The World of David the Gnome, originally titled David, el Gnomo and also known as David, the Gnome, is a Spanish animated television series based on The Secret Book of Gnomes, a series of children's books by Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet.^[1] The series was originally created in Spain by BRB Internacional, who were also responsible for the Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds franchise and other animated series, such as Bobobobs and Around the World with Willy Fog, and Televisión Española. Twenty-six episodes were produced.^[2] There was also a spin-off series, Wisdom of the Gnomes.

The English-language dub, The World of David the Gnome, was produced by Canadian studio CINAR in association with Miramax Films. Christopher Plummer was narrator, with Tom Bosley voicing David. David the Gnome aired weekdays on Nickelodeon's^[3] Nick Jr. block from 1988 until 1995 in the United States.

The series follows the gnomes, a kind species who are 15 centimetres (6 inches) tall and weigh between 250 and 300 grams (8 and 10 ounces). There are several types of gnomes: those of the forest, garden, farm, house, dunes, and Siberia, as well as nomadic "gypsy" gnomes, who are generally looked down upon by other gnomes. With few exceptions, a gnome's lifespan is exactly 400 years, though one couple in the Balkans lived for 550 years. When they reach the end of their lifespan, they transform into large trees; though they seem to have some control over when and where this happens, they cannot avoid it. For this reason, gnomes are dedicated to protecting forests and the environment, as trees are their ancestors. Gnomes such as the main characters live in pairs in caves or holes under trees, and have a mainly vegetarian diet. They are often aided by forest animals when traveling long distances or need to reach a specific location quickly. They also have the powers of telepathy and mind control. Their main enemies are the trolls, malevolent and clumsy creatures who cause trouble, as well as gnome poachers.

• David (voiced by Tom Bosley) is a gnome of the forest who is 399 years old, making him the oldest gnome around except for Franklin, a gnome from the West who lived for 550 years. David is a doctor and uses his knowledge of many fields, such as hypnosis and acupuncture, to heal his patients, usually animals or other gnomes. David also befriends a bird that, when he whistles, arrives to transport him to where he needs to go. For longer trips, he sometimes travels in a basket attached to its neck.
• Lisa (voiced by Jane Woods) is David's wife and companion, who is also 399 years old. They have two children, Lily and Harold. She is in charge of the household, but occasionally accompanies him on his adventures.
• Swift the Fox (voiced by Vlasta Vrána) is David's best friend, who lives in the forest and is loyal to him, always being ready to transport David to where he needs to go. He is the cub of David's former fox mount, Nimble.
• The Trolls, Pit, Pat, Pot, and Holler, are four trolls that cause trouble for the gnomes and the inhabitants of the forest. They possess some supernatural powers and can cast magical spells too powerful for gnome magic to break. However, they are unintelligent and are vulnerable to sunlight, as direct exposure to it turns them to stone. Holler was voiced by A.J. Henderson, Pit was voiced by Marc Denis, Pat was voiced by Rob Roy, and Pot was voiced by Adrian Knight.
• Susan (voiced by Barbara Pogenmiller) is David and Lisa's granddaughter.
• King (voiced by Richard Dumont)
• Paul (voiced by Walter Massey) is David's twin brother, who has a normal moustache in contrast to David's handlebar moustache. He also wears differently colored clothing, as he wears a dark blue jumper and hat, as well as beige trousers and dark boots.

David the Gnome ran for twenty-six episodes, each approximately 24 minutes in length. In the U.S., the series originally aired between January 4, 1988, and February 9, 1988. The English-language episode titles are listed below, along with brief episode synopses:

The series aired on weekdays on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block for seven years from 1988 until 1995 in the U.S. Later, it aired on TLC (as part of the channel's Ready Set Learn block). The series aired on The Family Channel in Canada from its launch in 1988 until 1990. It was later aired on British Columbia's statewide Knowledge Network.

In England, the series ran on various channels. It was first picked up on ITV's Children's ITV block, then The Children's Channel, and finally Nickelodeon. In Australia, the show was first picked up on ABC, and later aired on Nickelodeon. In Ireland, this show was picked up on RTE's The Den block in the early 90s.

In 1989, Family Home Entertainment released four VHS tapes of the series in the U.S., each containing two episodes. In the United Kingdom, Video Collection International Ltd released one VHS tape of The World of David the Gnome (Cat. No. VC1178) with the first two episodes, Good Medicine and Witch Way Out, on 14 May 1990.

A complete series DVD set was released in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Revelation Films. The complete series was also released on DVD in 2011 in Spain and Italy. Most episodes are available on DVD in Germany and the Netherlands. The Italian and Spanish-language versions can currently be found on their respective countries' Amazon websites. The complete series was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2012 by Oasis DVDs.

A still shot of the titular character became a meme through images with explicit phrases; most commonly "I am a motherf***er" and "How about I slap your sh*t?"

In 2015, The Weinstein Company announced a revival titled Gnomes.^[4] No update has been given since The Weinstein Company went defunct on July 16, 2018 due to the sex abuse scandal.