Twelve Forever (Ardit Berisha's Take)

Twelve Forever is an American animated streaming series created by Julia Vickerman, a former writer and storyboard artist known for her work on Clarence, Rick and Morty, Harvey Girls Forever!, Paradise P.D. and The Powerpuff Girls. Twelve Forever premiered in the United States on Netflix on July 29, 2019.

Premise
The series is set in the early 2000s and centers on Reggie Abbott (Kelsy Abbott), an imaginative 12-year-old whose desire to remain a child is so powerful she can enter another world in which she never has to grow up: an island called Endless where her childhood toys and drawings are real. She is joined by her friends Todd Rivera (Antony Del Rio) and Esther Hopkins (Jaylen Barron), who visit this amazing world to live out their superhero fantasies and escape the responsibilities of impending adulthood. Life and reality often catch up with them in Endless as the preteens start dealing with growing pains and conflicts develop between them. The negativity the friends experience while dealing with their new complicated problems feed their enemy, the nefarious Butt Witch (Matt Berry), who seeks to destroy Endless.

Voice cast

 * Kelsy Abbott as Reggie, Wade, Kathy, Flaps, Flowery Woman, Billy Canyon, Tammy, Dr. Tenders, Swimple Jan, Plates, Mike, Omelet, Winged Moyse
 * Antony Del Rio as Todd, Chairold, Garrett, Sherbert
 * Jaylen Barron as Esther, Pretty Please, Tater Tot, Gorbis, Darla, Tori
 * Matt Berry as The Butt Witch
 * Steve Agee as Big Deal, Mack, Beefhouse, Galaxander, Hunk, Monster Brown Roger
 * Wade Randolph as Borbo, Dr. Champion, Mr. Christopherson, Label Maker Monster, Lump, Uncle Paul, AJ, Bobby
 * Laura Zak as Mrs. Krandle, Tanopy, Explorer Sally, Pancake, Rooty, Lorbis, Queen Limerick
 * Bridget Everett as Judy
 * Spencer Rothbell as Colin, Swimple Dan, Tasty Troy, Pitui-Terry, Squad Bro, Rance, Big Ol' Gordon, Jacques Board, Shaun
 * Nick Sumida as Bags of Marbles, Beth, Chewing Gum Stanley, Garrett, Señor Corduroy
 * Brandon Wardell as Dustin
 * Daniel Amerman as Aaron
 * Sam Brown as Manny, Schmaaron
 * Noel Fielding as Guy Pleasant
 * Kate Freund as Donna
 * John Eric Bentley as Mr. Kapusinski
 * Ron Funches as Manguin
 * Brittany Ashley as Kendra, Leslie
 * Amy Sedaris as Sadmantha
 * Maximus Riegel as Ogden
 * Stephanie Beatriz as Conelly
 * Chris Fleming as Mr. Fleming
 * Ashley Boettcher as Gwen
 * Curt Neill as Rodney
 * Paul Williams as Captain Elmer
 * Reese Hartwig as Shane
 * Jorge Diaz as Tristan
 * Ardit Berisha as Pvt. Miller
 * Julia Vickerman as the Dark Lord
 * Angela C. Santomero as Dark Lord's Twin Sister
 * Steve Burns as The Mighty Little Man
 * Jacob Soley as Charlie (cameo)
 * Zoe Hatz as Miss Weather (cameo)
 * Nicholas Castel Vanderburgh as Red Critter
 * Zachary Bloch as The Great Mountain Boy
 * Tajja Isen as Reggie's Great Grand Grandma
 * Siera Florindo as Reggie's Aunt
 * Traci Paige Johnson as The Queen of The Golden Mountain
 * Donovan Patton as the Golden Mountain Guards
 * Joshua Dela Cruz as The Dream Pigeon
 * Akira Golz as Sleepy Princess
 * Lance Robertson as DJ Lance Rock (crossover episode)
 * Emma Penrose as Foofa (Crossover episode)
 * Christian Jacobs as Plex (Crossover episode)
 * Amos Watene as Brobee (Crossover episode)
 * Adam Deibert as Muno (Crossover episode)
 * Dana Snyder as Ghost Miller
 * Weird Al' Yankovic as Himself (cameo)

Production
The original pilot was produced for Cartoon Network, by Cartoon Network Studios, and was originally released on their website on May 18, 2015. In December 2017, it was announced that Netflix had acquired the rights to Twelve Forever for a full series, with production duties being handled by The Cartel and Puny Entertainment, Cartoon Network Had to private the 2015 Pilot on YouTube, Shadi Petosky began working on the show sometime before July 2017, when she hoped for more episodes of Danger & Eggs, as a non-creative/non-writing executive producer.

LGBTQ representation
Main article: Netflix and LGBTQ representation in Twelve Forever

One of the executive producers of the series, Petosky, described Reggie as a queer character "coming to terms with her sexuality". The series also features a number of other LGBTQ characters: Mack and Beefhouse, a couple in the fantasy world of Endless Island, and Galaxander, who previously had a boyfriend. As for Reggie, she has a crush on Conelly, a 13-year-old schoolmate with whom she shares the same taste in imagining and creating stories, as shown in the two-part episode "Locked Out Forever". Due to the show's abrupt ending, Petosky stated they won't be able to further explore that aspect of the character/relationship. But in this universe, Julia Vickerman continued the series that will be expanding the aspect even further while Petosky is not around.

As such, GLAAD recognized the series as one of a number of shows released in 2019 with LGBTQ representation.

Cartoon Network pilot (2015)


Season 1 (2019)


Season 2 (2023)
