Until
very recently, made-for-TV animated cartoons have been regarded as a somewhat
low-brow form of entertainment for children, with little cinematic value. At
best, it was seen as an industry that could easily target the fragile minds of
youth as suggestible consumers. Things are changing, however. Although
television cartoons have had a longer adolescent period than any of its
targeted viewers, recent shows such as The Ren and Stimpy Show, Samurai
Jack, and Doug have pushed this medium into adulthood, ironic given
the traditional concept of cartoons. Yet, the true irony is that adults have
recently taken up watching television cartoons much in the way they would take
up any adult-targeted show. This phenomenon is a result of the increasing
sophistication of television cartoons, due to known cartoon auteur's concerted
efforts at creating content that has intergenerational appeal across the market.
One show in particular is particularly representative of this phenomenon. Adventure
Time with Finn and Jake (Adventure Time) has raised the standard for
animated television cartoons by allowing the visionary auteur, Pendleton Ward,
to present his style of animation which in turn has motivated a an
intergenerational fan-base, unlike any animated series has done before.
To
fully understand how Adventure Time has created such cult fan-base, it
is necessary to understand Pendleton Ward's style and success as an auteur.
Ward's vision as an auteur can be said to encompass three aspects of his work:
a uniquely dynamic animation style, a 'branded' humor, and sophisticated
narrative structure. To begin, Ward's animation style is quite notably unique
and dynamic; this being obvious the moment one tunes in. Although this may not
be too surprising considering the show’s narrative takes place in a magical
world of talking dogs, magical cosmic beings, and living candy people, but
there is a certain playfulness to the animation that does not follow
traditional techniques. Adventure Time does not strictly adhere to
conventions that it sets for itself either. In one shot, a character may appear
as the viewer always sees him, but in a reverse-shot back to the character, his
body proportion may have dramatically and purposefully shifted. There is a playful
manipulation of the animation style that always keeps the frame 'fresh' and
interesting. To illustrate, look to season 2's “Blood under the Skin.” In the
opening scene, Finn and Jake, the heroic protagonists of the series, are seen
fighting what the audience quickly learns is a small and harmless ladybug in
their home. While Finn is moving the pest outside, he menacingly warns, “Don't
let me every catch you here again!” At this point, Finn's face suddenly morphs
into a angry version of itself with anger lines and dimples that are suddenly
brought into relief. Numerous times throughout the episode, Finn's arms appear
to change length from scene to scene (although he does not have the power to
shape shift like his companion, Jake). However, this low credence to continuous
animation is not disorienting in the slightest.
The
playful dynamism does not stop at the standard 2D animation that Ward typically
applies. He has chosen in two thematic episodes to switch from his signature
2D-style to 3D computer generated imagery (CGI). In season 2's “Guardians of
Sunshine,” Ward blends 2D and 3D worlds by setting the narrative in the
familiar 2D universe and a new 3D universe within a video game the two
protagonists become trapped in. In season 5's “A Glitch is a Glitch,” the
entire Adventure Time universe is computer generated, even the opening
sequence. This continuing dynamic style seems to be quite nearly an authorial
guarantee of a fresh and spontaneous spectacle with every viewing experience.
To
continue, Ward also cultivates a signature humor and silliness that has branded
Adventure Time as a show directed at those who are “just a bit
different,” much in the same way Wes Anderson does with his films. Although it
is hardly the place of scholastic work to inform anyone about how funny a
particular joke is, I will provide an example on what I believe best
illustrates Ward's signature witty humor. In season 2's “To Cut a Woman's
Hair,” Jake is captured by a tree witch and trapped underneath her “bottomless
bottom.” Only by bringing the witch a lock of a princess's hair can Finn save
his dear friend, so he ventures out until he finds the sassy Lumpy Space
Princess asleep near a graveyard, in what appears to a homeless person's
'quarters.' He proceeds to try to cut her nearly microscopic purple hair, only to
have her awaken thinking that Finn was hitting on her in her sleep. She
explains, “I knew you liked me! Just admit it, lover-boy. You can't resist me.
