Tag: AT

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Hare and the Sprout” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: October 23, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Kris Mukai, Maya Petersen & Charmaine Verhagen

We are back once again, babies!! Let’s go over the ground rules for this batch: since episodes are airing weekly (something that I’m personally very excited about) I’m going to at least try to churn out a weekly review coinciding with the most recent episode. Granted, there’s no promises with this, one because there’s a very good chance that I’ll lose steam down the line and need a break so that I can have the proper energy to write up something half-decent. Second, some episodes last season definitely benefited from taking time to sit with; I think the reviews for Prismo the Wishmaster and Cheers would’ve looked a little different had I not taken the time to chew on them a little. So, we’ll see as we go. As always, a quick thank you to everyone old and new who continue to support the blog! I deeply appreciate your loyalty, and I hope I can continue to offer something insightful and fun in return.

We kick things off with Astrid retelling the tales of last season, and surprisingly it looks like we’re kicking things off pretty much right where they left off, or at least within a few weeks to a month. Love the beautiful watercolor and colored pencil artwork we’re treated to, painted and drawn by Ala Flora. So nice to see my friends Simon, PB, and Marceline again, and Simon’s living with Marcy now! I like to imagine it was offered by Marceline when Simon mentioned he was looking for another place to stay – kind of like a daughter looking after her elderly father, very sweet. Because he’s an easy target, I also like to imagine him interrupting any moments of intimacy between the girls with some nerd shit that only he cares about. I love that dweeb.


We’re welcomed back to our main protagonist shortly after, where we get a bit of tweened animation of Fionna stretching in her bed (begging the gods that this show never gets demoted to fully rigged animation). A genderswapped Betty is teased by the announcer, which I’m interested to see if those implications mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Love to see that they once again cannot stray too far from the snail cameos, as we get a real snail traveling across Fionna’s TV stand, with the addition of the umpteenth Cheers appearance in the series. Though, it doesn’t last long, as Fionna quickly flips through some other 90’s dreck before landing on a fantasy program. Cheers was Simon’s escapist fantasy of a world that was simple and made sense, whereas Fionna still leans toward sensationalist and exciting sensibilities, away from the mundane responsibilities of everyday life. I’ve complained about not being super interested in Fionna in the past, but this does feel relatable. I’m pushing 30 now, which is the same age range these characters are supposed to be in, and here I am writing a blog on a fantasy show that I’m invested in far more than the drudgery of working a 9-5 job day in and day out. Adventure Time really has succeeded at placing you in the shoes of the main character and watching them guide through life in a way that never seems any less confusing. That relatability is always balanced out with something equally fantastical, and while Fionna’s world is far more urban than Ooo, we do now have the addition of a magical cat living in her own apartment right next door. Complete with the first obligatory bacon pancakes reference in this series (hot dog waffles) which admittedly I didn’t even catch the first time around.

New intro this season! I like it, for the most part. As always, it’s great to see the SmallBu team back at it again with very bouncy, vibrant animation. The anime allusions feel slightly jarring, but its an aesthetic that F&C have played around with since their introduction into the original series. The intro additionally doesn’t really feel like Adventure Time – the music and the lack of an introductory long pan feel like a deliberate stray from what we’re accustomed to seeing. I’m kind of all for Fionna & Cake branching out and adopting its own style this way. After 10+ years of alternative intros that have used the original title sequence as a reference point, it’s refreshing to get something quite different in taste. Although, I will say, I liked the music that accompanied last season’s intro far better. I don’t think it’s a very compelling beat and I don’t think it really aids the visuals that successfully either. I almost wish they repurposed the initial score and made new visuals to go around it – but I guess in true anime style, they wanted to start this one from the ground up. Apparently, a good bit of the intro is referencing Revolutionary Girl Utena, an anime I’ve never seen but I am interested in checking it out. I’ll reserve comments about the little bits of foreshadowing for character arcs and relationships sprinkled in until they actually come into fruition within the season.


Glad to see most of the returning players from last season back again in the title card sequence. Michael DeForge’s title cards are better than ever, complete with little iterations of Fionna and Huntress Wizard in both corners. Also, Kris Mukai is back once again! Mukai worked on a few episodes during the course of season 7, including Varmints, Mama Said, and Five Short Tables. Her style is immediately recognizable in the first chunk after the intro through the bakery store sequence (at least, I’m pretty positive it’s Mukai – I’ve only gotten worse at this with time!) with the eyes a lot closer together, accented by several lines and curvy expressions. Also cool that Turtle Prince’s human counterpart is featured in this scene, as she helped bring him to life in Five Short Tables. Also returning after a bit of absence is Chermaine Verhagen, who previously co-boarded Wheels, and had contributed a lot of bit parts and visual development to the show throughout the years. I’ll definitely need more time pinpointing her individual contributions to this episode – gonna take some time to analyze outside of this review so I can better recognize her drawings moving forward.

Funny to see some of the new iterations of characters, like a female version of Buck Pudding, everyone’s favorite side character. I guess who else would they have as the store manager of Home Depot? I’m also pretty sure that the child in the bus is just a male version of Astrid, so it’s additionally very comical that we now have alternative versions of NEW characters introduced in the series. It’s also driving me crazy – I have no idea who the yellowish person on the bus is supposed to be, if anyone. I’ve been looking at characters on the wiki for almost an hour and cannot identify who this character is alluding to – I’m just gonna open it up for someone in the comments to make me look like a total idiot.

Returning players like Queenie and M-Cron are a pleasure to see too. It’s been a while since we’ve had any Lady rep in the series, so I’m glad to see M-Cron getting a bit more focus, with Cake being absolutely infatuated with him. I’m curious as to where this is heading, which is something I’ll probably be saying a lot in these first few episodes. I do like all of the allusions to fairytales that have been coming into play within the episode thus far: the introduction with Astrid’s “happily-ever-after” story, the naming convention of The Hare and the Sprout, Cake’s cross-species romance, Fionna’s increasing interest in fantasy, the anime-like opening, the focus on mystics in Huntress Wizard’s segments, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire season largely worked as a deconstruction of fairytale tropes, or at the very least, used them as a thematic stepping point to explore ideas about how these characters view their goals and expectations. In the best case scenario, it’ll work similar to the multiverse concept in season one where they allow themselves to have a decent bit of fun with the genre without getting too lost in clichés. Also, the onslaught of new genderbent character introductions is certainly a bit gratuitous at this point, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly enamored with seeing how far they’re willing to take it. Madam Slicer was not on my bingo card for this season.


Simon opening his call to Fionna with “hey, girl!” was irresistibly sweet. It really is a testament to the previous season’s strength that he has become such a beloved presence in the series, after mainly being a gimmick for storytelling purposes in the original series. His awkwardness around PB is additionally hilarious, because I totally think he’s overthinking the kidnapping element and I think PB struggling with her own demeanor is just kind of how she is. Though, I also wouldn’t be shocked if she’s still petty over being called an assistant way back in Broke His Crown. Simon in general seems a lot more well-adjusted after the events of last season than Fionna does, which I’d imagine is a direct result of having several stand-in daughter figures and an outlet for his interest in magic. I was totally prepared for the scene with Simon at the solo tombstone to be heartbreaking, but having it be Choose Goose probably provided the biggest laugh of the episode for me. Not only does this sudden obsession with him since Distant Lands continue onward, but I’ll additionally never understand the absolute vitriol for him that the staff feels. He somewhat unknowingly became possessed after the events of Wizard City, was used and tortured by Simon in the first season, and now is dead with a tasteless rhyme on his graveyard, seemingly rotting in Hell as seen in Together Again. It’s kind of hilarious.

