

The storyboard guys write all of the dialog along with all of the storyboarding. The show is storyboard-driven which means that there's a writing phase where we put together a three page outline with the two staff writers on the show and then give that outline to the board guys. This is partly due to the fact that each storyboard artist is also writing for the show. It changes over time as the show evolves and as the characters get new quirks. The bible contains character descriptions along with short episode synopses, details on what the land of Ooo is like, etc. I added a couple of new characters – one character was Marceline the Vampire Queen – to make it a little more scary when we needed it. Once it was picked up, I made two versions of the “bible” for the show where I tried to flesh out who the characters were and what they wanted.
#ADVENTURE TIME PILOT SHORT FULL#
A lot of people said it was charming and zany and full of weird ideas. Everyone liked the pilot, but no one understood what made it successful. After a while, we heard that they picked up Adventure Time. During that time I spent a year as a storyboard artist on a show called The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, also for Cartoon Network. We began pitching it to Cartoon Network over the next two to three years because it was sort of in limbo. So what happened after the initial explosion of the seven-minute pilot? that's why he's successful!Īdventure Time original seven minute pilot You have to do that to find interesting projects.

He's one of the smartest executives I've ever met. I think that's one of the coolest things about Fred Seibert and his company. They were open to anyone and I did it and I was straight out of school.
#ADVENTURE TIME PILOT SHORT SERIES#
They did a series called “Random Cartoons” where they would ask people to come in and pitch them ideas whether they had industry experience or not. It was just a boy and his dog living in a magical world where they save a princess – that, and other ideas I thought were funny. I was on vacation with my family and boarded out a story, stream-of-consciousness style. I saw Finn and Jake just sitting there – a kid with a bear hat and his bulldog riding on a boat – and I built the world around them and my initial sketches. At the time, I sketched a lot and was trying to find ideas to pitch. Then, after I graduated, I heard about Frederator doing their pilot program. They didn't buy it or even give me feedback on it. That was the very first incarnation of Adventure Time, that minute-long pitch to a couple of execs. Nickelodeon came to Cal Arts and asked all of the students to pitch one minute long shorts to them, so I tried it out. As soon as they put it on YouTube, it went viral. It was nominated for an Annie Award, but no one had seen it because it hadn’t aired yet. I pitched the Adventure Time pilot to Frederator right after I finished school at Cal Arts. I started making flip books in elementary school and got my bachelor’s degree in character animation. PW: My mom was an artist and she had friends who knew about animation, so I've always been intrigued by animation. This is a silly-smart world punctuated with noodle-armed pounds and a few scares by dint of – what else? – adventure.Ī discussion with Adventure Time creator PENDLETON WARD. The unaffected acoustic theme, which Pen also sings, establishes the fever dream folk tales that follow. Pendleton Ward's cartwheel of an opening sequence to his Adventure Time series sports all the warm fuzzies of a My Little Pony rainbow and Conan the Destroyer's Atlantean Sword.

Fingers crossed.Through wood and wasteland, penguins cuddle at the outset of the wonderful Land of Ooo. That’s not to say we won’t be able to watch it all over again in reruns or on demand. It’s a great way to escape from the politics of the day.Īccording to Deadline, ‘ Adventure Time content will continue to debut on Cartoon Network over the next two years, including specials, miniseries and the ninth and final season.’ One of those shows that has bright colors and fun characters along with smart comedy and biting wit, it will be sorely missed by so many parents just looking for something they can stand. It’s sense of humor is alternately dark and silly.

Today, it was announced that the Peabody and Emmy Award winning Adventure Time will end an 8 year run in 2018.Īdventure Timehas joined many animated series in bridging generations, as kids and adults alike are drawn to the show. If you’re a watcher of Cartoon Network, and I know you are.
