document_title: List of The Amazing World of Gumball characters

question_text: what is larry from the amazing world of gumball

text: Main characters

text: Gumball Watterson

text:
Gumball Watterson

The Amazing World of Gumball character

First appearance
"Early Reel" (prototype) "The DVD" (final concept)

Last appearance
TBA

Created by
Ben Bocquelet

Voiced by
Nicky Jones (pilot)
Logan Grove (seasons 1–2;"The Kids")
Jacob Hopkins (season 3-5 "The Copycats")
Nicolas Cantu (season 5 "The Copycats"-present)

Information

Full name
Zach Tristopher Watterson (original name)

Nickname(s)
Gumball (formerly)

Aliases
Gummypuss

Species
Cat

Gender
Male

Occupation
Student

Affiliation
Elmore Junior High

Family
Richard Watterson (father)
Nicole Watterson (mother)
Darwin Watterson (adoptive brother)
Anais Watterson (sister)

Significant other(s)
Penny Fitzgerald (girlfriend)

Relatives
Jojo Watterson (paternal grandmother)
Frankie Watterson (paternal grandfather)
Louie (paternal step-grandfather)
Mr and Mrs. Senicourt (maternal grandparents)

Nationality
USA

text: Gumball (formerly Zach) Tristopher Watterson (voiced by Logan Grove, seasons 1–2 and season 3 episode: "The Kids"; Jacob Hopkins, rest of seasons 3-4 and season 5 episodes: "The Rerun"-"The Copycats" and "The Fuss"; Nicolas Cantu,[4] rest of season 5-present) is a 12-year-old[5] (13 in Season 5) mostly mischievous light blue cat who lives with his family in the fictional California city of Elmore. He attends Elmore Junior High in the seventh grade with his brother Darwin, who is 10 years old.[6] Often finding himself and Darwin in various antics which end up getting them into trouble, episodes in the series' first season characterized Gumball as well-meaning in his actions, but with naive tendencies; throughout the show's progression, he has since established himself as a more serious character capable of logical thinking and prone to sarcasm.

text: Despite his rambunctious behavior and occasional lapses in judgement, he is ultimately a loyal, straightforward, and kindhearted person at heart. A recurring theme throughout the series is his crush on his classmate Penny Fitzgerald, who in turn shares the same feelings for him. They initially struggle to properly express their feelings for each other until the episode "The Shell", where he finally works up the nerve to express his feelings to her after she reveals her true form, and they begin dating.[7] It was revealed in "The Name" that Gumball real name is actually Zach, though by the end of the episode, he legally changes his name to Gumball. In the premiere of season 3 it is revealed that Gumball and Darwin are part of a small fraction of people who don't age past a certain point, which by the end of the episode causes them to regress to a point slightly before puberty. His middle name was supposed to be Christopher, but Richard confused it for Tristopher and it stuck.

text: Darwin Watterson

text:
Darwin Watterson

The Amazing World of Gumball character

First appearance
"Early Reel" (prototype) "The DVD" (final concept)

Last appearance
TBA

Created by
Ben Bocquelet

Voiced by
Jake Pratt (pilot)
Kwesi Boakye (seasons 1–2;"The Kids")
Terrell Ransom Jr. (season 3-5 "The Copycats")
Donielle T. Hansley, Jr. ("The Copycats"-present)

Information

Full name
Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemius Watterson III

Nickname(s)
Walking Fish {by Granny Jojo)

Aliases
Fish Kid

Species
Goldfish (with legs)

Gender
Male

Occupation
Student

Affiliation
Elmore Junior High

Family
Richard Watterson (adoptive father)
Nicole Watterson (adoptive mother)
Gumball Watterson (adoptive brother)
Anais Watterson (adoptive sister)

Significant other(s)
Carrie Krueger (girlfriend)

Relatives
Jojo Watterson (adoptive paternal grandmother)
Frankie Watterson (adoptive paternal grandfather)
Louie (adoptive paternal step-grandfather)
Mr. and Mrs. Senicourt (adoptive maternal grandparents)

Nationality
USA

text: Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemius Watterson III (voiced by Kwesi Boakye, seasons 1–2 and season 3 episode: "The Kids"; Terrell Ransom Jr., rest of seasons 3-4; season 5 episodes: "The Rerun"-"The Copycats" and "The Fuss"; Donielle T. Hansley Jr.,[4] rest of season 5-present) is a 10 year old[8] (11 in Season 5) orange goldfish, is Gumball's best friend and adoptive brother. Initially given to Gumball as a pet, Darwin later sprouted legs and subsequently became a full member of the Watterson family. The series' first season depicted Darwin with a tendency to be more naive and gullible than others, due to his sudden introduction into the world; subsequent seasons established his more serious side, including the ability to think logically and, in "The Words", speak his mind freely.[9] Although Gumball can sometimes be a negative influence on him, Darwin is extremely loyal to Gumball and often helps him out of sticky situations. He is sometimes shown to not exhibit normal behaviour, such as calling his adoptive parents Mr. Dad and Mrs. Mom.

text: Anais Watterson

text:
Anais Watterson

The Amazing World of Gumball character

First appearance
"The Responsible"

Last appearance
TBA

Created by
Ben Bocquelet

Voiced by
Kyla Rae Kowalewski

Information

Full name
Anais Watterson

Nickname(s)
Sis (by Gumball)

Aliases
N/A

Species
Rabbit

Gender
Female

Occupation
Student

Affiliation
Elmore Junior High

Family
Richard Watterson (father)
Nicole Watterson (mother)
Gumball Watterson (brother)
Darwin Watterson (adopted brother)

Significant other(s)
Billy Parham

Relatives
Jojo Watterson (paternal grandmother)
Frankie Watterson (paternal grandfather)
Louie (paternal step-grandfather)
Mr and Mrs. Senicourt (maternal grandparents)

Nationality
USA

text: Anais Watterson (voiced by Kyla Rae Kowalewski), a pink rabbit, is Gumball and Darwin's precocious 4-year-old[10] sister. She is one grade above her brothers, as revealed in "The Others". Gumball resents the fact that she is always telling him what to do, but nonetheless loves her and acknowledges her good intentions. Although impatient with her brother, she often tags along with him on his misadventures as a voice of reason, usually having to help Gumball out of situations caused by these misadventures. She has, however, been shown to not be above manipulating her family to get what she wants. Despite her intellectualism, she still shows typical childlike behavior, including an obsession with the children's television character Daisy the Donkey, and has tried to fit in with Gumball and Darwin on numerous occasions. She attends eighth grade at Elmore Junior High, which Gumball and Darwin are unaware of due to them "filtering" out anyone or anything that isn't part of their lives.

text: Nicole Watterson

text:
Nicole Watterson

The Amazing World of Gumball character

First appearance
"The DVD"

Last appearance
TBA

Created by
Ben Bocquelet

Voiced by
Teresa Gallagher

Information

Full name
Nicole Watterson (née Senicourt)

Nickname(s)
Mom (by Gumball and Darwin), Mrs. Mom (by Darwin)

Aliases
Mrs. Watterson

Species
Cat

Gender
Female

Occupation
Employee at the Rainbow Factory

Affiliation
Rainbow Factory

Family
Mr. Senicourt (father)
Mrs. Senicourt (mother)

Spouse(s)
Richard Watterson

Significant other(s)
Richard Watterson (before their marriage)

Children
Gumball Watterson (son)
Darwin Watterson (adopted son)
Anais Watterson (daughter)

Relatives
Jojo Watterson (mother-in-law)
Frankie Watterson (father-in-law)
Louie (stepfather-in-law)

Religion
Atheist

text: Nicole Watterson (née Senicourt) (voiced by Teresa Gallagher), a blue cat who looks much like Gumball, is Gumball, Darwin and Anais' mother, who carries the main responsibility of her family's upkeep, performing house chores and working long hours at The Rainbow Factory. A workaholic, she is often over-stressed and possesses a short temper. She acts as a guide to her sons, Gumball and Darwin when they get in a tough spot with their misadventures. Competitive by nature, Nicole is a master martial artist, and is very agile and flexible. Despite her overstressed and short-tempered personality, she is still sweet and kindhearted and shows much affection for her family, keeping them safe (and alive) as much as she can. She is implied to have graduated high school around the year of 1985, and the show takes most likely takes place in 2011, making her around 44 years old.

text: Richard Watterson

text:
Richard Watterson

The Amazing World of Gumball character

First appearance
"The Responsible"

Last appearance
TBA

Created by
Ben Bocquelet

Voiced by
Dan Russell

Information

Full name
Richard Buckley Watterson

Nickname(s)
Dad (by Gumball and Anais), Mr. Dad (by Darwin)

Aliases
Mr. Watterson

Species
Rabbit

Gender
Male

Occupation
Unemployed

Affiliation
N/A

Family
Jojo Watterson (mother)
Frankie Watterson (father)
Louie (stepfather)