We get our first bits of Huntress Wizard soon after, and I guess this is as good a time as any to talk about the voice actor changes. There’s quite a few recasts this season, which AT is usually no stranger to when it comes to casting celebrities generally outside of the animation industry. This season sees the recast of Huntress Wizard, Gary, and Marshall Lee. It’s always disappointing to see, but none that I feel too strongly about; Jenny Slate is definitely the biggest loss, given that she’s played the character most consistently out of the bunch, but Ashly Burch has been a great presence up to this point in the series and I’m pretty confident she can do this character justice through her work. Donald Glover has been with the series the longest of the three, so losing him is a shame, though understandable because he’s reportedly been struggling with his health behind-the-scenes. As for Gary, it’s just kind of hilarious to me that this character cannot find a voice that sticks. I do wonder what the nature of needing to recast so many of these actors is – the animation industry isn’t exactly thriving right now, so I wonder if it ultimately ended up being that there wasn’t enough incentive to return to the series. In this article, Adam Muto mostly alludes to this being a result of scheduling conflicts, but c’mon, Andrew Rannells can’t show up a few times to voice the gay gum lad?? I guess scheduling conflicts could involve a whole plethora of issues, including travel time, personal matters, and full-time commitments, so I can’t really judge without knowing the whole scope of why they chose not to return.


Anywho, back to the meat. The Vampire King lion was additionally not on my bingo card, and it’s interesting to see him play a bit of a supportive role to Finn, who is in considerable peril. I think Amanda Jones as a composer has gotten progressively stronger from when she first started with the series, as I quite liked the score throughout this episode, especially during the scenes where HW is following the lion to her home. As I mentioned, I think the general sounds complimenting scenes aren’t as odd or experimental as they used to be, but I think think the adventurous, tense stings that accent certain scenes do assist the general tone and scope of the series becoming much more grand. It’s great to see Finn again, even though he largely plays second banana to just about every other character in the episode. It seems his role will mostly be a catalyst for the mission of other characters, namely HW, but I do hope we get some Finn love this season. After seeing him largely repressed and injured a good portion of the recent projects, I’d love to see a brief moment of reprieve for him by the season’s end. At least he’s still having freaky dreams, as indicated by the illusory Huntress Wizard feeding him (Princess Mononoke reference?) Let me just say that the forest backgrounds in general looking quite gorgeous. It’s so cool to see the evolution of certain shots from the original series, like Huntress’s “cliff under a tree,” the originally was composed of flat colors and now transformed into a multi-layered beauty. Shoutout to the many background designers and painters who helped make up this episode, some of which I’m planning to give a shoutout to at the end of each blog entry.

Back in Fionna-World, we’re treated to a few more character returns. Glad to see Marc Maron Squirrel is thriving in his new environment (in his impressionist era, no less!) and we see Marshall really adopting his vampiric roots. There’s a brief moment where he gets a call from “Birthgiver,” with the obvious implication being Hanna Abadeer, though with Ice Queen being taunted in the opening theme, I do wonder how exactly her connection to Marshall will play out in a way that differentiates itself from Marceline and Simon’s history. We’re also treated to Hunter and a quick parallel with Fionna’s injury slightly mimicking Finn’s current state, or at the very least, drawing back to the thorn that Finn had lodged in his hand way back in Is That You? With all of the allusions being made between characters, their physical state, relationships, and emotional wellbeing, I’d love to see this season play around with the ideas of just how much these characters have autonomy over their surroundings, or if they’re destined to falling into the same patterns and soul connections that their otherworldly counterparts are.

I feel as though the nearly half-hour episodes are much better paced this time around, which is a slight contrast from last season’s premiere. I felt Fionna Campbell was somewhat distracting in how it padded extra time, while we have moments in this episode that use time more methodically. We’re set up to a variety of different ideas and stories for the course of the season, but it doesn’t feel like information overload either. We’re still treated to more laidback sequences, like Fionna and the gang setting up for Gary’s grand opening. It’s good to see a blend of both, not rushing us right into the action, but having enough variety that it doesn’t feel claustrophobic in its surroundings. The dream sequence, on the other hand, does throw a lot out in a short amount of time, which is a welcomed addition. The more introspective elements seem to revolve around Fionna’s newfound dedication to helping others and the internal pressures that come with putting aside her own needs for others, along with the guilt and trauma that she surely carries along from her adventures through the multiverse. We get a brief glimpse of Martin’s discarded head, someone who previously counted on her that was hurt as a result of her actions. Also appearing is Winter King’s demented chicken servant from The Winter King, which is a possible sign that all of the terror and insecurity that Fionna’s arc implied she left behind is still lingering and at the forefront. We also get a wolf lurking, with a white wolf in dreams potentially symbolizing hope and a wolf in general connecting to some sort of threat or internal conflict. And hey, the thorn wasn’t the only arm symbolism we get up to this point, as Fionna has her own gnarly bionic arm in her fantasy dream! Cool to see Cake and Fionna sharing dreams is still a trademark of their relationship.


Things start wrapping up, as we’re treated to additional conflict setups, like Fionna feeling indebted to Gary after Queenie shuts his business down, Simon teaching Wiz Biz stuff (treating us to an aged up Blaine, Pep, and Cadebra! I love how Pep’s voice is slowly starting to sound pitch shifted, I wondered when he was going to eventually transform into Steve Little), and Huntress Wizard tracking down the bear that hurt Finn. Already saw a lot of people complaining about the abrupt ending, but like, here I am thinking, “we are so back.” It’s Adventure Time, baby! As is, it was a pretty decent premiere. Like I said prior, it’s kind of difficult to talk about it outside of speculation for future entries, but generally a better start pacing wise and more engaging compared to Fionna Campbell. I’m still a bit skeptical about how much I’m going to find myself intrigued by the Fionna-World stuff this season, as I’m definitely much more drawn to what’s happening in Ooo, but nothing established so far was particularly bad. Fionna-World is, at best, mildly charming. I think there’s still plenty they can play around with to evolve this concept and I appreciate the dedication that is being put into the world building. It just so happens that a lot of my attitude seems to be leaning toward “we’ll see what happens” as opposed to feeling glued to the screen, waiting to see what Fionna and her friends’ journeys bring us next. But I’m not totally cynical, I’m absolutely giddy to have this show back in any fashion. This team especially have proven themselves time and time again, so I’m looking forward to just what this season has in store in all corners of the multiverse.

This week’s staff shoutout goes out to Ala Flora who, as mentioned, worked on the opening storybook sequence. Flora’s work is visually stunning, tapping into childlike wonder and boasting beautiful colors in the process. You can check out her portfolio here.

Favorite line: “Mommies say hi!”

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Adventure Time: Righteous Jukebox

Adventure Time Reviewed

Hello friends! Somethin’ a little different this time around, I’ve been editing videos more frequently as a side hobby and decided to whip up a fun side project using AT‘s music. The purpose of the video was to convert it into a VHS tape, but I figured I’d upload it to YouTube as well.

Give it a watch and jam out to some good tunes! If it’s popular enough, I’ll do a second volume down the line.

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Artist Spotlight – Graham Falk

Adventure Time Reviewed

Graham Falk is an interesting case – he originally joined the series for some guest board work during season five for Shh! and Root Beer Guy. In most instances, guest board artists will work on a few episodes before moving onto other projects, or simply as a one-time opportunity, like Kris Mukai and KC Green. However, Falk continued to work on the series sporadically throughout season 6 and 7, until he became a fulltime regular for season 8 and eventually even boarded the very final scene for the original series finale. There’s a lot of unique attributes to Falk’s role in the series, first being that unlike a good majority of the staff, he’s a seasoned veteran in the animation world. While most artists have a few previous gigs under their belts, Falk’s career in animation dates back as early as 1980, working as a layout artist and character designer, among several other roles for many successful animated shows. Falk even had his very own series, Untalkative Bunny, which ran for three seasons. Falk’s cartoonish style and love for classical animation can easily be seen in his work, which translates into his time on Adventure Time.

