Tag: Adventure Time

Adventure Time, Animation

“What is Life?” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: June 14, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Luther McLaurin & Armen Mirzaian

Season one of “Adventure Time” is likely the weakest season in my books. That’s not to say it’s bad, by any means, but its focus is more on sheer absurdity and silliness, rather than character building and experimentations. One of the common criticisms I’ve received about this blog thus far is that it’s heavily synopsis based with little review. This is because it’s pretty difficult for me to discuss these early season episodes in great depth and analyses considering that the past fourteen episodes I’ve gone through before have been mostly silly, with hints of backstory here and there. There’s only so many times I can say “that’s funny” or “that’s really silly.”

That being said, “What is Life?” changes the definition of what “Adventure Time” is, and is the most significant episode of the first season. This is the very episode that showed me that AT is a series that’s more than meets the eye. That it was a show that could include the occasional fart joke, but also one that was deeply enriched in the emotions of its characters. This episode really spotlights the many layers behind Ice King’s character, and proves that he’s much more than just the classic Saturday morning cartoon villain. There’s been hints of his tragic personality here and there, namely that he can’t connect with anyone even if he tries. Never has it been so explicitly obvious until this episode, however.

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The real star of this episode is NEPTR, though. After being pranked a series of times by Jake and reading about “Yo Whadup!”s in a book, Finn brings the Never Ending Pie Throwing Robot to life. Andy Milonakis does an excellent job with NEPTR’s reflections, and gives him such a likable presence. NEPTR’s truthfully one of my favorite minor characters. He’s so charming and delightful, and the fact that nobody in the series gives two shits about him only makes me like him more.

While Finn tries to teach NEPTR about the art of pranking, they break into Ice King’s house. It’s here we get a brief melancholic moment of Ice King having a conversation with himself in a female voice and claiming to Gunter it’s what it would sound like if he was actually married. It’s really the first “awww” moment the Ice King has, and you immediately can form a sympathetic connection with him. We get to see a little more of the ice castle in this episode as well, and I really like how creative they get with the ice creatures. The design of the Ice Bull is terrific, especially his transcendent guts just hanging out in the open, but it’s the Ice-o-pede that really grabs my eye in this one. He fucking shoots lasers!

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After getting zapped with Ice King’s bolt and fully bringing himself to life, NEPTR begins to have a fascination with capturing princesses, and IK begins to feel a connection to the robot as well.  As Finn and Ice King argue on who would be the better parent to NEPTR, it’s important to note that IK hasn’t really done anything wrong in this episode. Besides attacking Finn, who broke into his house to pull a prank on him, Ice King hasn’t done anything immoral or unethical, besides trying to swoo NEPTR over. In the end, NEPTR chooses Ice King (to prank) and joins Finn in throwing pies at Jake. It’s here that we see Ice King shed a tear and enter his imagination zone, in which him and NEPTR share a loving father-son relationship.

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It’s sad stuff, and the aftermath of this episode makes it worse. When you realize that Finn and Jake neglected NEPTR for months, Ice King probably could’ve made a better father for NEPTR in the end. Considering Simon’s long history with Marceline before the crown caused him to go insane, this may have been Ice King subconsciously trying to connect with a child once more. This episode does a perfect job of humanizing Ice King and having the audience empathize with him. It’s fitting that it’s called “What is Life?” because this episode really explores the meaning of not only NEPTR’s life, but also Ice King’s, showing that life isn’t always black and white, and villains aren’t always truly villains. Ice King’s character was forever changed for the better by this episode, solidifying him as one of the show’s most sympathetic characters. Also, suicidal balloons.

 
(UPDATE: As of now, I only have enough time in my schedule to post two reviews a week. So one review will be posted on Friday and the other will be posted on Monday. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Witch’s Garden” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: June 7, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Kent Osborne, Niki Yang & Adam Muto

The episode begins with Finn and Jake following a frog holding a crown. Finn just really wants to see what happens when that frog puts on the crown. It’s so interesting to me that this one little scene that’s less than thirty seconds spawned an entire series of shorts, which, to my knowledge, were originally supposed to be a full length episode. All you need with “Adventure Time” is one non-sequitur or throwaway joke and bam! You have yourself a completely new story arc or plotline for an episode.

They eventually come across a garden with delicious sweets growing out of the bushes. Jake uses his sniffer to detect if the donuts are poisonous, but they check out. However, a Witch arrives and accuses Jake of stealing her donut. Jake denies it, but realizes he has been eating a donut, all because of his subconscious. The Witch is seriously pissed off, and turns Jake into a normal dog, including a baby-like body and a pair of underwear. AT really goes one step beyond for sight gags like this; all the Witch had to do was take Jake’s powers away, but it’s waaaay funnier that Jake now has an overweight man-baby body. It’s little touches like this that really show how odd and quirky the writing for this show can be, in the best possible way. Jake notices immediately that his nipple count is strangely short, and the Witch notifies him that he won’t receive his powers back until he apologizes for stealing her donut. Then she brings a bagel to life and it has little legs and underwear. Cute!

