| Laurence Needlemeyer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Character Information
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Laurence "Larry" Needlemeyer is a supporting character in The Amazing World of Gumball. He works at almost every store in the town of Elmore, usually as a cashier. He generally disliked the Watterson family prior to the events of "The Pizza," but he gets on more friendly terms with them after they apologize for antagonizing him and causing him to quit all his jobs. Larry manages to keep up with all of his jobs by "working very hard," though he has been fired on at least one occasion. He used to be called "Lazy Larry" and was known as the laziest person in Elmore, but the title was stolen by Richard in the summer of 1983.
Appearance
Larry typically wears a green shirt, an orange tie, a red badge with a diagonal stripe down the middle, and an orange hat with red and white stripes. He also wears black pants and black shoes. His cheeks are pink with freckles on them. However, throughout the show, he starts to wear other uniforms depending on which jobs he works at. He is incredibly skinny, similar to Rob and Miss Simian. His head is disproportionately large and blocky. While being Lazy Larry, he transforms into a huge block, which connects his head to his torso just like Richard.
In season 1, he had a more rocky texture. From season 2 and onwards, those textures were removed, and he looks like he is made completely out of origami. His movement also becomes less fluid and more stop-motion like.
Personality
Larry is a very hard-working and serious person, and cannot be fooled easily. He keeps many jobs around Elmore, from being a store clerk to a cashier, and does an admirable job at each of them. Although, on many of these occasions, he is accidentally fired, or is driven to do so by a member of the Watterson family. However, Larry also has a history of laziness, as shown in "The Laziest." It seems he can be a forgiving person, as seen in "The Pizza." It is also shown that he is often sleep-deprived, usually due to working both day and night shifts, as revealed in multiple episodes.
He has a fiancée named Karen, whom he has attempted to propose to three times in the show, though he failed on all three occasions.
Episode appearances
Season 1
- "The DVD": His debut. He tells Gumball and Darwin to return the DVD before it's too late.
- "The End": He works at Food 'n' Stuff.
- "The Spoon": Sal robs him at the gas station.
- "The Laziest": Gumball and Darwin urge him to become the laziest person in Elmore against his will.
- "The Ghost": He works at Joyful Burger.
- "The Prank": He works at the shoe store.
- "The Refund": His first major role. Gumball and Darwin try to make him give them a refund.
- "The Goons": He has a picnic with Karen.
- "The Wand": The corner of his head is visible in the school yearbook during Richard's flashback.
Season 2
- "The Fridge": He is at the supermarket, where he discounts a frozen chicken.
- "The Job": He was one of the characters in the car after Richard.
- '"Halloween": He works at the gas station, and is mistaken for a wanted criminal, thanks to Gumball and Darwin.
- "Christmas": Larry works as a fake Santa at Elmore Shopping.
- "The Bumpkin": He gets robbed by Sal before the Wattersons crash through.
- "The Pony": He works at Ripley 2000, once again, as the cashier.
- "The Hero": He is mentioned by Darwin as he and Gumball unload the groceries on the table.
- "The Game": He is a victim of Nicole's prank call.
- "The Finale": He mentions having placed a restraining order on the Wattersons, as well as how their reckless actions have affected him.
Season 3
- "The Kids": He does not recognize Gumball nor Darwin because of their voices breaking, and calls John so they can leave peacefully. He later calls the police on Gumball and Darwin, and later cuts Nicole’s credit card in the supermarket.
- "The Name": He is briefly seen while Gumball's alter-ego, Zach, rudely cuts in line in front of the shoppers. Later, he is seen at Joyful Burger.
- "The Law": He appears working as an ice cream seller.
- "The Password": He appears once again at Ripley 2000, watching the store get destroyed by Richard.
- "The Pizza": His second major role. He quits all his jobs, unraveling the commercial structure of Elmore.
- "The Lie": He is in Elmore Shopping.
- "The Butterfly": His parking space is stolen by Mr. Robinson. Later, he crashes his car.
- "The Question": He tells Gumball and Darwin his meaning of life.
- "The Saint": He is one of the citizens to witness Tony choking on the sidewalk.
- "The Oracle": He tries to tell everyone that there was no prize for the 1,000,000th customer.
- "The Spoiler": He tries to remove Gumball, Darwin, and Anais from the cinema for pirating "The Screamening."
- "The Countdown": He can be seen driving his car when time is frozen.
- "The Nobody": He works at the hot dog stand, and walks past Gumball and Darwin several times as they try to give Rob a role in the world.
- "The Downer": He is in his ice cream truck watching Gumball cause a traffic jam.