Art Style

Falk is somewhat of an enigma when it comes to locating his artwork. He doesn’t seem to have an online presence or portfolio, which tracks since he’s had such a longstanding career even before the presence of the internet. If it’s not evident enough by these screenshots, Falk’s main inspiration point in both art and storytelling is that of silent cartoons from the 1920’s and very early 1930’s, most evident in his series Untalkative Bunny and his design work for Over the Garden Wall. Dumb, silly expressions, stretched facial features, oval eyes, tilted line-of-action, dramatically big mouth emotes, and monobrows are all hallmarks of Falk’s touch. A lot of those same idiosyncrasies can be found on Summer Camp Island. For as unique as Falk’s touch is, some of his episodes for both Summer Camp Island and Adventure Time can look pretty standard and difficult to decipher, until one expression comes along that can easily be pointed out as a Falk drawing.

Finn & Friends

This one was difficult because there’s Falk hallmarks that are found across every character, and then there’s just the way that Falk draws Finn specifically – I tried to settle for a combination of both. Something very common in Falk’s posing is the 70ish degree angle that characters will stand at, as seen in images one through four. Expressions will additionally be slightly crooked, with boomerang-esque shapes, shown in Finn’s expression in image three. Expressions will also be quite large, specifically in the mouth. Falk Finn’s will be seen with huge, teethless smile, or big frown-y scowls, seen in images four and five. More standard shots of Finn from Falk actually hearken back to his earlier model sheet look, a departure from the more modernized look that most storyboards artist had adopted by the final season, which can be seen in image six. And, while most artists at the time were competing for who could draw the largest eyes on Finn, Falk’s eyes are maybe some of the smallest. Falk also likes drawing Finn in sideview perhaps more than any other artist, as seen in images three, seven, eight, and nine.

A lot of Falk’s touches for Finn also impact Jake: dramatically angled posing, wackier-than-usual expressions, a focus on sideview shots. Jake also suffers a similar fate as Finn, with Falk’s style being somewhat conformed in the final season and less of his touch being evident, as seen with the model sheet-esque Jake in the ninth image. I love how Falk draws Jake’s eyes, with the whites taking center stage and the black mildly outlining them. Falk Jakes also occasionally have mouths that don’t connect all the way to his jowls, as indicated in the first and second images.

A handful of Falk specialties. Monobrows, extreme angled posing, big frowns and smiles, eyes with thick, black outlines, and sharper-than-usual edges on mouths.

Promo Art

Some of the few pieces of AT promo art that Falk has whipped up, including a paper plate canvas for Sad Face.

Concept Art

Miscellaneous concept work from Falk of designs he whipped up for the hardware store owner in Root Beer Guy and the visual scope of Abstract.

Title Cards

A few original title cards that Falk designed, along with a large chunk of concept sketches that didn’t make the cut.

Storyboards

A collection of silly Falk boards.

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Artist Spotlight – Sam Alden

Adventure Time Reviewed

A late bloomer during the OG series, but one that became just as recognizable as the longtime alum, Sam Alden joined the series starting with The Mountain and later became a series regular beginning midway through season 7. Alden was often paired with Jesse Moynihan in his early days, before taking on a similar role as his counterpart, being paired with many different partners throughout the rest of the show’s run. Pretty much anywhere he landed, Alden delighted with standout boarding efforts and some of the better Finn-centric entries in AT‘s last run.

Art Style

With a main focus in pencil art, Alden’s portfolio consists mainly of his short-form comics and intimate, portrait-esque illustrations. It’s a natural fit that Alden was paired with Jesse, as Alden’s love for vivid colors is easily apparent in his work. Experimentation with color can be readily seen in the examples above, with harsh contrasting elements, two-tone schemes, and washed out, dreamy backdrops.

Finn & Friends

The biggest dead giveaway that Alden had his hands in an AT episode is the quotation eyes, which Finn is frequently seen sporting, as seen in images four, five, seven, and eight. I just said on my last post that Moynihan takes the cake for the biggest, roundest pupils on Finn, though I may have spoke too soon. Alden will often draw Finn with massive pupils, a face that takes up most of his head area, very large ear nubs on his hat, and some big, eye bag accents. Also, Alden’s Finn has a generally lengthier body than other iterations, sporting longer arms and legs. Honestly, it’s fitting that Alden wrote the Come Along With Me gag where PB acknowledges how tall he’s gotten.

Jake isn’t a character that Alden has had a ton of time with, as he’s predominantly absent from a good chunk of the artist’s portfolio: The Mountain, High Strangeness, Happy Warrior, Whispers, The Wild Hunt, and Blenanas. So, it’s a bit difficult to point out his Jake, but he still boasts some unique touches. Something consistent with other characters Alden draws (including Finn) is the focus on a character’s bottom teeth with no visible top teeth. There’s also some idiosyncrasies he shares with his board partner, Jesse Moynihan, such as the eye shape and the black sections peaking out on both sides of the white.

Some other characters/shots where Alden’s influence is apparent. Quotation eyes, absolutely massive pupils, and some bottom teeth love.

Promo Art

Alden has created some of the most beautiful promo art the series has seen. Probably the most consistent in format, as each promo feels like it is part of a whole series.

Concept Art

Alden has worked behind-the-scenes to develop a bunch of different elements that made their way into the series, such as the Mountain of Matthew, Bandit Princess, the electric boar, Ice Finn’s domain, and some early looks at Finn’s parents.

Title Cards

With the exception of the Islands and Elements miniseries, Alden has designed the title card for every episode he’s worked on (excluded are The Wild Hunt and Blenanas, which did not have rough versions available).

Some title card roughs from Alden.

Storyboards

Select Alden boards. The unavoidable quotation eyes and a glance at Normal Man‘s fast-paced mountain sequence.

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Artist Spotlight – Jesse Moynihan

Adventure Time Reviewed

It’s Jmoyns time! I’ve gushed about Jesse plenty on this blog; aside from Tom Herpich, he’s probably my favorite board artist in the series. So much of his own personal tastes and style bleed into those boards in a way that’s really inspiring to me. He’s come a long way throughout the series, starting out with some really wonky drawings that didn’t translate super well into the final animation to becoming one of the most rounded and consistent artists, both art and tone wise.

Art Style

Moynihan’s artwork, done primarily with all physical materials combines psychedelic colors, geometric shapes, and fantastical characters wearing wrestling gear. He started off focusing on making comics, which mainly consisted of his series Forming, before getting recruited by Pen Ward to work on AT. Jesse typically tackles both the spiritual and psychological through his own work, which transferred over into most of his AT outings from season four onward. More than any other storyboard artist in the series, Jesse has poured a large chunk of his life into his writing. Each artist has their own personal voice and quirks, but I don’t think anyone quite reached the same level of vulnerability that Jesse did. The show almost became a diary for him at certain points, as he dealt with his own questions about finding inner peace in The Mountain or had a raw unraveling when struggling to cope after a tumultuous break up with his former girlfriend, whom he also called “Margles.” A lot of his stuff has been pointed to as an example of the show’s growing pretentiousness, though I think his relationship with the series is probably the best example of its strengths. Using the show, its characters, its world and its rules to create something personal and unique with each individual outing.

Manly

Manly, a short made by Jesse and his brother for Cartoon Hangover, additionally exhibits the hallmarks mentioned above. It’s also a good chance to see more consistencies in his drawings that cross over into AT, namely the eye shapes, forced perspective, and a contrasting blend between simple designs and complex anatomy. Unrelated to Manly, but Justin Moynihan, Jesse’s brother, has contributed a bit to the main series musically, including Lost in the Darkness, Love in the Darkness, and the Booboo Sousa song. Jesse has also contributed to the show song-wise, including Real Power, Yeah Girl, It Stinks, and Braco Don’t Go.

Midnight Gospel

Moynihan served as art director for Pendleton Ward’s other series, The Midnight Gospel. A lot can be taken away from the background art in terms of how it matches the sensibilities detailed above. It’s a perfect mix between Ward’s simple charm and the psychedelia of Duncan Trussell.

