Original Airdate: November 8, 2010
Written & Storyboarded by: Ako Castuera & Tom Herpich
Storytelling isn’t a personal favorite of mine, but it’s one of the sweetest Adventure Time episodes to date. It shows just how far Finn will go for his best friend, even beyond his heroic instincts. In a way, it shows Finn in his most destructive side, but also his most compassionate.
So far, we’ve only ever gotten to see Jake as a caretaker for Finn, so the dynamic switch in this one is rewarding. As for dynamic changes, this is also a big switch from the traditional “cartoon fairytale episode” that shows like Ren & Stimpy, Animaniacs, and even Samurai Jack have tackled. While these shows did fairytale renditions especially well, AT continues to avert being a carbon copy and stick to being as original and creative as possible.
The episode’s humor is mostly carried by the colorful animal characters of the forest. A personal favorite of mine being Mr. Fox, whose entire character is primarily carried by his hilarious voice, provided by storyboard artist Tom Herpich. Mr. Fox himself has become somewhat of a recurring character, and while his personality isn’t nearly as compelling as some of the other secondary characters, Herpich’s dry inflections certainly make him standout. Aside from him though, I actually really like the other side characters in this episode too. Boobafina, Forest Wizard, and that bear with attitude issues and his mother are just what’d you’d expect from Adventure Time’s side characters: bombastic, full of personality, and tons of fun. And that cow with Phil’s face on her udder. Yeesh.
Like I said, this isn’t a personal top tier episode in my eyes, but this is actually one I watch quite often. There’s just something so charming and genuine about this one, again, mostly due to Finn’s dedication to helping his brother in his time of need. Obviously he’d never go through with it, but he was really about to squash some baby birds for Jake. What a trooper! It’s heartfelt episodes like this that remind me why I watch this show: because I care so deeply about the two main characters and they care so deeply about each other. Of course, Jake repays the favor to Finn by helping to nurse him back to health at the end of the episode. “The end.”
Adventure Time Reviewed 