BENJAMIN “Ben” Bocquelet (BB) is a French-British animator, director, writer, and producer. He is best known as the creator of The Amazing World of Gumball of which he also co-writes alongside James Lamont and Jon Foster. He was also the director of a short film called The Hell’s Kitchen. He has been chosen as the ambassador of Imagination Studios. He spoke to The Financial Gazette’s Online Editor Paul Nyakazeya (PN) from his base in London, England.
PN: I have always wondered how you came up with the characters in The Amazing World of Gumball?
BB: It comes from the time when I was working in advertising – very unsuccessfully – and I ended up with a whole bunch of characters from pitches that had been rejected by clients. They all ended up in my drawer. When I got hired by Cartoon Network and was asked to pitch a show idea, I sold to them the characters that I had already be paid to do. The characters are also inspired by my family. My dad is called Richard, my mum Nicole, my sister Anais… so I definitely used my experiences of my family to develop the Wattersons too.