Spouse(s)
Nicole Watterson

Significant other(s)
Nicole Senicourt (before marriage)

Children
Gumball Watterson (son)
Darwin Watterson (adopted son)
Anais Watterson (daughter)

Relatives
Mr. Senicourt (father-in-law)
Mrs. Senicourt (mother-in-law)

text: Richard Watterson (voiced by Dan Russell) is an anthropomorphic pink rabbit. He is Gumball, Darwin and Anais' father. Being a stay-at-home dad, he spends most of his time sleeping, eating, watching TV and playing video games. He was named "the laziest person in Elmore" since 1983,[11] and has a large appetite and is a voracious eater. Richard often serves as a third-wheel to his sons' misadventures and cares deeply for his family despite his lethargic nature. He can be very naive at some times and may be called "dumb" or similar words by other characters throughout the series. In the episode "The Job" it appears that Richard can't hold a job or else the universe will be destroyed which is why he must remain unemployed. He may be the same age as Nicole (44), as he went to school with her.

text: Extended family

text: Frankie Watterson

text: Frankie Watterson (voiced by Rich Fulcher) is the conman rat and ex-husband of Granny Jojo and the father of Richard who abandoned them a long time ago. In "The Signature", after his apartment was re-possessed due to his overdue rent, he returns to the Watterson household, and he reunited with Richard, only to scam him of taking over the house. The Wattersons stop him, while Frankie looks back to the day he left his son. He then decides to reunite the whole Watterson family. In "The Outside" , Frankie comes for a visit, but gets treated like a prisoner, because of a misunderstanding. He is most likely around 67-68 years old, as he is in-between the ages of Jojo, who is 63, and Louie, who is 72.

text: Joanna Watterson

text: Joanna "Granny Jojo" Watterson (voiced by Sandra Dickinson) is the Watterson children's grandmother and also Richard's mother. She is a pink rabbit who speaks in a New York accent. In the season 1 episode "The Kiss", she is depicted as a general annoyance to the family, doing nothing but watching police dramas on television, and with Nicole and Richard always leaving the house whenever she makes a visit. She was previously married to a traveling conman named Frankie Watterson, who abandoned her and a young Richard under the pretense of going out to buy milk; she later remarries to Louie, a local Elmore senior citizen, in "The Signature", despite Richard's initial disapproval.[12] She is 63 years old.

text: Louie Watterson

text: Louie (voiced by Shane Rimmer) is a black mouse and a former member of a close-knit crew of Elmore senior citizens which includes Betty, Donald, and Marvin Finklehimer.[13] In "The Man" it is revealed that he was dating Joanna Watterson,[14] whom he marries in "The Signature", making him Richard's stepfather and Gumball, Darwin, and Anais' stepgrandfather.[12] He is 72 years old.

text: Mr. and Mrs. Senicourt

text: Mr. and Mrs. Senicourt (voiced by Clive Russell and Liza Ross) are Nicole's parents, seen in flashbacks during the season 5 episode "The Choices". Mr. Senicourt is a short, fat cat (resembling Grumpy Cat) with a short temper, while Mrs. Senicourt is tall and thin, yet snobbish. They both disapprove of their daughter's relationship with Richard; Mr Senicourt slammed the door in his face when he came to visit Nicole, and neither parent showed up to their wedding. Mrs. Senicourt, however, burst into tears when Nicole moved out, showing a perhaps softer side. Mr. Senicourt just turned and went back inside. It is loosely implied that Nicole is presently estranged from them. Mr. Senicourt is 102 years old.

text: Supporting/Recurring characters

text: Elmore Junior High students

text: Penny Fitzgerald

text: Penny Fitzgerald (voiced by Teresa Gallagher) is a living peanut with antlers growing out of her head and, following the events of the episode "The Shell", Gumball's girlfriend. Their mutual affection and incapability of expressing their feelings for one another was a running theme in the series[16] until "The Shell", where Gumball finally directly reveals his feelings for her and they have their first kiss in the woods.[7] In the same episode, it is revealed that underneath Penny's shell lies a yellow, fairy-like inner alien self which shape-shifts based on her emotional state.[7] Penny's father Patrick, the head of a local construction company, is extremely overprotective of his daughter,[17] and does not trust Gumball until he saves her from getting run over by his own car in the episode "The Knights" and "The Shell" for helping his daughter through her emotions [18] She is member of the Elmore Junior High cheerleading and synchronized swimming teams.[17]

text: Tobias Wilson

text: Tobias Wilson (voiced by Rupert Degas, season 1; Hugo Harrison, season 2 onward) is a multicolored, cloud-shaped humanoid who is heavily interested in sports and possesses an overbearing self-confidence.[16] He thinks of himself as a heavily built jock, despite actually being rather weak, and appears to be quite wealthy.[19] He makes his debut appearance in "The Third", where Gumball and Darwin pay him twenty dollars to become their friend.[19] In "The Knights", Tobias holds a mock medieval battle with Gumball for the affection of Penny.[18] Despite this, he has been seen hanging out with Gumball and Darwin on several occasions, including having a starring role in one of the duo's home movies.[20] He has an older sister, Rachel (voiced by Jessica McDonald), who considers herself of higher status than Tobias and his "dweeb loser baby friends".[21]

text: Carrie Krueger

text: Carrie Krueger (voiced by Jessica McDonald) is an emo ghost who lives in a malevolent mansion[22] and "enjoys being depressed".[16] She has the abilities to teleport[23] and possess living bodies, and in "The Ghost" she uses the latter ability on Gumball in order to feel the satisfaction of being able to eat again.[24] In "Halloween", she turns the Watterson siblings into ghosts so they can attend a ghost-exclusive Halloween party at her mansion,[23] and in the process almost gets them trapped in the Underworld.[23] Carrie is the daughter of a mortal man who formed a romantic relationship with a female ghost and, as a result of using a forbidden spell, was cursed to live a lonely existence inside mirrors and subsequently rechristened "The Snatcher" – until, that is, his soul is set free by his daughter in "The Mirror" and they are happily reunited. In "The Matchmaker"- She and Darwin become a couple.[25]

text: Joseph Banana

text: Banana "Joe" Joseph (voiced by Mic Graves) is a hyperactive banana and the class clown of Gumball's Elmore Junior High class, with the tendency to crack a joke whenever possible.[16] His jokes often serve as a source of irritation to others, with Gumball describing him as a "one-trick pony" in his debut appearance.[19] While he is often classified as the class clown, he can mostly be a bully in a mean way, usually to Gumball and Darwin. He is killed by Rob in "the Rerun" but this event was erased from the timeline by a reformed Rob.

text: Tina Rex

text: Tina Rex (voiced by Dan Russell, season 1; Stefan Ashton Frank, season 2 onward) is a Tyrannosaurus who lives in the Elmore city junkyard, and who is Elmore Junior High's most notorious bully.[26] She often picks on her fellow schoolmates, especially Gumball,[26] and has her own gang of bullies which includes Jamie[27] and, to his reluctance, Anton.[28] As a dinosaur, she is the strongest person in school, contributing to her fearsome and aggressive reputation.[26] Despite this, she also has a softer side not only in general, but also for Gumball; in the episode "The Fight" she reveals that she considers him to be a friend.[29] Her Cartoon Network biography suggests that she might have animosity toward others because she is "angry at the world for not noticing her femininity".[26]

text: Hector Jotunheim

text: Hector Jotunheim (voiced by Kerry Shale) is a massive but gentle giant who is the largest student in Elmore Junior High, to the point that only his legs and feet are seen on-screen. Hector is the subject of the episode "The Colossus", where his mother – a witch who works as a cleaning lady – reveals that he can be dangerous if he expresses too much emotion, such as anger, sadness or excitement.[30] In the same episode, he goes on a rampage around Elmore after Gumball and Darwin, unaware of Hector's need to control his emotions, describe him as being too boring.[30] His surname is a reference to Jötunheimr, the homeland of giants in Norse mythology.[31]

text: Masami Yoshida

text: Masami Yoshida (voiced by Jessica McDonald) is a living cloud who is the wealthy daughter of the Rainbow Factory's owner.[16] Spoiled by her parents, she is tantrum-prone and has apparently threatened to have her classmates' parents fired if she doesn't have her way; in "The Gift", several of her classmates panic about getting her a perfect birthday gift out of fear of such a scenario, though it is later indicated that this has never actually happened and she admits that she simply wants be a treated like a normal person.[32] When angry, she has the ability to develop into a full storm cloud capable of causing massive amounts of damage.[33] The episode "The Storm" reveals her unrequited crush on Alan, and she manipulates Gumball into getting the two together, albeit temporarily.[33]

text: Sarah G. Lato

text: Sarah G. Lato (voiced by Jessica McDonald) is a yellow ice cream cone who debuted in "The Banana" as a transferee to Elmore Junior High from nearby Richwood High and makes her first major role in "The Sweaters", where she attempts to defend Gumball and Darwin from two uptight human students, only to lead them into more trouble.[34] In "The Fan", she is depicted as an obsessive fan of Gumball and Darwin.[35]

text: Bobert

text: Bobert (voiced by Kerry Shale) is a robot who is one of the smartest students at Elmore Junior High but constantly struggles to understand emotion and develop a social life.[16] He is the primary focus of the episode "The Robot", where Darwin and Gumball's efforts to help him fit in ultimately end with him stealing Gumball's identity.[36] Multiple times in the series, he has showcased his ability to transform into a much larger form by triggering his "defense mode".[36] In the episode "The Bet", he is forced to become Gumball's personal slave for a day after losing a bet.[37] Bobert is also the primary focus of the episode "The Upgrade", where he has an update with his software that Gumball and Darwin struggle getting used to and go to the Bobert Store to get a downgrade. The manager gave them a new Bobert. By the end of the episode, however, he obtains a downgrade due to Gumball's awareness of his actual age.

