Bottersnikes and Gumbles (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series was announced on 24 February 2015, when Cake Entertainment joined forces with Cheeky Little Media and Mighty Nice to produce the series.
• British children's network CBBC and the Seven Network were commissioned as broadcasters.
• Cake Entertainment distributed the series internationally.

History

The animated series Bottersnikes & Gumbles began development in 2012, a collaboration between Mighty Nice and Cheeky Little Media. It adapts the Australian children's book series by S. A. Wakefield. Netflix secured the rights in early 2015 and released the show as 52 episodes, each running eleven minutes. The series later aired on Australia's 7TWO from December 18, 2015, to January 22, 2016, and on the UK's CBBC in 2016. It targets children aged six to nine, both boys and girls. Patrick Egerton, the producer and CEO of Cheeky Little Media, noted that the books created a rich, distinctive world that left a lasting impression on him as a child. He felt that with modern CG tools and skills, the time was right to adapt the property for television and do it justice.

The story follows three young Gumbles named Tink, Bounce, and Willi, who spend their days "gumbling." Each episode involves battles with the Bottersnikes, featuring stealth, trickery, daring rescues, and narrow escapes as the Gumbles try to outsmart their foes. The voice cast includes Richard Grieve, Jeff Rawle, Kathryn Drysdale, and Miriam Margolyes. In North America, Netflix released the series on August 19, 2016, with the dialogue re-dubbed using American accents.

Sean O'Grady of The Independent praised the adaptation, saying it was better than most similar efforts. He described the Bottersnikes as superbly rendered lizard-like creatures that serve as the show's bogeymen, and the Gumbles as seemingly normal but hopelessly optimistic. He found the stories short and sweet, with remarkable attention to detail. The series won a Pulcinella Award for Best Kids TV Series at the Cartoons on the Bay international animation festival in Venice. It was also nominated for Most Outstanding Children's Program at the 2016 Logie Awards.