Finn & Friends

Moynihan Finn’s have some BIG round pupils. Maybe some of the biggest Finn pupes in the series (Not counting Lucyola Langi, because she obviously takes the cake). When they’re not massive and circular, a classic Moynihanism is the slanted, oval eyes that appear on a lot of different characters, notable in images one, four, and five. Moynihan Finns also most commonly emote with raised eyebrows, seen in images six, seven, and eight. His Finn usually has more teeth displayed than the average Finn, as seen in images five and eight. While eye highlights are something common throughout the series and with every artist, Moynihan’s eye highlights are usually much smaller and more muted, as seen in the first and last image. And perhaps one of the biggest dead giveaways for a Moynihan Finn is the more defined shoulders, noted in images two, three, and seven. In fact, Moynihan is perhaps the artist that most frequently draws Finn without his backpack. Examples include Hitman, Who Would Win, Breezy, Is That You?, Astral Plane, and Checkmate.

Moynihan Jakes usually possess the same simplistic, raised eyebrows that his Finn’s have, as seen in images one, three, five, and eight. Perhaps most distinctive are eyes Moynihan draws for Jake, which will slant in the same sideways motion as Finn’s, with the whites receding into the black, as noted in images five, seven, and nine. In fact, the black in Jake’s eyes often swallows up the white pupils, making them much smaller than most board artists – seen in most images but primarily in one, four, six, and eight. Jake’s eye sockets will additionally often bulge off the side of his head, noted in the first two images. And, in typical Moynihan fashion, Jake’s shoulders are much more prominent. Seen in images one, three and four. A Moynihan Jake ear will often curl off the side of his head, but often not as dramatically as a Muto or Nyström ear.

Some other Moynihan character shots. Lots of slanted eyes, forced perspective, big pupils, extra teeth , defined shoulders, and the occasional sassy arms-on-hips.

Promo Art

Moynihan has created A LOT of promo art throughout the series, mostly in a black-and-white fashion with heavy shading, while some let his love for bright, vivid colors shine. Others are simplistic notebook doodles, which I always appreciate as well. Board artists don’t need to create promo art for episodes, so I always like when they commit to putting something out, even if that is just a simple doodle on paper. Some are really elaborate, like his last two season six episodes that incorporate live action elements. It’s pretty cool to additionally see the shear volume of people Moynihan has worked with throughout his tenure. He most consistently worked with Ako Castuera, but has partnered with various other artists, most notably throughout seasons 5 and 6. He might be the artist with the highest volume of partners? I could probably fact check that, but I’m not gunna.

Storyboards

Some select Moynihan boards. In a similar look to his promo art, Moynihan will often incorporate his own sense of shading into his boards, even if said shading doesn’t make it into the final product (i.e. Betty). Also included is his love for forced perspective, and a cameo from the lost beta character Tiny Hippogriff.

Adventure Time, Animation

Artist Spotlight – Adam Muto

Adventure Time Reviewed

Muto’s been with the show since the beginning, and has become the head honcho following the departure of Pen Ward. I always have said that it’s kind of hard to understand Muto’s vision for the overall series when it comes to tone and direction. I think more than anything his love for the series additionally includes letting the artists do what they do best while also trying to evolve and expand the world and keeping the characters relatively evergreen. When it comes to boarding, it can be equally difficult to determine which sections Muto worked on unless it’s with someone very distinctive, such as Sugar. His style is so synonymous with the polished look of the series that there’s definitively overlapping synchronicities in style. Not to say that he doesn’t have his own flair, however. Muto’s probably of the best draftsmen in the entire series, churning out some really clean and neat drawings that bleed through even in his rough storyboards.

Art Style

Muto is a comic man most prominently. Most of his style can be analyzed through his two most prominent comic series – Tall Penguin and Future Boyfriend. I’m always impressed by how clean Muto’s linework is, ranging from very simple shapes to more complex designs that never seem to battle each other. Diverging from the hyperrealism of his counterpart, Rebecca Sugar, Muto lends himself to more cartoonish sensibilities. It’s easy to see how Adventure Time has impacted his own look, while also noting the nuances that bleed through in his own boards. Very wide faces, forced perspective, small slants for eyebags, the heightened detail mixed with extreme simplicities. Muto mainly avoids color in his artwork and sticks with a monotone drop.

Finn & Friends

woof. This one was a toughie. Scanning through the earlier seasons, it’s really difficult to denote Muto hallmarks outside of the observation that “this bit was not boarded by Rebecca Sugar.” I don’t mean that to make it seem like Muto is an inferior artist, most of his drawings look great! It’s just somewhat difficult to distinguish his Finn apart from some of the many other iterations in the series. Something pretty consistent with all of Muto’s art is his wide-eyed characters donning slanty eye bags, which Finn takes on in the first and fifth image. One feature I never really noticed until I was researching for this write-up was the slightly curled dot eyes that will show up more so in the earlier Muto efforts, seen in the second and third images. Also, the thin, liney eyebrows in images four and six carry through most of Muto’s episodes throughout the series.

Muto’s Jake is way more easily recognizable than his Finn. Muto and Wolfhard have an unspoken competition for crankiest, wrinkliest Jake. While Wolfhard’s accents are noted by their smallness, Muto goes for a bigger, more expanded approach with Jake’s features, often making his eyes, nose, and mouth take over most of his body. These choices really get to shine in Daddy-Daughter Card Wars more than anywhere else. As seen in image 3, 7, and 9, Muto will often have Jake’s ears hang off his body as little nubs. Though, I usually associate this design choice more with Hanna K. Nyström.

This gallery of other characters is mostly just me realizing that Muto’s style is perhaps most notable on the dog characters, and his love for drawing them in side view. Again, a bit difficult to find some specific examples where an image really stands out as “yeah, that’s a Muto drawing.”

Concept Art

Muto regularly dips his toes into conceptualizing ideas for the series. A lot of these have made their way into the show verbatim (Finn and Jake Banana Guard disguises, Nightmare Princess, BMO and Ice King’s business outfit) while others were expanded upon by other board artists (Fern’s design).

Misc.

Muto has whipped up a lot of gift drawings and non-episode promo images, mainly towards the original show’s climax. Like most of his art, they’re done in his traditional black-and-white style.

Storyboards

Some Muto boards, showcasing both his love for added details, thick and defined outlines, and sideview pups.

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Artist Spotlight – Rebecca Sugar

Adventure Time Reviewed

Perhaps the most prolific of AT‘s production crew, Rebecca Sugar is one of the few board artists that nearly every AT fan, casual or seasoned, has been able to recognize. Known for her more overtly emotional style of writing and very blobby, expressive sketches, Sugar may have the most distinctive visual identity in the entire series. If a character is seen crying between seasons two and four, there’s a good chance Sugar was at the helm.

Art Style

If Herpich’s style incorporates a blend of realistic human anatomy and cartoony features, Sugar’s is that to the nth degree. Her love for human anatomy bleeds through in her dancing sketches, as seen in images 3 and 4, which boast extremely dynamic posing that are rich for exaggeration in other examples. For an artist that delves so deep into emotional and physical realism, it’s astounding how much she is willing to push to an almost extreme level when it comes to facial expressions and body language. None of this is more evident than in her short film Singles, which features an entirely convincing display of human body language in the blobbiest, most absurd way. These are the sensibilities that bleed most into her AT work – extreme dynamic posing with characters that essentially bleed out of their own anatomy with emotion.

Concept Art

Various different sketches from Sugar, some of which develop design aspects for episodes (Flame Princess’s general look, Marceline’s outfits) while others are seemingly just drawings whipped up in her spare time. All of her general interests bleed through in these sketches – Flame Princess, Fionna & Cake, fashion and hair, and of course, Marceline.