text: Carmen

text: Carmen (voiced by Teresa Gallagher, season 1; Alix Wilton Regan, season 2 onward) is a small green cactus who is considered to be a leader among her female classmates.[16] She is in a relationship with her balloon classmate Alan,[16] though the danger of her spikes bursting him is a constant hindrance. Their relationship in the cafeteria annoys their classmates, who are frequently annoyed by their romantic gestures and deem them "too perfect" and Alan interrupts and yells at Gumball.[33] In "The Storm", Alan is too jealous of Gumball and Gumball and Carmen briefly break, runs away from Gumball without crying and the boys (who aren't Darwin) and Carrie, Tina and Jamie bullied Gumball after Gumball accidentally kisses Carmen, but he succeeds in getting them back together by the end.[33] In "The Best," it is shown that Carmen was once a trouble making student at her old school, so much so that she ended up on the news.[38] Carmen is also one of the cheerleaders for her school. She is best friends with Penny Fitzgerald, Sarah, and Molly.

text: Alan Keane

text: Alan Keane (voiced by Kerry Shale, season 1; Hugo Harrison, season 2 onward) is a teal-colored balloon who, despite their physical incompatibility, is in a romantic relationship with Carmen and sits at lunch with her.[16] He is overly nice and even-tempered, never showing anger or raising his voice even when the subject of insults or physical attacks, much to the annoyance of his classmates.[39] Being filled with helium, Alan regularly speaks in a high-pitched voice. In "The Photo", Gumball envies him for having a beautiful face. Alan rebuffs this, but Gumball replies: "Dude, even your mole looks better than me". In "the Vision" it is revealed Alan secretly plans to take over the world and rule it as a dictator, brainwashing people to eradicate sadness. After discovering this, Gumall and Darwin attempt to assassinate Alan, which they succeed in after many failed attempts - though he reappears in subsequent episodes without any explanation.

text: Leslie

text: Leslie (voiced by Kerry Shale) is an effeminate, friendly daisy who plays flute in the school band and can often be found hanging around the girls.[40] He is Penny's cousin, and Gumball's mistaken assumption that he is her boyfriend is his major source of jealousy in the episode "The Flower".[41]

text: Teri

text: Teri (voiced by Teresa Gallagher) is a hypochondriac paper bear usually found in the nurse's office.[42] Although somewhat self-absorbed and paranoid, she is very nice and is one of the school's cheerleaders.[42] Her mother works as a doctor and maintains a website discussing the dangers of germs.[43]

text: Idaho

text: Idaho (voiced by Kerry Shale, season 1; Hugo Harrison, season 2 onward) is a free-spirited potato from the rural countryside with old-fashioned beliefs, Idaho is one of the less popular students of Elmore Junior High.[44] In "The Bumpkin", Gumball, disillusioned with his suburban lifestyle, seeks Idaho's help in teaching his family how to live a simple lifestyle.[45] However, Gumball eventually finds himself unable to resist his modern lifestyle, and one night Idaho walks in on him indulging in video games and junk food.[45] Gumball talks him into trying out his modern lifestyle and eventually sends him into severe culture shock, which his rural family cure by burying him in soil.[45]

text: Anton

text: Anton (voiced by Anthony Hull) is a simple-minded piece of toast who was forcibly drafted into Tina's gang despite his unwillingness to do so, and only appeases them to avoid their anger.[28] He is prone to being killed in various freak accidents, only to be resurrected by his parents after each occasion with a toaster which creates a new copy of him.[46]

text: Juke

text: Juke (voiced by Hugo Harrison, music by Beatbox Hobbit)[47] is a native of the continent of Boomboxemburg who moved to Elmore, and is, as described by Gumball, a "boombox head" who speaks entirely in beatboxing.[48] In "The Boombox", he spoke it. As a result, nobody in Elmore Junior High can understand him.[49] He is able to speak comprehensible English if he is switched from "Music Mode" to "Voice Mode" through a button on the back of his head, but his arms are too short to reach the button and his attempts to communicate this fact to others end in failure.[48]

text: Sussie

text: Sussie (face by Aurelie Charbonnier, voiced by Fergus Craig) is an upside-down chin with googly eyes and puppet-like characteristics. She is talkative, odd, and obnoxious, and as a result is generally avoided by the rest of her classmates. She was the main problem for Darwin in "The Words".[9]

text: Clayton

text: Clayton (voiced by Rupert Degas, season 1; Max Cazier, season 2 onward) is a red ball of clay who is a compulsive liar, with a tendency of making up absurd stories about himself.[50] In the episode "The Skull", Clayton begins an on-and-off friendship with Gumball and Darwin, and displays his ability to transform into different people and objects.[51] At the end of the episode, he tells Principal Brown the truth for the first time.[51] In "The Move" he reveals that he lies because he is insecure and feels like a loser, though Gumball and Darwin help him and presumably cure his lying habit.[52]

text: Rachel Wilson

text: Rachel Wilson (voiced by Jessica McDonald) is Tobias' older sister, who disgusts his "dweeb loser baby friends." In "the Party", however, her friends after her friends don't show up to the party Tobias invited all of Elmore Junior High to, Darwin helps her feel better and fixes the trashed house, so she kisses Darwin. The directing staff did not like the character, so Rachel made a handful of cameos in the second season before being dropped from the show. Rachel does make a brief cameo in a flashback in "the Matchmaker".

text: Ocho

text: Harry "Ocho" Tootmorsel (voiced by Max Cazier) is a Space Invaders character-like 8-bit spider[53] and a generally friendly person, but often overreacts to what people say about him in a negative manner, such as to Darwin and Gumball after the latter accidentally sends him an insulting text message.[54] In the show's first season, he spoke solely in video game blips; since the second season, however, he has started speaking in comprehensible, albeit distorted, English.[54] In season five, his real name is revealed to be Harry Tootmorsel. A name that he only tells to his most trusted friends.[55]

text: The Eggheads

text: The Frank and Bean Eggheads (voiced by Kerry Shale and Rupert Degas, season 1; Kerry Shale and Hugo Harrison, season 2 onward) are a pair of egg brothers who are two of the most intelligent students and bullies at Elmore Junior High, speaking in English accents and considering themselves to be much smarter than their classmates. They are not very popular, and as such are members of the "Reject Club" with Bobert and Ocho.[56]

text: Jamie Russo

text: Jamie Russo (voiced by Jessica McDonald, seasons 1–2; Maria Teresa Creasey, season 3 onward) is a "half-cow, half-troglodyte" creature who is a bully of Elmore Junior High and member of Tina's gang.[9][27] As a result of Miss Simian holding her back a year, she has grown resentful of her new classmates and of authority in general.[27] Her mother is Elmore Junior High's gym coach, whom she listens to and respects despite her disapproval towards Jamie's bullying.[57]

text: William

text: William (internal monologue narrated by Mic Graves)[58] is a flying eyeball who is Miss Simian's personal spy and only talks when reporting information to her.[59] The episode "The Voice" reveals that he has psychic abilities, which he uses to wreak havoc on Gumball and Darwin after they accidentally block him on the social networking site Elmore Plus.[60] The same episode shows that he actually expresses a desire to interact with his classmates, which is hindered by his lack of a mouth; his inner thoughts are narrated to the viewers.[60]

text: Molly Collins

text: Molly Collins[61] (voiced by Jessica McDonald) is a shy sauropod who is a member of the cheerleading team and, as shown in "The Pressure", the owner of a treehouse where she and the other girls hang out in.[62] She made several appearances in the show's first season, but was absent for the entire second season; no reason was given for her disappearance until the third-season episode "The Void", where Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small realize that all traces of Molly have vanished and nobody else seems to have any memory of her. Investigating further, they eventually open up a portal at the former location of Molly's home and are sucked into a void containing "all the mistakes the world has ever made", where they find and rescue her.[63]

text: Rob

text: Rob (voiced by Hugo Harrison) was one of the less prominent Elmore Junior High students, and later on in the series, Rob is the main antagonist and Gumball's sworn enemy. Rob is formerly a tall blue cyclops, and is later a disfigured polygon white cyclops. He tries to have some friendly conversation with Gumball and Darwin in "The Pony", only to discover – much to his annoyance – that the two do not even know his name.[22] He is later seen in the void of all the world's mistakes in the episode "The Void".[63] However, in "The Nobody", he manages to escape the void, gets disfigured as a result and takes residence in the Wattersons' basement. As a result, he remembers that Gumball and Darwin left him and swears revenge on them for not noticing him.[64] After hundreds of traps he tries to use on Gumball and Darwin go failed an unnoticed, Gumball and Darwin help re-invent Rob, with a new wardrobe and voice (voiced by David Warner) to become Dr. Wrecker.[65] In "The Bus", he attempts to blow up everybody and the hijacked bus up as well, but his plans were foiled thanks to Gumball and Richard. In "The Ex", it is seen that Banana Joe was his new nemesis. But toward the end he resumes his hatred with Gumball.

