Cartoon Network has had no shortage of iconic and unforgettable animated shows in its nearly 30-year history. Anyone who grew up with optics glued to their television can wax cornball for hours about the vast catalog, all having their own personal favorite pick of cartoon comfort viewing.

1 show, still, happened to come up by at quite the experimental period for the network, which at the time was unsuccessfully flirting with the idea of hosting live-activity programming on its traditionally animation-just channel. The failure of the CN Existent cake sent stupor waves through the network, leading it into what many longtime viewers accept labeled as "the dark age" for the channel. With ratings at an all-time low, there was no better time for a fresh new thought to take Cartoon Network (and later the animation medium) by tempest. Luckily for viewers and network executives akin, Adventure Time arrived to practise simply that.

Wrong Place, Right Time

Simultaneously, the presently-to-be award-winning animated powerhouse was besides having problem finding a identify to stretch its legs and phone call home. Creator Pendleton Ward first pitched the idea for his cartoon to the rival animation network Nickelodeon, producing a short in 2007 for Fred Seibert's animation highlight series Random! Cartoons. The five-minute short demonstrated the main concept of the prove-- best friends Finn the Human and Jake the Dog living in the mythical Land of Ooo, seeking out hazard while befriending and/or fighting a collection of colorful and distinctively weird inhabitants.

The tone and dialogue of the short were conceptualized by Ward and his team to be playfully casual, with characters speaking to one another in lax and comfortable tones, often times making up goofy expressions or catchphrases to trade dorsum and forth. While going viral online, Gamble Fourth dimension's pilot didn't impress Nickelodeon executives, and the attempt for a serial bargain was promptly shut down. Across the swimming, Cartoon Network caught wind of the oddball brusk making the rounds on the internet, and being in no position to pass up a potential success, jumped right in to offer both Ward and Seibert committee for a full-length serial.

Growing With an Audience

Equipped with new voice actors, a vibrant fine art style, and varied supporting cast, Take a chance Fourth dimension premiered its first flavour in April 2010 to widespread praise. Carrying over the general plot, tone and characters from the pilot, the show began as an episodic comedy with original and imaginative plot lines for each episode. Ward and Seibert's cosmos immediately fostered an audience of non merely the younger child demographic it initially aimed for, but young adults and teenagers also, so much so that later seasons began gradually using more mature storylines and themes.

Simon comforts Marceline
Warner Bros. Television receiver Distribution

Information technology became clear as time went on that the showrunners had something more in mind after the charmingly juvenile stories of the outset season. As the cartoon grew older, so too did its audience, and episodes slowly worked in more emotionally complex and grapheme-driven plots, ones that would span multiple episodes rather than being self-contained. More focus was put on backstory, earth building, and grapheme development all while maintaining the same distinct style of informal dialogue and light-heartedness that fans found comfort and familiarity in.

It wasn't commonplace at the time for a evidence generally seen for kids to challenge its viewers with storylines that could incorporate dark themes and narratives, and to not always be going for a laugh. However, episodes that highlight characters' mental struggles oftentimes came out equally the most poignant and beloved of the series. Pioneering how animated television can handle taking near real-life bug, the squad backside Run a risk Time never shied away from impactful and heavy subjects, in some tear-jerking cases drawing parallels to the harsh reality of dealing with disorders and diseases such as PTSD and dementia. The show also received heavy praise for beingness one of the first cartoons to bravely feature LGBTQ+ representation, with characters of the same sex activity having complex and heartfelt romantic relationships, during a time when the concept was deemed controversial for children'southward entertainment.

An Imitable Style

The 2010s were ripe with new ideas and creative concepts for the world of animation, some pushing boundaries not yet attempted by the network, though in many cases had Run a risk Time'due south influence to thank. The show acted every bit an incubator not only for budding talent, just for a visual mode that would be mirrored in similar shows of the era. Whether they be lovingly crafted original concepts with minor inspiration, or unfortunate failures that missed the mark on what fabricated the manner special, many subsequent shows revealed the undeniable footprint Adventure Fourth dimension left on the manufacture, and Cartoon Network was all the richer for it.

thundercats roar cast
Warner Bros. Tv set Distribution

The art manner presented in the show, with flat-nonetheless-vibrant colors and simple character features, ushered in an era of very similarly-styled cartoons that, while sometimes being subtle with their inspiration, could other times be a drab and ill-conceived faux. With what could sometimes exist scornfully referred to every bit the "Cal-Arts" art style (a autograph referring to the California Institute for the Arts), Gamble Time was one of the first cartoons to use the unique look for its characters, and while some accept garnered a distaste for the overuse of the fashion, nigh can concur on where its origins took place.

From Writers to Testify Runners

The minds at work backside the drawing juggernaut were an assembly of unmatched talent and potential, many going on to not only piece of work equally staff members on other animation projects, merely to create and head their own successes on the network. A handful of hit shows spawned from those who established a proper noun for themselves behind the scenes after demonstrating their talents on Run a risk Time, and subsequently getting their own pilots green lit for full series deals.

Ane of the prime examples of success stories to come from 1-time staff members would exist that of Rebecca Saccharide, creator of the groundbreaking Drawing Network show Steven Universe. Sugar worked as story author, storyboard creative person, and songwriter while with Adventure Fourth dimension, being nominated for numerous awards for her contributions. Being responsible for several of the shows most iconic and emotionally rich episodes, as well as popular songs, it was a no-brainer for the aqueduct to pick upwardly Sugar'south airplane pilot for her own full cartoon serial, premiering in 2013 and becoming a massive hit.

Steven Universe team
Warner Bros. Goggle box Distribution

Rebecca Sugar's husband and long-time collaborator Ian Jones-Quartey besides worked as a storyboard supervisor and revisionist for Adventure Time before pitching his own pilot to the network. While working alongside his spouse on Steven Universe, Jones-Quartey created a brusk named Lakewood Plaza Turbo that aired on Drawing Network in 2013. The short was retooled as a mobile phone game earlier finally receiving its own serial in 2017, with the new championship OK Thousand.O! Let'southward Be Heroes.

Distant Lands and Beyond

The groundbreaking animated show lasted an impressive 10 seasons, with 283 episodes produced for its main incarnation. A few years after the finale, a four-part epilogue series titled Adventure Time: Distant Lands was produced, serving as the last send-off to the characters and the earth conceptualized past Pendleton Ward about xv years prior. A new spin-off prove based around gender-bent versions of the characters (featured in several episodes of the main serial) titled Run a risk Time: Fionna and Cake is also in the works at HBO Max, slated for a ten-episode run.

Finn and Jake hug
Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Though audiences may accept gone on their last adventure with Finn and Jake, the globe of animation will never be the aforementioned after the boundary-breaking bear on that the series had. Through some class or another, countless blithe projects to this 24-hour interval have the show to give thanks for providing a template on how to display emotionally and mentally mature themes for young audiences. Beingness responsible for kicking-starting influential careers, iconic art styles and a timeless formula, there may never exist another show quite similar Adventure Time , though many will endeavour for years to come up.

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