What Time Is It?
6pm, on a weekday.
I’ve come back from uni, I turn on my TV and settle in for some cartoons to clear my head. I know I can rely on cartoons for entertainment 90% of the time, and rarely does it dawn on me that at my age I should have already gotten over them. I know I’m not alone though.
“I think cartoons are important. Tell me that you don’t like cartoons, and I think there’s something wrong with you.” John Dimaggio
I think at first I read into adults liking cartoons too much. I wondered if there were psychological reasons? Or maybe people have had enough with the society they live in? Though honestly, it’s probably infinitely simpler.
I decided to focus on Adventure Time, a personal favourite, to ascertain the reasoning for its adult fanbase, as according to The New Yorker “It can be enjoyed […] by third graders, art historians, and cosplay fans.”
Firstly, adults watch children’s cartoons because it’s just that, a cartoon aimed at children.
Nostalgia
According to Mike Rugnetta the reason that adventure time is so popular with adults is that we like to get in touch with our “inner kid”, and just kick back and relax to a simpler time, where watching cartoons everyday was the norm.
Didn’t we just go into a huge nostalgia phase, more so with young adults, about the 90s. Weren’t half the world wearing jelly sandals again?
So I guess it’s more than something in the water. We as a society want to escape, back to a time of simple joy.
However, Rugnetta also mentions the nostalgia within the show. There is always mention of the mushroom war, and throughout the cartoon you see ruins of a past world. We soon realise there must was a nuclear war that destroyed the world, making Adventure Time post apocalyptic (talk about dropping a bombshell, pun intended).
A rich back-story
Already you have this intriguing history you want to know more about, giving the story depth and context; but what’s more the story line is not set to only focus on Finn the human and Jake the dog. It looks into the lives of other characters such as Marceline and the Ice King.
Relatable characters that are real, and can be really cute
It also looks at, what you would call C-grade character’s everyday lives too. These are heartwarming and add to your understanding of this post apocalyptic world.
Stories featured range from BMO’s solo adventures, and LSP’s (Lumpy Space Princess, a sassy lumpy space girl with curves voiced by Adventure Time’s creator) experience of running away from home, to characters that we don’t even know the names of. My personal favourite is the snow golem and fire wolf short story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mph3CmPf92s
The fact that these characters are imperfect, and learn life experiences along the way draws audiences both young and old in.
It is emotive
After an episode it’s not uncommon to get the warm and fuzzies (Like the snow golem and fire wolf short story, tell me that was not beautiful). Furthermore, the show deals with real emotions portrayed by the characters. For example, Finn tries to overcome fear and understand liking girls; Marceline and Princess Bubblegum seem to have once been friends but had some sort of falling out.
“Adventure Time” is one of the most philosophically risky and,often, emotionally affecting shows on TV. It’s beautiful and funny and stupid and smart, in about equal parts, as well as willing to explore uneasy existential questions, like what it means to go on when the story you’re in has ended. — The New Yorker
Of course, it is funny, not only in it’s jokes, but also in it’s lingo.
Catchphrases that replace words we say such as: “Oh my glob”, and “algebraic” to express how cool something is, are refreshing. Who isn’t to say that both adults and children wouldn’t take to simple silliness?
Also, in a similar way to The Simpsons, it features intratextuality. That is to say it is self-referential and this tickles our amusement because it makes us think, and by breaking the fourth wall includes the audience.
Nevertheless, maybe it comes down to subculture. I know that cartoons such as adventure time are not everyone’s cup of tea, so maybe it simply sparked interest in a few people and then the subcultural psychology of it brew into a cult following? It provided a platform for people to belong and have fun, growing in popularity to create a fandom.
I feel content that people are watching and getting sucked into the land of Ooo, because if the link between media consumption and identity construction is true why not with this feel good cartoon. It teaches not only kids but reminds adults about morals, such as acceptance and just keeping it real. Opening discourse into social issues making it not only a cartoon, but a clever cartoon.
Ultimately, if I were to rate Adventure Time on a scale of 1 to mathematical, I would give it an “oh my glob”.
