Courtesy of www.saywhatonline.org
ADVENTURE TIME: The highly acclaimed cartoon is back for a fifth season and it’s wackier than ever.
By Stephen Park, Staff Writer
8 December 2012
After starting off as a digital short for Nickelodeon, Adventure Time has recently rocketed itself to critical acclaim. Since its release in 2010, Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time has established itself as a cult phenomenon and Cartoon Network’s primetime staple. Adventure Time has generated an endless amount of merchandise, become a hit sensation in the “blogosphere” and even received a shout-out in the acclaimed rapper Tyler, The Creator’s song “Yonkers.”
The now two-time Emmy-nominated Adventure Time scores relatively high marks for its original storytelling, artwork and music. But the thing that makes Adventure Time so unique is its ingenious formula: good storytelling mixed in with lovable characters and filled with a plethora of weird moments and fun tunes. It is not a story of valor, vengeance or rivalry, but the journey of two best friends, Finn (a gung-ho, off-the-wall, 13-year old boy) and Jake (a magical shape-shifting canine), as they embark on adventures in the princess-filled Land of Ooo and carry out various good deeds. Another thing it does right is its vocal casting. Jeremy Shada (Finn) and John DiMaggio (Jake) are inspiring; each actor employs a vocal performance as elastic as his character’s personality. But that can be said for all of the characters in Adventure Time, as each of them are remarkably original in both design and execution without being overzealous. The voice acting finds balance in the adorable, energetic Land of Ooo, ultimately contributing to the symphony of cartoon-making that is Adventure Time. This neatly packed 11-minute spectacle of awesomeness is now back in its fifth season, and it’s better than ever.
The charming notion about Ward’s creation is that it never takes itself too seriously and never tries too hard to attract attention. In season 5, every episode exhibits the formula of weirdness viewers have grown to love. It’s unpredictable without being random, and rarely relies on gross-out humor or mindless violence, making each episode a stand-alone hit. For example, in the 30-minute season opener, “Finn the Human,” the entire joke is that Finn becomes a real human. His eyes become realistic, a nose is formed and Jake is no longer a magical talking dog but a simple house pet after they are removed from the mystical Land of Ooo. Yet, the episode stays fresh with the addition of intergalactic cosmic beings, hellish consequences, forceful integration into life on Earth and nuclear destruction, which occurs while the real Jake watches his best friend from an alternate reality somewhere deep in space.
While the previous season depended upon heavy emotional substance, dealing with themes such as love, jealousy and justice, Season 5 plays mainly on the quirkiness of the show, which isn’t a bad thing. Adventure Time is a show meant to be silly and catastrophic, not pull on the heartstrings of its viewers. In contrast to Season 4’s heartwarming moments with Finn’s girlfriend (a hot-headed princess), Marceline (a vampire bassist) and the Ice King (a highly misunderstood doofus), Season 5 deals with escaping a giant tree filled with a cult of woodland creatures and a giant space worm who talks with the crowd and helps them understand the theme of the episode. From the criminally catchy theme song to the rolling credits, Adventure Time will always leave the viewer clamoring for more. Whereas some of the previous seasons have left me with a few minor complaints, Season 5 has delivered a perfect line-up of satirical happiness. The series is at an all-time high, delivering a joyous quarter hour each week that whisks viewers away past countless boundaries of reality and into a universe worth remembering.