Twelve Forever (JoyNova13'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

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. 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)


Reception
Reviews of the series have been mostly positive. Lacey Womack of ScreenRant said the series was something those of all ages could enjoy. Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that there was a "great pedigree" of those working on the show. Kevin Johnson of The A.V. Club said the show had a "sense of its Midwest, small town setting as the backdrop of conformist pressure" and compared it to Gravity Falls. Dina Rudolph of the Windy City Times praised its LGBTQ representation, putting it alongside shows such as Steven Universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, The Dragon Prince, and ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes''. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction contributor Steven Pearce argued that the show juggles dark and light, the real world and the imagined world, with Endless acting out "metaphorical versions of Reggie's real-world problems." Pearce also said that the series is good and inventive, bringing in surrealism, "pre-teen angst, humour and twelve-year-olds using flame-throwers."

In January 2020, GLAAD nominated the show for its Outstanding Kids & Family Programming award, along with a host of other shows.

Cancellation
In September 2019, Shadi Petosky announced that the show had been cancelled in a now-deleted tweet. While Petosky was described as the executive producer on the show in a July 2019 AP article on LGBTQ representation in animation, she stated in September 2019 that she had no connection with the show since the show's first season had premiered on Netflix earlier that year. It was also stated, in September 2019, that the producers of the show had parted way with the series creator, Julia Vickerman.

In 2020, Lacey Womack of Screen Rant stated the show was "on an indefinite hiatus," with uncertain plans for the future.

Reproduction
In February 2021, Julia Vickerman made a formal apology about being "an absolute creep on the internet" and "wanted to have a second chance in working on the show."

In April 2021, Cartoon Network accepts an apology by tweeting that "A certain creator of [the show] will be returning in 3 months."

3 months later in July 2021, a new trailer is released not only on Netflix and YouTube, but also on the official website as well. It teases that there are more islands on Endless to explore.

In August 2021, more concepts for the show were published before all of this.

In October 2021, Vickerman announced an all-artist collab for the comeback of Twelve Forever. Artists like Vivienne Medrano (the creator of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss) were included. Medrano also worked as an animator and voice actor for seasons 2-4.

In December 2021, the same date Disney buys Comcast, Paramount+ gets updated, Sony announces & gets their own streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery buys Amazon and therefore merged themselves completely, the Twelve Forever Collab was released alongside a full version of the "Twelve Forever" theme song performed by the main cast. A remix by Charlie "CG5" Green (who also wrote and composed songs for seasons 2-4) was also included.

In July 2023, the same date that some of the Teen Titans Go! writers were discovered to be pedophiles and are replaced by new, self-aware writers, Vickerman announced a trailer for Twelve Forever seasons 2-4 showing new things for the real deal while showing some deleted scenes that were introduced before the final product. Also in July 2023, they're released, which has mixed-to-positive reviews.

Sometime later in 2023, it was announced that Twelve Forever would be airing on Cartoon Network.

In November 2023, that same date before Vickerman retires, announced all the other projects she created/contributed to.

In December 2023, before Vickerman retires doing her work with them, she stats that "after all I've been through, I'm glad to see you one last time before I go," and "It's been an honor working with you all, now I'm going to do some other stuff that I don't mind about."