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Finn begins to notice that powerless Jake is even lazier than regular Jake, so the two of them try to find out the source to Jake’s powers. Jake remembers first experiencing his stretchy powers when he was a puppy rolling around in a mud puddle. We don’t learn anything new about Jake’s backstory until five seasons later, but it’s nice that they kept it consistent with the truth behind Jake’s powers. He may not have received his powers exactly that way, but considering he was born with them while being in a puddle, it only seems logical that that’s how he would remember it. In the search for mud puddles around Ooo, Finn continues getting more fed up with Jake. There’s some really great instances of annoyed Finn throughout the episode, and the storyboard artists do a really nice job with his facial expressions. AT’s art style usually prevents from really spectacular facial reactions, but this episode has a lot of funny instances of Jake driving Finn up a wall.

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After trying out a mud puddle, Jake decides to listen to his sentient subconscious and give up the search. In the meantime, some skeleton mermaid named Gary pops out of the River of Junk and wants to get in Finn and Jake’s individual trousers. Finn and Jake are both really grossed out, so Gary says screw it to reproduction and attempts to feed Finn to her hatchlings. Jake begins feeling regret, so he and his subconscious decide to get his powers back from the Witch. The idea of a character’s subconscious leaving their body was introduced in this episode. It seems that anytime this occurs, the character has to go through some type of lesson or life experience, but Jake ain’t about learning lessons. He’s all about keeping cool and kicking back, and his subconscious is on the same page with him about that.

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The Witch decides that it’s too late for Jake to even apologize, so she puts his subconscious and himself through a series of humiliating stunts, which ends up killing Jake’s subconscious. Jake begins to weep because his best friend is in danger and that any remnants of his own self are gone forever, so the Witch decides to give him his powers back. With his powers back and his subconscious revived, Jake bitch slaps the Witch’s cane out of her hand and steals another donut, revealing that he didn’t learn anything at all. Hooray for anti-morals! Jake saves his best pal from the hatchlings, and denies having apologized at all, claiming he just found the right mud puddle.

Keeping in the tradition of what seems to be season one’s approach at branching out Finn and Jake’s characters, this is another episode where Jake goes through a similar situation as Finn, with different results, of course. In “City of Thieves,” Finn experiences the hardship of being deemed a thief and wants nothing tarnishing his status as a hero. Jake, on the other hand, is a bit more morally gray. He doesn’t really care what anyone thinks of him or what his status is in Ooo, he just does what he loves and loves what he does. He’s 28-years-old, and has already learned most basic life lessons necessary to grow as a person. He’ll steal a donut from a Witch if he really wants to. Otherwise, this is a pretty humorous episode. The Witch is a really funny one-off character, I almost wish she came back in future episodes. She’s delightfully insane and demented, bringing bagels to life and talking to her cupcakes. In addition, the dynamic between Finn and Jake is very well-crafted in this episode. I like how Finn really pushes for Jake to get his shit together, and his passionate desire to get his bro to return to his adventuring ways. A lot of elements within this episode return to be branched out later on in the series as well, including Jake’s subconscious, the frog with the crown, and Jake’s mysterious past. For a standard and goofy season one episode, it’s really nice to see that the writers took a lot of the simplistic elements and expanded upon them greatly later on.

Adventure Time, Animation

“City of Thieves” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: May 24, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Bert Youn & Sean Jimenez

The episode begins with Finn walking around on all fours using stilts, as he tries to get on Jake’s level. These small moments between the brothers really are the highlight of the first season. They’re just so gosh darn likable around each other that just them hanging out and shooting the shit is enough to entertain me. I remember reading in the “Art of Ooo” book (marvelous book by the way, I’d definitely give it a read if you haven’t) that one of the scrapped episodes that was pitched was an episode involving Finn and Jake hanging out on top of a cloud and just talking about life for 11 minutes. I would have loved to see that!!

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F&J eventually come across a city, but an old, crusty hag warns them that it is the “City of Thieves” and that anyone who enters will become a thief. Finn disregards this warning and instead decides to help a little girl named Penny, as her flower basket had been stolen. Once in the city, Finn and Jake try to retrieve the basket, but it keeps getting stolen from one person to the next. Even Jake is tempted to steal, which gives us a brief insight to Jake’s criminal past. It’s interesting how these little scenes and moments can carry over into something bigger in the plot or help us better understand who these characters are little by little. Penny tells Finn about a king thief who steals belongings and takes them back to his tower, but only those who are pure of heart can get in. Finn’s ready to enter the tower, but Jake stole a pair of shiny red boots, so he can’t get in. I don’t blame him, those boots are luscious.

