| | Adventure Time - 1st Season
by Pendelton Ward and Crew - 2009
"Childhood in a Can"!
Among the dubious widespread
entertainment shows
lies a pearl kept from our reach
by the meanest monster there is:
our prejudice. [Adults are too selective]
The 'pearl like' value
of this cartoon is defined by it´s
singular mentality.
Adventure Time
is alive in itself, it´s not
dependent on
a big scheme of events
or common goal.
In fact Pendelton Ward,
the creator of the show,
said it all by stating that the only
real thing on the show
is Finn the human
and Jake the dog, thus
while the universe
runs wild around them,
they are the only constant.
Based on Ward´s early exposition
to narrative games (RPG´s
such as Dungeons and Dragons) the show is
as unexpected and fascinating
as such ones. Nothing is really
lasting, all is a test either to
our heroes´ worthiness and strengths
or to our ability to react
quick enough to the overwhelming
mixture of emotions bombed on
the screen in divers
shapes and words.
However organized and single-minded
the team [the guys behind the curtains] may be;
having more than 3 writers
does change things a bit,
and thou the rhythm and
the 'cleverness' are
kept untouched,
the poetry decays
as the writers switch.
Ward is in deed the big mind behind the concepts,
we can taste a certain longing
(for something great and left behind) mixed
with excitement (over a even
greater future) in the episodes signed by him
[impressions that are not necessarily imprinted in other episodes],
that´s truly the essence
of this show:
a parachuting experience
into the heart of childhood
without a slight childish
downside.
Adventure Time is [proudly] labeled
as a kid´s show but it´s plots
are as universal as
any heartache or happiness.
It isn´t about adapting adult´s conflicts
into a child´s perspective, nor it is about
showing adults that kids are smarter than
they often give´em credit for,
But it is about human conflicts,
despite age or gender,
Universal then.
Innovating on it´s casual approach
of the dialogues and in it´s
fast editing of scenes,
[in part due to the 11 minute limit
duration of each episode, but majorly as
a careful analysis of the
language of cinema as a whole,
Coupling The logic of raccords*
with RPG´s narrative freedom,
plus, off course,
straight up boldness.
The result is a daydream like experience
of which one can´t instantaneously digest,
It takes some 'pauses'
to really figure out all the
cleverness, the jokes (Said or Shown)
the teaching analogies [parables]
In sum, there´s no prediction from our part
nor is there any cheesiness .
Without hours, without parents, without reality,
total freedom,
filled with intertextuality;
it lectures
without being moralist,
explains
without being sure,
is deep
without being it,
but overall Adventure Time
is just a story of a boy and a dog.
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