Steven Universe

It wouldn’t make sense to do this without some Steven! The Sugar trademarks bleed through the most in these sketches – strong posing, stretched faces, expressive eyes, lowered mouth, anime accents, bulbous features, and a love for dancing and outfit changes. It’s no wonder that Sugar crafted Marceline’s most iconic outfit in What Was Missing.

Finn & Friends

Talk about bulbous! Sugar’s Finn is the blobbiest Finn of all. Perhaps most distinctive are his facial features, which will range from the eyes becoming huge and glossy while the mouth shrinks, to the mouth becoming massive and complementing with equally large eyes. The mouth is quite possibly even more distinctive than those huge anime eyes, often morphing into a Muppet mouth that flaps off the side, mostly notably in the seventh image. Eyebags and wrinkles are common, though they usually drastically range in size and detail (different from the previously explored Steve Wolfhard who has a pretty consistent line weight and size for all of his accents). Of course, blushing and anime eyes are also staples, and that excellent sense of posing bleeds through in the eighth image. Perhaps most unique is how much Finn’s hat actually feels like a separate piece of apparel rather than a legitimate staple of his body in Sugar’s drawings. His face will often protrude outside of the hat, as seen in the fifth and ninth image.

Jake isn’t usually a focal point in Sugar entries (even her sections during Jake vs Me-Mow were mostly centered around the Finn portions) but her touch is still evident when working with him. It’s a chance for her more simplistic attributes to shine, like the boomerang mouth seen throughout these images, which is usually more pushed than the typical bean mouth. He’s also a bit more segmented than the usual Jake, often having a clear separation between his back and lower half, as seen in the first and last images. Again, emphasizing that great sense of posing.

Some more Sugar shots of other characters. Mouths off to the side, boomerangs, tears, eye bags, and some of the most realistic hair physics you’ll ever see in the series. There’s plenty of implications of her styles in Seasons 2 and 3, but her contributions are really unmistakable from Season 4 onward. I think Jake the Dog is probably where her style shines the most, because she gets to work with eye whites and noses. That first shot is essentially just a Steven Universe character.

Promo Art

I believe Rebecca was the first board artist from the series to start doing individual episode promos. These promos range from detailed black-and-white drawings to full, vibrantly colored pieces, often without any type of backdrop. Sugar is also unique in having miniature versions of her and Adam Muto (and later Cole Sanchez, to a lesser extent) in all of her promos from Season 2-3. Tom Herpich would later mimic this for a bit during his time working with Ako Castuera throughout Season 2.

Storyboards

A handful of Sugar boards in all of their bulbous, emotional, sketchy glory.

Title Cards

As far as I’m aware, Sugar has only designed the title cards for two episodes: Incendium and I Remember You. I could only find a good scan of the Incendium rough design online, while the I Remember You initial sketch can be found in Volume 2 of the title cards book from a few years ago. If anyone has a clean copy, feel free to send my way and I’ll add it above!

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Artist Spotlight – Steve Wolfhard

Adventure Time Reviewed

Known for his love of tabletop games and general affinity for the pups, King of Ooo, and the 1000+ Ooo-scape, Steve Wolfhard started out as a board revisionist before becoming a full-time board artist at the start of season 5. His partnership with Tom Herpich has been the longest running board team for the entirety of the series, and despite their general overlapping interests (Tree Trunks, Finn and Jake’s brotherhood, Finn being kind of stupid) Wolfhard’s style largely contrasts Herpich when it comes to design.

Art Style

Wolfhard’s style is easily recognizable for its super thin, squiggly outlines. Details mostly extend to facial accents, such as wrinkles, eyebags, hairs, and fuller lips. His sensibilities are similar to that of his partner, connecting to the magic and sorcery of the world while also leaning more toward a cartoonier side. Wolfhard has worked on a few animated shows post AT, most notably Amphibia.

Concept Art

Wolfhard’s squiggly outlines and flat color are prominent in most of his artwork – concepts included. Wolfhard has maybe created the most concept artwork for the series, with a blend of ideas he conjured up for the episodes he’s worked on (Finn and Jake’s KOO armor, the adult pups) while others involve oddball pitches that don’t get off the floor (Finn dating the Mona Lisa, King of Ooo dating an androgynous blue figure). Some of these oddball ideas do end up making their way into the series later in the process (Slime Princess growing huge, King of Ooo being a little waxman).

Pups

Wolfhard has an affinity for the pups, which makes sense – it was one of the first elements of the series that he had a part in developing. Lots of different points of development above, including appearance and personality outlines for the pups.

1000+

This section isn’t entirely unique from the one before it, as the pups make their way into the 1000+ lore. Wolfhard got to build the visual look for the 1000+ world pretty much from scratch, and most of his character concepts made it into the actual show, with the exception of Wintergreen and Clover, the possum standing on Sweet P’s head.

Finn & Friends

Whenever Finn or any other character is drawn with thin face wrinkles or more prominent lips and cheeks, that can be a dead giveaway of Wolfhard’s touch. When Finn isn’t wrinkly, it can be a little bit more difficult to tell of Wolfhard’s touch. Standard shots of Finn are very simplistic looking, as seen in the final image. Sometimes he’ll give Finn or other characters a dumb little cheeky smile as seen in the fourth image, though this is an expression that most of the staff likes to churn out from time to time. Wolfhard’s details can usually be noted by their “small”ness, not overly exaggerated and usually manifest as minute line strokes.

Wolfhard’s Jake is a bit more identifiable than his Finn, because boy, is this guy cranky!! Again, the simplicity is key here. Anytime you see those thin, slanted, slightly wobbly eyebrows on Jake, it’s likely going to be Wolfhard. His most focal ear is usually just hanging off the side a bit, while the second may peak off or be hidden.

Some Wolfhard board-to-animation drawings in all of their wrinkly, big-lipped glory. Also some dumb smiles.

Promo Art

Often, instead of doing promo artwork, Wolfhard will conjure up full comic strips for the featured episode. I linked Daddy-Daughter Card Wars and The More You Moe, the Moe You Know to their full page.

Similar to Herpich, Wolfhard has made some really powerful Finn solo stuff that I think is gnarly.

Storyboards

Some cut scenes from episodes that Wolfhard has boarded – those squiggly lines are, of course, most prominent in the boards.

Title Cards

Some title cards Wolfhard has designed. It’s interesting because these are generally larger than his usual visual efforts, often featuring grand features and extremely detailed backgrounds. Wolfhard’s handwritten titles can be most prominently noted on episodes like Bonnie & Neddy and Ring of Fire, where they’re traced over precisely in the final product. Temple of Mars strayed away from this in the final product.

Some cut title cards that Wolfhard has crafted (he did end up creating the official title card for The More You Moe, the Moe You Know regardless).

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“Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake” Season 1 Review

Adventure Time Reviewed


I’ve said it before on this blog, but man, I was not looking forward to Fionna & Cake. I was really bummed out that a franchise with so much potential for exploration would resort to such a gimmicky concept that hasn’t even been beloved by the fanbase for over 8 years. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the series (or the “season” now) was actually very clever in not playing into the lowest common denominator of its source material and utilized it to tell a very engaging story about accepting your own ordinariness. In a way, this has always been what Adventure Time has excelled at – playing into the sensibilities of what a general audience would want to see/what sells with a big studio and then pretty much doing whatever they want after its greenlit. Granted, Fionna & Cake doesn’t have the same kind of freedom that its predecessor did. They only had 10 episodes to tell a concise story, so there’s not really a ton of room to experiment with ideas and styles and tone. But for what they were actually able to fit in to those 10 episodes went above and beyond my expectations, making for pretty great first season. Mostly.

