DVD Corner

The Amazing World Of Gumball- The Mystery DVD Review

“The Amazing World Of Gumball” might only be amazing to children.

“The Amazing World Of Gumball- The Mystery” DVD, which is comprised of 12 episodes from season 1, revolves around the title character (a troublemaker blue cat) getting into a series of wacky adventures. Stories in this set involve: Gumball trying to find out who hazed Principal Brown, Gumball and Darwin babysitting Anais, Gumball and Darwin becoming involved with a robbery, Gumball trying to become smart, a wrecked car, a cannibal creature, Mr. Small teaching a lesson about honesty, the Rejects Club, Ms. Simian, Gumball wearing a wedding dress, a helmet, and Masami claiming to be Darwin’s boyfriend.

Prior to watching this DVD, I had heard about “The Amazing World Of Gumball,” but wasn’t familiar with the story or characters. From the buzz that I saw around the web, I thought it would be an animated series (like “Regular Show”) that would appeal to both adults and kids, but that’s not case (at least in my opinion). ‘Gumball’ is very much aimed directly at children. It’s a cutesy series about troublemaker characters getting into, you guessed it, trouble. The show is loaded with a strange assortment of characters ranging from cats, goldfish, rabbits, a peanut, a banana ghost, a donut, etc. The show’s plots are equally silly as the humor goes for mostly visual gags ala tiny clothes and making a monster out of the grossest stuff imaginable.

On the plus side, the unique animation style is arguably the highlight here. The series uses real photographic settings mixed with animation and stop motion animation work. It’s an odd combo to be sure, but it at least makes the show worth watching from a visual standpoint.

Video/Audio:

As I mentioned above, the animation style is truly impressive and it really shines in widescreen here.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, on the other hand, is a bit soft for my taste. It does the job, but it could have been more lively.

The only extras include “The Amazing World Of Gumball,” “Adventure Time,” “Regular Show” ads and text profiles for Penny, Alan, Principal Brown, and Banana Joe.

Summary: Children will undoubtedly enjoy ‘Gumball,’ but I don’t think many adults will find themselves drawn to this show.

April 11, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | animation, Gumball, The Amazing World Of Gumball- The Mystery DVD Review