This past week I've been catching up on
one of my favorite shows for a long time now. Adventure Time
started in 2010 on perhaps the best childrens' channel of date,
Cartoon Network. This show means so much to so many people, including
me. Why is that? Is it the diverse and interesting cast of
characters? Wonderful music? Its progressive tones? The utter refusal
to be condescending to young viewers? All of the above,
unsurprisingly.
Earlier in the year I wrote about the
progressive nature of a lot of childrens' cartoons nowadays. When
writing that I only briefly mentioned Adventure Time among
many others as being mature for their target audience. Nickelodeon's
The Legend of Korra,
Disney's Gravity Falls, and
Cartoon Network's Steven Universe.
It seems like it all started with Adventure Time.
It mentions past same-sex relationships and even seems to deal with
sexual identity if you analyze certain characters enough. What does
this all mean. Not just that new and upcoming creators are brighter
then ever but that they are fundamentally changing up the process in
which the audience takes in their creations.
For
this example I'm going to, obviously, use Finn from Adventure
Time. When the show first
started, in 2010, Finn was twelve. Now, 2016, he is 16. Okay, so the
aging between the show and the characters aren't entirely one-to-one
but that isn't exactly the point. Just think of the implications of
having the characters in a show age the same as the audience. First
of all, the show grows with its viewers. This means that the themes
presented in the show itself can mature with the audience – at
least that's the plan. At the start of the show, the plotlines were
relatively simple. The Ice King is bad and he steals princesses. Finn
and his magical dog Jake need to save them. Rinse and repeat. Right?
No. Later in the series they give some backstory to Finn. He was an
orphan, abandoned in the woods until Jake's parents saved him. Later
still, Marceline the Vampire Queen gets some interesting stories as
we learn about her complicated relationship with her father.
Somewhere in the between we get some hints at the setting of this
show. A post-apocalyptic Earth? Yes, really. The Land of Ooo is
actually the aftermath of 1000 years of nuclear fallout. How do we
know this for sure? In a Christmas episode where we learn of Ice
King's tragic backstory as he witnessed the downfall of civilization
and went mad (and immortal) in the process. That's only the
beginning. I haven't even gotten into the masterful story
craftsmanship that went into Finn's relationship with his
father. The minds behind Adventure Time knew
their audience and capitalized on the fact that they grow up and used
it as an opportunity to keep the show interesting for the same
audience that the show was originally crafted for, but older.
This show asks a lot from its audience. To the everyday viewer, every episode might just seem like a fun adventure for the whole family to enjoy. To a more inquisitive viewer, however, one can get a lot out of a single episode of adventure time. When talking about the deepness of this show I like to use the episode "All the Little People," one of my favorites. The episodes starts off with a surprisingly human conversation in which Finn asks whether it would be better to date someone who is exactly like you or your complete opposite and then goes on to ask if BMO and Ice King would make a good couple. Jake is perplexed by the latter but has an intriguing explanation for the former. He answers that love isn't about science and compatibility but that its really random of who will like who or the "pumps-'n'-bumps" as he so eloquently puts it. This sets up the entire theme for the episode. After this short exchange, Magic Man sneaks up and puts magic bag inside Finn's pocket. They discover that in the bag is miniature versions of a lot of citizens of Ooo. Back in the tree house, Finn starts interacting with them by putting them in various situations and spending days upon days just seeing what they will get up to. It turns out, Jake was right. Not only did the little people get into all kinds of strange relationships but the miniature version of Finn starts cheating on every girl that he goes out with. This causes the real Finn to step in and make everything right and, after a miniature dance party, the episode ends. This is a deep episode. It's funny and interesting to young kids but has a deep message that not many shows will dare to do.
Before Adventure Time not many shows tried to do anything as new as this. In the 80s most cartoons were mostly about selling toys and in the 90s, while a lot of these shows were extremely creative they rarely had any deep morals while being entertaining. The 00's were special to a lot of people for its unique comedy but I believe that right now is when we can truly get excited. This show almost
single-handedly changed the landscape of cartoons for years to come.
It's been six years since the premiere of the show and, though I
don't think anything can beat the Lich arc of a few years ago, it
still shows no sign of stopping. Though I'm usually against
television shows dragging themselves out until they become dry and
uninspired (al a Spongebob) if this show keeps pumping out content
like this then I might be okay with getting a few more years of it.