The stuff I’ve gushed the most about throughout the season is anything involving Simon, which was equally surprising to see just how invested I was in his role. Despite how outlandish his circumstances are, having been controlled for thousands of years by a magical crown and suddenly becoming conscious once more in the midst of a colorful post-apocalyptic landscape, his portrayal is strangely relatable. I think there’s a lot you can draw from his experience thematically: feeling like you don’t belong, being deprived of the highs and lows of life, dealing with the day-to-day following addiction recovery, not knowing how to exist without your partner. With all successful AT allegories, there’s no singular one connection, and Simon’s journey allows you to connect with him in whatever way you see fit. His arc is probably the most successfully executed on; it helps that it closely relates to the cosmic stuff that I love so much, but also because I think it caps off in a relatively nuanced manner. You have Simon realize that he has his own part to play in the world, but I don’t think it’s as neatly tied up as some of the other plot points in the season. He still has a lot of soul searching to do, but at least has a good foundation based on his own journey. I additionally really love the exploration of his relationship with Betty, learning to take the past off a pedestal and accept its imperfections while still cherishing the experience. It’s a far cry off from that awful Marcy and Simon comic series, which has Simon rescue Betty from the clutches of GOLB, with nothing learned or gained from the process itself. This version doesn’t negate the tragedy set up by Come Along With Me, but instead plays off it in a way that allows for quiet, somber closure and ambiguity when it comes to what it means for these characters.

Fionna and Cake’s arcs are a bit more spelled out. Again, I have to give kudos where its due for making me care even a little bit about these characters who were essentially props in the OG series. And Fionna’s journey of learning to put the wants of others before her own is decently well-executed, with the additional relatability of being 20-something and incredibly self-indulgent. But I think there remains little to gather from this whole expedition outside of a surface level. Pretty much every episode beyond that first one, Fionna and Cake’s bits are overshadowed by characters and story beats that I find much more interesting. Fionna’s connection to Simon is probably the strongest thing going for her character – I find their relationship genuinely very endearing and crucial to each other’s growth. As I discussed in my Cheers review, it’s neat how their arcs overlap while being driven by two drastically different mindsets: Fionna is unable to look outside of herself because of her own self-cherishment, while Simon is unable to because of his own self-hatred. It’s two sides of the same coin and explored in a way that I think is less obvious than Fionna’s individual storyline, boosting both in execution. I do worry about the future of the series where Simon is potentially not as involved, because I really wonder how Fionna can stand alone without that intriguing connection. Her dynamic with Cake is fun, and unique from their Ooo counterparts, but not nearly as lovable as Finn and Jake’s, which is to be expected. The one time they tried to establish conflict between the two in Jerry brought out some of the lamest character moments in Cake, who otherwise was very enjoyable. Cake was always the strongest part of each of the original Fionna & Cake entries in the series, and she remains very funny in this iteration. I could see her role potentially getting annoying in future seasons, as she’s really just there to be quippy and add comedic relief when scenes get a little too heavy, but it really didn’t bother me much this time around. As I also mentioned in my review of Jerry, however, I don’t think her having an arc of her own was super compelling. Necessary, maybe, as it does tie into Fionna’s desires to look outside herself and the debacle around wanting a more magical world, but I don’t think it added much for me personally. I really wouldn’t have been mad if Cake was purely there to just add some goofs in and support Fionna in her own journey, as any of the more tension-heavy moments from her were a bit of a wet blanket.


We get lots more Prismo here, which is always delightful for a character who really only got to shine once or twice a season, if that. I do miss Kumail Nanjiani’s portrayal, but Sean Rohani did a fine job at taking over. Prismo is mostly out of commission outside his titular episode, but his appearance does make way for lots of fun bits of exploration in the cosmic realm. Also, Scarab is here! I think Scarab is ultimately this season’s biggest failure. Granted, he doesn’t steal too much screentime, but as the primary antagonist, he’s around way too much and contributes so little. I’ve probably said it before but villains, outside of the Lich, have never really been the show’s strength. A lot of the conflict in Adventure Time is more internalized, with actual foes and bosses kind of just coming across as pretty normal or insecure dudes and dudettes. Most adversaries are comedic in nature and don’t pose an actual threat, but Scarab is kind of neither. He’s not funny or threatening enough to really justify his existence outside of being an opposition to the main crew, which I do understand to an extent. With telling such a tight story that seemed pretty sure of what it wanted along with well-defined internal struggling, there also needed to be some sense of conflict that helps those two individual stories unravel. I just wish it made for a more interesting adversary, but this is something AT has really been struggling with in recent years. Hugo, New Death, Dr. Caledonius (had to look her name up because holy shit, who even remembers her?) are all villains that suffered from being tacked on for external drama while never feeling fun or intense enough to really leave any lasting emotions. I somewhat wish the next season would just try to have no outward antagonist and just let the characters and stories pan out without coming up with a new big bad every iteration.

I do think the structure of this season was generally quite sound otherwise. Adam Muto talked about how working on the miniseries kind of prepped the team with a better understanding of how to tackle ongoing stories in a successful way, and it shows here. I never want AT to become so story focused that it loses the charm of having each episode possess its own identity, and I think Adam probably felt the same. Every episode in this season cleverly has its own unique feel and landscape, never feeling like any truly blend together (with the exception of maybe the last two episodes). Additionally, I think the longer runtime is mostly used very well. Again, the team obviously had some experience with this in Distant Lands and mostly succeeded in their efforts, and that remains pretty consistent here. Granted, a few episodes like Fionna Campbell and Cake the Cat do feel a bit aimless in their spare time, but every other episode is so loaded with ideas and concepts that can’t even be handled entirely within their runtime that it does replicate that traditional jam-packed feeling of the 11 minute chunks. As I’ve said, I’ll always prefer Adventure Time for what it was during its run: a mainly structureless series with a million episodes that could focus on story elements, interesting ideas, or just something fun. But I do think a lot of the spirit still remains within this season, even if it does have to be a lot tighter and still try to prove itself so that it can move on to tell more stories.

The multiverse definitely complements the individuality of each episode. It’s the element I was most concerned about, because I’m so fatigued with the current landscape of multiverse stories that seem to only be interested in doing really gimmicky concepts with it. However, as the whole series has proved, Adventure Time likes to take gimmicky ideas and explore them in their own unique way. The multiverse here, outside of boasting fun and new, yet familiar environments also explores the nature of characters that we know within an entirely different light. It’s cool to see that the soul-shape of each of these characters seems to remain in each world – Finn is dedicated to doing good, PB desperately needs control over her environment, and Marcy retains a level of playfulness no matter where her moral code lies. These characteristics remain in spite of their surroundings, but even then, we watch them act in drastically different ways. It’s cool to see an exploration like Farmworld Finn’s display that the characters we know and love aren’t necessarily static or even largely identifiable in other parts of the cosmos. Despite there being some consistencies in general nature, Finn, PB, and Marceline do not have consistent senses of self that expand beyond their own worlds. Their nurturing is subject to change and can mold their nature into pretty much anything that serves their environment. Finn’s sense to do good could involve slaying monsters to protect a Kingdom of candy or it could mean protecting his family at all costs. PB’s need for control could involve creating her own Kingdom or it could lead to her becoming a rebel in the face of oppression. Marceline’s playfulness can be quite childish, if not also a bit selfish at times, but can be managed in the right company, or lead her to destructiveness in the wrong company. It’s really cool to see this concept applied to characters we already know and love, and to do so in a way that doesn’t aim to just display alternate versions of them. There’s a level of exploration that is quite interesting and really challenges what is consistent about these characters no matter where they’re found across the stars.

It was pretty surprisingly to see announced that Fionna & Cake would be intended for young adults as opposed to its initial tween audience. I think this is generally something that was naturally built into, as the original series gradually grew into something pretty exclusively for older kids and teens, Distant Lands had a bit more of an edge to it that pushed it into a primarily teenage territory, and F&C takes that one step further. I think it’s smart that the season doesn’t try to push this in a particularly egregious way, with really only supplementing blood and minor swears throughout. I even thought they could’ve pushed it a little more! There’s some thematically darker stuff, like all of Jerry and Simon’s entire plight, though it’s difficult to say if those are elements that wouldn’t also be included in the original series. Overall though, I think I’m glad they went in a bit of a safer direction right off the bat so it’s not too jarring of a jump forward. Hoping they can continue to push these boundaries, especially moving forward. From early previews, it looks like Huntress Wizard is going to be more prominently featured next season, so I’m hoping this means that we can finally have a scene where her and Finn do ayahuasca and get saucy. This is what a TV-14 rating is all about!