- "The Egg": He watches Nicole and Felicity have a conversation at Food 'n' Stuff.
- "The Money": He works at Joyful Burger and offers the Wattersons a commercial job.
Season 4
- "The Return": He works at the play center, and tells Richard that the ball pit was being exported.
- "The Nemesis": He is briefly seen mowing his lawn.
- "The Check": He works at the Bank of Elmore.
- "The Gift": He gives out invitations for Masami's party.
- "The Parking": He drives his car. Later, he works at the cinema.
- "The Routine": He is stuck under wreckage at Elmore Shopping.
- "The Romantic": He gives Penny a blueberry flavored ice cream (which she is allergic to) by mistake.
- "The Uploads": He appears in a picture in the melted cheese guy's house.
- "The Wicked": He can be seen with Tobias, while Margaret rampages through the mall.
- "The Traitor": He works at Joyful Burger.
- "The Origins": He works at the pet store.
- "The Origins: Part Two": He again works at the pet store, which is at the Elmore Mall.
- "The Girlfriend": He is the priest at Gumball, Darwin, and Jamie's wedding.
- "The Signal": He passes out when Cartax almost runs him over.
- "The Parasite": His voice is heard when Richard calls 911 for being poisoned.
- "The Nest": He is seen working at the Fuel Station and drives Mr. Small's van.
- "The Night": He is seen sleeping and dreaming multiple times, then gets landed in jail for disrespecting the Donut Cop.
- "The Roots": He tells Richard the parrot repeats what it hears, only for it to start complaining about Richard.
- "The Compilation": He appears in a clip at the beginning of the episode from "The Uploads."
- "The Disaster": He is working at Laser Video.
Season 5
- "The Rerun": He is working at Laser Video.
- "The Guy": He kicks Gumball out of Joyful Burger.
- "The Code": He is seen working at Food 'n' Stuff, reading post-its left by Darwin and Gumball, then bans Gumball and Darwin from Food 'n' Stuff.
- "The Loophole": He argues with Mr. Small about the pronunciation of quinoa.
- "The Vase": His voice is heard during Anais' vision.
- "The Box": He almost runs over the box.
- "The Cycle": Harold gives him his credit card.
- "The Stars": His third major role. Gumball, Darwin, and Richard keep giving him bad reviews, forcing him to do whatever they want.
- "The Diet": His voice is heard when he tells Richard he is delivering pizza.
- "The Ex": He gives Banana Joe an explosive burger.
- "The Menu": His fourth major role. Richard tries to find out the Joyful Burger menu's secret item from him.
- "The Uncle": He charges money on Richard's store credit card.
- "The Heist": He, alongside the cupcake man, works as a bank teller, during which he is "robbed" by Richard.
- "The Singing": He sings a verse in "I'm Singing," operates the Joyful Burger drive-thru, and is forced to rap in Principal Brown's song.
- "The Worst": Richard makes him sing a song about fish.
- "The Line": He makes the Wattersons stay on the other side of the line to get into the theater.
- "The List": He is in the yearbook photo.
- "The News": He works at Joyful Burger.
Season 6
- "The Sucker": He delivers pizza to the Donut Cop.
- "The Vegging": He delivers food to Gumball and Darwin.
- "The Father": He is at Joyful Burger and feeds Richard.
- "The Anybody": Clayton disguises himself as Larry and steals his moped. Larry later describes Clayton's appearance to the Donut Cop, and is chased by the canine unit.
- "The Shippening": He tries to propose to Karen again, but is shipped with Mr. Small by Sarah.
- "The Brain": He finds the Wattersons' car parked on top of several shopping carts.
- "The Schooling": His fifth major role. Gumball and Darwin do his jobs for him.
- "The Intelligence": He delivers a pizza to Susan.
- "The Potion": He walks like a spider.
- "The Spinoffs": His work is shown in the Barcode Cowboy sequence.
- "The Ad": He delivers a pizza.
- "The Ghouls": He sings "All Hail All Hallow's Eve!".
- "The Stink": He works at an organic store.
- "The Slip": He works at Joyful Burger. Later, he holds a M'Guffin.
- "The Future": He tells Banana Joe that he can hang a poster. Later, he is in a flashback.
- "The Wish": He is at the bus stop with the goblin and the flight attendant.
- "The Revolt": He delivers a new phone to Gumball. Later, he is attacked by objects.
- "The Decisions": He works at the mall.
Season 7
- "The Burger": His sixth major role. He attempts to get Gumball and Darwin to eat Joyful Burger instead of healthy foods at his manager's request.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Jobs
Similar to Gary and Karen, Larry works numerous jobs. As of "The Menu," Larry is confirmed to have thirty-eight.
