The gumball clown is NOT going to kidnap them[]
The clown is the source of much tawog lore, watching from the shadows, at the epicenter of tragedy. In the curse of Elmore, he stares right at the viewers, and his character design is incredibly creepy to boot! People think that the clown knows this is a tv show, he knows about the 4th wall, he is watching us waiting for us to turn away so he can kidnap the Wattersons!
I am quite horrified by this theory, so I have made up my own to combat it.
He isn't watching the viewers; he's just looking at the camera, and we happen to be there first off. It's like what youtubers do. As humans our attention is drawn to other faces, his making eye contact draws us toward him because it feels like he's looking at us. This is a subtle way to draw the attention of the videos intended recipient, without him outright declaring it was his doing, because if the cops find the video, he could get in trouble for trespassing and causing all the things that happened.
Why he goes around causing all this chaos is for (drumroll) MRS. ROBINSON! The sadistic puppet wife of Gaylord Robinson, who takes obvious delight in the suffering of others. In the episode The Wicked Gumball reads off her tag that she was made in the fiery pits of the underworld, I.E. Hell.
In the episode The Ghouls, it is revealed that the clown isn't only a stalker but also a ghoul, a supernatural entity, maybe the two knew eachother in Hell?
The clown knows of Mrs. Robinson's interest in pain, he maybe has a CRUSH on her! So, he spreads suffering throughout Elmore like a disease, in the hopes of pleasing her, but she doesn't seem to notice him at all. He decided to make a video showing all the misery he's caused for her, but then, how did Tobias get it?
Last piece of the puzzle: The clown is also THE AWESOME STORE OWNER! He sells dangerous objects that often bring misfortune to the buyers as another way to cause woe. He gave Tobias the video promising it would make good halloween content, he also gave him a mask that looked like his face to use to scare people. He thought he was too subtle and if Mrs. Robinson saw his face somewhere online, she would finally recognize him at the very least.
What do you all think, plausible?