So Finn enters into the tower and retrieves a chest, but when he returns, he realizes it’s full of gold and there’s no basket inside. Penny was a sneaky little bitch who only wanted the gold, and ended up stealing Finn’s purity in doing so. Finn begins having some PTSD over being a thief and the old hag returns to gloat about being right, but Jake kicks her to the curb and helps Finn embrace his dark side so they can steal to help get back at Penny. Thus, Bat-Finn is born! Serving up justice through dark and questionable ways. Finn begins stealing swords, crossbows and even a bar of soap from a bathing horse. Sorry, Bojack Horseman. F&J proceed to break into Penny’s tent and confront her, followed by giving her a soap bath, thus purifying her. Penny thanks Finn and vows to never steal again, but when she embraces Finn, she also steals his shirt and pants. Oh Penny, you rascal!!

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This is a pretty standard episode. I really like the designs of some of the thieves, including a skeleton baby, a conjoined mutant with arms at the center of its body, and of course, the debut of Phil! How is he not human, by the way? The stealing sequences are really fast and really vibrant as well, helping give this episode a big kick to it. Other than that, there really isn’t anything too noteworthy to mention. I suppose the twist halfway through with Penny being a thief was somewhat surprising, but there was nothing especially funny or dramatic about it. I really like Finn’s descent into darkness after he steals the treasure, I almost wish we could see this side of the little man more often. And anytime Jake is portrayed as a thief is worth a good chuckle to me, he can’t help himself, dammit! Anyway, onto the next episode…

Adventure Time, Animation

“Evicted!” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: May 17, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Bert Youn & Sean Jimenez

Jake tells Finn a spooky “based on a true” story about vampires that really psychs him out. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this yet, but Finn’s pajamas really psych me out. There’s no way in hell they’re even remotely comfortable, and they must itch a bunch. Finn heads off to bed, but is too scared to sleep, and is intruded on by a worm in his bed. Finn tosses the Enchiridion at it, because that book is only good for killing bugs and sitting on when the grass is wet.

After seeing the shadow of a vampire through his window, Finn rushes downstairs and panics to Jake. Jake calms Finn down by telling him that he made the whole thing up, but just then, Marceline the Vampire Queen pops in! And thus, we have our first appearance of Marcy. Sorta weird how it took 12 episodes to introduce one of the show’s most fleshed out and interesting characters, but here she is! Odd to say, but I especially like the way she’s designed in this episode. She’s wearing the basic gray outfit you see in most promotional pictures and merchandise (ain’t it weird how this is the only episode she wears that shirt?) but there’s something especially fluid and expressive about her movements and facial expressions in this episode. Marceline informs Finn and Jake of all her adventures around Ooo, including riding through a sea of fish in the DAYTIME. You lie, Marcy! Marceline overstays her welcome, however, when she kicks Finn and Jake out and claims that treehouse was her property first. Of course, Finn wants to kick her in the face a little, but Jake’s hella scared of vampires, so the two search for a new home together.

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What follows is one of my favorite scenes from AT’s first season: “The House Hunting Song.” The montage is a fast-paced romp, featuring some of the funniest and most absurd parts of the episode; Finn continuously keeps sticking his foot in people’s houses and a frog barfs a tiger, all perfectly ordinary events in the Land of Ooo. What really ties this scene together is Pendleton Ward’s hilarious singing voice. He gives every line of the song a certain umph and really nails every single delivery that the song never grows stale throughout its entirety. In addition, it even helps build Marceline’s character a bit! She’s 1,000 years old and she lost track of her moral code, but she certainly isn’t a villain of any sorts. After losing her closest friend, her jerky boyfriend, her favorite teddy bear and her father figure going completely bananas, I don’t blame her for losing stability in her life. The one small thing that bugs me about the sequence is that it raises the question: why isn’t BMO with the boys?? I know this is before BMO becomes a major character, but it seems like a bit of discontinuity looking at the series now with how close the boys are to their sentient game console.

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After that song is done with, we transition into another one where Jake serenades Finn by telling him that home is where the heart is. Obviously Jake isn’t really taking it seriously and is only having fun with it, but it’s a sweet little moment between the two brothers. After finally finding a home inside a cave, F&J decide to throw a rad housewarming party. A party that’s so rad, it raises back Tree Trunks from the dead!

As all the guests party, Marceline enters the boys’ new home and tells F&J that the cave is also her property. Finn’s like, “fuck this, it’s time to kill us a vampire!” Jake reminds Finn that home is where the heart is, which prompts Marcy to try to kidnap Jake. Marceline transforms into that awesome bat form that she has under her sleeve, as her and Finn begin to fight. Marceline grabs Jake once again, and sucks the blood right out of him. Finn is super pissed and punches that literal homewrecker right in the jaw. Marceline is impressed and kisses Finn on the cheek, causing his 12-year-old boyhood to exacerbate. Jake is revealed to have survived because he stuffed all of his guts in his thumb, and Marceline decides to give the boys their house back. Upon returning, Finn and Jake find that their house is infested by worms. The King Worm enters the room and makes Finn and Jake hug him. End of episode.

