This article is about the animated series. You may be looking for the comic, the animated short or a similarly named song.

Adventure Time (formerly known as Adventure Time with Finn and Jake) was an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and produced by Frederator Studios. The show was based on an original animated short titled "Adventure Time," which aired on Frederator's Random! Cartoons show and won an Annie Award for the Best Animated Short Subject of 2009.

The series is about a boy named Finn and his magical shape-shifting dog named Jake, who encounter many strange adventures in the Land of Ooo. In 2010, Cartoon Network picked up the series and it premiered with "sneak peeks" on March 11th and 18th of 2010, followed by the official series premiere on April 5, 2010.

This series is rated TV-PG, with a few re-rated episodes. The series' last episode was aired on September 3, 2018, concluding Adventure Time with a total of 9 seasons and 283 episodes.

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History

Original pitch

According to a Frederator blog post, Adventure Time was first pitched as a series to Nicktoons Network, which airs most of Frederator, but they passed on it twice.

Pendleton Ward (with help from Patrick McHale and Adam Muto) then pitched the show to Cartoon Network with an early storyboard for "The Enchiridion!," showing that the premise could be expanded from a seven minute short into a full series while maintaining the elements that made it successful: funny catchphrases and dances, an awkward kiss moment with the princess, and an "Abe Lincoln moment." (Enchiridion storyboard 1.0) Cartoon Network green-lit the first season in September 2008, aiming to premiere it by Christmas 2009, although this was later pushed to 2010. "The Enchiridion!" would become the first produced episode, but "Slumber Party Panic," which was aired on April 5, 2010, is considered the first episode.[1][2]

Development of world and style

Series creator Pendleton Ward has stated that the artistic style is influenced by his time at CalArts and later working as a storyboard artist on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. He tries to include "beautiful" moments like those in Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. Then he tried some subversive humor, inspired by series like The Simpsons and Pee-wee's Playhouse.[3] Executive producer Fred Seibert compares the show's animation style to that of Felix the Cat and the Max Fleischer cartoons but says its world is also equally inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and video games.[4] Ward intends the show's world to have a certain physical logic instead of "cartoony slapstick"—even though magic exists in the story, the show's writers try to create an internal consistency in how the characters interact with the world.[3][4]

Development of characters

Ward describes the character Finn as a "fiery little kid" with strong morals, while Jake is based on Bill Murray's character from the movie Meatballs, as a laid-back man in his twenties who usually jokes around but occasionally gives good advice.[3]

Episodes

Main article: List of episodes

Season one of the series ran from April 5, 2010, through September 27, 2010. After the premiere episode drew strong TV ratings, earning the number one spot in many kids' demographics, Cartoon Network renewed the show for a second season of 13 half-hours (26 episodes).[5]

It was renewed for a third season of 26 episodes,[6] a fourth season of 26 episodes, a fifth season of 52 episodes, a sixth season of 43 episodes, and a seventh season of 39 episodes.

It was later renewed for an eighth season of 28 episodes. In 2016, the series was also renewed for a ninth season of 16 episodes. Later that year it was revealed that the ninth season would be the series' last, concluding in 2018.

Season two ran from October 11, 2010, through May 9, 2011; Season three from July 11, 2011, through February 13, 2012; Season four from April 2, 2012, through October 22, 2012; Season five from November 12, 2012, through March 17, 2014; Season six from April 21, 2014, through June 5, 2015; Season seven from November 2, 2015, through November 19, 2016; and Season eight from January 23, 2017, through July 21, 2017.

The series was renewed for the ninth and final season. In addition, a separate bonus episode, "Diamonds and Lemons," a crossover with the Mojang game Minecraft was announced, which aired on July 20, 2018. Season 9 began airing on September 17, 2017. The series finale, titled "Come Along With Me," aired on September 3, 2018, concluding Adventure Time with 9 seasons and 283 episodes.

Characters

Film

Main article: Untitled Adventure Time movie

On February 27, 2015, it was announced that there will be an Adventure Time animated feature being developed at Warner Bros. and Frederator Studios. Cartoon Network Studios will also be involved with production. Chris McKay (an executive producer for The Lego Movie and director for The Lego Batman Movie as well as the genius behind Robot Chicken) and Roy Lee (producer of The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie) will be producing this film. Creator Pendleton Ward will have some involvement in writing and producing. The film does not currently hold a title or release date. On July 22, 2018, Adam Muto noted that "an [Adventure Time] movie was never officially announced."

Trivia

Voice actors of main/recurring characters

Gallery

See also

Further readings