Laser Video
This is the first job Larry has been seen working at on-screen, where he works as the cashier. It is very similar to Ripley 2000 from "The Refund." Larry was seen here first in "The DVD."
Elmore Gas Station
This is the second job Larry has been seen working at. Sal Left Thumb has attempted to rob the store twice in Larry's presence but was stopped on both occasions. Despite this, Larry was seen working here in "The Bumpkin" and "The Night."
Food 'n' Stuff
Larry works here as a cashier. He got fired for yelling at a customer as an attempt to get Gumball and Darwin away from him in "The Laziest," but he is seen working here again in "The Name." This is currently the only job Larry has been fired from on-screen.
Joyful Burger
Larry's fourth job is where he works as a cashier. In "The Menu," Larry can be seen working at several different Joyful Burgers around Elmore.
Shoe store
Larry works as a cashier here. He was seen working here in "The Prank," when Richard wanted to return the shoes he bought originally for Gumball and Darwin, but is denied the return because they were filled with baked beans for a prank.
Ripley 2000
For his sixth job, he works as a clerk in the local video game store. He was first shown working here in "The Refund," when he denies Gumball and Darwin a refund for their computer game. He may have been fired from there as he failed to keep Gumball from getting a refund and abandoned his post. However, in the video "What Dad Would Do for a Sausage Part 1," he is seen working there, as well as later in "The Password."
Fervidus Pizza
In "The Job," Larry works for Fervidus Pizza. Larry is Richard's employer, and he fires Richard for eating parts of the pizzas he had to deliver. In "The Game," he gets prank-called by Nicole and delivers a pizza to himself as a consequence. In "The Pizza," he is seen working here again, during which he briefly quits, leading to the destruction of Elmore.
Elmore Shopping
He is seen working at Elmore Shopping in "Christmas" as the mall Santa in a small cabin called "Santa's Grotto." His girlfriend Karen is also seen directly outside of it, dressed as an elf.
Bank of Elmore
Larry can be seen working at the bank in "The Check" and "The Heist" as a bank teller.
Pet store
Larry is seen working at the pet store in episodes such as "The Origins" and "The Origins: Part Two," where he gives Richard all of the pet fish, and "The Roots."
Elmore Zoo
Larry is seen working here in "The Stars" as a zookeeper.
Other Jobs
Other jobs that Larry is seen, or mentioned doing include being the police force accountant, an ice cream vendor, a pest controller, a curator at an art gallery, and a repairman. He works so many jobs that Elmore's economical structure depends on him, and that if he ever stops working, the whole town would break down.
Quotes
- Main article: Larry Needlemeyer/Quotes
Voice actors
- Kerry Shale (US/UK)
- Romain Barbieux (France)
- Victor Posta (Hungary, season 1)
- Lehel Kisfalusi (Hungary, season 2–4)
- Gabor Joo (Hungary, season 5 onwards)
- Miklos Kapacsy (Hungary, some season 2 episodes)
- Gyorgy Istvan Gubanyi (Hungary, in "The Law")
- Paulo Vignolo (Brazil, seasons 1–2, "The Name" and season 4 onwards)
- Manolo Rey (Brazil, season 3)
- Hiroki Gotō (Japan)
- Maxim Polak (Russia, season 1–2)
- Daniel Stepin (Russia, season 3–5)
- Andrey Grinevich (Russia, season 6)
- Andrey Barkhudarov (Russia, season 6)
- Juha Varis (Finland)
- Víctor Covarrubias (Latin American, season 1-present)
- Gerardo Suárez (Latin American, "The Game")
- Carlo Vázquez (Latin American, "The Name")
- José Gilberto Vilchis (Latin American, "The Return")
- Javier Olguín (Latin American, "The Guy")
Trivia
- Karen is his fiancée; a running gag throughout the series is him attempting to propose to her, but ultimately failing to do so due to circumstances outside of his control. This has happened in "The Laziest," "The Goons," "The Shippening," and on Anais' Flickr if one counts it as canon.
- His running gag of having multiple jobs is very similar to the character of Treeflower from the Nickelodeon series, The Angry Beavers.
- In "The Schooling," Larry claims that he makes $7 per hour.
- In "The Night," he states that he does not sleep but in "The Question" he says his routine involves sleep.
- In "The Finale," it is revealed why he has so many jobs: to repay damages the Wattersons have done. It is also revealed that Larry has a restraining order against the Wattersons.
- Because Larry practically has every job in Elmore, if Larry quits all of them, Elmore's society would collapse and eventually lead to a full-blown apocalypse. This is seen in "The Pizza."