text: Hot Dog Guy

text: Hot Dog Guy is a guy who, when in contact, is awkward with Gumball. He made periodic appearances prior to the episode "The Hug", when Gumball hugs him several times to prove he is not predictable to Darwin. In "The Awkwardness", Gumball wants to buy ketchup for a hot dog before running into Hot Dog Guys many other times in the episode. In "the Nest" he is seemingly eaten by the carnivorous baby turtles.

text: Elmore Junior High staff

text: Principal Nigel Brown

text: Principal Nigel Brown (voiced by Lewis MacLeod, season 1; Steve Furst, season 2 onward) is a furry slug who is Elmore Junior High's principal and Miss Simian's love interest. His Cartoon Network biography states that their romance has been detrimental to his profession, leaving him incapable of properly running Elmore Junior High.[66] In "The Fraud", it is revealed that Principal Brown has worked as a principal for 20 years with a fake diploma.[67]

text: Ms. Lucy Simian

text: Ms. Lucy Simian (voiced by Lewis MacLeod, season 1; Hugo Harrison, season 2 onward) is a baboon and the sadistic teacher of Gumball and Darwin's class as well as a major antagonist. She takes great pleasure in giving her students pop quizzes and being generally unpleasant, and as such is widely reviled by the entire school body, save for Principal Brown, her love interest. She has a generally antagonistic relationship with Gumball, often suspecting him of being nothing but a troublemaker, but once faked friendship with the Wattersons in order to win a teacher's appreciation award, and offered a genuine apology to Gumball and Darwin for her rash judgement against them in "The Apology". Her face intentionally resembles that of the Grim Reaper.

text: Mr. Steve Small

text: Mr. Steve Small (voiced by Lewis MacLeod, season 1; Adam Long, season 2 onward) is the Elmore Junior High guidance counselor, a cloud man who is interested in New Age culture and possesses hippie-like qualities in terms of appearance and behavior. Mr. Small's eccentric and unconventional teaching methods are usually more confusing to the children than helpful, and despite his good intentions they often leave his office confused and not any better, if not worse from the time they entered.[68] It is revealed in the episode "The Fraud" that he is not a U.S. citizen, though it is unclear if he was merely born elsewhere or renounced his citizenship. He also mentions he lost his love Janice, which in the episode "The Void," is revealed to be a purple van that runs on "good vibes."

text: Rocky Robinson

text: Rockwell "Rocky" Robinson (voiced by Lewis MacLeod, season 1; Hugo Harrison, season 2, Simon Lipkin, season 3 onwards ) is an orange, fuzzy Muppet-like character who performs various odd jobs around Elmore Junior High, mostly as the janitor, but also as a cafeteria worker, a school bus driver, and, in "The Curse", the clerk at the lost and found office. He is the son of Gaylord and Margaret Robinson, the Wattersons' next-door neighbors, and is generally good-natured and gets along with the children well.

text: Coach Russo

text: The Elmore Junior High P.E. coach Russo (voiced by Dan Russell) is a large, pink 3-dimensional cube who is Jamie's mother. The newest member of the faculty, she works to ensure that all of the students are fit like her daughter. She makes her debut appearance in "The Coach" and speaks in a consistently deadpan tone, never showing emotion facially or in her speech.[57]

text: Other characters

text: Mr. and Mrs. Robinson

text: Gaylord and Margaret Robinson (voiced by Rupert Degas and Teresa Gallagher, season 1; Stefan Ashton Frank and Teresa Gallagher, season 2 onward) are the Wattersons' stuck-up, grouchy next door neighbors, and Rocky's parents. They are grey Muppet-like characters and hate their neighbors with a passion. Gaylord deeply despises Gumball and Darwin for annoying him all the time; the boys, however, look up to him as their idol. Margaret never speaks, only vocalizing through hoarse whispers. Their constant bickering is a focal point of their relationship, though they actually enjoy doing so. Gaylord owns a prized 1970 Cadillac Coupe de Ville Convertible which often ends up getting damaged by the Wattersons, much to his annoyance.

text: Larry Needlemeyer

text: Laurence "Larry" Needlemeyer (voiced by Kerry Shale) is a rock man who works at almost every establishment in Elmore, including the grocery store, the gas station convenience store and the DVD rental shop amongst other places. He had previously been known as "Lazy Larry", the laziest person in Elmore, until he lost his title to Richard in the summer of 1983 and subsequently morphed into a hard worker.[11] Larry was generally distrusting of the Wattersons, as they often get him into trouble at his various occupations until "The Pizza". It was revealed that he works everywhere just to pay the damages the Wattersons created that involves him.

text: Marvin Finklehimer

text: Marvin Finklehimer (voiced by Dan Russell) is an red humanoid who lives at the local retirement home. In the episode "The Watch", he feuds with Gumball and Darwin over possession of a gold watch, an heirloom which the Wattersons and Finklehimers have feuded over for several generations. Towards the end of the episode, the two sides chase each other to claim the watch and cash it in for its $700 value. Marvin is eaten by the Evil Turtle in "the Nest", though he reappears unharmed in later episodes.

text: Doughnut Sheriff

text: Doughnut Sheriff (voiced by Lewis MacLeod, season 1, Dan Russell, season 2 onwards) is a pink-frosted doughnut who, as his name suggests, is an officer in Elmore's police force. He is rather oblivious and has displayed incompetency on the job, often finding himself involved in the Watterson's antics. In the episode "The Car",his name is "Ergo".

text: Sal Left Thumb

text: Sal Left Thumb (voiced by Kerry Shale) is one of Elmore's most wanted criminals, a walking fingerprint whose weapon of choice is a rusty spoon. He is often seen robbing the local convenience store, and in "The Spoon" Gumball and Darwin become unwitting accomplices in one of his crimes.

text: Felicity and Billy Parham

text: Felicity Parham is an orange background character on the show along with her blue son Billy (as shown in "The Extras). Billy appears to be an intelligent boy who usually just asks his mother random questions about life. After Season 3, he gained more of an active role and was rejected from Anais Watterson's heart. So, he then became a big mouthed, smart aleck-like individual.

text: Mr. Rex

text: Mr. Rex is Tina Rex's father. He loves to eat invaders at home. He fought with Nicole when she tried to speak with him about the fight that Tina had with Gumball, leaving his ultimate fate currently unknown, although it's likely that he is still unharmed. His true appearance was originally written to be shown in the episode "The Rex", but this episode was ultimately cancelled and not produced, but later his true appearance is revealed in "The Routine", where he fought Richard while getting mayonnaise.[69]

text: Minor characters

text: Carlton and Troy

text: Two teenage human boys from Richwood High that first appeared in "The Sweaters", where they taunted Gumball and Darwin. Carlton later appears in "The Society" in a mascot costume and was kidnapped by Gumball.

text: Chi Chi and Ribbit

text: A goat and frog pair who mimic Gumball and Darwin in "The Copycats".

text: Kenneth

text: A monstrous blob monster created by gross stuff.

text: Harold Wilson

text: Harold is the father of Tobias Wilson. He seems to have been making fun of Richard Watterson ever since he played a prank on him in high school, as seen in "The Cycle."

text: Patrick Fitzgerald

text: Penny's stern father.

text: Cupcake Woman

text: A cupcake who works as a bureaucrat, a job she greatly detests, and rarely smiles.


document_title: Dust Bowl

question_text: what agency was formed in the u.s. after the dust bowl to help conserve soil

root

text: Dust Bowl

text: Geographic characteristics and early history

text: The Dust Bowl area lies principally west of the 100th meridian on the High Plains, characterized by plains which vary from rolling in the north to flat in the Llano Estacado. Elevation ranges from 2,500 feet (760 m) in the east to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The area is semiarid, receiving less than 20 inches (510 mm) of rain annually; this rainfall supports the shortgrass prairie biome originally present in the area. The region is also prone to extended drought, alternating with unusual wetness of equivalent duration.[8] During wet years, the rich soil provides bountiful agricultural output, but crops fail during dry years. The region is also subject to high winds.[9] During early European and American exploration of the Great Plains, this region was thought unsuitable for European-style agriculture; explorers called it the Great American Desert. The lack of surface water and timber made the region less attractive than other areas for pioneer settlement and agriculture.

