Adventure Time (franchise)
Adventure Time is an American animated fantasy franchise created by Pendleton Ward, set in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. The franchise originated from a 2007 short produced for Fred Seibert's animation incubator series "Random! Cartoons" at Nickelodeon Animation and aired on Nicktoons. After the short became a viral hit on the Internet, Nickelodeon's executives passed on its option before Cartoon Network commissioned a full-length series from Seibert and Ward, which premiered on Cartoon Network on April 5, 2010, and ended on September 3, 2018. The series drew inspiration from a variety of sources , including the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons" and video games. Alongside the original television series, the characters of the show have been featured in a variety of media, including two spin-offs, comic series, card games and video games. The original series centers on the coming of age of Finn the Human and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake the Doga dog with the magical power to change size and shape at will, as they embark on a series of adventures, interacting with Princess Bubblegum, the Ice King, Marceline the Vampire Queen, BMO, and several others. Different versions  of the characters inhabit other dimensions throughout the show's multiverse and their personal characteristics can vary from one reality to another. The "Adventure Time" franchise has received widespread critical acclaim, winning several awards, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, three Annie Awards, two British Academy Children's Awards, a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award, and a "Kerrang!" Award. The series has also been nominated for three Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Annecy Festival Awards, a TCA Award, and a Sundance Film Festival Award, among others. Of the many comic book series in the franchise, one received an  Eisner Award and two Harvey Awards. Main characters. "Adventure Time" follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human (voiced by Jeremy Shada), and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio), who has magical powers to change shape and size at will. Pendleton Ward, the series' creator, describes Finn as a "fiery little kid with strong morals". Jake, on the other hand, is based on Tripper Harrison, Bill Murray's character in "Meatballs". This means while Jake is somewhat care-free, he will "sit [Finn] down and give him some decent advice if he really  needs it". Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, which was ravaged by a cataclysmic event known as the "Mushroom War", a nuclear war that destroyed civilization a thousand years before the series' events. Throughout the series, Finn and Jake interact with major characters, including Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), the sovereign of the Candy Kingdom and a sentient piece of gum; the Ice King (Tom Kenny), a menacing but largely misunderstood ice wizard; Marceline the Vampire Queen (Olivia Olson), a thousand-year-old vampire and rock music enthusiast; Lumpy Space Princess (Pendleton Ward), a melodramatic and  immature princess made out of "lumps"; BMO (Niki Yang), a sentient video game console-shaped robot that lives with Finn and Jake; and Flame Princess (Jessica DiCicco), a flame elemental and ruler of the Fire Kingdom. Television series. Section::::"Adventure Time" short (2007). The series can trace its origin back to a seven-minute, stand-alone animated short film of the same name (this short would later be identified as the show's pilot "post facto"). Ward created the short almost entirely by himself, and concluded its production in early 2006. It was first broadcast on Nicktoons Network on January 11 , 2007, and was re-broadcast as part of Frederator Studios' anthology show "Random! Cartoons" on December 7, 2008. After its initial release, the video became a viral hit on the Internet. Section::::"Distant Lands" (2020–2021). On October 23, 2019, Cartoon Network announced that four hour-long specials—collectively titled ""—would air on HBO Max. The first two specials were released in 2020, while the third was released on May 20, 2021. The fourth and final episode, "Wizard City", was released on September 2, 2021. The series focuses on new and returning characters in previously unexplored areas of the "Adventure Time" universe . Section::::"Fionna and Cake" (TBA). On August 17, 2021, it was announced that a third series, "", had been ordered by HBO Max. The series follows Finn and Jake's gender-swapped complements, Fionna the Human and Cake the Cat. The series also stars Simon Petrikov, a character who for most of "Adventure Time" had been identified as the Ice King. "Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake" sees the trio travel throughout the multiverse, while also being chased by "a powerful new antagonist" who is "determined to track them down and erase them from existence." Crossovers. Section::::"Adventure Time" crossover with "Futurama". "Leela and  the Genestalk" is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season of the animated television series "Futurama", and the 136th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Comedy Central on August 7, 2013. The episode features a cameo of Finn and Jake, with John DiMaggio (who voices Bender in "Futurama") reprising his role as Jake for the appearance. Section::::"Adventure Time" crossover with "The Simpsons". "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" is the season premiere of the twenty-eighth season of the animated television series "The Simpsons", and the 597th episode of the series overall. It aired in  the United States on Fox on September 25, 2016. The couch gag of "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" is a crossover with "Adventure Time", parodying the series' title sequence, complete with Pendleton Ward himself singing a spoof of the "Adventure Time" theme song. According to Al Jean, the executive producer of "The Simpsons", "[The couch gag] was the brain child of Mike Anderson, our supervising director ... It's a really beautiful, elaborate crossover". Comic series. On November 19, 2011, KaBoom! Studios announced plans for an "Adventure Time" comic book series written by independent web comic creator Ryan North, who wrote the  series "Dinosaur Comics". The series launched on February 8, 2012, with art by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb. In October 2014, it was revealed that North had left the comic series after three years. His duties were assumed by Christopher Hastings, the creator of "The Adventures of Dr. McNinja". This comic book line ended in April 2018 with its seventy-fifth issue, which North returned to co-write. Video games. The series has spawned several major video game releases; various minor video games have also been released. Several, including "Legends of Ooo", "Fionna Fights", "Beemo Adventure Time", and "Ski Safari : Adventure Time", have been released on the iOS App Store. A game titled "Finn & Jake's Quest" was released on April 11, 2014, on Steam. Cartoon Network also released a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game titled "Adventure Time: Battle