Well if you want these lumps, then you got to put ring on it. Where's my ring?!”
Here, Ward cleverly and quite ridiculously harkens to Beyonce's popular “Single
Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” song in an appeal to the audience's pop cultural
sensibilities. This is likely a far cry from Beyonce's intended interpretation
of her song, but this makes it all the more enjoyable for the audience.
Lastly,
Ward formulates a very intricate and sophisticated style of narrative that
parallels Jeffrey Sconce's definition of
'quality television' in his essay “What If?: Charting Television's New
Textual Boundaries” and pushes the boundaries of age-appropriateness. Very much
like 'quality television,' Ward has constructed a serial narrative with
absolutely no narrative redundancy whatsoever. Many of Adventure Time's animated
peers, such as Spongbob Squarepants, Johnny Test, or Phineas
and Ferb could not boast the same. For example, season 4's “BMO Noire” and
season 5's “Princess Potluck” are two episodes with events that occur
simultaneously in the overall narrative of the show, but these episodes were
'aired out of order.' That is to say, in “BMO Noire,” BMO (Finn and Jake's
living video game console) is left home alone by Finn and Jake to solve the
case of the missing sock. “Princess Potluck” recounts Finn and Jake's adventure
leaving BMO to solve that case and going to a potluck. There is no redundancy
in the narrative to overtly push the fact that these episodes are clearly “occurring”
at the same time within the narrative, only subtle clues that would inform a
consistent viewer that indeed these episodes are connected, despite airing a
season apart. This is merely one example in a vast number of highly developed narratives.
Another element to this is Ward's extensive character development of not only
main characters, but also secondary characters. Extensive character histories
and character relationships are hashed out over seasons. The stand out example
(at least for a consistent viewer) is the relationship development of
Marceline, a mischievous but good-natured rock-and-roll vampire, and the Ice
King, a senile, princess-obsessed ice wizard. At the series onset, these
characters were difficult to conceive as having any sort of tie, at least from
the viewer's perspective, but Ward has developed their relationship by
presenting Marceline and Ice King character-driven episodes that reveal their
past as survivors of a nuclear war. There is clearly a level of sophistication
in the story narrative that is not typical of a children's animated television
show. Although arguably, this is setting a new standard that is actively
competing against this old model of animated cartoons, but more on that later.
These
three elements of Ward's work with Adventure Time certainly do not stop
there; Ward has worked previously as a writer for Cartoon Network's The
Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, a show that expresses some of his
signature humor in small ways. His auteurship is most recognizable in the
projects that he has created beyond the Adventure Time universe, which includes a web series
on Frederator Studies!'s Cartoon Hangover YouTube channel entitled The
Bravest Warriors. This series is classic 'Ward-style' humor, animation, and
narrative construction, which interestingly makes use of the Internet medium
without the burden of Cartoon Network's TV-PG rating.
Because
of this vision as a true auteur, Ward has been able to foster an
intergenerational fan culture that rivals many popular cult series of
yesteryear. This has been made possible in part by the wide-breath of “decoding”
that can be applied to a series simply because of its nature as television show
targeted at children. Adult themes and relationships are suggested throughout Adventure
Time, but Ward has left it largely up to more sophisticated consumers (i.e.
teenagers and adults savvy enough to pick up on such themes) to “poach” the
meaning they desire. For instance, Adventure Time has its own dedicated
wiki page (what does not these days?) equipped with an impressive forum that
people frequent throughout the week. One of the most discussed topics is the
“Mushroom War.” Many fans have tried to make sense of Land of Ooo, the magical
realm in which Finn and Jake's adventure takes place, through perceived clues
throughout the show. Mentioned only in passing in the show itself, fans have
run away with the idea of the “Mushroom War” as a nuclear war that was large
enough to devastate the planet Earth – Land of Ooo may be Earth in an alternate
time line – and transformed its inhabitants and brought magic to the land. It
seems far-fetched to the casual viewer, but the show is riddled with 'clues'
that fans have used to support this theory. For instance, in season 2's “Memory
of a Memory,” Finn and Jake encounter Marceline as a child in one of her
memories. In the memory, she is alone, playing with a stuffed animal while an
entire city is burning in the background with wreckage laying all about. No
explicit acknowledgement of this decimated city is made in the series until
very recently with more explicit references to nuclear radiation-born zombies,
but fans have used this to support not only their argument that a nuclear
holocaust has occurred, but also that there are survivors from it, namely
Marceline and Ice King.