tag: p

text: The federal government encouraged settlement and development of the Plains for agriculture via the Homestead Act of 1862, offering settlers 160-acre (65 ha) plots. With the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, waves of new migrants and immigrants reached the Great Plains, and they greatly increased the acreage under cultivation.[10][11] An unusually wet period in the Great Plains mistakenly led settlers and the federal government to believe that "rain follows the plow" (a popular phrase among real estate promoters) and that the climate of the region had changed permanently.[12] While initial agricultural endeavors were primarily cattle ranching, the adverse effect of harsh winters on the cattle, beginning in 1886, a short drought in 1890, and general overgrazing, led many landowners to increase the amount of land under cultivation.

text: Recognizing the challenge of cultivating marginal arid land, the United States government expanded on the 160 acres (65 ha) offered under the Homestead Act—granting 640 acres (260 ha) to homesteaders in western Nebraska under the Kinkaid Act (1904) and 320 acres (130 ha) elsewhere in the Great Plains under the Enlarged Homestead Act (1909). Waves of European settlers arrived in the plains at the beginning of the 20th century. A return of unusually wet weather seemingly confirmed a previously held opinion that the "formerly" semiarid area could support large-scale agriculture. At the same time, technological improvements such as mechanized plowing and mechanized harvesting made it possible to operate larger properties without increasing labor costs.

text: The combined effects of the disruption of the Russian Revolution, which decreased the supply of wheat and other commodity crops, and World War I increased agricultural prices; this demand encouraged farmers to dramatically increase cultivation. For example, in the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, the area of farmland was doubled between 1900 and 1920, then tripled again between 1925 and 1930.[11] The agricultural methods favored by farmers during this period created the conditions for large-scale erosion under certain environmental conditions.[1] The widespread conversion of the land by deep plowing and other soil preparation methods to enable agriculture eliminated the native grasses which held the soil in place and helped retain moisture during dry periods. Furthermore, cotton farmers left fields bare during winter months, when winds in the High Plains are highest, and burned the stubble as a means to control weeds prior to planting, thereby depriving the soil of organic nutrients and surface vegetation.

text: Drought and dust storms

text: After fairly favourable climatic conditions in the 1920s with good rainfall and relatively moderate winters,[13] which permitted increased settlement and cultivation in the Great Plains, the region entered an unusually dry era in the summer of 1930.[14] During the next decade, the northern plains suffered four of their seven driest calendar years since 1895, Kansas four of its twelve driest,[15] and the entire region south to West Texas[16] lacked any period of above-normal rainfall until record rains hit in 1941.[17] When severe drought struck the Great Plains region in the 1930s, it resulted in erosion and loss of topsoil because of farming practices at the time. The drought dried the topsoil and over time it became friable, reduced to a powdery consistency in some places. Without the indigenous grasses in place, the high winds that occur on the plains picked up the topsoil and created the massive dust storms that marked the Dust Bowl period.[18] The persistent dry weather caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. The fine soil of the Great Plains was easily eroded and carried east by strong continental winds.

text: On November 11, 1933, a very strong dust storm stripped topsoil from desiccated South Dakota farmlands in just one of a series of severe dust storms that year. Beginning on May 9, 1934, a strong, two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl.[19] The dust clouds blew all the way to Chicago, where they deposited 12 million pounds of dust (~ 5500 tonnes).[20] Two days later, the same storm reached cities to the east, such as Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C.[21] That winter (1934–1935), red snow fell on New England.

text: On April 14, 1935, known as "Black Sunday", 20 of the worst "black blizzards" occurred across the entire sweep of the Great Plains, from Canada south to Texas. The dust storms caused extensive damage and turned the day to night; witnesses reported that they could not see five feet in front of them at certain points. Denver-based Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger happened to be in Boise City, Oklahoma that day. His story about Black Sunday marked the first appearance of the term Dust Bowl; it was coined by Edward Stanley, Kansas City news editor of the Associated Press, while rewriting Geiger's news story.[3][4]

text: Spearman and Hansford County have been literaly [sic] in a cloud of dust for the past week. Ever since Friday of last week, there hasn't been a day pass but what the county was beseieged [sic] with a blast of wind and dirt. On rare occasions when the wind did subside for a period of hours, the air has been so filled with dust that the town appeared to be overhung by a fog cloud. Because of this long seige of dust and every building being filled with it, the air has become stifling to breathe and many people have developed sore throats and dust colds as a result."

text: Much of the farmland was eroded in the aftermath of the Dust Bowl. In 1941, a Kansas agricultural experiment station released a bulletin that suggested reestablishing native grasses by the "hay method". Developed in 1937 to speed up the process and increase returns from pasture, the "hay method" was originally supposed to occur in Kansas naturally over 25–40 years.[23] After much data analysis, the causal mechanism for the droughts can be linked to ocean temperature anomalies. Specifically, Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures appear to have had an indirect effect on the general atmospheric circulation, while Pacific sea surface temperatures seem to have had the most direct influence.[24]

text: Human displacement

text: This catastrophe intensified the economic impact of the Great Depression in the region.

text: United States

text: In 1935, many families were forced to leave their farms and travel to other areas seeking work because of the drought (which at that time had already lasted four years).[25] The abandonment of homesteads and financial ruin resulting from catastrophic topsoil loss led to widespread hunger and poverty.[26] Dust Bowl conditions fomented an exodus of the displaced from Texas, Oklahoma, and the surrounding Great Plains to adjacent regions. More than 500,000 Americans were left homeless. Over 350 houses had to be torn down after one storm alone.[27] The severe drought and dust storms had left many homeless; others had their mortgages foreclosed by banks, or felt they had no choice but to abandon their farms in search of work.[28] Many Americans migrated west looking for work. Parents packed up "jalopies" with their families and a few personal belongings, and headed west in search of work.[29] Some residents of the Plains, especially in Kansas and Oklahoma, fell ill and died of dust pneumonia or malnutrition.[20]

text: The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history within a short period of time. Between 1930 and 1940, approximately 3.5 million people moved out of the Plains states; of those, it is unknown how many moved to California.[30] In just over a year, over 86,000 people migrated to California. This number is more than the number of migrants to that area during the 1849 Gold Rush.[31] Migrants abandoned farms in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, but were often generally referred to as "Okies", "Arkies", or "Texies".[27] Terms such as "Okies" and "Arkies" came to be known in the 1930s as the standard terms for those who had lost everything and were struggling the most during the Great Depression.[32]

text: Not all migrants traveled long distances; some simply went to the next town or county. So many families left their farms and were on the move that the proportion between migrants and residents was nearly equal in the Great Plains states.[30]

text: Characteristics of migrants

text: Historian James N. Gregory examined Census Bureau statistics and other records to learn more about the migrants. Based on a 1939 survey of occupation by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of about 116,000 families who arrived in California in the 1930s, he learned that only 43 percent of southwesterners were doing farm work immediately before they migrated. Nearly one-third of all migrants were professional or white-collar workers.[33] The poor economy displaced more than just farmers as refugees to California; many teachers, lawyers, and small business owners moved west with their families during this time. After the Great Depression ended, some moved back to their original states. Many others remained where they had resettled. About one-eighth of California's population is of Okie heritage.[34]

text: U.S. government response

text: The greatly expanded participation of government in land management and soil conservation was an important outcome from the disaster. Different groups took many different approaches to responding to the disaster. To identify areas that needed attention, groups such as the Soil Conservation Service generated detailed soil maps and took photos of the land from the sky. To create shelterbelts to reduce soil erosion, groups such as the United States Forestry Service’s Prairie States Forestry Project planted trees on private lands. Finally, groups like the Resettlement Administration, which later became the Farm Security Administration, encouraged small farm owners to resettle on other lands, if they lived in dryer parts of the Plains.[24]

text: During President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933, his administration quickly initiated programs to conserve soil and restore the ecological balance of the nation. Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes established the Soil Erosion Service in August 1933 under Hugh Hammond Bennett. In 1935, it was transferred and reorganized under the Department of Agriculture and renamed the Soil Conservation Service. It is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).[35]

text: As part of New Deal programs, Congress passed the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act in 1936, requiring landowners to share the allocated government subsidies with the laborers who worked on their farms. Under the law, "benefit payments were continued as measures for production control and income support, but they were now financed by direct Congressional appropriations and justified as soil conservation measures. The Act shifted the parity goal from price equality of agricultural commodities and the articles that farmers buy to income equality of farm and non-farm population."[36] Thus, the parity goal was to re-create the ratio between the purchasing power of the net income per person on farms from agriculture and that of the income of persons not on farms that prevailed during 1909–1914.

