You can also check out Kemonozume, which pits cannibal ogres against the swordsmen who hunt them, a premise that seems run-of-the-mill in terms of anime, but gives me goosebumps knowing Masaaki helmed it James Baxter Episode: “James Baxter the Horse” Literally every frame of that work could be a print of its own, which is arguably true of most of his works. If you dug the freewheeling color and motion of Masaaki’s work, I’d heartily recommend the anime Ping Pong, which he directed himself, and which transforms the little game of balls and paddles into a devastating visual spectacle in a way that only he can. “Food Chain” sits comfortably in that box containing Adventure Time’s stranger, more challenging episodes–reincarnation and the realization of all life as one continuum, vast in scale and beautiful in variegation, is thematically consistent with other episodes like “Astral Plane” and “Puhoy,” which explore a similar sense of the breadth of existence. Masaaki’s freewheeling animation style suited Finn and Jake’s childlike dynamism perfectly the animator’s known for his insane frame angling and movement, which collectively wreak beautiful havoc on your sense of perspective by turning simple character movements into nebulae of blinding motion. “Food Chain” melded exceedingly well with the tone of the series. Enter the Magic Man, who sends them on a hallucinogenic journey spanning lifetimes as they reincarnate and die again and again as different animals in the food chain, from birds to worms to bacteria and on and on, until all tragedies and triumphs become single frames in a never-ending show. “Food Chain” is far and away my favorite of the Adventure Time guest episodes in it, Finn and Jake accompany the Candy Kingdom children to the science museum, where they couldn’t care less about Princess Bubblegum’s lectures about the wonders of the food chain. Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward has long been a fan of the animator’s work, and you can view tons of his mesmerizing shorts over at his Youtube channel, featuring favorites like “House Viewing with Ringo and Paul” and “Funny Fish Finger Friends fall in the pond.” These shorts display his penchant for foregoing standard plotlines entirely, in favor of the strangeness of an alien scenario. “Water Park Prank” is basically a typical day out for David Ferguson, which means you probably know what to expect from Ferguson: wildly inventive animation and absurdist plots.
ADVENTURE TIME EPISODES SERIES
While it didn’t smooth over for the whole fandom, “Water Park Prank” is, without a doubt, unlike anything the series had yet seen. At times the voice actors don’t even sound like themselves as they perform the lines, which shows just how far Ferguson wanted to fall from the apple tree. But to the annoyance of some fans, the episode also didn’t really read like an Adventure Time episode either–it was whimsical as the show had never been before, focusing not on some grandiose meditation, but on pure absurdity for its own sake. The visual style is a much further departure from the usual look than we’re used to, with its highly stylized, paper cut-out design and adventurous transition animations. It isn’t mind-blowing like “Food Chain” or snarky like “A Glitch is a Glitch”–in fact, it doesn’t play like an Adventure Time episode at all, which makes it the most ambitious of the guest episode in a way. Contribution to the series:ĭavid Ferguson’s episode is undoubtedly the strangest of the guest entries so far, but not for the reasons you’d expect.
Afterwards, he’s off to meet Jake at the park, where they spend a lovely day making the Ice King miserable. Along the way, Finn helps Orangutan Princess rid herself of toxic Daddy Sad Heads, that feed off of tears and render their victims helpless with sadness. The latest of the guest-created episodes sees Finn and Jake on a day off at a waterpark, of course converted from an old chemical plant (yikes). David Ferguson Episode – “Water Park Prank” Hence, these episodes are experiments within an already experimental show, and so I wanted to spend more time delving into these creators, who held the series’ reins for a day. It’s definitely a tradition that I’d love to see expanded into the future, as the guest episodes are some of the series’ strangest departures, which is saying a lot as its fanbase knows, Adventure Time continually pushes boundaries in every direction. Last night’s episode of Adventure Time, “Water Park Prank,” marked the fourth guest-animated episode in the series, and continues to push the animated envelope as others did before it.