Fans
have gone even further by re-imaging numerous relationships within the show.
Most notably, the slash culture for Adventure Time is particularly
prolific. There is a popular tumblr Adventure Time blog that features
thousands of homemade fan-made costumes, stories, and drawings of imagined
homosexual relationships between characters. Although there is certainly slash
fiction created about Marceline and Princess Bubblegum, Finn's older love
interest, after the premier of season 3's “What Went Missing,” fans positively
ran away with romanticized views of the two characters relationship. Prior to
the episode, Marceline and Princess Bubblegum had never had any sort of
interaction, and it was assumed they were hardly aware of one another. But as
the episode progresses, it is clear that they share a tense relationship,
Marceline even going as far as to mockingly call the princess by her real name,
Bonnibel (it was not known prior to this episode if Princess Bubblegum had a
real name or not). That show has continued to flesh out there relationship
further in episodes like season 5’s 29th episode, “Sky Witch.” Art
work and fan fiction exploded, imagining the two female characters' past
relationship, and imagined it going in a different, more intimate direction as
the show goes on. Of course, this is just one of numerous examples of a
re-imaged Adventure Time universe.
Although
I have presented a bottom-up development of the show, it is extremely important
to point out the responding top-down contribution from the creator himself.
Ward is quite conscious of his intergenerational fan culture and the various
bottom-up fan projects inspired by the show, so he has chosen to engage with
fans in their own process. This is most clearly seen in the two gender-swapped
episodes, starting with season 3's “Fionna and Cake.” The premise of the
episode is that the Ice King, also Finn and Jake's arch-nemesis, has written
fan fiction about Finn and Jake that he 'imagines' as the canonical Land of
Ooo, only with all its characters being of the opposite sex. This episode was
seen largely in response to Adventure Time's surprisingly large female
audience and the fan fiction re-imaginings of universe crossover (e.g. Adventure
Time and Dragonball Z). In addition, Ward has launched a successful
comic series of Adventure Time to allow fans to engage even further with
the series outside of the television show.
Ward
has not stopped there, either. He has been personally involved with Adventure
Time comic creation and oversaw the making of Adventure Time: Hey Ice
King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?!!, Adventure Time's first
full-length game for a gaming console (“GeekDad”, n. pg.). Ward has appeared
with the cast and writers on a dedicated panel at San Diego's comic-con in
2012, before Ward's comic book series of Adventure Time gained real
prominence. Of course, fans of all ages responded accordingly by 'cos-playing'
as their favorite characters for the panel. (Graham, n. pg.)
Adventure
Time, much like Spongebob Squarepants and The Ren and Stimpy Show,
has been able to foster an intergenerational fan culture that has evolved into
a cult series in-the-making; however, Adventure Time differs from these
two due to the Internet as an integral platform for its consumption and
'poaching.' Just as Heather Hendershot argues in her essay, “Nickelodeon's
Nautical Nonsense” in regards to the Spongbob Squarepants series, Adventure
Time has been able to foster an intergenerational fan culture by writing
not only for children but for adults as well(204-5). Unlike children's shows of
the past, Ward has not written a show that he thinks children will enjoy, but
he has written a show that his childish-side would enjoy. This has promoted
both content that is wildly interesting and dynamic that children can certainly
appreciate, but it also contains references that may be more adult in content
that may be “over kids' heads.” Obviously, adults as cartoon consumers is not
something new, but for a children's show to inspire an adult fan base without
relying on nostalgic elements is quite rare.
