4 - The Dark Past

     You should probably know by now that Adventure Time is also known for having a "dark past". Its setting is in a post-apocalyptic world where most of the inhabitants of the Land of Ooo are mutants, like the candy people of the Candy Kingdom, the different princesses, the talking animals in the forest, etc. However, despite this fact, the writers of the T.V. show are still able to make everything in it joyful, playful and almost child-friendly. Could this type of sugar-coating be another reason why adult viewers find the show so interesting?

     In my research, I came across an article called ‘Adventure Time’: Post-apocalyptic ‘candyland’ attracts adult fans which was written by Noelene Clark. It talks about how the show began, how the writers were able to come up with the ideas and such, and of course about how the show's past attracts adult viewers. Here's a quote from the said article,

“I think that’s what makes the show interesting, if anything,” Ward said. “It’s candyland on the surface and dark underneath, and that’s why it’s compelling, I think, if at all. Those are my favorite kind of emotions — the ones that conflict with each other, and they feel weird inside of you.”

 So, that's probably why the show has a dark past, and the fact that this kind of idea is actually so compelling is a great one actually. A lot of people would always expect something post-apocalyptic to be so sad and hopeless, but with Adventure Time, it actually gives us a whole new perspective of the subject. Making us rethink that sort of idea. So the whole thing isn't really something of what we expect. We might see Finn and Jake exploring the depths of the ocean using a submarine and notice that there are destroyed buildings, cars and streets at its bottom, but they would still be having fun doing their own business, and that only arouses more interest in the viewers since, naturally we would want to know more. But as Ward has stated, they won't dwell too much in the show's past since it would be too depressing.

     If you think about it, being in a post-apocalyptic world is not really something that most children would be able to understand. However, the writers of the show don't really focus on writing for the children or adults. Most of the time, they just write what they think would be funny or what they like to write. I found this article entitled, Inside the Fun Factory: An Elucidating Discussion with Pendleton Ward, the Creator of Adventure Time which was written by Max Eddy, wherein Ward says that, 

“I think we just write to make ourselves laugh,” he said. “We just write for ourselves. We try to crack each other up, that’s what we do. We don’t sit down and try to tailor jokes for kids or for adults. We just write stuff that we think is funny and hope everyone else thinks it’s funny.”

This is probably the reason why some jokes would be questionable if it were for children or not, but, then again, this is probably why adults like watching it too. Besides having to be child-friendly, the show practically has no restrictions. Now that we know that it has a dark past, it is up to the writers on how they wish to show some moments that would show significance while still being able to please the kids. One good example for this technique would be the episode I Remember You. The episode focused more on Marceline, the Vampire Queen who was abandoned as a child, and the Ice King who used to be called Simon Petrikov but due to his crown's powers of the ice (the one that he's wearing now) it drove him insane making him lose his memories of being human. It showed us what happened between the two characters' past but it also did not tell us a lot about that topic. It was like a quick flashback explaining how Marceline met the Ice King and how precious her stuffed toy really was to her (since it was given to her by the Ice King when he found her wandering alone). So, by doing this, it made the viewers, both young and old, feel compelled to learn more. I mean, that one episode raised so much questions. Leaving them all unanswered would be a shame. So showing more episodes that dip into some times in the show's past is another great way for the writers to interest more viewers. It kind of acts like a reserve tank wherein, if ever the writers do run out of ideas, they could always try making episodes that involve things from the past.

     So, to sum it all up, a children's show that has a dark past but is still able to be joyful and fun can actually attract a lot of adult viewers. Especially since, it is accompanied by writers who write about anything they can come up with, as along as they find it humorous.