This is usually the part of the season reviews where I talk about the board teams, but lord, I am not really equipped to do so anymore. With so many new staff members and so little time to explore individual tones and styles, I can’t really eloquently talk about each writer beyond an art style perspective. Big shoutout to my friend Digamma-F-Wau in the comments, who has been shedding light on who worked on each portion of F&C episodes where I have failed to determine. There’s a few dead giveaways I’ve been able to pick up on; Lucyola Langi draws the characters with such massive pupils that it’s hard not to pick up on her style when you see it. Anna Syvertsson, who is the only staff member that has the bragging rights to say she joined for the Minecraft special, draws those pupils really close together, often accented by eyebrows that peek off of the forehead. Graham Falk still boasts his more cartoony style with a slight tilt to each character. Iggy Craig is one of the better board artists when it comes to character acting, constructing one of my favorite scenes in the entire season (I.E. Simon having a breakdown in DBG’s tavern). But otherwise, it was pretty difficult for me to determine style, let alone tone. Things feel a bit cleaner this time around, even with individual artist identity occasionally bleeding through. I mentioned Graham Falk’s style, but besides the intro to Simon Petrikov and the silent cartoon world in Prismo the Wishmaster, it was really hard to pick out his scenes even considering that he’s one of the most standout artists of the original series. The season still looks quite nice visually, with occasional bumps in animation, usually courtesy of Nick Cross’s contributions. This is may be the best the series has looked color wise, with each episode presenting a really unique palette. Carolyn Ramirez worked on the color script for each episode this season, and her work really shines. Additionally, plenty of alumni of the original series contributed to the show’s visual design, with Tom Herpich, Derek Ballard, Charmaine Verhagen, and many others pitching in.

In terms of writing, as mentioned, it’s pretty hard to determine who excelled and who didn’t. There’s only so many episodes to work with, so you don’t have a good chance to understand the sensibilities of each writer. You don’t have 2oo episodes and counting to pick up on Jesse Moynihan’s desires to explore emotional ambiguity or Somvilay Xayaphone’s opposition to telling any jokes that have a direct punchline. And, with four or five boarders each episode and no complete consistency on individual teams, it kind of makes it impossible to analyze the group efforts in the way that Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard collaboration could be observed. Granted, I’ll say that I generally liked the even numbered episodes more. Generally, any episode with Graham Falk, Iggy Craig, Lucyola Langi, and Jim Campbell seemed to resonate more with me than the odd numbered episodes, with the exception of Jerry that only featured Campbell as a writer. Would love more of an approach in future seasons if the episodes could be broken up similar to the original series, with two board artists at the helm. No idea if that’s really ethical in terms to how the seasons are produced, but I’m definitely yearning for a bit more artist individuality in each entry.

AT has really leaned into its musical sensibilities in recent years, with F&C churning out an original tune pretty much once or twice per episode. Generally speaking, most of these are jams. I love the very 90’s poppy opening in Fionna Campbell, the grand Rankin/Bass style numbers in The Winter King, and especially adored Rebecca Sugar’s contribution in Simon Petrikov. Also dug the Half Shy song in Jerry, with it additionally boasting interesting thematic elements. There are times in recent years when I’ve felt that AT seems a little obligated to do musical numbers because of Sugar’s contributions, and that was really felt during Cake’s song in Cake the Cat. I might just be saying that because I didn’t particularly like that song, but it did feel like it was a bit shoehorned for the sake of incorporating more tunes in. I was mean enough to the ending song in my review of Cheers, so I’ll let that one go. One thing I’ll mention once more and then let go of is that I’m still bummed with how much I feel the score weighs down the series. Amanda Jones is a fine composer but I really don’t think her sensibilities mesh with Adventure Time. One thing I dug about Tim Kiefer and Casey James Basichis (whose contributions I often fail to properly address on this blog) is that they were constantly experimenting with weird sounds and instruments in a way that the series in its current iteration just doesn’t really play around with. Most scenes are accented with relatively generic adventurous or dramatic stings, and the better cues seem to just be trying to replicate that original magic. The series as a whole is not nearly as weird as it once was, so maybe it’s more fitting that the score that goes along with it additionally isn’t as experimental. Still, I think score is a pretty major part of any animated series, and the lack of Kiefer is definitely noted and slightly hurts my immersion at times.

Season One Episodes Best to Worst

  1. Simon Petrikov
  2. The Winter King
  3. Jerry
  4. Prismo the Wishmaster
  5. Destiny
  6. The Star
  7. Casper & Nova
  8. Cheers
  9. Fionna Campbell
  10. Cake the Cat

Final Consensus

Overall, I was super impressed with Fionna & Cake. After feeling a bit fatigued by the relatively lackluster Distant Lands, F&C really reinvigorated my love for the series with its strong storytelling and dedication to evolving the franchise further. Did I love the season as a whole? Not completely, there’s elements I really dug, but other that I didn’t get totally into, which you can read into above. Granted, it was way better than I expected and clearly had a lot of love put into it, which I think is pretty unique for such a long-running series. Adventure Time really appears to be something special for everyone who has the pleasure of working on it, and it seems like everyone is careful to preserve its legacy. That being said, I do worry that more of the wild days of the series are over. As much shit as Season Six got, I do thoroughly love how willing it was to push away from what fans really wanted to see and just played around with ideas and themes that the artists working on it found interesting. I do feel like in a way that initial charm of the series is lost, but I’ve also come to terms with that. I’m happy to be getting more of the show in any capacity, and as long as there’s still a lot of love put into it, I’ll remain a loyal viewer.

Adventure Time, Animation

“Casper & Nova” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed


Original Airdate: September 28, 2024

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Sonja von Marensdorff & Jacob Winkler

Things are starting to wind down with this one! We’re in the endgame of the season, with everything that’s been built up starting to reach its bookend. I think at this point, my opinions about what drew me into the series in the first place were pretty much finalized. The exploration of Simon’s journey and relationship still felt very compelling, while Fionna and Cake and the unfolding of their universe still failed to really grab me. I think if you kept up reading by this point, you probably already know how I feel about everything, so I’m going to try not to beat a dead horse too much and just be pretty succinct with what I don’t really dig while giving more attention to the stuff that really interests me. I think there’s a good bit of the latter in Casper & Nova, with some surprises baked into it.


Let’s get right into some cosmic goodness. As Simon discovers himself occupying GOLB’s realm, he also discovers the Lich, quietly muttering a prayer to his scholar. As mentioned in the previous review, this is probably the most emotion we see out of the Lich, and while it feels like a concept I would’ve been previously opposed to, I actually quite like the execution. I think at this point, it’s pretty hard to make the Lich a convincing big bad. Towards the end, his role in the series started to feel a bit oversaturated, and with the expansion of the universe that we’ve seen throughout Fionna & Cake, I think it’s apparent that the Lich is only a small portion of an infinite universe. I still like the concept that he embodies all things that are inherently evil, but at the same time, it’s kind of hard to keep pulling the same punches with his character and acting like they’ll have the same impact every time. Fleshing him out a bit and showing that his plight is more of spiritual intention rather than this baseline desire of evil actually adds to his character in a positive light. I love the one-dimensional Lich we’ve seen up to this point, but it’s become increasingly apparent that even the staff have grown tired of finding new ways to make his presence feel evil enough. I think this is a proper bookend to his character, and I’m hoping they don’t try to find new ways to bring him back at this point. I don’t think they really can either – GOLB turning him into a space block erases him from all existence. Which I guess is retconned by Together Again, where the Lich hand is present in the Dead Worlds. Shouldn’t that not be a thing, considering what we know about GOLB via Margles and Betty? I don’t know, all’s I’m saying is this was a great cap to the Lich’s long history of monologuing his way through the series and I’m hoping that it stays that way! Also love Simon relating to the Lich. Dude even kicks him! Simon is fearless, man.

