| “ | It's pretty swell. |
” |
―Edd's catchphrase | ||
Edward Duncan Ernest "Edd" Gould † (October 28, 1988 - March 25, 2012 [aged 23])[1] was an English YouTuber, animator, artist, writer, director, voice actor, and internet personality known for his Flash series Eddsworld, which started in 2003 and has continued on to this day. After Edd's death, the channel was operated by Thomas Ridgewell and then Matt Hargreaves.
While Edd did not exclusively upload videos to YouTube, he did have a channel onto which he uploaded his animations. Eddsworld follows fictional versions of himself and his friends Thomas Ridgewell, Matt Hargreaves, and Tord Larsson (who left the series in 2008) in bizarre and hilarious adventures. The series is divided into three distinct "eras"; Classic, Legacy and Beyond. The series initially ended on March 16, 2016 when the video "The End: Part Two" released and Ridgewell stepped down as showrunner. The series was revived on August 1, 2020, with 'Fan Service 2' under the supervision of Matt Hargreaves and the Gould family.
Personal life[]
Cancer diagnosis and death[]
On April 16, 2011, Edd revealed to his YouTube audience he was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), a cancer of the white blood cells. This was the second time he had the illness, as he was initially diagnosed with it sometime in January 2006, detailing it in a blog post.[2] He shared a video titled "Edd vs Cancer" which featured himself, Tom and Matt, announcing a delay of the Eddsworld series and comics.
After graduating from university, Edd stayed with his mother and worked from home while dealing with a recurring infection from his cancer returning. Despite not yet moving due to illness, Edd still paid rent towards an apartment. While watching an episode of Doctor Who, Edd suddenly fell ill and was taken to the emergency room late into the evening.
Edd passed away on March 25, 2012, after a 6-year-long battle against leukemia. Two days later, Tom, Matt, and other associates announced Edd's death. Tom, in the announcement video "RIP Edd Gould (1988-2012)", stated that "Edd may be gone, but his world will keep on spinning."
Content[]
Edd's episodic cartoons feature extensive humor, gag-driven plots, satirical observations, British culture, and surrealism. For example, in one episode titled "Spares", the gang are cloned via DNA left on their theater seats by an evil director who wants more people to see his film. In another titled "Ruined", Edd discovers a hidden dungeon filled with treasure and the group explore it.
Early episodes of Eddsworld were animated entirely by Gould up until his passing, with voice work and writing assistance provided by friends and colleagues.
History[]
During primary and secondary school, Edd made a comic based off of himself and friends of his at the time called “Edd’s World” around 1999 or 2000, sometime later in 2000 Edd began animating using a GIF program to make Stickman animations. He then discovered Stick Figure Death Theatre and tried uploading one of his GIFs there, but they only accepted Flash animations from then on. He got Flash on November 7, 2002, and initially uploaded his animations to a variety of Stickfigure death sites like Stick Figure Death Theatre, Sticksuicide, StickPage, etc. Some of his old animations from 2002 used to be available on his geocities website. Later on he began uploading his animations to Newgrounds in June 2003.
He began making videos regularly in late 2004, cementing a solid lineup in the show's cast. Edd based his characters on friends he knew in real life, exaggerating their traits. Over time he would refine the core cast to feature four characters, all fictionalized versions of their counterparts. In March 2006, the Eddsworld YouTube channel was created and Edd went on to upload episodes there, while still uploading them on Newgrounds as well.
Edd would attend university at UCA, Maidstone, within an animation course. He left home and lived in a student dorm with his best friend Matt, whom he met in primary school.
Tord's Departure[]
In 2008, artist and voice actor Tord left the crew, with Edd, Matt, and Tom as the main characters of the series in a rotating trio. When asked by a fan why Tord had left, Edd responded "Dunno, he just didn't wish to be in them anymore". Despite speculation by Eddsworld fans that he was harassed off the show, Tord simply wished to pursue other ventures in art and left the show. He remained friends with Edd until his passing, and returned to Eddsworld as a cameo in WTFuture in 2010.
Even with the main cast down a member, the Eddsworld community was still growing. Some notable animations include the Zombeh Attack trilogy, The Dudette Next Door, Zanta Claws, Tom's Tales of Awesome, Spares, 25ft Under the Seat, MovieMakers, and Climate Change, the latter of which was shown to world leaders and commissioned for a climate change conference. Around the late 2000's and early 2010's, the Eddsworld channel would spike in popularity.
Around this time, Edd was able to make creating episodes of Eddsworld his full-time job, as YouTube's payout for ad revenue was sustainable enough for online animators to make a living.
The Legacy Era[]
After the death of Edd Gould in 2012, a fundraiser was announced in order to fund the production of more episodes of Eddsworld called Eddsworld: Legacy which was co-directed by Thomas Ridgewell and Eddie Bowley (Eddache). All proceeds from the episodes produced as a result of this fundraiser went directly to the charity Young Lives vs Cancer (at the time known as CLIC Sargent). The show's animation was taken over by one of Edd's friends, Paul Ter Voorde, starting with Space Face (Part 2). New episodes were continuously released from 2012 to 2016, finishing with The End (Part 2) and coinciding with Ridgewell and Bowley's departure from the show. After Ridgewell's departure, Tom's character sheet would be slightly altered, including the removal of asdfmovie related details, due to the real Tom wanting to distance himself from Eddsworld.
The Beyond Era[]
Eddsworld was announced to be coming back in early 2018, as confirmed on a Reddit post by Matt Hargreaves. Its original return date was in January 2018, but due to various problems, it was pushed back to March 2018, then was again pushed back to April 2018.