text: To stabilize prices, the government paid farmers and ordered more than six million pigs to be slaughtered. It paid to have the meat packed and distributed to the poor and hungry. The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was established to regulate crop and other surpluses. FDR in an address on the AAA commented,

text: Let me make one other point clear for the benefit of the millions in cities who have to buy meats. Last year the Nation suffered a drought of unparalleled intensity. If there had been no Government program, if the old order had obtained in 1933 and 1934, that drought on the cattle ranges of America and in the corn belt would have resulted in the marketing of thin cattle, immature hogs and the death of these animals on the range and on the farm, and if the old order had been in effect those years, we would have had a vastly greater shortage than we face today. Our program – we can prove it – saved the lives of millions of head of livestock. They are still on the range, and other millions of heads are today canned and ready for this country to eat."

text: The FSRC diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were distributed through local relief channels. Cotton goods were later included, to clothe the needy.[37]

text: In 1935, the federal government formed a Drought Relief Service (DRS) to coordinate relief activities. The DRS bought cattle in counties which were designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head. Animals determined unfit for human consumption were killed; at the beginning of the program, more than 50 percent were so designated in emergency areas. The DRS assigned the remaining cattle to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) to be used in food distribution to families nationwide. Although it was difficult for farmers to give up their herds, the cattle slaughter program helped many of them avoid bankruptcy. "The government cattle buying program was a blessing to many farmers, as they could not afford to keep their cattle, and the government paid a better price than they could obtain in local markets."[38]

text: President Roosevelt ordered the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant a huge belt of more than 200 million trees from Canada to Abilene, Texas to break the wind, hold water in the soil, and hold the soil itself in place. The administration also began to educate farmers on soil conservation and anti-erosion techniques, including crop rotation, strip farming, contour plowing, terracing, and other improved farming practices.[39][40] In 1937, the federal government began an aggressive campaign to encourage farmers in the Dust Bowl to adopt planting and plowing methods that conserved the soil. The government paid reluctant farmers a dollar an acre to practice the new methods. By 1938, the massive conservation effort had reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65%.[41] The land still failed to yield a decent living. In the fall of 1939, after nearly a decade of dirt and dust, the drought ended when regular rainfall finally returned to the region. The government still encouraged continuing the use of conservation methods to protect the soil and ecology of the Plains.

text: At the end of the drought, the programs which were implemented during these tough times helped to sustain a positive relationship between America's farmers and the federal government.[42]

text: The President's Drought Committee issued a report in 1935 covering the government's assistance to agriculture during 1934 through mid-1935: it discussed conditions, measures of relief, organization, finances, operations, and results of the government's assistance.[43] Numerous exhibits are included in this report.

text: Long-term economic impact

text: In many regions, more than 75% of the topsoil was blown away by the end of the 1930s. Land degradation varied widely. Aside from the short-term economic consequences caused by erosion, there were severe long-term economic consequences caused by the Dust Bowl.

text: By 1940, counties that had experienced the most significant levels of erosion had a greater decline in agricultural land values. The per-acre value of farmland declined by 28% in high-erosion counties and 17% in medium-erosion counties, relative to land value changes in low-erosion counties.[23]:3 Even over the long-term, the agricultural value of the land often failed to recover to pre-Dust Bowl levels. In highly eroded areas, less than 25% of the original agricultural losses were recovered. The economy adjusted predominantly through large relative population declines in more-eroded counties, both during the 1930s and through the 1950s.[44]:1500

text: The economic effects persisted, in part, because of farmers' failure to switch to more appropriate crops for highly eroded areas. Because the amount of topsoil had been reduced, it would have been more productive to shift from crops and wheat to animals and hay. During the Depression and through at least the 1950s, there was limited relative adjustment of farmland away from activities that became less productive in more-eroded counties.

text: Some of the failure to shift to more productive agricultural products may be related to ignorance about the benefits of changing land use. A second explanation is a lack of availability of credit, caused by the high rate of failure of banks in the Plains states. Because banks failed in the Dust Bowl region at a higher rate than elsewhere, farmers could not get the credit they needed to buy capital to shift crop production.[45] In addition, profit margins in either animals or hay were still minimal, and farmers had little incentive in the beginning to change their crops.

text: Patrick Allitt recounts how fellow historian Donald Worster responded to his return visit to the Dust Bowl in the mid-1970s when he revisited some of the worst afflicted counties:

text: In contrast with Worster’s pessimism, historian Mathew Bonnifield argued that the long-term significance of the Dust Bowl was "the triumph of the human spirit in its capacity to endure and overcome hardships and reverses."[47]

text: Influence on the arts and culture

text: The crisis was documented by photographers, musicians, and authors, many hired during the Great Depression by the federal government. For instance, the Farm Security Administration hired numerous photographers to document the crisis. Artists such as Dorothea Lange were aided by having salaried work during the Depression.[48] She captured what have become classic images of the dust storms and migrant families. Among her most well-known photographs is Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children,[48] which depicted a gaunt-looking woman, Florence Owens Thompson, holding three of her children. This picture expressed the struggles of people caught by the Dust Bowl and raised awareness in other parts of the country of its reach and human cost. Decades later, Thompson disliked the boundless circulation of the photo and resented the fact she did not receive any money from its broadcast. Thompson felt it gave her the perception as a Dust Bowl "Okie."[49]

text: The work of independent artists was also influenced by the crises of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. Author John Steinbeck, borrowing closely from field notes taken by Farm Security Administration worker and author Sanora Babb,[citation needed] wrote The Grapes of Wrath (1939) about migrant workers and farm families displaced by the Dust Bowl. Babb's own novel about the lives of the migrant workers, Whose Names Are Unknown, was written in 1939 but was eclipsed and shelved in response to the success of the Steinbeck's work, and was finally published in 2004.[50][51][52] Many of the songs of folk singer Woody Guthrie, such as those on his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads, are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression when he traveled with displaced farmers from Oklahoma to California and learned their traditional folk and blues songs, earning him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour".[53]

text: Migrants also influenced musical culture wherever they went. Oklahoma migrants, in particular, were rural Southwesterners who carried their traditional country music to California. Today, the "Bakersfield Sound" describes this blend, which developed after the migrants brought country music to the city. Their new music inspired a proliferation of country dance halls as far south as Los Angeles.

text: The 2014 science fiction film Interstellar features a ravaged 21st-century America which is again scoured by dust storms (caused by a worldwide pathogen affecting all crops). Along with inspiration from the 1930s crisis, director Christopher Nolan features interviews from the 2012 documentary The Dust Bowl to draw further parallels.[54]

text: In 2017, Americana recording artist Grant Maloy Smith released the album Dust Bowl – American Stories, which was inspired by the history of the Dust Bowl.[55] In a review, the music magazine No Depression wrote that the album’s lyrics and music are “as potent as Woody Guthrie, as intense as John Trudell and dusted with the trials and tribulations of Tom Joad – Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath.”[56]

text: Aggregate changes in agriculture and population on the Plains

text: The change in the total value of agricultural land and revenue was quite similar over the twentieth century. Agricultural land and revenue boomed during World War I, but fell during the Great Depression and the 1930s. The land and revenue began increasing again in 1940, and has been increasing since then. From 1910 to the 1940s, total farmland increased and remained constant until 1970 when it slightly declined. During this time, total population increased steadily, but there was a slight dip in trend from 1930 to 1960.[44][clarify][verification needed]


document_title: Jesus Christ Superstar (film)

question_text: who played pontius pilate in jesus christ superstar

text: Jesus Christ Superstar (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The film is framed as a group of performers who travel to the desert to re-enact the Passion of Christ. The film begins with them arriving on a bus, assembling their props and getting into costume. One of the group is surrounded by the others, puts on a white robe and emerges as Jesus ("Overture").

text: This story begins with Judas (Anderson), who is worried about Jesus' popularity; he is being hailed as the Son of God, but Judas feels he is just a man who is beginning to believe his own propaganda and fears the consequences of their growing movement ("Heaven on Their Minds"). The other disciples badger Jesus for information about his plans for the future, but Jesus will not give them any ("What's the Buzz?"). Judas' arrival and subsequent declaration that Jesus should not associate with Mary dampens the mood ("Strange Thing Mystifying"). Angrily, Jesus tells Judas that he should leave Mary alone, because his slate is not clean. He then accuses all the apostles of not caring about him. That night at the Temple, Caiaphas is worried that the people will crown Jesus as king, which the Romans will take for an uprising. Annas tries to allay his fears, but he finally sees Caiaphas' point and suggests that he convene the council and explain his fears to them; Caiaphas agrees ("Then We Are Decided"). As Jesus and his apostles settle for the night, Mary soothes him with some expensive ointment, but Judas says that the money spent should have been given to the poor. Jesus rebukes him again, telling him that the poor will be there always but Jesus will not ("Everything's Alright").