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There’s not a whole lot going on in this episode, to be honest. It’s pretty much just Finn and Jake get kicked out, find another house, fight Marceline and return back home. That being said, I think it’s a really great and fun introduction to Marceline’s character. While she actually doesn’t appear much in this episode, you can clearly tell from her brief appearance that Marceline is a very two-dimensional and layered character, and I really like how Finn and Jake work off of her. Jake is obviously terrified of her, while Finn seems equally scared of her, but more of an “intimidated by a hot girl” sort of way. Aside from that, “The House Hunting” song is really what turns this episode from a good one to a great one, and really is one of the most enjoyable scenes in the entirety of the first season.

Adventure Time, Animation

“Wizard” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: May 10, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Bert Youn, Peter Browngardt & Adam Muto

Wizardry has always been one of the most interesting topics brought up in “Adventure Time.” Whether talking about the species, religious aspects or the secrecy behind its culture, wizardry has been fleshed out majorly throughout AT’s run, and has given us some of the most thought provoking material and most mysterious elements of the entire series.

“Wizard” doesn’t provide anything too heady, but it’s a great deal of fun and a neat introduction to wizardry itself. Finn and Jake are strolling along in the woods and find a stranger named Reaper, who offers the two boys free magic powers, but Finn is a bit skeptical at first. However, Reaper offers up a keychain with those magic powers, so Finn accepts that offer. I mean, who wouldn’t? Keychains are rad. F&J travel through a portal and end up at a wizard training facility. They meet a magic frog who offers to lead them to a wizard named Bufo, which the frog reveals to be several tadpoles inside of his croaker, all voiced by Tom Kenny. I think it’s really interesting that Tom Kenny voices a majority of the magic users: Ice King, Magic Man, Laser Wizard, Urgence Evergreen, Bufo, etc. As repetitively as he’s used in most animated shows in recent years, he really does a standout job to give each of these magic users their own identity, and Bufo is no exception. His whimsical inflections, as well as the echoing by the tadpoles, real brings life to the character.

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So Bufo brings the boys inside the facility and begins training them to become magic users. Their first trial to achieve “dustomancy” is to eat a broom. Jake uses his stretchy powers to eat the broom with no sweat, but Finn takes quite a while to finish. That poor kid’s gonna have wood in his stool for weeks. The boys achieve dustomancy, which allows them to control dust particles in the room. Magic is neat-o! The next trial is to touch a bowl of eyeballs blindfolded, but Jake’s peaks and see’s that the eyeballs are just peeled grapes, so the boys have no trouble. I’m just wondering who has the time to actually peel a bowl of grapes. A very amusing montage of the many trials Finn and Jake had to get through follows. I love how inconsistent the difficulty is of some of the trails; after about thirty trials, Jake has to put an orange slice in his mouth, and then proceeds, yet he had to eat a broom in the first trial. The spells are especially silly as well, who would’ve thought that wizards could shoot mayonnaise from their fingertips?

The boys reach the final trial, but Jake backs out and casts a sleep spell on himself because he already has everything he needs, what with his unlimited mayo supply. Finn’s still in it to be an ultimate wizard, and takes “The Pledge of Ultimate Responsibility” to proceed. Little does Finn know is that he agreed to shoot his magic at an orb with two other old wizards to prevent an 847 year old meteor from hitting for the rest of eternity. The philosophy of “magic, madness and sadness” wasn’t yet introduced into the series yet, but it could easily be applied to this episode. The idea of hanging by a rope and using magic to prevent a meteor from hitting a castle for an entire lifetime is certainly mad, and the fact that it’s the sole purpose of these old wizards and Finn is especially sad. But, since Finn is energized and full of youth, his does things his way and tries to prevent the meteor in an anime type fashion where he shows off his various abilities to drag the meteor out of the way.

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The transformation sequence is terrific, showing off some of the many crazy and creative wizard powers, as well as some superb animation. Finn tries to get Jake to help him, but Jake is conked out. The old wizards join in with Finn, and successful drag the facility out of the way. The meteor hits the ground and causes a large explosion that blows the clothes off of everyone. Bufo’s all upset because his whole life revolved around giving people free wizard powers to protect the meteor, but now the meteor hit. Finn, with a piece of wood covering his junk mail (the time’s are changin’), tells Bufo to still give out free wizard powers, and then he and Jake run into Reaper again, who offers them a demon heart. But no keychain?