Party" on Cartoon Network's official site, on June 23, 2014. In April 2015, two downloadable content packs for "LittleBigPlanet 3" on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 were released; one contained "Adventure Time" costumes, while the other contained a level kit with decorations, stickers, music, objects, a background, and a bonus Fionna costume. A virtual reality (VR) game entitled "Adventure  Time: Magic Man's Head Games" was also released to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. A second VR game, entitled "Adventure Time: I See Ooo", was released on September 29, 2016. In that same month, "Adventure Time" characters were added to the "Lego Dimensions" game. Finn and Jake became playable characters in the video game "" which was released for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One on November 8, 2016, and the Nintendo Switch on October 31, 2017. Section::::"Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!" (2012). The first game based on the series, "Adventure  Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!", was announced by Pendleton Ward on his Twitter account in March 2012. The game was developed by WayForward Technologies for Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS, and was released by D3 Publisher on November 20, 2012. Section::::"Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know!" (2013). The second game based on the series, "Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know!", follows Finn and Jake as they strive "to save the Candy Kingdom by exploring the mysterious Secret Royal Dungeon deep below the Land of Ooo", was released  in November 2013. Section::::"Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom" (2014). On November 18, 2014, "Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom" was released for Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Microsoft Windows. In October 2015, the fourth major "Adventure Time" video game, titled "", was released for 3DS, Windows and other consoles. It is the first in the series to feature full 3D graphics. Section::::"Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion" (2018). Another game, "Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion", was released for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One in July 2018. The  game was published by Outright Games, developed by Climax Studios, and features the show's original cast. That game won the award for "Performance in a Comedy, Lead" with John DiMaggio at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, in which Jeremy Shada was also nominated for the same category. Books. "The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia", published on July 22, 2013, was written by comedian Martin Olson, father of Olivia Olson and the voice of recurring character Hunson Abadeer. This was followed by "Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook!!!", which was released on October 6, 2015 . Written by Martin and Olivia Olson, it is presented as a combination of the "Enchiridion" and Marceline's secret diary. An official "Art of ..." book, titled "The Art of Ooo" was published on October 14, 2014. It contains interviews with cast and crew members, and opens with an introduction by film-maker Guillermo del Toro. Two volumes with collections of the show's title cards have also been released, as well as a cookbook with recipes inspired by the show. Section::::"Epic Tales from Adventure Time" (2014–2016). A series of prose novels have been published under the header "Epic Tales from  Adventure Time", which include The Untamed Scoundrel", "Queen of Rogues", "The Lonesome Outlaw", and "The Virtue of Ardor", all of which were written by an author under the pseudonym "T. T. MacDangereuse". Merchandise. Home releases. On September 27, 2011, Cartoon Network released the region 1 DVD "My Two Favorite People", which features a selection of twelve episodes from the series' first two seasons. Following this, several other region-1 compilation DVDs have been released, including: "It Came from the Nightosphere" (2012), "Jake vs. Me-Mow" (2012), "Fionna and Cake" (2013), "Jake the Dad" (2013), "The Suitor" (2014), "Princess Day" (2014), "Adventure  Time and Friends" (2014), "Finn the Human" (2014), "Frost & Fire" (2015), "The Enchiridion" (2015), "Stakes" (2016), "Card Wars" (2016), and "Islands" (2017). All of the seasons have been released on DVD, and the first six have been released domestically on Blu-ray. A box set containing the entire series was released on DVD on April 30, 2019. On March 30, 2013, the first season of "Adventure Time" was made available on the Netflix Instant Watch service for online streaming; the second season was made available on March 30, 2014. Both seasons were removed from Netflix on March 30, 2015. The  series was made available for streaming via Hulu on May 1, 2015. While in the United States, HBO Max becomes the primary platform to watch "", there are debuts of "BMO," the first special of the spin-off series, in different countries and regions in respective Cartoon Network channels worldwide, on different dates mainly in 2020; such as October 24 (Turkey), October 25 (France), November 21 (the United Kingdom), December 12 (Germany, Australia, and Taiwan), and December 27 (Russia). In South Korea, the debut was on January 1, 2021. Board and card games. A variety of officially licensed merchandiseincluding action figures , role-playing toys, bedding, dishware, and various other productshave been released. Since the dramatic increase in popularity of the series, many graphic T-shirts have been officially licensed through popular clothing retailers. Pendleton Ward hosted T-shirt designing contests on the websites of both We Love Fine and Threadless. Other shirts can be purchased directly from Cartoon Network's store. A collectible card game called "Card Wars", inspired by the fourth-season episode of the same name, has been released. Lego. On March 11, 2016, it was announced by Lego via Lego Ideas that an official "Adventure Time" Lego set  from an idea by site user, aBetterMonkey, had met voting qualifications and was approved to be produced in cooperation with Cartoon Network. The set was released in January 2017. Other. On July 21, 2013, Taiwan High Speed Rail and the Taiwan branch of Cartoon Network worked together on a project called "Cartoon Express" (Chinese: 歡樂卡通列車). The entire train was covered with characters from various Cartoon Network shows (including "The Amazing World of Gumball", "The Powerpuff Girls", "Ben 10", and "Regular Show"), and the two sides of the train is painted with Finn and Jake respectively. Throughout the project, there were  over 1,400 runs of the train and over 1.3 million of passengers were transported. Near the end, the Taiwan High Speed Rail also sold postcard as souvenirs for sale since August 23, 2014, and the project eventually ended on September 9, 2014. In addition, Cartoon Network established a waterpark named Cartoon Network Amazone in Chonburi, Thailand; it opened on October 3, 2014. Promoting the waterpark, Thai Smile painted Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline on the planes. Many official or unofficial "Adventure Time" books such as episode guides have been published.