text: The next day at the Temple of Jerusalem, the council of the priests discuss their fears about Jesus. Caiaphas tells them that there is only one solution: like John the Baptist, Jesus must be executed for the sake of the nation ("This Jesus Must Die"). As Jesus and his followers joyfully arrive in Jerusalem, Caiaphas orders Jesus to disband the crowd for fear of a riot. Jesus refuses and speaks to the crowd instead ("Hosanna"). Later, the apostle Simon Zealotes (Marshall) and a crowd of followers voice their admiration for Jesus ("Simon Zealotes"). Jesus appreciates this, but becomes worried when Simon suggests directing the crowd towards an uprising against their Roman occupiers. Jesus sadly dismisses this suggestion, saying that they do not understand His true purpose ("Poor Jerusalem").

text: Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, reveals that he has dreamed about a Galilean man (Jesus) and that he will be blamed for this man's death ("Pilate's Dream"). Jesus and his followers arrive at the temple, which has been taken over by money changers and prostitutes ("The Temple"). To Judas' horror and as the priests watch in the background, a furious Jesus destroys the stalls and forces them to leave. Jesus wanders alone outside the city, but is surrounded by a crowd of lepers, all wanting to be healed. Jesus tries to heal as many of them as possible, but is overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and eventually gives up, screaming at them to leave him alone. Mary comforts Jesus and Jesus goes to sleep. Mary loves Jesus, but is confused because he is so unlike any other man she has met ("I Don't Know How to Love Him"). Judas goes to the priests and expresses his concerns, but he is worried about the consequences of betraying Jesus ("Damned for All Time"). The priests take advantage of his doubts and offer him money if he will lead them to Jesus. Judas initially refuses, but Caiaphas and Annas win him over by reminding him that he could use the money to help the poor. Judas reveals that Jesus will be at the Garden of Gethsemene on Thursday night ("Blood Money").

text: At the Last Supper (set outdoors in a garden setting during the day), Jesus reveals that he knows Peter (Toubus) will deny him and Judas will betray him. A bitter argument between Jesus and Judas ensues, in which Judas berates Jesus for destroying their hopes and ideals and threatens to ruin Jesus' ambition by staying there without helping him to reach the Glory; Jesus tells Judas to leave and Judas finally runs off ("The Last Supper"). As the apostles fall asleep, Jesus goes to Gethsemane to pray about his imminent death and reluctantly agrees to go forward with God's plan ("Gethsemane [I Only Want to Say]"). Jesus waits for Judas, who arrives, accompanied by guards, and betrays him with a kiss. The disciples offer to fight the guards, but Jesus will not allow it. Jesus is taken to Caiaphas' house, found guilty of blasphemy and sent to Pilate ("The Arrest"). Peter, meanwhile, fearfully denies Jesus three times after being accused of being one of Jesus' followers ("Peter's Denial"). Jesus is taken to Pilate's house, where the governor, unaware that Jesus is the man from his dream, mocks him. Since he does not deal with Jews, Pilate sends him to Herod ("Pilate and Christ"). The flamboyant King Herod is excited to finally meet Jesus, for he has heard the hype. He tries to persuade Jesus to perform various miracles. When Jesus refuses to answer, Herod orders the guards to take him back to Pilate ("Herod's Song [Try It and See]").

text: The apostles and Mary Magdalene remember how things began and wish that they had not gotten so out of hand ("Could We Start Again Please?"). Jesus is flung into a cell, where he is seen by Judas, who runs to tell the priests that he regrets his part in the arrest. He hurls his money to the ground and curses at the priests before running into the desert. Filled with regret for betraying Jesus, he blames God for his woes by giving him the role of the betrayor and hangs himself ("Judas' Death"). Jesus is taken back to Pilate, who questions him; Herod is also present. Although he thinks Jesus is deluded, Pilate realizes that he has committed no actual crime and has Jesus scourged; Herod is gleeful at first but eventually sickened. Pilate's bemused indifference turns to a frenzy of confusion and anger, both at the crowd's irrational bloodthirstiness and Jesus' inexplicable resignation and refusal to defend himself. Pilate realizes he has no option but to have Jesus executed or the masses will grow violent ("Trial Before Pilate [Including the Thirty-Nine Lashes]"). After Pilate washes his hands of Jesus' fate, Jesus' appearance transforms, the heavens open, and a white-jumpsuit clad Judas descends on a silver cross. Judas laments that if Jesus had returned as the Messiah today, he would have been more popular and his message easier to spread. Judas also wonders what Jesus thinks of other religions' prophets. He ultimately wants to know if Jesus thinks he is who they say he is ("Superstar"). Judas' questions go unanswered, and Jesus is sent to die ("The Crucifixion"), with ominous, atonal music, with Jesus saying some of his final words before dying.

text: As the film ends, the performers, now out of costume, board their bus. Only the performers who had played Pilate, Mary Magdalene and Judas notice the actor who had played Jesus is missing. A shepherd and his flock cross the hillside beneath the empty cross ("John Nineteen Forty-One").

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ
Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot
Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene
Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate
Bob Bingham as Caiaphas
Kurt Yaghjian as Annas
Josh Mostel as King Herod
Philip Toubus as Peter
Larry Marshall as Simon Zealotes
Richard Orbach as John
Robert LuPone as James

tag: ul

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text:
"Overture"
"Heaven on Their Minds"
"What's the Buzz?"
"Strange Thing Mystifying"
"Then We Are Decided"
"Everything's Alright"
"This Jesus Must Die"
"Hosanna"
"Simon Zealotes"
"Poor Jerusalem"
"Pilate's Dream"
"The Temple"
"Everything's Alright (Reprise)"
"I Don't Know How to Love Him"
"Damned for All Time"
"Blood Money"
"The Last Supper"
"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)"
"The Arrest"
"Peter's Denial"
"Pilate and Christ"
"Hosanna (Reprise)"
"King Herod's Song (Try It and See)"
"Could We Start Again Please?"
"Judas' Death"
"Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)"
"Superstar"
"The Crucifixion"
"John 19: 41"

tag: ol

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: During filming of Fiddler on the Roof, Barry Dennen, who played Pilate on the concept album, suggested to Norman Jewison that he should direct Jesus Christ Superstar as a film. After hearing the album, Jewison agreed.

text: Casting[edit]

text: The cast consisted mostly of actors from the Broadway show, with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson starring as Jesus and Judas respectively. Neeley had played a reporter and a leper in the Broadway version, and understudied the role of Jesus. Likewise, Anderson understudied Judas, but took over the role on Broadway and Los Angeles when Ben Vereen fell ill. Along with Dennen, Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene), and Bob Bingham (Caiaphas) reprised their Broadway roles in the film (Elliman, like Dennen, had also appeared on the original concept album). Originally, Jewison wanted Ian Gillan, who played Jesus on the concept album, to reprise the role for the film, but Gillan turned down the offer, deciding that he would please fans more by touring with Deep Purple. The producers also considered Micky Dolenz (from The Monkees) and David Cassidy to play Jesus before deciding to go with Neeley.[6]

text: Filming[edit]

text: The film was shot in Israel (primarily at the ruins of Avdat, Beit Guvrin National Park, and Beit She'an) and other Middle Eastern locations in 1972.[7]

text: Alterations[edit]

text: Like the stage show, the film gave rise to controversy even with changes made to the script. Some of the lyrics were changed for the film. The reprise of "Everything's Alright", sung before the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Mary to Jesus, was abridged, leaving only the closing lyric "Close your eyes, close your eyes and relax, think of nothing tonight" intact, while the previous lyrics were omitted, including Jesus's "And I think I shall sleep well tonight.". In a scene where a group of beggars/lepers overwhelms Jesus, "Heal yourselves!" was changed to "Leave me alone!", and in "Judas' Death", Caiaphas' line "What you have done will be the saving of Israel" was changed to "What you have done will be the saving of everyone."

text: The lyrics of "Trial Before Pilate" contain some notable alterations and additions. Jesus's line "There may be a kingdom for me somewhere else, if I only knew" is changed to "if you only knew." The film version also gives Pilate more lines (first used in the original Broadway production) in which he addresses the mob with contempt when they invoke the name of Caesar: "Well, this is new!/Respect for Caesar?/'Till now this has been noticeably lacking!/Who is this Jesus? Why is he different?/You Jews produce messiahs by the sackful!" and "Behold the man/Behold your shattered king/You hypocrites!/You hate us more than him!" These lines for Pilate have since been in every production of the show.

text: The soundtrack contains two songs that are not on the original concept album. "Then We Are Decided", in which the troubles and fears of Annas and Caiaphas regarding Jesus are better developed, is original to the film. The soundtrack also retains the song "Could We Start Again Please?" which had been added to the Broadway show. Most of these changes have not been espoused by later productions and recordings, although most productions tend to retain the expanded version of "Trial Before Pilate".

text: Reception[edit]

