- [Jay] Hey oh, what is up, everyone?
It is the Alpha Jay of the AlphaJayShow,
and today we are going to be talking
about The Amazing World of Gumball.
I could have talked about any episode,
but I decided to talk
about one of the best,
if not the best, deconstruction
scene from Gumball.
Do you remember that scene from Chowder
where they lost funding and literally went
from animation to live action
and had to raise funds in order
to get their funding back?
This scene in this episode rivals that,
but first, I want to thank the folks over
at the Gumball Amino for
making this all possible.
It's a great app designed to talk
about all things Gumball related.
The app is so fun to be on,
and you can get lost in it.
Members can also write
blogs, take quizzes,
connect with a community
of like minded people.
There's tons of things to do.
I've been backing them up
before they even contacted me.
It's all in the links down below,
so check it out,
and let's start off this
second sponsored review.
- Look at me.
What do you see?
I'm still a child.
Nothing in my life has been decided yet.
I am free.
I haven't sold out to a job I hate.
I don't have to be a part
of this dirty rat race
that ruined the world,
chasing money I don't need
to buy stuff I don't want.
I'm free to make my own choices.
So, yes, Larry, I will
have fries with that.
- [Jay] I kind of feel like
this parallels me in a sense.
I've always wanted to do my
own thing on this channel,
and many channels, even
animation reviewers,
have thrived by doing this.
However, at the same time, the topical,
new, trendy stuff is there,
and some people want to do stuff like that
because people are searching for this,
and people can supply it,
and I've been in this gray area
because I do want to talk
about topical content faster,
but at the same time, on my own terms.
I don't want to become ensnared
in whatever is happening now.
I want to be able to talk about
the latest episode of the
latest series one day,
and the next day, talk about a '90s show,
and then the next day,
talk about a few shows
in the late 2000s,
and I think I achieved an
audience that accepts that,
but at the same time,
I cannot deny that there is a section
of my audience that
probably loves the now,
in your face, videos about
what's happening now,
and it's that back and forth battle
that made me want to review
this specific episode here.
Nicole both tears down Gumball
when he gives this speech here
but also tears down Anais
for tearing down Gumball.
Classic Nicole,
she tries to pay for the meal,
but the card has been declined
for insufficient funds.
Richard, having transferred the money
into an offshore bank account
via not doing it necessarily properly
but throwing the money into an ocean
after transferring it to gold,
has made the family broke.
This entire sequence
is why I love Gumball.
It's so quick.
It never feels like
they're trying too hard
to make you laugh.
I love it.
Even the small things,
like Larry offering them a commercial deal
and Nicole replying to Larry
while still on the
floor drinking the tears
that they are reduced to having
because they can no longer
afford the water bill,
really make the joke work
and separates this show here
from the other comedy shows around it.
Some people may not even notice
the small things the show
does really does to add up
to the aesthetic and
uniqueness of the show,
and when some other shows deem
these smaller details unimportant,
it really does blow up in their face
how bland and unsuccessful
they tend to be.
Gumball rejects being stereotyped
into an Elmore family
that anyone can relate to
based off of market studies,
and the family surprisingly
agrees with him,
which is odd but a good type of odd,
especially since they were
calling him out earlier.
- What?
There's nothing in there.
- Exactly.
Where's all the food?
- Gumball, you're the one who wanted us
to keep our dignity and not sell out.
This is what happens when
you can't buy things.
You don't have things.
- Then why'd you all listen to me?
- [Jay] Nicole explains the consequences
of Gumball's actions,
and both are upset but understanding
and supporting of the
decision that Gumball made
that even he didn't fully understand.
Although it is weird that
they don't have any food
in the fridge,
I guess maybe that
explains why they went out.
So after some more jokes that are
in the classic Gumball style
as well as the power going
out at comedic timing,
they decide to use the
light of passing cars
to go about their day.
Let's take another popular comedic show,
everyone's favorite show and
Nickelodeon's favorite show.
In both of these shows,
I bet that pain while in the dark would be
a heavy factor of their comedy.
Although Gumball is a
pain magnet in the series,
the writers know how to work beyond that,
whereas Squidward or Beast Boy
would have gotten hurt in some way or form
for cheap laughs.
Maybe they would do some
type of bait and switch,
where it looks like they're looking
at something frightening,
and it ends up to be harmless,
added bonus if there was
something frightening
that ends up attacking them
that was originally
depicted to look harmless
in some type of rule of three manner.
It's so predictable and
paint by numbers sometimes
from these shows.
Not all the time,
but when you see the comedy in Gumball,
it feels like so much effort is put
into making the joke shine.
- Just our stuff getting repossessed
by these low life, bottom feeding,
undereducated, unhygienic, slimy,
no neck, toxic, triple chinned,
oxygen wasting, crude, gutless,
foul smelling, buck tooth, corrupt,
felonious, disgraceful, disease ridden,
bow legged, yellow bellied, back stabbing,
ghoulish, vulgar, despicable,
worm headed, worthless stains.