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Like I mentioned, this episode’s a ton of fun. It’s very creative with the unlimited possibilities for wizard powers there are, and really takes advantage of it. In addition, this is a really funny episode! I know I haven’t really mentioned that as being a big factor in the past 10 or so episodes, but the humor in this episode is spot on. I love the little visual gags throughout, such as Jake eating the broom and growing small, only for the broom to be sticking out of his gut. Also, Finn sending a spell to wake up Jake but instead accidentally giving a rock life got a real kick out of me. In addition, wizardry is just a really cool element of the series for me. I love to see all the different layers there are to these characters and species, and this was certainly a delightful introduction to magic users.

Adventure Time, Animation

“Memories of Boom Boom Mountain” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: May 3, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Bert Youn & Sean Jimenez

The episode begins in Marauder village, where a group of Marauders rough house with each other. One of the most noteworthy features of these Marauders is that most of them have robotic body parts and head implants, which become somewhat of a major player in the story later on. Probably not intentional, but something that’s still very interesting to take a second look at. It really adds to the lore and backstory of AT’s world. After participating in a fight with the head Marauder, Finn hears someone crying in the distance, and wants to tend to their distress. The head Marauder calls him a chicken, so Finn gets all deep and exposition-y and tells a tale of a time he shit in a leaf as a baby and then fell in it, but no one came to help him, so he swore to help anyone in need from that day on. Sad stuff, man.

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Finn and Jake take off to find the person in distress, but it turns out that it’s a giant mountain who cries boulders that needs assistance. The mountain hates that he has to watch the fighting Marauders all day long because he hates violence, but Jake’s not buyin’ it. Finn relives some traumatic boom-boom memories and decides to help the mountain out. Finn attempts to ask the Marauders to stop their rough-housing, but the head Marauder angrily declines. So Finn decides to tie animals to the Marauders fists, much like that one Giant had animals tied to his limbs (miss you, Enchiridion Giant) to soften the blow. This proves to succeed, but the Mountain is still displeased because now the Marauders are abusing animals. I dunno, the animals look pretty happy to be abused from my perspective. This Mountain’s really pushin’ it.

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So, Finn tries to get the Marauders to stop, but they tell him to get lost because they’re having a good ass time. Finn pats one of the Marauders and then that Marauder likes it so he starts patting another Marauder who then pats another Marauder and they all start… patting each other. Well, alright. The Mountain’s really pleased with the patting, but it goes awry when the Marauders begin to get a skin rash. So, they decide the most logical decision is to turn the Mountain around, but they can’t turn the Mountain around because there’s a female Mountain behind him that likes staring at his “gorgeous back” and so if they turned him around, she couldn’t anymore. Well, alright. Finn really doesn’t know what to do at this point, and then a bunch of different characters ask him for different favors, and everything begins to go completely batshit crazy.

Finn begins to feel distraught because he is overwhelmed with favors, but Jake then questions Finn on what he wants. We flashback once again to Finn’s poopy memory, where Joshua and Margaret, Finn and Jake’s parents, find Finn in the woods. I remember being really confused when I first saw this scene, and I feel like there could’ve been a little more context behind who Joshua and Margaret are. I didn’t know who the hell these Jake look-a-likes were! Finn informs Jake that all he wants to do is help people, so they work together to make sure everyone is helped out. They come up with a solution to all the problems these characters were faced with, which honestly seem more like short-term solutions than long-term solutions, but whatever. Jake mentions that he has a problem, which is that a dolphin fell in love with him, but Finn tells his buddy that it’s the opposite of a problem. The end.

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Honestly, this episode was all over the place. Most of the episode is spent with the Mountain and the Marauders, and so once we jump into the problems with other characters, the episode just seems completely rushed. I’m cool with the Marauders, but honestly, the Mountain wasn’t really a likable character at all, and so spending most of the episode with him isn’t really that pleasurable of an experience. In addition, the moral of the episode seems confused. Season one is a really good platform at teaching Finn actually pretty well thought out lessons not only from a heroic standpoint, but from a human standpoint. Aka, fears are normal and necessary, some people are just jerks for no reason, etc. I feel like this episode could’ve had a solid “it’s impossible to make everyone happy all the time,” but it sorta missed that opportunity. In addition, I’m usually down with AT’s absurd and random humor, but most of it in this episode just seemed weird for weird’s sake. The Marauders patting each other was just kind of an awkward and nonsensical solution, and the idea that the lady Mountain wanted to stare at the male Mountain’s back made little to no sense. There’s like, 12 mountains in sight! Pick another back to stare at!

If there’s one thing I like about this episode, it’s the brief bit of lore regarding Finn’s past. Again, I would’ve like if the episode was a bit less subtle about who Joshua and Margaret are, but it’s a nice little flashback that helps us connect with Finn a bit more. And also, Finn and Jake are officially brothers! It’s nice to know their definitive relationship. But yeah, this episode is somewhat scattershot and a bit too arbitrary for my liking. It’s weird to find myself complaining that AT’s humor is too random, as 9 out of 10 times I’m completely fine with absurd humor, but when it affects the strength of the plot, it can really hurt the episode.