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The film was very popular, earning North American rentals of $10.8 million in 1973.[8] Years later the film was still popular, winning a 2012 Huffington Post competition for "Best Jesus Movie."[9]

text: The film as well as the musical were criticized by some religious groups.[5] A New York Times review said, "When the stage production opened in October, 1971, it was criticized not only by some Jews as anti-Semitic, but also by some Catholics and Protestants as blasphemous in its portrayal of Jesus as a young man who might even be interested in sex."[10]

text: Tim Rice said Jesus was seen through Judas' eyes as a mere human being. Some Christians[who?] found this remark, as well as the fact that the musical did not show the resurrection, to be blasphemous. While the actual resurrection was not shown, the closing scene of the movie subtly alludes to the resurrection (though, according to Jewison's commentary on the DVD release, the scene was not planned this way[11]). Some found Judas too sympathetic; in the film, it states that he wants to give the thirty pieces of silver to the poor, which, although Biblical, leaves out his ulterior motives (see also "Everything's Alright"). Biblical purists pointed out a small number of deviations from biblical text as additional concerns; for example, Pilate himself having the dream instead of his wife, and Catholics argue the line "for all you care, this bread could be my body" is too Protestant in theology, although Jesus does say in the next lines, "This is my blood you drink/This is my body you eat".

text: In the 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards by Michael Medved and Harry Medved, Neeley was given an award for "The Worst Performance by an Actor as Jesus Christ",[12] yet Neeley and Anderson received Golden Globe nominations for their portrayals of Jesus and Judas in the film version and had subsequently gone on to recreate the roles in numerous national stage tours from 1993-2014 (2004 for Anderson, as he died of leukemia).

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"I Don't Know How to Love Him" – Nominated[13]

2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[14]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The soundtrack for the film was released on vinyl by MCA Records in 1973. It was re-released on CD in 1993 and 1998.

text:
Side one

"Overture" – 5:26
"Heaven on Their Minds" – 4:22
"What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying" – 4:26
"Then We Are Decided" – 2:32
"Everything's Alright" – 3:36
"This Jesus Must Die" – 3:45

Side two

"Hosanna" – 2:32
"Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem" – 6:28
"Pilate's Dream" – 1:45
"The Temple" – 5:26
"Everything's Alright (reprise)"/"I Don't Know How to Love Him" – 3:55
"Damned for All Time/Blood Money" – 4:37

Side three

"The Last Supper" – 7:12
"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" – 5:39
"The Arrest" – 3:15
"Peter's Denial" – 1:26
"Pilate and Christ"/"Hosanna (reprise)" – 2:57
"King Herod's Song (Try it and See)" – 3:13

Side four

"Could We Start Again Please?" – 2:44
"Judas' Death" – 4:38
"Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)" – 6:47
"Superstar" – 3:56
"The Crucifixion" – 2:40
"John 19:41" – 2:20

text: The soundtrack for the film was released in the USA on vinyl by MCA Records (MCA 2-11000) in 1973, as: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR / The Original Motion Picture Sound Track Album.

text: Remakes and related productions[edit]

text: Another film version was made for video in 2000, starring Glenn Carter as Jesus, Jérôme Pradon as Judas, and Reneé Castle as Mary Magdalene. It was shot entirely on indoor sets including graffiti on the wall. Composer Webber has stated in the making-of documentary that this was the version closest to what he had originally envisioned for the project. He chose Gale Edwards to direct after seeing her interpretation of the musical in Dublin, which featured a more modernistic and sinister approach than the original stage productions.

text: In a 2008 interview with Variety magazine, film producer Marc Platt stated that he was in discussions with several filmmakers for a remake of Jesus Christ Superstar.[15]

text: In 2013, a Blu-ray "40th Anniversary" edition of the film was released, featuring commentary from the director and Ted Neeley, an interview with Tim Rice, a photo gallery and a clip of the original trailer.[16]

text: In 2015, Neeley announced the upcoming release a documentary entitled "SUPERSTARS: The Making of and Reunion of the film 'Jesus Christ Superstar'" about the production of the film.[17]


document_title: A River Runs Through It (film)

question_text: who did the fly fishing in a river runs through it

text: A River Runs Through It (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The Maclean brothers, Norman and Paul, grow up in Missoula, Montana with their father, Presbyterian minister John, from whom they learn a love of fly fishing for trout in the Blackfoot River. They learn to cast using a ticking metronome. The boys become accomplished fishermen as a result. Norman and Paul are home taught and must adhere to the strict moral and educational code of their father. As they grow older, it becomes clear that Norman is more disciplined and studious, while Paul is fun-loving, wild, and the more talented fisherman.

text: Norman attends a July 4th dance with his friends after returning home from six years away at Dartmouth, where he meets Jessie Burns. Paul has become a reporter at a newspaper in Helena. He has angered many of the locals by falling behind in a big poker game at a bar that is a front for gambling and prostitution. He is also dating an Indian woman, Mabel, who is deemed inferior by the community. Paul is arrested after fighting a man who has insulted her, and Norman is awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from the police to come and bail Paul out of jail.

text: After Norman and Jessie go on several dates, she asks that Norman make an effort to get along with her brother Neal, who is visiting from California. Norman and Paul do not like Neal, but at Jessie's insistence they invite him to go fishing. Neal shows up drunk with a woman he met at a bar the night before. Norman and Paul decide to fish anyway and return to their car hours later to find that Neal and the woman have drunk all the beer and passed out naked in the sun.

text: Norman returns a painfully sunburned Neal home, where Jessie is waiting for them. She is angry that the brothers did not fish with Neal. Norman asks Jessie to drive him home, as he had brought Neal back in Neal's car, and he tells her that he is falling for her. She drives away angry but a week later asks Norman to come to the train station to see Neal off. After the train departs, Norman shows Jessie a letter from the University of Chicago: a job offer for an English Literature teaching position. Norman asks Jessie to marry him.

text: When Norman tells Paul about the job offer and marriage proposal, he urges Paul to come with him and Jessie to Chicago. Paul says that he will never leave Montana. Just before leaving for Chicago, Norman, Paul, and their father go fly fishing one last time. Paul catches a huge fish that drags him down the river through a set of rapids before he finally lands it. John proudly tells him what a wonderful fisherman he has become, and how he is an artist in the craft, much to Paul's delight. They pose for pictures with the huge fish.

text: Soon after the fishing excursion, Norman is called by the police, who tell him that Paul has been found beaten to death in an alley. Norman goes home and tells his parents the news. Years later, Mrs. Maclean, Norman, Jessie, and their two children listen to a sermon being given by John, who dies soon after. Norman is now an old man, back in the Montana river where he used to fish with his family many years before. He says that nearly everyone from his youth is dead, including Jessie, and that he is haunted by waters.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Craig Sheffer as Norman Maclean

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Young Norman Maclean

Brad Pitt as Paul Maclean

Vann Gravage as Young Paul Maclean

Tom Skerritt as Reverend John Maclean
Brenda Blethyn as Clara Maclean
Emily Lloyd as Jessie Burns
Stephen Shellen as Neal Burns
Nicole Burdette as Mabel

text: Production[edit]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Although both the book and movie are set in Missoula and on the Blackfoot River, it was filmed in late June, early July 1991 in south central Montana in Livingston and Bozeman,[2] and on the nearby upper Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Boulder Rivers. The waterfall shown is Granite Falls in Wyoming.[3][4] Filming was completed in early September 1991.

text: An article published in the Helena Independent Record in July 2000, based on recollections of people who knew both brothers, noted a number of specifics about the Macleans — notably various chronological and educational details about Paul Maclean's adult life — that differ somewhat from their portrayal in the film and novella.[5]

text: Music[edit]

text: Mark Isham, who would go on to compose the scores to most Robert Redford-directed films, composed the musical score for the film. Originally, Elmer Bernstein was hired to score the film. However, after Redford and Bernstein disagreed over the tone of the music, Bernstein was replaced by Isham.[6] Rushed for time, Isham completed the score within four weeks at Schnee Studio of Signet Sound Studios in Hollywood, CA. Upon release, the music was met with positive reviews earning the film both nominations for Grammy and Academy awards. The A River Runs Through It (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was released on October 27, 1992.[7]

text: In some home video releases of the film, Elmer Bernstein is credited as the film's composer despite his score being rejected during post-production.

text: Release[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Released on October 9, 1992, the film grossed $43,440,294 in US domestic returns.[1] The film holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on polled critical reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Tasteful to a fault, this period drama combines a talented cast (including a young Brad Pitt) with some stately, beautifully filmed work from director Robert Redford."[8] Much of the praise focused on Pitt's portrayal of Paul, which has been cited as his career-making performance.[9]

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: The film was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1993, including Best Cinematography (Philippe Rousselot); Best Music, Original Score (Mark Isham); and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Richard Friedenberg). Rousselot won for Best Cinematography. At the Golden Globes, Robert Redford was nominated for Best Director - Motion Picture, but did not win.