Furthermore,
Adventure Time has evolved into something of a cult series in-the-making
as a result of auteurial vision, much in the same way that Mark Langer argues
in his essay, “Ren and Stimpy: Fan Culture and Corporate Strategy.” The Ren
and Stimpy Show owes its success in large part to its creator and directive
genius, John Kricfalusi. Kricfalsui was able to create a show driven by an
auteur that pushed for a unique style that transferred into much critical
acclaim. (155, 172-4) Unlike Adventure Time however, Kricfalsui and his
staff could not strike a balance with their corporate parents over content
suitable for children. This often led to the alienation of some audiences over
others. Some episodes were enjoyed fervently by adults, but seen as much to
raunchy for children, while other episodes appealed only to childish
sensibilities. In many ways, The Ren and Stimpy Show was the wild older
sibling of Adventure Time that could not strike a balance between fans
and its corporate managers. Adventure Time has not only struck that
balance but also thrived because of it.
Yet,
Adventure Time transcends Spongbob Squarepants and The Ren and
Stimpy Show, because it has effectively utilized the Internet as a platform
for fan consumption and 'poaching' which ensures its enduring success. In fact,
Adventure Time's pilot episode was leaked on the Internet a year before
debuting on Nickelodeon's Random! Cartoons, a cartoon showcase block,
dedicated to airing various unrelated cartoon shorts over a half-hour time slot.
This leak garnered viral success, which pushed Ward into pitching the short to
Nickelodeon, and then Cartoon Network after Nickelodeon refused to pick up the
series. It has remained close to its roots by maintaining an official YouTube
channel and dedicated Tumblr for fans to be close to the creative action. Ward
was smart to encourage fans to 'poach' his work, which has facilitated a dedicated
and enduring intergenerational fan base that will surely keep the series
running for years to come. In fact, Adventure Time has already been
renewed for a seventh season and mini-series set between seasons 6 and 7,
likely airing in 2016.
Adventure
Time has proven to be a dynamic, visionary effort by auteur Pendleton Ward
and his team, which has fostered an intergenerational fan base that finds its
strength in the dynamic platform of the Internet. Adventure Time's
success with its fan base certainly parallels that of popular network series of
the past, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, Pendleton Ward has
been able to transfer that kind of success to a children's animated television
show, which is quite significant. This will inevitably prove to be the
forerunning model of future television cartoons, which will push the creator as
an auteur in order to promote a wide fan base, mediated by the Internet
platform. This certainly can be seen as boon for future television cartoons,
since this could bring about a revolution in 'quality' cartoon programing
unlike anything seen before. Even now, the shift in animated cartoon quality is
evident, with more and more cartoons adopting a serialized narrative structure.
There have even been strong debuts of animated content created particularly for
adult audiences on YouTube by production companies like Frederator Studios.
This is a time of transition for the animated cartoon medium with advances that
I can only wait to see.
Works Cited
"GeekDad Talks Adventure Time with WayForward
Technologies." Wired.com.
Conde Nast
Digital, 06 Nov.
0012. Web. 01 May 2013.
Graham, Bill. "Comic-Con: ADVENTURE TIME Panel Features Live
Radio Play With Audio; A
Brief Look At New
Flame Princess Episode." Collider.
N.p., 13 July 2012. Web. 01 May
2013.
Hendershot, Heather. "Nicelodeon's Nautical
Nonsense." Nickelodeon Nation:
The History,
Politics, and Economics of America's
Only TV Channel for Kids. Ed. Heather
Hendershot. New
York: New York UP, 2004. 182-208. Print.
Langer, Mark. "Ren & Stimpy: Fan Culture and Corporate
Strategy." Ed. Heather
Hendershot. Nickelodeon Nation: The History, Politics,
and Economics of America's
Only TV Channel for Kids. New York: New
York UP, 2004. 155-81. Print.
Sconce, Jeffrey. "What If?: Charting Television's New Textual
Boundaries." Television after
TV:
Essays on a Medium in Transition. By Lynn
Spigel and Jan Olsson. Durham: Duke UP,
2004. 93-112. Print.
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