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“Business Time” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: April 26, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Luther McLaurin & Armen Mirzaian

The episode begins with Finn and Jake lighting flame guns (with the help of their pal Flambo!) and thawing out icebergs in order to build their coveted gauntlet dock, a dock that is also a gauntlet. During their scavenging, they melt through an iceberg and find four men dressed in business clothes.

It’s worth noting that this is the first episode to deal with the post post-apocalyptic elements of “Adventure Time”, as the Businessmen were likely frozen sometime during the war. Pendleton Ward himself said that this was the episode that kickstarted the idea that AT took place in a world after the apocalypse, and that they just kinda stuck with it after that. I didn’t really make anything of it at the time I first saw it, but watching it on subsequent viewings has added a much more interesting twist toward the episode.

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The Businessmen can’t remember anything about their past, except that they enjoyed doing business, so Finn hires them to finish working on the dock. The Businessmen quickly finish the dock and F&J take it out for a test run, featuring a really entertaining and well-animated longshot. Finn and Jake decide to hire the Businessmen full-time, to which they are ecstatic about. Back at the treehouse, the Businessmen assist the boys by monitoring Ooo for danger and cleaning Finn’s golden sword. When Hot Dog Princess is being attacked by battle cubes, Finn and Jake attempt to slay them for like, six hours to no avail. F&J feel burnt out, so the Businessmen take over. After the day is saved, Hot Dog Princess wants some sugar from Finn, but he’s like, “hell naw” and one of the Businessmen takes one for the team.

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The Businessmen begin doing everything for our duo as the two just sit around and eat ice cream while playing video games on BMO. Hey, it’s BMO! Sorta weird how his first appearance doesn’t even include a speaking role. Finn and Jake get really obese and lazy from eating so much ice cream, as they realize that the Businessmen are sucking up the Fluffy People in some big vacuum contraption. The boys realize it may be time to get some action, and confront the Businessmen. They say they want to suck everyone up into their “care sack” where they plan on protecting everyone from danger, which is somewhat psychotic, but hey, they’ve been in an iceberg for 1,000 years. Finn fires them for their actions and they have a hissy fit, as they begin to go crazy. While trying to suck up Jake, his fat clogs up the machine, and it eventually bursts. Finn rehires the Businessmen and orders to freeze themselves once more. The boys decide to go back to adventuring and Jake shapeshifts back to his normal body weight and Finn attempts to do the same, but nothing happens. The end.

Besides the brief apocalyptic references throughout, this episode’s a bit of a bore. The Businessmen are quirky and a bit amusing, but aside from them, this episode’s somewhat devoid of good humor. In addition, an episode that involves Finn and Jake just kinda lazily sitting around while other characters participate in likely more entertaining adventures off-screen isn’t an especially promising setup. It’s a bit of a slow one from start to finish, and doesn’t really mix well with how energetic and upbeat the past seven episodes have been. Overall, a pretty lackluster and forgettable episode.

Adventure Time, Animation

“Ricardio the Heart Guy” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: April 26, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Bert Youn & Sean Jimenez

The episode jumps right into the action, as Ice King has captured Princess Bubblegum. It’s interesting to think that this is only one of two times that Ice King has kidnapped PB. Even Wildberry Princess has been captured a whopping four times!! Finn and Jake come to the rescue and throw snowballs at the IK. While he’s distracted, Jake substitutes PB with his butt and tricks the Ice King into kissing it. Would’ve killed for John DiMaggio to have said “kiss my shiny metal ass.”

PB decides to throw a party to honor F&J, to which Finn makes a paper bird for her, because he has the hots for her. He denies his feelings to Jake, and as they arrive at the party, they find a small grotesque heart man giving LSP a massage. Bubblegum enters the room and the heart man is instantly all hot and bothered by her. He introduces himself as Ricardio and they walk off to talk about science and zanoits and all that fun stuff.

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Finn begins to get jealous of Ricardio as his 12-year-old boy hormones kick in, and he attempts to impress PB with his science dance. Naturally, it just freaks her and Ricardio out, and PB decides that Finn is totally jealous of Ricardio. Instead, Finn claims that he’s just “WEIRD” and makes the party hella awkward. Finn decides that Ricardio must be a villain, because when you’re 12 and someone has the chance to steal your crush away from you, they automatically become pure evil. F&J decide to spy on him, and catch him taking a rope and a bottle from a dumpster, followed by him kicking Ice King’s ass. Finn concludes that Ricardio is a supervillain, but Jake thinks he’s a hero, so they decide to investigate further. Finn interrogates Ricardio and then punches him in his smug mug. Of course, PB shows up right at that point and scolds Finn for punching Ricardio and then walks off with the little guy. Finn feels all sad because the girl of his dream now hates him, but Ice King crawls out and helplessly explains that Ricardio is evil. Apparently IK wanted to create a serum that would make PB fall in love with him, but it just ended up with him losing control of his own heart, thus creating Ricardio.

