Setting The Story - #0.5
If I was trying to be telling a faithful recap of what happened in the show up to the spin off series, I probably should rewatch the entire series from the start and up to this point. However, I will be taking some creative freedom. Perhaps ShrimpTown ™️ might not be as scientific as it might have first appeared. What I will do is recount important events from memory and occasionally use wiki and the trusty AdventureTime Reviewed blog, the blog which have been my inspiration to start all of this (proofreading Shrimp here: none of the above mentioned sources have been used).
The way the show starts, it is not trying hard to be complex or deep. The first season, which is quite different from the pilot AT episode, throws you into this nonsensical world. It does not try to explain why there is a kingdom which is completely made up of types of candy, or why some animals are sentient while others are not. It is a children's show, so the morals of the episodes are actually quite simple and straightforward. Be honest, have good intentions, don't judge people based on their looks, don't be quick to make assumptions, helping people is good, and harming them is bad.
Since it is also a young teenager show, they had to shove the 'I hate my dad' and the 'I never get along with my parents' motif into every crevice of the show. Almost every single father in the show, be him biological or spiritual, is a conventionally bad parent. Turns out Fin, the human, is not actually the offspring of two yellow talking dogs, instead he is of two human beings! Spoilers! His dad just simply leaves him because he is incredibly incompetent and selfish. Meanwhile, his mother is too important, to the point she is too busy to take care of him. Several characters' whole personalities revolve around "screw you mom and dad, you can't tell me what to do!". Space Princess has parents issues, Vampire Princess hates her dad, Flames Princess's dad had her locked up, and Fin hates his dad, the list goes on.
A big part of the show's world building feels rather accidental. Perhaps the writers needed to quickly create a cartoonish villain, or a comic relief character, who later got their own dedicated episodes and sagas. Sometimes a quick joke, or a way to wrap up a 20 mins episode becomes a central plot point a few seasons later. Not to mention, there have been numerous animators, producers and writers for the show over its many years, many of whom I am sceptical of their sobriety. No doubt different people who worked on it had different ideas for the show. I can go check which author wrote which character and who expanded on it, but currently it is out of this blog's budget.
Alright, now I will have to speak of the infamous Ice King in detail, because he is a central character in the original and the spin-off. Ice King is a cartoonish villain in every sense of the word. He is egocentric, cold (pun intended) and indifferent to harm he brings to the world around him, especially to his penguin servants. He really is not a complex character, all he desires is for princess bubble gum to be in love with him. In fact, he wants any princess to be in love with him, if not any person at all, and his idea to get others to like him is by.. kidnapping them until they like him back. Wow, I forgot this was a children's show.
However, as the plot progresses, the character becomes more deep. Turns out Ice King is not a heartless beast, he is also a talented musician, he sings well, is a good songwriter, and is good with the drums. Later, we find that he is indeed capable of holding emotions, showing love and affection to his first penguin servant, Gunther.
Not long afterwards, we learn that the Ice King is only the terrible person he is because he was bewitched by ancient magic from his crown, turning him from a normal dude into the psychopath he became.
Simon, Simon Petrikov is Ice Kings real name (last name is an archaeology pun), turns out was an archaeologist in the ancient year of 2010, then he found an artefact that made him the Ice King, and granted him immortality. All of these events coincided with the global nuclear war, which wiped the earth clean of man's sins, and magic returning to the world.. and with Simon losing his beloved fiancee in the war. :(
I bet you feel terrible now.. you were too quickly to judge princess-kidnaping Ice King. Turns out he is just a 900-year-old traumatised academic, living in a world that is not his. You should feel terrible, Mr. book-covers-judger. Anyhow, people not liking you back causing you to become insane, resulting in you being obsessed with your profession? Now that sounds much more relatable than kidnapping your to-be lovers.
Oh yeah, fiona and cake. Remember how the original is called Fin and Jack? In one inconsequential episode, we have Ice King writing a fan fiction of the two characters foiling his kidnapping plans. So .. he turns them into creating an alternative university with everyone gender-swapped, including himself. Fiona is just Ice King coming with a female version for the name Fin.
When I saw this episode, I thought it was the makers of the show poking fun at obsessive fans writing ridiculous fanfictions. With Ice King being the bad example for us children watching the show, the message was obvious "don't kidnap women you like, and don't abuse those weaker than you, and don't write creepy fanfictions, don't be a creep like Ice King".
Original Adventure Time ends with Ice King Aka Simon breaking free from the Crown's making, and returning to his pre-war self, with his memories returning to him. Poor poor Simon.
Fiona and Cake. Turns out a Godlike being quite liked Ice King's fanfiction, and turned into a real universe by accident.
In this modern day and age, a profitable recognizable show cannot gracefully die, Cartoon Network was not done milking the franchise.
Fiona and Cake unfortunately is "fan service" central. Is there a character you wished had more screen time? you are in luck, because they are going to indirectly shove them into your face. What if fin was a girl, and he fell in love with every side character. Feel free to disagree with me, but I feel that what they have done there feels very corporate. I am all for getting more of my favorite character, but I think there is a way to do it with grace.
Next entry will be more interesting with 85% more funny jokes so you can't stop reading now.
Oct 6st- Nov 13th