course, Nicole is glad to see the kids safe.

Anais: So, you're not angry at us for trashing the house?

Nicole: Oh, no. Angry doesn't BEGIN TO COVER IT!

Absolutely furious, Nicole demands to know who’s responsible for the whole mess. Before Anais can take the blame, Gumball is about to step up and claim responsibility. Y’know, maybe he HAS learned something about what it truly means to be responsi—

Gumball: Mom... [sees Nicole with blazing eyes] It was Darwin. [points]

…never mind.

Then again, if Nicole was my mother, I’d be scared shitless too. So Anais points out Nicole was at fault for leaving them in charge, Nicole deflects the blame to Richard for not finding a proper sitter…and Richard blames the internet for indirectly setting things in motion. Everyone, surprisingly, agrees.

"Man, I can't believe I dodged getting blamed for this!"

THE WRAP-UP

The plot was pretty funny, if a little basic, but overall, the cast helps to carry it, elevating it from garden variety to windowbox variety! The voice acting is, as usual, pretty good, but you can tell the cast hasn't hit their stride just yet. Good thing they've got a while to adjust.

And with that, we both welcome you to The Amazing World of Gumball, a series we both love very much and even speak to each other in quotes. That sounded weird enough already? Well, this series, like us, is just getting started.