F&J then rush over to the castle, and find PB tied up and Ricardio holding her hostage. Ricardio claims he’s going to cut out PB’s heart and “makeout with it,” followed by a really creepy close-up of Ricardio’s face.

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Finn and Jake manage to beat Ricardio up, then Ice King crawls in and regains his heart. He attempts to kidnap Bubs once again, but Finn kicks him square in the face, as he flies off. While the three have a nice spaghetti dinner, Finn denies that he was ever jealous of Ricardio, and PB tries to trick him into kissing her butt. Give it 3 years and I feel like Finn totally would’ve done it.

This episode suffers a bit from being predictable, something AT usually excels at never being. From the title card alone, you know that Ricardio is clearly going to be a villain, so it seems a lot of time is wasted for an obvious plot twist. However, the episode still is a pretty good time. George Takei does a great job at Ricardio, of course, and the design of Ricardio in general is worth a good chuckle. Ice King’s return in this episode is surely rewarding, and I like how, in his own Ice King-y way, he sorta helps save the day. Even though he was the one who almost doomed PB to begin with. Also, this is the first episode dealing with Finn’s affection for PB! I like how this is really the first instance of Finn growing up, and dealing with his growing feelings of jealousy and infatuation. It’s always fun to see that little guy growing, and considering this is only the first season, his love life would only become more and more complicated as time went on.

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Jiggler” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: April 19, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Luther McLaurin & Armen Mirzaian

I mentioned in my last review that I thought “The Enchiridion” would’ve been more suited as the series premiere, and being paired with “The Jiggler” only solidifies this belief. “The Jiggler”, in many respects, highlights the fun and charm of the series that “The Enchiridion” displayed, but this episode also has the distinction of showcasing the more emotional side of the series.

The episode starts off with Finn singing his “Baby” song in his auto-tuned voice, as he and Jake rescue Stanley the watermelon from a morbidly burning village. Hey, the first AT song to ever be sung! I love how absurdly this episode starts out by the way; a town is on fire, Finn rescues a seemingly lifeless watermelon named Stanley and his family, including a sausage link, a pineapple, banana and marshmallows. What the fuck is this watermelon’s story? As they set down Stanley and his family, a little baby creature follows the duo and whistles along to Finn’s song. Finn and Jake take a liking to the little “Jiggler” and bring him back to the Treehouse. Hey, this is also the first time we see the Treehouse! F&J decide to welcome the baby Jiggler by, of course, having a dance party. After partying all day long (and destroying some of their belongings for the fun of it) Jake passes out, and Finn takes the Jiggler to bed. It’s a nice quiet moment after a very energetic few minutes, and it’s certainly welcomed.

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(Had to include this screenshot just because of how friggin’ insane it is. Leg crotch!)

The next morning, Finn and Jake are ready to party once again, but the Jiggler seems a bit sickly. F&J try to find some food for him to eat, including purple whatevers, but come to the conclusion that the Jiggler likes to eat drawings. Finn then draws a picture of Jake, wanting the Jiggler to eat the drawing. Not cool, Finn. You don’t have a Jiggler eat your best friend. Things go really awry when the Jiggler starts spewing juices out of its holes (sounded a lot less dirty before I started proofreading), and F&J desperately try to plug them up using Finn’s glass eye collection and Jake’s eyepatch collection. This only very briefly works, and the Jiggler explodes its juice everywhere (again, a lot less dirty before proofreading), and its body parts and limbs start flying around the room. F&J try to put him back together, to no avail. Finn concludes that they shouldn’t have taken the baby, and tries to revive him using kisses. This scene’s pretty hard to watch, man. It certainly doesn’t rank anywhere near the show’s most devastating moments, but watching a young boy in desperation trying to revive this poor baby creature is really sad, honestly. Finn clearly blames himself for the Jiggler’s state, and wants to do anything he can to help it.

Using its own kisses, the Jiggler makes a picture of his mother, and the boys conclude that his mother must live near Stanley’s house. The boys find the mother, but the Jiggler’s mom rejects her baby. Finn angrily shouts at the Jiggler mommy, and tells her she’s supposed to love her baby. I thought this scene was especially interesting, given Finn’s future relationship with his father. Obviously it was unintentional, but Finn’s psychological belief that parents should love their children no matter what is only more heartbreaking when his father doesn’t seem to care from him at all. You could also argue that Finn’s relationship with Margaret has led him to believe this too, which is generally the most heartwarming approach toward it. Jake realizes that the baby needs it’s mother’s scent for it to be recognized, so Finn tosses the baby in its mother’s juice. The mother and baby reunite and Finn and Jake leave the baby behind.

