There are times when I’m watching cartoons with Josie that there’s a sensation of being jealous of her childhood entertainment. Why? My childhood took place in the ’70s, the heyday of Saturday morning fun with Scooby-Doo, Super Friends and Hong Kong Phooey. Those were classics as far as being a six year old went. But they don’t age well. Sure you can sit down with the DVDs and a bowl of Halloween Cap’n Crunch with green glowing milk and watch animated superheroes rescue folks stranded at sea. But in order to enjoy them, I have to approach them with a six year old mentality. The minute a grown up thought hits, the show falls apart. Who would really want Aquaman on his slow jet ski to rescue them instead of Superman? We can now guess what old man is beneath the rubber mask. They were cartoons aimed at kids. Watching Adventure Time with Josie, I sense that in a decade, she can return to the tales of Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, the Ice King and Marceline the Vampire Queen and get a different understanding of the series. Adventure Time: The Final Seasons brings the series to a close, but the fun is far from over.
The DVD set contains seasons eight, nine and ten which consists of 54 episodes. The DVDs seem to be the best way to watch the show since Cartoon Network didn’t exactly run the show weekly. Perhaps in this era of the DVR, you just have to set the machine to record your favorite show and each day you can check to see if a new episode has been caught. It’s like a lobster trap of entertainment. The tenth season consisted of a handful of episodes run on the same night over four days spread over a year. The final episodes recently ran as a finale episode. We can’t give away too much about the wrap up except to say that it doesn’t hold back. It was better than the final episodes of Seinfeld, Cheers and The Sopranos combined.
There is a sadness that the fun of Finn and Jake have come to an end in this form. But the fact that they made it to 10 seasons and not cut down after it’s pilot is a testimony that there’s still hope for original animation that doesn’t restrict itself to speaking directly to six year olds. This is a show that addressed issues that kids and adults still have. Adventure Time made it so the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo could be enjoyed by anyone who turned on the dial. Ten years from now, loyal viewers and new viewers can enjoy the series and loyal viewers catch things that didn’t make sense as a kid.
Here’s Josie’s review and musical tribute:
The video is 1:78:1 anamorphic. The transfers being out the colorful nature of the characters in their various realities. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. Things found amazingly dynamic during the big finale. The episodes are subtitled in English.
Animatics are provided for 8 episodes so you can get a sense of the process it takes to create the animation.
Song Demos includes the rough mixes of “Flower Song,” “Hot Dog Song,” “Nepir Flame Prap” and “Evolution.”
Character Art Gallery (1:50) are sketches and painting of your pals from the show.
Adventure Time Yearbook (8:34) has people involved with the show and other Cartoon Network series recount their memories. Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe) speaks of her time working on the show before getting her own series.
Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video presents Adventure Time: The Final Seasons. Created by: Pendleton Ward. Starring: Jeremy Shada, John DiMaggio, Hynden Walch, Niki Yang, Tom Kenny & Olivia Olson. Boxset Contents: 54 episodes on 4 DVDs. Released: September 4, 2018.
