Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 16, 2026

Ben Bocquelet

Benjamin Bocquelet is a French and British animator, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the Cartoon Network animated series The Amazing World of Gumball and its spin-off and revival series The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball. He was also the director of the 2003 short film The Hell's Kitchen.

Last revised
May 16, 2026
Read time
≈ 5 min
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Citations
20
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Ben Bocquelet
Bocquelet at Polymanga 2016
Born
Benjamin Bocquelet

(1980-06-27) 27 June 19801
Paris, France
Citizenship
  • France
  • United Kingdom
Occupations
  • Animator
  • writer
  • director
  • producer
Years active2003–present
Known for

Benjamin Bocquelet (born 27 June 1980) is a French and British animator, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the Cartoon Network animated series The Amazing World of Gumball and its spin-off and revival series The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball. He was also the director of the 2003 short film The Hell's Kitchen.

Career

When Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe was created in 2007, Bocquelet was hired in order to help people pitch their projects to Cartoon Network after the dismissal of Nickelodeon and Jetix subdivisions of Europe. However, when the studio decided to have its employees all pitch their own ideas,2 he decided to take some of the rejected characters he had created for commercials and put them all in one series, with a school setting.3 Daniel Lennard, Khaki Jones, and Brian A. Miller, the Vice President of Original Series and Development at Turner Broadcasting System,4 liked the idea and the series was ultimately greenlit.

Influences

Bocquelet has cited Hayao Miyazaki, Akira Toriyama, Bill Watterson, Matt Groening, Steven Spielberg, and the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as major influences on his work.5

The Amazing World of Gumball

After leaving Studio AKA, the creative director at the studio encouraged Bocquelet to join the new Cartoon Network studio in London, Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe. He received a job there helping other people pitch their ideas to Cartoon Network, and came up with his own idea while doing so. He pitched his idea to the producers. His idea was a show called Gumball about reject cartoon characters attending a remedial school, but producers felt this concept was too sad. He then revised this idea and made it more cheery, taking on the structure of a family sitcom. The producers liked this idea, and work went underway for what would become The Amazing World of Gumball, which premiered on Cartoon Network on 3 May 2011. He named some characters after his relatives (Nicole, Richard, and Anais were named after his mother, father, and sister, respectively). In October 2011, Bocquelet revealed in a Twitter post that the Wattersons themselves were named after Bill Watterson, the creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.6

On 6 September 2016 Bocquelet said that he was departing from the show after the completion of Season 6, but production would continue. However, on 7 October 2018, he retweeted that the show would end after the sixth season, though the author of the article made a follow-up article saying that more seasons are still possible. Following the series finale of The Amazing World of Gumball, and the mixed reviews it received from fans, Bocquelet said that he would create a film to resolve its cliffhanger. The film was officially announced on 17 February 2021, under the working title The Amazing World of Gumball Movie.7 On 21 September 2021, HBO Max and Cartoon Network announced the film had been greenlit and was now titled The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie!.8 The film's planned release on HBO Max was cancelled in August 2022, as HBO went under new management, but the movie is still in production910 by 2024.1112

A Gumball spin-off series, which was later confirmed as a continuation, was announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2023, marking Bocquelet's return to the Gumball franchise.13 It was released on 28 July 2025, on Hulu.14151617 Four seasons have been ordered, with two having already released.1819

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
2003 The Hell's Kitchen (short film) Co-writer
Co-director
2006 The Little Short-Sighted Snake (short film) Designer20

Television

Year Title Notes
2011–2019 The Amazing World of Gumball Creator
Executive producer
Showrunner
Writer
Art director
2025–present The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball Creator
Executive producer
Showrunner
Writer
References

References

  1. Bocquelet, Ben [@benbocquelet] (4 November 2014). "@OliviaSnider10 well the real ones just hit sixty. I'm 34. I'll let you work it out. Math time... BAM!" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. Kidscreen "Ready To Roll"
  3. Toonzone "Toonzone Interviews "The Amazing World of Gumball" Creator Ben Bocquelet" Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Animation Insider "Cartoon Network Europe Promotes Daniel Lennard" Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Young BAFTA (26 May 2016). 60 Seconds with...The Amazing World of Gumball creator Ben Bocquelet. YouTube.
  6. Bocquelet, Ben [@benbocquelet] (4 October 2011). "@KJBelgeri It's a reference to my hero Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. Dominguez, Noah (17 February 2021). "Amazing World of Gumball Returns as a Cartoon Network Movie". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  8. Hipes, Patrick (21 September 2021). "'The Amazing World Of Gumball' Returning With A Movie And A New Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  9. Lang, Jamie (23 August 2022). "'Batman' Series, 'Gumball' Movie Among Half-Dozen Titles No Longer Headed To HBO Max". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  10. Zogbi, Emily (23 August 2022). "Amazing World of Gumball Movie, Damian Wayne Special Canceled at HBO Max".
  11. @MidouMir (13 June 2024). "GUYS! Guess who asked the first DUMB DUMB DUMB question? ME! And I asked about the movie. @benbocquelet said it's not canceled, he's working on it but with everything that happened, the movie changed and could be made but differently" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  12. Valdez, Nick (15 June 2024). "The Amazing World of Gumball Movie Is Not Cancelled, Says Creator". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  13. Giraud, Kevin (15 June 2023). "Annecy: New Animated Offerings from Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network & Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  14. @MidouMir (12 June 2024). "Gumball is back, it's now in full production! [...] Rollout of the show scheduled for somewhere between 2025–2026" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  15. Norman, Dalton (3 March 2024). "The Amazing World Of Gumball Season 7: Cast, Story & Everything We Know". ScreenRant. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  16. Valdez, Nick (12 January 2025). "The Amazing World of Gumball Is Finally Coming Back With New Episodes Soon". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  17. Spry, Jeff (25 July 2025). "'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball' Creator Ben Bocquelet Dishes on His Critically Acclaimed Show's Comeback". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  18. Milligan, Mercedes (18 December 2025). "'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball' Receives Two Season Order for the Holidays!". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  19. Creamer, Jon (18 December 2025). "Cartoon Network orders two new seasons of The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball". Televisual. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  20. Cartoon Brew "Article on The Little Short-Sighted Snake
External links