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As I mentioned, this episode has a pretty decent emotional core. F&J’s investment in the Jiggler is particularly strong, and even though they’re only together for a short amount of time, you can tell that the two boys deeply care for this creature. Besides tugging at the heartstrings, this episode’s wildly silly as well. I really love Finn’s “Baby” song, and it’s fun to see that his auto-tuned voice later carries over to future episodes. In addition, this is one of the first laugh out loud episodes of the series. There’s a lot of really absurd and off-the-wall humor in this episode (“He’s all over the place, even in the floorboards!” “And the cupboards!” “And the galloshes!”) that AT is really known best for. Personally a very memorable episode from the first season for me.

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Enchiridion!” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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^ Feel like it’s worth mentioning that this title card originally depicted Finn stabbing Jake with a knife and Jake’s guts scattered everywhere. Yeesh.

Original Airdate: April 19, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Pendleton Ward, Patrick McHale & Adam Muto

I mentioned in my review of “Slumber Party Panic” that I thought a different season one episode held the distinction of being a better “premiere” type episode for the series. “The Enchiridion” is that episode, which is no surprise, seeing how it was the first episode of AT ever produced.

The episode starts off with one big dance party. I distinctly remember this being the first clip of “Adventure Time” I had ever seen, as they had this first scene in promos. A prototype version of Cinnamon Bun who sounds more like Chet takes a tumble into Princess Bubblegum’s castle, causing her to fall. Finn saves her, and she declares him a hero. PB says she’d like to show Finn something, and it’s none other than the Enchiridion, a hero’s handbook that is only bestowed upon the most righteous of adventurers. On a side note, if y’all haven’t checked out the actual Enchiridion book written by Martin Olsen, I’d do so asap. It’s seriously amazing.

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So Finn and Jake head over to Mount Cragdor and meet a cute little guy called the Key-per, who rambles on about a riddle to open the door. Naturally, Finn just uses the big key on the top of his head to get through. In their travels, Finn and Jake save a group of Gnomes stuck in a lava pit, and to show their appreciation, the Gnomes blow up a bunch of old ladies. Only seems appropriate. Finn feels guilty for the death of these elderly women and runs off, while Jake scolds the gnomes and puts those sick little bastards back in the lava pit. As Finn wistfully stares at a lake, Jake joins him and gives advice about being truly righteous and how the old ladies were most likely just illusions. Finn feels rejuvenated, only for Jake to get gobbled up by some giant Ogre. This Ogre is awesome! He’s got animals all tied up to his arms and legs. Why? Who the hell knows? He just does! Also, he sounds exactly like modern day Cinnamon Bun. I guess Dee Bradley Baker didn’t want to do the same voice in one episode? Finn, enraged by the Ogre who ate his best friend, steals his giant dollar bill and uses it to hang-glide in the air and deliver a roundhouse kick to the Ogre’s gut, causing him to vomit up Jake. The two fly off and the Ogre cries about his stolen dollar, to which Finn returns it to him via paper airplane. Why does an Ogre who ties animals to his arms and legs need a dollar bill in the first place? I don’t know, he just does!!

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Finn and Jake finally enter a tower where a Dark Magician resides, and Finn must defeat an evil heart beast before continuing. Finn defeats it, and his final task is to slay an ant. Not an evil ant, just neutral. Finn refuses to kill the ant and kicks the Magician in the boingloins, defeating him. The Key-per then enters the room in a little devil costume, declaring that Finn has succeeded in his trials, but Finn kicks him down as well in a state of over-stimulation. The Key-per sadly states he was wearing the devil costume because he was getting ready for bed. Dude, it’s broad daylight out. Outside, Finn is greeted by Mannish Man the Minotaur and the old ladies. Hey, I guess it was an illusion after all! Finn is rewarded the Enchiridion and the first chapter he looks at is “How to Kiss a Princess.” Hasn’t helped me in real life.

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This episode is pure unadulterated fun. Pen Ward, Adam Muto and Pat McHale, arguably the driving forces of AT’s beginning, wrote and storyboarded “The Enchiridion”, and it’s clear that their vision of the show heavily influenced the tone and story this episode. It mixes Ward’s silliness and charm with McHale’s whimsy and folklore with Muto’s genuine and strong character depictions. As I mentioned above, there are a lot of small, nice details throughout. The Ogre is just riddled with scars and iconic imagery that I really wouldn’t mind an entire backstory episode devoted to this one-off character. In addition, I really like how this is Finn’s first big step into being an adventurer. I love his devotion to being as righteous as he possibly can, and that even killing a measly ant is considered unjust in the eyes of our hero. This episode is also a big step in the general tone of the show. While the past couple episodes have had more of a focus on absurdity and humor, this one definitely ups the fantasy element of the show that we hadn’t really seen yet, and it’s a totally enjoyable journey throughout. This is the ideal season one episode: charming, funny, fast-paced and imaginative. Little did we know at the time that the Enchiridion would have a bigger role in the main story that we never could’ve imagined…