If you were late with your previous entries, exceptionally quiet in class or feel you need extra credit for whatever reason, comment on any (or all) of the numbered blog entries (LBGTQIA+ YA, Hayao Miyazaki, Adventure Time.) The more you do, the more extra credit you accrue.
Post ONE reaction ( minimum 250 words) to the combined reading (and listening) linked. Students are encouraged (but not required) to additionally respond to other student reactions.
"Castles in the Air: The gorgeous existential funk of Adventure Time." By Emily Nussbaum
"An 'Adventure' For Kids And Maybe For Their Parents, Too: An NPR Interview w. Lev Grossman"
"An ode to Adventure Time, one of TV’s most ambitious — and, yes, most adventurous — shows." By Dan Schindel
4 comments:
Gravity Falls is one of the most impressive and well-made pieces of media for the MG/YA demographic I have ever consumed. Not only is the humor and entertainment factor there, but a significant amount of thought was put into the lore/backstory for the town of Gravity Falls and the show's main cast of characters.
Many others have shared this opinion--that Gravity Falls is in a league of its own when it comes to recent Disney cartoons, and I believe this excellent writing/worldbuilding accounts for a large amount of it. When it is finally revealed that the town of Gravity Falls is an alien crash site, and that is why there is a UFO shaped crater in the center of it, all of the other anomalies begin to make some sense.
In terms of characters, they are all wonderfully developed as the series progresses. My personal favorite is Pacifica Northwest, because she starts as a rich, snobby character but grows as she encounters the town's weirdness. I enjoy how her snarky exterior was maintained through the end of the series, but still she learned the error of her previous ways as well. Grunkle Stan too remains a cranky old cheapskate, but his heart is revealed toward the end of the final season, making him another favorite of mine.
I think this show is an example of what can happen when creators truly care about their art. The show's maker, Alex Hirsch, was offered to make a third season but turned it down, as he felt he had done the story he was trying to tell justice. He has also released official books (such as the journal featured throughout the show, comics, and a book about Bill Cipher, the show's main antagonist). His love for art and storytelling is obvious throughout the show, and that is why so many, myself included, love it!
^^By the way this is Destroyer of Worlds
I happened to come out when Adventure time was nearing its end. As such, people always assumed I picked my new name from the show, even though I didn’t even watch it outside of compilations on YouTube compiling all of Marceline’s moments together. But I started watching it with my family, and I was missing out as a kid.
Like the New York Times article discusses, it looks like every other kids cartoon on the surface, complete with fart jokes and action scenes. The first couple of seasons are almost completely episodic, where each episode barely relates to the other. You can pretty much watch them in any order and not lose much context. But as it goes on, more details start connecting, more episodes start relating to one another. You see the post-apocalyptic world as, well, post-apocalyptic, complete with a nuclear war that wiped out most of humanity. The stakes start getting higher too.
I think everyone who’s watched Adventure Time remembers the Lich and their monologue in Season 6 Episode 2. It's such a threatening scene, seeing the character Billy have flesh fall from his face to reveal the Lich’s skull underneath before he commands Finn to simply “fall.” If you removed the monologue from its context, you’d never assume it came from a kids show. And yet the fact that it is makes it so much better, in my opinion
I'm so glad that Adventure Time has continued through its movies, spinoff Fiona and Cake series, and more. There was even a Kickstarter to make it into an officially licensed TTRPG like Dungeons and Dragons (which I proudly backed and plan to run a game with for my family). It absolutely deserves all the praise its gotten and more.
I wanted very badly to not like Adventure Time when it was coming out. I was going through a phase when the show was first coming out where I thought I was too grown up for childish animations. I belittled the art style of shows like Adventure Time and Teen Titans GO! as being for little babies. I thought that anything that didn't look mature or realistic wasn't worth my time. I'm glad to say that I gave it a shot and came to absolutely love the show. I first got sucked into the show through the Fire Princess storyline and since then I've just never looked back. I'm thankful that Adventure Time just happened to be playing when I got back from school and that I didn't have a smart phone or anything better to be doing at that time. As a result, I learned that we didn't have to leave behind familiar and things that we love behind us as we mature. In the show, I saw and recognized themes that resonated with me. Themes about existence, heartbreak, identity, and the strange process of growing up. The world of Adventure Time is without a doubt absurd, weird, and trippy, but I've yet to see a more real cartoon if that makes sense. The show felt honest in a way that few others felt to me at that time. The words "Gorgeous Existential Funk" are a very fitting description for this show. I'm very glad that I decided to give this show a chance when I was younger.
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