Eddsworld is an independent British comedic flash animation production company that was created by
Edward Gould (commonly abbreviated as Edd Gould) in 2004. Eddsworld was also part of CakeBomb (a dissolved media production collective).[1] Eddsworld currently consists of over thirty-five episodes (called eddisodes), over 150 comics, flash games, and various art work distributed on the home website, YouTube, Albino Blacksheep, Newgrounds, DeviantART, and the BBC. The episodes are the focal point of the organization, which star Edd, Tom, Matt, and previously Tord, and run anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. While he was still alive, animations were created solely by Edward Gould and co-written by himself and colleagues Thomas Ridgewell, Matthew Hargreaves, Tom Bown, and Tord Larsson. It is currently under direction of Thomas Ridgewell. Eddsworld is created using Adobe Flash, a computer animation program. Eddsworld centres around the main character Edd and his friends Matt, Tom, and formerly Tord. All are voiced by their real life counterparts, with most minor characters being voiced by Gould. The main characters all live in the same house in an unspecified suburban town in the UK where most of the episodes take place.
[edit]Main Characters[]
The main characters were loosely based on real life counterparts. This, with over-exaggerated addictions being a constant theme for each character, along with catchphrases, sets the dynamics between the characters.
Edd is the main character of Eddsworld. He wears a green hoodie and/or a T-shirt that says "Smeg Head" underneath (In a reference to the British sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf), and has brown hair. He enjoys Coca-Cola, bacon, and making puns, which annoys other characters. He often uses the term "and such" as a closing description for things as well. Edd is also seen as optimistic, which can be attributed to his leadership.
Tom is one of Edd’s friends and wears a blue hoodie or T-shirt. He also has brown spiky hair named Steve and is known for being an alcoholic, as his favourite beverage is Smirnoff. He also has no discernible eyes, but empty black circles (formerly black line, black curve and white circles) in place of them, which does not affect his sight (a reference to lead singer 2D from Gorillaz). Because he is a Jehovah's Witness, he has a deep hatred of the holiday Christmas, this caused him to be the main antagonist in Zanta Claws 3. Tom is also known for saying "Holy ‘Noun’ in a ‘Noun’" (having ‘Noun’ being replaced with two random objects) when surprised. He has a bass guitar named Susan as well. He has a shoe and a brain with parts of their own in Movie Makers. Tom's brain appears to like cats as he repeatedly inserts space cats into possible plot ideas.
Matt is Edd’s other friend and wears a purple hoodie (originally black) with a green overcoat, or a purple T-shirt. He is also the only one who has ginger hair and a square chin. He is known for being an egomaniac, being obsessed with his looks, even as far as being attracted to his own appearance (even making a sex tape with a clone of himself in the episode Movie Makers and also saying that his most important thing was a picture of himself in WTFuture), and being the least intelligent of the group. He is also known for saying "Not the face" when an object threatens to hit him and says "indubitably" as his catchphrase.
Tord wore a black overcoat in the first episodes and later wore a red hoodie or T-shirt. He was known for being the most violent character, and was often the first to pull out a gun and use firearms. He hates the song "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" by Lesley Gore as well. He is also the only non-British character, as he hailed from Norway. He has not been in an Eddsworld video since 2008 as he left the series in the episode "25 feet Under the Seat." However, he has made cameos, including in WTFuture, where he appeared when Future Edd went back into the events of Zombeh Attack.
[edit]Other Characters[]
There are many guests or supporting characters who make repeated appearances in the episodes, voiced by various colleagues of Gould. The characters have minor roles in the series, some are primarily used as running gags, but on occasion they take on positions as main characters for lone episodes.
[edit]Comics[]
Before his death, Gould had created over 170 comics that appeared on a weekly basis. They are normally four panels long and follow the same plot structure as the episodes with comedy focusing much more on puns and word play. The characters in the comics are almost exclusively Edd, Matt, Tom, and in the earliest comics Tord. Eighty of these comics were collected in a book called Toaster Brains,[3]which also features guest comics by colleagues and friends of Gould. There are currently over 180 comics.
[edit]Tord’s departure[]
The character Tord officially left the series in the beginning of the episode "25 Feet Under The Seat" in 2008, but nothing was said by him. This caused many rumours to originate from fans about his disappearance and is still a point of discussion for many. Impersonators posing as Tord Larsson or as a friend of Tord also arose from this on social networking sites (such as facebook) and blogs in attempts to troll or mislead fans. Most speculations over the reason for Tord’s departure include that he and Tom became too angered with each other, as they would often fight (as revealed in an earlier episode), leading to Tord quitting the group, and running over Tom in "25 Feet Under the Seat". In reality, Tord Larsson left Eddsworld to pursue his own artistic career and to distance himself from the franchise, requesting that his likeness also be removed from future episodes. Gould has voiced his displeasure in not explaining Tord’s departure in more detail, but he had no plans to bring the subject up in future work.
In response to Edd Gould's death, Tord posted a video on YouTube entitled "Tord explains why he left Eddsworld (RIP Edd Gould)" on 30 March 2012 giving his reasons for leaving the series, discussed his relationships with the Matt, Tom, and Edd, and touched on the many frauds claiming to be him on various Internet accounts. In this video he also explained that the stress of school and his poor relationship with Tom had only a minor to no affect on him leaving the series, pointing out that taking his name from the series and building his own persona, independently of Eddsworld, was his main focus. At the end of the video he gave his respects to Edd and his family, saying "To Edd" and then drinking from a bottle of Coca-Cola. He has since closed his YouTube account, making all videos uploaded from that account unavailable.
On 13 June 2012, Ridgewell vlogged from his YouTube account DarkSquidge about Eddsworld, explaining that Tord "Was shown driving away at the beginning of an eddisode... opening a Pandora's Box of crazy fans that never left him alone to the extent that he can't even use his real name." as well as referencing Tord's own video mentioned above.It is currently being discussed that Tord will be on the show for an episode or two, but not reappearing as his counterpart of animated Tord Larsson. Tom said that Tord would never be joining the show again, but his character may come back with a different voice actor.
[edit]Death of Edd Gould[]
On 25 March 2012, Gould died at the age of 23 after a six-year-long battle with cancer. Ridgewell later announced on a live stream that Edd had asked him to take over the series in the event of his death. Under Ridgewell's direction, the series will continue with Paul ter Voorde as the new lead animator and a new voice actor replacing Edd, being Ridgewell's friend Tim Hautekiet.[4] After Gould's passing, new developer TurboPunch started the Eddsworld: Legacy fundraiser on Indiegogo, which is intended to help raise funds for another season of Eddsworld. Under Ridgewell's direction, profits made from the Eddsworld series are now intended to go towards charities that focus on non-medical care for adult cancer patients (after initial expenses are paid).
[edit]Voice actors[]
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