(grunting)
- I'm only doing my job.
Why are you so mean?
(crying)
- [Jay] Now, I've criticized
the overly long gag
in Gumball's The Ollie
where Darwin expresses criticism
that Gumball's a skater
and Gumball does an over the top reaction.
However, there, I feel as though the joke
seemed very plain and had no layers.
I feel like here, because
the guy looks intimidating,
because she said so many
things that could be true,
because her face looks stretched out,
because it goes on long enough
but then goes on even further,
because of his reaction
and then her reaction,
all of these come together for what is
their trademark style of humor.
Richard, being the
lovable idiot that he is,
crashes the car and gets
what was probably a car worth thousands
for a mere 100 bucks at the junkyard.
We get some pretty depressing shots
of the now empty Watterson home
along with the Imaginate song
that I will link in the card.
Feel free to pause here
if you want to hear it
in its entirety.
Not as great as Darwin's
singing in The Matchmaker,
I don't even think anything in Gumball
can even top that,
but it's more comedic
and better than its
comedic show counterparts.
They end up taking subtle
jabs at product placements.
I mean, what kind of loser places
an advertisement in a video?
I bet it's the type of loser
that has a panda for an icon
and confuses Zane as the Ninja of Water.
- How about we do it in another country?
Nobody will ever know.
- (murmuring) Burger.
(speaking in a foreign language)
(murmuring) Burger.
(speaking in a foreign language)
- I know Nicole already had
such a passionate fandom
for her specifically.
With this her fans probably went up
about six to weaboo percent.
Now after Gumball does a, and
then the opposite happens,
joke correctly,
insert a take that joke to the latest
and hopefully last season
of Fairly Oddparents,
we get this scene here.
This is a beautiful deconstruction scene,
and I want to deconstruct
it here for you all.
So Gumball begins to lose his color
in a smooth manner as
well as everyone else.
Darwin both loses his design
and his clear, crisp voice.
They also begin to lose
their background assets,
background music, even the animation look,
as they go from storyboard to even doodles
on a Post-it note.
The audio also sounds very glitchy
and overall unprofessional.
All of this feels like they put effort
into appearing low effort and thus,
it gets a pass.
It doesn't feel cheap,
rather something that
probably took a lot of time,
skill, cleverness, and creativity to make.
I love how Nicole screams in terror
when her hand is, quote,
erased and, quote, re-drawn.
I love how Rocky kind of disappears
into nothingness as the bus goes
from fully done to not fully done
in a rather jagged, in a good way,
rushed and well done way.
I also love how during
the Post-it note phase,
their lines became less
professionally recorded,
most notably when Larry is talking.
The lack of hit detection and lip syncing,
the absence of color and texture
as well as the in betweens
in the animation going away,
all of those little
things that I said earlier
separate Gumball from the rest.
This scene is meta without
being in your face about it.
This is how the story would go,
and it impresses people
by being what it is,
a literal, over the top deconstruction
of the Watterson family without money,
both in universe with them
losing the house at first
but also that added layer
that without funding,
they couldn't make the crisp,
smooth, professional,
and well received animation that they do.
Let's not forget when the
family signs the contract
and the transformation back
into their normal selves occur.
This is one of the many reasons
why I love The Amazing World of Gumball.
Gumball gives another speech,
which is weird because
he kind of lived the life
of not selling out,
although Nicole could simply get a job,
but let's not think about that at all.
Let's not think about Nicole's job.
Let's not think of the source
where all of the money came from.
So Gumball sees the amount of money
they're offering and.
♫ Some days you wanna
take it easy and free
♫ With some country
goodness for your family
♫ Kick on back and smile for a while
♫ Have a Joy Burger
♫ Do it in style
(upbeat beat boxing)
♫ Finally a place I can call home
♫ Thank you Joyful Burger
(laughing)
- [Jay] And that was Gumball The Money.
The episode really does well
with the concept of being meta,
and obviously the
highlight of this episode
was the great deconstruction scene
at the end which again,
is one of the best deconstruction scenes
I've seen in modern animation.
The comedy flowed well throughout,
and the song,
while something I don't
really care too much about,
didn't stay too long and isn't something
I wouldn't mind listening to again.
But what do you think about this episode?
Do you think that this
is a great deconstruction
scene towards the end?
Do you find the irony of
me reviewing this episode?
Let me know in the comments down below.
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Is there another Gumball episode
that you think I should talk about?
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that you would like to know
if I would reboot it or not?
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If you really like this video,
I highly suggest my Gumball
Pizza Baby Scenes Like This,
or a Gumball playlist in general.
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As always, I hope your
time was well spent,
and Alpha out.
