When I grew up was a good time for toonage. It was before the politically correct shitstorm so you could catch the classics every day after school: Looney Tunes, Underdog, George of the Jungle. But at the same time you had a couple of "children's" television channels suddenly churning out "modern" animation (Sidenote: Shows like The Simpsons, Dr. Katz, and The Critic paved the way for 'adult' animation during my childhood also but that's not what this blog is about). The Nicktoons (Rugrats, Doug, Ren and Stimpy), the Cartoon Cartoons (Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory), Spielberg presents toons (Freakazoid, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs etc.), comic book toons (Batman, Superman, X-Men, Spiderman) some even reviving old characters with a new twist (Space Ghost comes to mind). Let us not forget the unprecedented Disney animated feature run from before I was born until 1999 when Fantasia 2000 came out. Cartoons were a big deal. Many of the shows eventually became movies themselves. What made these shows and movies so strong was the pure universality of them. Kids would enjoy the slapstick humor. Teens/20 somethings could enjoy pop culture references. Teens and up could suddenly start to catch those sly winks to the fans that slid by the censors. Some even had pretty decent character arcs. Until recently, shows like Invader Zim, Fairly Oddparents, and Spongebob (I don't care what anyone says, that movie made me lose my shit several times) were continuing this fine tradition.
Then a shift happened. Traditional animation started to die out as everything became CGI. The "kids" channels started going back to live action shows aimed at tweens. The writers either ran out of ideas or were told to stop slipping things by as the shows still running quit being funny long ago. A hole was left in the market.
Another confession if you've made it through that rambling: I used to frequent an image board about comics and cartoons. You would think a heavily populated image board would constantly have a plethora of topics and great discussions. You Sir or Madam do not understand the internet. Although I was using the board as a tool to get back into comic books, many were using it to talk and discuss their favorite animation. The same shows got talked about and often would even have several threads on the front page. FiM (I refuse to watch this out of the great fear I may actually enjoy it.), Avatar/Legend of Korra (I tried TLAB, hated it even though I watched all of it), and this show. Thats right kids, the image wasn't enough, ITS ADVENTURE TIME.
Why did I try this insanity? I like surrealism and the art (not the fans or insanity being spewed in the threads) caught my eye. This show looks delightfully absurd. I figured of all the stuff I saw being raved about and discussed every day, this is the one I could get into. There's also merchandise everywhere, especially at everyone's favorite "counter-culture" store (a blog on Hot Topic would be a whole other topic based blog).
To give you an idea where I'm at on this show: I watched season 1 over a couple of weeks and have started season 2 of this morning.
And I'm not sure why. But I'll probably keep watching.
Let me back up. I started the first episode having no idea what to expect. I had a general idea of a fantasy world with lots of queens and a human boy and a dog with weird stretchy powers. Outside of that, I knew nothing. So I begin the first episode and ZOMBIES!!!!!! Alright, that's a good enough start...but then I started getting confused. This cartoon said sexy, butt, and fart. Cartoons can do that now? Not that I'm bothered by it, it was just extremely unexpected. Alright go with it. So what's the set up? Thats the thing. There is no set up. You are dropped into this world and slowly get some idea of what's going on. Finn is the only human in the mystical land of Ooo where anything can leave and breathe and possibly be a Princess. His best friend/roomate is Jake the Dog who is like an older brother/mentor at times. The dog always reminds me of Danny Devito even though he doesn't sound nor act like him. Also Jake has crazy stretching powers. Hm. Ok then. I don't think I'm stoned enough to get all this so I'm going to just let it pass. The Zombie/Lumpy Space Princess episodes end and I sit confused. I was amused sure, but what exactly is going on? Does it matter? I decide probably not and keep watching.
I know it was a first season of a kid's show but there's no clear path. There's little to no continuity between episodes outside of meeting new characters. The plot usually consists of "Finn and Jake have to battle some dangerous evil." But it's all handled with a tongue in cheek humor poking at the classic hero story arc. For instance, the sidekick and hero are walking through a forest singing together. Finn begins to sing. Autotune. The show mentions that is how Finn sings ever since he swallowed that computer. Ha. That actually got me. So anyway whats my verdict on Season 1?
The humor doesn't always hit. Sometimes right at the end of a well written character driven episode, a fart joke just appears before the commercial break. Don't get me wrong, I'm male. I love a good fart joke. But not when it's there just to be there. Some of the characters are just downright annoying. The show can never quite make up its mind whether it wants to be for the kids or the adults and doesn't attempt to dance back and forth on the line like the cartoons of yore.
On the positive side, the character designs are interesting, work, and have a clear sense of style. When I see the character out of context, I could say "He's from Adventure Time right?" The voice acting is pretty well done and the actors have good comedic timing for the jokes that do hit. The scenery and the land of Ooo gets more interesting with every episode you watch as you discover new areas and new characters. I think with using Season 1 as a "testing the waters," phase this could become a rather entertaining show. That's why I'm still tuned in. And of course by tuned in, I mean watching it in VLC Media Player on my computer.
So am I addicted to this show and must see it all right now? No, not really. Is it amusing enough it will give me something to watch before bed that's entertaining but not so good I stay up all night to finish it (Yeah that's right Sons of Anarchy, Doctor Who, and my endless netflix queue, I said it)? Definitely. If you're going to give the show a look, I'd check out the episodes "Slumber Party Panic," "Tree Trunks," "Ricardio the Heart Guy," "Henchman," and "Rainy Day Daydream." If you enjoy those, check out the rest of the season.
So the final score? I give Adventure Time Season 1 6.5 George Takei's out of 10.
-Oz
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