People were speculating on the future of the series until August 1st, 2020 when Fan Service 2 was uploaded. The return of the series was met with excitement by many. On November 1st, 2020, Casting Call was uploaded, revealing some new cast members, such as Edd now being voiced by George Gould, Edd's brother. The core voice cast was rounded out in Beaster Bunny, revealing Tom to be voiced by Ed Templer.
Currently the series is under the direction of Matt Hargreaves. Christopher Bingham (the voice of the Evil Director in Spares) was initially a director for the series as well, before he stood down in July of 2023.[3] Jamie Spicer-Lewis was also involved with the series but dismissed following sexual assault allegations in April of 2021.
Eddsworld Extra[]
First being made for posting "Thank You" videos to Eddsworld: Legacy donors and animators, Eddsworld Extra would start uploading Eddsworld episodes from 2004-2005 and one from 2007 with original soundtracks. Sometimes the channel would upload other things like a announcement for an Edd's Birthday Giveaway.
Main Cast/Characters[]
Edd[]
- Edd Gould † (2004-2012)
- Tim Hautekiet (2012-2016)
- George Gould (2020-present)
Tom[]
- Alex L'Abbé (2004-2005)
- Thomas Ridgewell (2005-2016)
- Ed Templer (2021-present)
Matt[]
- Matt Hargreaves (2005-present)
Tord[]
- Alex L'Abbé (2004-2005)
- Tord Larsson (2005-2008, 2010)
- Jamie Spicer-Lewis (2016)
Character info and cast[]
- Edd: The leader of the group and the main protagonist of the series, who wears a green hoodie. While somewhat ignorant and silly, he's confident and often very optimistic. Edd has an hyperfixation with cola and bacon and is a cartoonist.
- Matt: Another member of Edd's group, who wears a green overcoat over his purple hoodie. He's usually portrayed as a vain moron, holding himself to a high standard. Matt is shown to be obsessed with his face, worried for its safety. He also likes collecting and hoarding things. Despite his unhealthy obsession with his own vanity, he's shown to be quite kind to the other members of the group.
- Tom: Another member of Edd's group, who wears a blue hoodie. Tom is a grumpy, sarcastic, bass-playing alcoholic who hates Christmas. Tom's eyes are also pitch black, which are supposedly inherited by his mother who is a bowling ball.
- Tord: A former member of Edd's group, a weapons expert from Norway who has an unhealthy addiction with hentai. In the two-part finale to Eddsworld Legacy (The End) he returned. However, he was revealed to have been an antagonist, who created a giant robot (dubbed the “Tordbot” by fans), that he came back to acquire so he could take over the world. The character "Red Leader" is theorized to be Tord, as he is assisted by troops.
- Eduardo: Edd's nemesis, and neighbor who is always trying to one-up him after he lost to him in an art contest back in pre-school. In recent years, Eduardo has blown up in popularity as a meme, thanks to the Friday Night Funkin' Online Eddsworld challenge, which featured him saying "Well well well" before joining in with the song. In Beaster Bunny, it's revealed he had been struggling with depression after Jon's death. He was formerly voiced by Chris O'Neill of OneyNG and OneyPlays fame, and is currently voiced by Brock Baker.
- Mark: Another one of Edd's neighbors, who is meant to be Eduardo's counterpart for Matt. In the episode “Fun Dead” he is shown five times, but isn't turned into a Zombeh. He has a fear of rabbits. He is voiced by Benjamin Rudman.
- Jon: Eduardo's counterpart for Tom and former neighbor of Edd, who was constantly pushed around by Eduardo. During The End, he was killed by Tord; his death noticeably disturbing Eduardo. He is voiced by Eddache.
Trivia[]
- Edd animated the second episode of asdfmovie, with other animators like Jamie Spicer-Lewis and Wonchop taking his place after it released.[4]
- In 2009, he was asked by the United Nations to create a short about the issues of climate change for the Copenhagen Climate Conference.
- The crew was later interviewed by the BBC.
- The name Eddsworld was inspired by the film Wayne's World.
- Fans of the Eddsworld series have been dubbed "Eddheads" by both Thomas Ridgewell and Matt Hargreaves.
- Edd and Matt had been friends since primary school, sharing a love of technology and cartoons. The two lived together in a dorm while they attended university.
- Edd and Tom became online friends during their early teen years. Tom would message Edd with praise for his animations involving stick figures, with Edd having Tom sign a contact scribbled in MS Paint as he was implemented into Edd's Flash cartoons.
- Edd was a casual brony at the height of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic's popularity, Fluttershy being his favorite character.
- Edd was a fan and reader of Andrew Hussie's webcomic Homestuck.
- Edd consistently turned down offers to develop an Eddsworld television series, as his YouTube channel was financially well-off and he opposed to content restriction.
References[]
- ↑ RIP Edd Gould (1988-2012) by Eddsworld. YouTube. 27 Mar 2012.
- ↑ SA . Journal. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006.
- ↑ "I’ve had an amazing few years as Head of Production at @Eddsworld! Got to produce and direct some of the best videos on the channel, create opportunities for young animators, and grow something that means a great deal to me and lots of others! #eddsworld #newbeginnings" by Christopher Bingham, in 2024?? (@chriscoolblog), accessed on 26/11/2024 (DMY)
- ↑ asdfmovie2 (1:32 timestamp) by TomSka. YouTube. 1st January 2010.