This scene also starts to add layers to GOLB that were not touched on in previous entries. GOLB was a character that pretty much only existed in Easter eggs and hushed mentions, to hint of a greater evil/mystery creeping in the background. Come Along With Me introduced GOLB as the final big bad for the series, though beyond his role as a plot device, we don’t actually get to learn much about how he operates beyond what we already know and the mythos is pretty lacking. In Casper & Nova, without really even saying anything about what he (or I guess she now?) is about, there’s so much to take away from how she operates. GOLB is an agent of chaos, and while the Lich associates that chaos as being based in annihilation, I’m not sure that GOLB is inherently an evil entity. She kind of just acts like a baby, curiously interacting with her environment and occasionally turning beings into floating space blocks. Of course, that more genuine curiosity may be fueled by Simon’s presence and the idea that Betty’s soul is still trapped somewhere within GOLB, but I don’t think that her presence is necessarily aligned with chaotic evil intentions. At least this is brought into question when Simon enters the picture.


Not only can Simon and the Lich relate in failure to find meaning, but they also have a shared love for long-winded monologues! Simon dishes out sad sentiments about his long journey in trying to reverse Betty’s current state, and it makes room for yet another performance that highlights Tom Kenny’s chops. Kenny allegedly deemed that Fionna & Cake was the most emotional he’s ever been in the booth, and it’s episodes like this that really bring it to the forefront. Though, not the only time Kenny’s ever provided an emotional performance; the way Simon’s voice breaks and goes raspy as he gets more hushed reminds me a lot of his role in the Futurama episode Luck of the Fryrish. He’s so often recognized for his resume of silly cartoon characters (and rightfully so!) that you forget how he’s a legitimately great actor, and you can feel every bit of remorse, self-pity, and sadness in his voice as he confides to Golbetty. It’s complemented by some really stellar imagery, like Simon standing at the edge of existence while describing his loss of purpose in life. Even his optimism is found only in the idea sacrificing his own existence for the purpose of benefiting others – a pattern that both he and Betty know all too well. This is when that chaotic instinct is ultimately challenged, as GOLB transports Simon right in the middle o- holy shit it’s Shermy and Beth!!

Those rascals showing up was not on my bingo card for F&C, so it’s a welcomed surprise! It’s cool to see more of the 1000+ world, which seems to mostly stay true to what was set up in Come Along With Me as well as Steve Wolfhard’s outline. We got brief glimpses into Shermy and Beth’s personalities in the finale of the O.G. show, and I love how much their rebellious side is focused on in this entry. It really makes them standout from their soul counterparts; Finn and Jake (well, mostly Finn) were loyal to government and law sometimes to a fault, while Shermy and Beth are completely radicalized. This connects back to Beth’s exile from the kingdom, which has yet to be fleshed out beyond said outline and Come Along With Me‘s intro. It is SUPER funny to me that the duo’s revolution seems to be routed in Marxist sentiments based off of Beth’s checklist (mentioning praxis, comrades, and guerrilla warfare) which really makes me curious if their intentions are pure. It makes things a little more interesting that their values are potentially not as altruistic as their spiritual counterparts, especially with Beth in the lead. Jake is more easily corruptible than his brother, so it’s cool to see that shift in dynamic while still keeping the heart of their bond still very much in tact. Also worth noting, another voice actor bites the dust! Willow Smith did not return to reprise her role, which felt like a given, and Beth is instead portrayed by Imani Hakim. Like most of the recasts this season, it’s not super noticeable, especially since Smith only had so many lines to begin with. It is nice to have Sean Giambrone back as Shermy, who is just so darn lovable. His energy and inflections are great, and I love his stupid little face and his stupid little envelope-opener sword.


It doesn’t really make any sense at all why Simon would be incarnated into Shermy’s body, but it’s AT. Sometimes convoluted moments get a pass for being fun and this just happens to be one of those instances. It’s additionally very fun that the library is nearly kingdom sized in the 1000+ world; we never get to see Turtle Princess’s domain in any capacity throughout the series, so I’m willing to bet that she just eventually constructed her own kingdom on the grounds of her very favorite place. Good for her, though it was super fucking rude of whoever boarded the library sequence to include her discarded shell in the ruins. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life!! There’s lots of neat little moments in the library, like the return of the Pagelings. It’s so cool how every bit of dumb AT lore ends up working it’s way back into the franchise at some point, no matter how insignificant their role is. They’ve gotten a lot more threatening this time around too – assuming there’s no Paper Pete’s among this gangly crew. Also got a kick out of Beth’s interest in transcendental meditation, I would love a “TM for Pups’ merch adaptation in the same vein as the Enchirdion book from years back.

I love the sweet way that Beth goes along with what she believes to be a game that Shermy’s playing, leading to the unveiling of Ancient Artifacts, which has been interpreted more as a fantasy adventure than a guide to the hidden world of magic (more on that later!) We also get another guest artist in the mix, with Louie Zong spearheading the visual design for the Casper and Nova sequences. It’s awesome to have Zong’s presence on the series, his music and art have been hugely inspiring to me for years, so it’s surely a welcomed addition. I love the low-poly designs and animated portions that feel like they were ripped straight from a PS1 cutscene. Casper and Nova appearing very similar to villagers from Animal Crossing was also a lovely touch. It’s pretty apparent off the bat that Casper and Nova are stand-ins for Simon and Betty, but since most of the thematic elements of their story are expanded on in the following episode, I’ll wait to discuss it for next entry.


As for the rest of the episode, there’s a few more moments sprinkled in that I like. Fionna’s interactions with Marshall and Gary are fun – I love her reaction to seeing them hook up, as well as their collective reactions to hating each other in a parallel universe. Seeing genderbent (is this still an acceptable term? It feels somewhat outdated but I have no idea what the general public’s opinion on it is. Or just nerd culture. I’ve never actually heard someone use the phrase ‘genderbent’ in the real world) Tiffany was additionally fun, and I loved Cake morphing into Fionna’s fit of the day. The brief reference to Cheers (the series) was super funny as well – love Norm Peterson’s iconic catchphrase “I’m walkin’ here.” But yeah, pretty much already talked about all the stuff I was actually interested in. A lot of the pacing for Casper & Nova suffers from the same reasons that Cake the Cat did; most of the episode kind of meanders in the F&C world, feeling like their scenes are mostly just there to slowly carry out the story elements that bleed into the next episode. This is complemented by the “track down and capture the mini-Scarab” segments, which feel equally unengaging. The nightmare sequence at the beginning is fine. I like Simon’s contorted body in the fridge towards the end, but AT has had many, many dream sequences up to this point, most that are far more well-executed.

Annnnnnnd, that’s it I think? An episode that’s mostly pretty interesting when it comes to the stuff I’m personally invested in: GOLB, Simon’s story, the Lich, the 1000+ world. Other aspects of it don’t really grab me as much, but I think there’s more than enough to make me still engaged with what’s happening. Some of the best moments of the season are featured here, namely Simon and the Lich’s individual monologues in GOLB world. I’m not gaga over this season of the franchise, but one thing that does elevate it is that there are like, two to three genuinely great moments per episode surrounded by story and character elements that are mostly good-to-decent. That’s pretty much how I feel about the next entry, which is very clearly a glowing endorsement! Kind of.


No specific production tidbit for this one but I implore y’all to check out Louie Zong’s music. The album linked here is one of my favorites from him.

Favorite line: “I know how to read! I have degrees!”