''Twelve Forever'' is an American animated

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

series created by Julia Vickerman, a former writer and storyboard artist known for her work on ''

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

'', ''

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

'', ''

Harvey Girls Forever! ''Harvey Girls Forever!'' (originally titled ''Harvey Street Kids'' in its first season, then retroactively retitled) is an American animated comedy television series produced by Brendan Hay and Aliki Theofilopoulos for DreamWorks Animation Televi ...

'', '' Paradise P.D.'' and ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Televi ...

''. ''Twelve Forever'' premiered in the United States on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on July 29, 2019.

Premise

The series is set in the early

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled durin ...

and centers on Regina "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 (Antony Del Rio) and Esther Hopkins (

Jaylen Barron Jaylen Barron (born August 31, 1997) is an American actress, known for her roles as Dominique Winslow in the Showtime series '' Shameless'' and Zoe Phillips in the Netflix drama series ''Free Rein''. In 2021, she is starring in the Starz serie ...

), 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 Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...

), 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 *

as Esther, Pretty Please, Tater Tot, Gorbis, Darla, Tori *

as The Butt Witch *

Steve Agee Steven Douglas Agee (; born February 26, 1969) is an American comedian, actor, writer and musician, known for roles including Steve Myron on the Comedy Central series ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' and as John Economos in the 2021 superhero fil ...

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 Bridget Everett (born April 21, 1972) is an American comedian, actress, singer, writer, and cabaret performer. She has starred in the semi-autobiographical 2022 HBO series '' Somebody Somewhere'', the movie ''Fun Mom Dinner'', and in a one-hour ...

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 Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...

as Guy Pleasant * Kate Freund as Donna * John Eric Bentley as Mr. Kapusinski *

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, at ...

as Manguin * Brittany Ashley as Kendra, Leslie *

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and ''The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

as Sadmantha * Maximus Riegel as Ogden *

Stephanie Beatriz Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri (born February 10, 1981) is an American actress, model and singer. She is known for playing Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox/NBC comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (2013–2021), and voicing protagonist Mira ...

as Conelly * Chris Fleming as Mr. Fleming *

Ashley Boettcher Ashley Boettcher (born September 3, 2000) is an American actress. Boettcher has acted since the age of four and is best known for her role as Melody Fuller in the Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and di ...

as Gwen * Curt Neill as Rodney * Paul Williams as Captain Elmer * Reese Hartwig as Shane (Pilot only) * Jorge Diaz as Tristan (Pilot only)

Production

The original pilot was produced for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

, by

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating on ...

, 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 Shadi Petosky is a television show runner. She is best known for her work on ''Danger & Eggs'' and ''The Sandman'' (2022 TV series). Early life Petosky was born in Kalispell, Montana, growing up in a rural area. Petosky cites Ani DiFranco and ...

began working on the show sometime before July 2017, when she hoped for more episodes of ''

Danger & Eggs ''Danger & Eggs'' is an American animated series created by Mike Owens and Shadi Petosky that premiered on Amazon Video on June 30, 2017. The show focuses on the adventures of a "gender-free female lesbian child and her giant large-gamete friend," ...

'', as a non-creative/non-writing executive producer.

LGBTQ representation

One of the executive producers of the series, Petosky, described Reggie as a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

character "coming to terms with her sexuality". The series also features a number of other LGBTQ characters: Mack and Beefhouse, a gay 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. As such,

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

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

Episodes

Cartoon Network pilot (2015)

Season 1 (2019)

Reception

Reviews of the series have been mostly positive. Lacey Womack of

ScreenRant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scree ...

said the series was something those of all ages could enjoy. Rodney Ho of ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' said that there was a "great pedigree" of those working on the show. Kevin Johnson of

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

said the show had a "sense of its Midwest, small town setting as the backdrop of conformist pressure" and compared it to ''

Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal) wh ...

''. Dina Rudolph of the ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicati ...

'' praised its LGBTQ representation, putting it alongside shows such as ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who li ...

'', ''

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' is an American Animated series, animated streaming television series developed by ND Stevenson and produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. Like the 1985 Filmation series ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' ...

'', ''

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts ''Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts'' is an animated television series created by Radford Sechrist and developed by Bill Wolkoff, adapted from Rad's 2015 webcomic ''Kipo''. The series is produced by American company DreamWorks Animation Televisio ...

'', ''

The Dragon Prince ''The Dragon Prince'', also known as ''The Dragon Prince: Mystery of Aaravos'' after the release of season 4, is a fantasy computer-animated television series created for Netflix by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, produced by Wonderstorm and ...

'', and '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes''. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' 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." Mandie Carroll of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

described the series as a "wonderfully weird show" with heart and to expect

cartoon violence Cartoon violence is the representation of violent actions involving animated characters and situations. This may include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted. Animated violence is sometimes partitioned into c ...

. She also said that young teenagers and tweens would enjoy the show's "imaginative world, relatable yet quirky characters, and the raw emotionality of this colorful cartoon." In January 2020,

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

Cancellation

In September 2019,

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 ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

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

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 ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' stated the show was "on an indefinite hiatus," with uncertain plans for the future.

References

External links

''Twelve Forever'' on Netflix
*
Twelve Forever Official Website and Store
{{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2010s American animated television series 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series English-language Netflix original programming Netflix children's programming Animated television series by Netflix 2010s American surreal comedy television series Television series set in the 2000s Television shows set in Iowa Middle school television series Animated television series about children 2010s American LGBT-related animated television series LGBT speculative fiction television series