Adventure Time!

"Adventure Time (originally titled Adventure Time with Finn & Jake) is an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of Finn, a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake, a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. Along the way, they interact with the other main characters of the show: Princess Bubblegum, The Ice King, and Marceline the Vampire Queen."    





Introduction
One of the major sources of contention in the literary world is the changing nature of books, texts, and narrative in the Information Age. With the introduction of technology and the internet the means by which literature engages and shapes the user is changing to become much more reciprocal. As new media, interactive fiction, blogs, videos, etc., replaces the old media, books, our conception of what literature is and can be is continually changing. Many fear that the emergence of non-print technologies will lead to the disappearance of books and a decline of literacy. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in their "Reading at Risk Report" claims that “print culture affords irreplaceable forms of focused attention and contemplation that make complex communications and insights possible. To lose such intellectual capability- and the many sorts of human continuity it allows- would constitute a vast cultural impoverishment” Yet others welcome the change in technology as an improvement in knowledge and information providing readers not only with literary works instantly and for free but also supplying supplemental material such as reading guides, historical backgrounds, author backgrounds, and translations which help readers delve further into their study of a text. In "Reading at Risk: a Response,"  Matthew Kirshenbaum agrees that “Electronic media need not put literary reading at risk; in fact once we begin taking screens as well as pages seriously as venues for literature and written expression, organizations such as the NEA may well find that rates of literacy are again on the rise.” Others argue that the internet is changing our consciousness and the way in which we take in information. Now readers are more likely to skim over the material and have shorter intention spans. Readers no longer delve deep into a text but rather flit from piece to piece with no deep thought or analysis. But this idea is again refuted by the Electronic Literature Organization who defend that electronic literature is perfectly capable of “fostering a deep, reflective engagement with words on the screen rather than passive browsing and superficial surfing,”

More than anything, the emergence of technology and non-print media has lead to a major change in how the author and reader interact with the text and each other. Past forms of written culture involved a singular author, a physical written text, and a reader who was unable to interact with the author. Readers could form groups around the text but were bound by time and geography. Now with the development of technology the internet has begun to facilitate communication between users and between users and authors. The shifting dynamic between author, text, and user has led to a dramatic change in how knowledge is produced and received. Fan communities emerge around texts, video games, movies, television shows, music, etc., to share and debate knowledge and are no longer restricted by geography. These communities form individual sub cultures in which they function and interact with the text. They also have a profound influence on the text itself and are able to actually change the course of the texts, something that readers were unable to do before the evolution of the internet. Shows like Veronica Mars, for example, which had been canceled, have formed such a large and connected fan base that they were able to raise enough support and money to make a movie based on the series. These communities have changed the way in which media is produced and presented and have allowed for such forms as video games and television shows to be considered literature.



For this project I will examine the reciprocal influence of the internet fan communities have sprung up around the television series Adventure Time. The series is an excellent example of remediation in several ways. Adventure Time originally aired as a short on another Cartoon Network show Random! Cartoons. After becoming a viral hit on the internet the short was made into an animated series and picked up by Cartoon Network and officially premiered on April 5, 2010. The show is also heavily inspired by the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons as well as video games like The Legend of Zelda demonstrating the effect that these new forms of media, especially ones that have such a large fan base such as Dungeons & Dragons and The Legend of Zelda, have had on emerging culture. From its debut, fans have been drawn to Adventure Time’s quirky storylines, characters, and settings. Although it is a cartoon series the show has attracted a large teen and adult fan base. These fans have organized into large internet communities devoted to sharing and developing knowledge as well as participate in discussions about the series. I will be exploring these communities by examining a web-based knowledge community, interpretive disputes that rise within the communities, and the fan driven remediation of the series. Knowledge Communities Knowledge communities are groups of people that come together to share and collect information. People have been gathering information for thousands of years but it is not until the birth of the internet that they have been able to localize such a vast amount of information. Today millions of websites are dedicated to the compilation of knowledge from all over the world. Fans gather together via the internet to discuss their favorite texts, gather and organize information, and share in their love of a text. The article "Spoiling Survivor" explains that sharing knowledge makes the entire experience of the text more enjoyable, "The ability to expand your individual grasp by pooling knowledge with others intensifies the pleasure any viewer takes in trying to ‘expect the unexpected" Adventure Time communities have sprung up all over the internet since its first episode. These fan sites consists mostly of blogs and forums in which fans discuss theories, share knowledge, and display fan art.



Adventure Time’s wiki, simply called “Adventure Time Wiki” is especially impressive because it contains such a vast amount of knowledge. It was founded by one fan, travisource, as a way of collecting information about Adventure Time that anyone could access. Anyone is allowed to edit the pages and there is an entire forum on correct ways to edit or add information. There are nearly 2000 articles on the wiki with extensive information about characters, places, episodes, objects, music, etc. Because only official information is allowed in the articles, the Adventure Time wiki is considered the semi-official source of all things Adventure Time. But the site has more than just information. The front page alone includes a featured article, a monthly featured image and video, a daily poll, and news. Another part of the website is dedicated to forums and blogs where fans hold discussions about a multitude of topics from character discussions to possibilities of alternate universes.

Because of the ambiguous nature of the series, Adventure Time fans are particularly good at reading between the lines and focusing on the tiniest details to gleam any information about the show. Individuals share these minute details with the community who then piece them together to create a bigger picture. One of the most impressive examples of this is the Adventure Time community’s piecing together of a working timeline. It is generally agreed that the events of the series take place roughly one thousand years after the events of the “Mushroom Wars,” essentially an apocalyptic World War III. The user OmNomMole explains in a forum comment:

"In the episode “Simon and Marcy, he [Simon] is 47 and Marceline is 7. 996 years later she is 1003 years old, meaning she was exactly 1000 years old when we first meet her in the first season. This means that the Ice King is 1043 years old when they are playing basketball in Simon and Marcy.”"

Although no official time line was ever released by the creators of the series the fans have managed to take tiny clues from each episode and piece together their own timeline. But it does not stop there, fans continue to look closely at each tiny detail and make inferences from them about when the "Mushroom Wars" took place, in a way trying to predict the apocalypse.

"“It seems like we can set a certain timeframe for at least the start, if not the entirety of the Great Mushroom War using the technology set forth in the show. Given that in 'Holly Jolly Secrets', the Ice King (née Simon Petrikov) records his diary entries on VHS tapes, an absolute lower limit for the war can be established at 1976 with the invention of VHS tape.”  anonymous" And this dedicated fan who must have zoomed in on a seemingly unimportant five second frame in one episode:  "“Remember the penny from 'King of Mars'? It had the year 20xx on it which knocks out the 90's because it's saying that modern technology was around for at least some of the 21st century. It looks to me like it's 204x.” Vamp0gurrl Vamp0gurrl"The lengths that Adventure Time fans go to to gather information and the amount of dedication they have to the show is admirable. They have pieced together thousands of what seem to be inconsequential details and create a vast tapestry of knowledge which we can all share.

Interpretive Disputes Interpretive disputes arise in fan communities over ambiguity within the text. Fans debate possible theories and explanations concerning these ambiguities. Because of the vague nature of the series a lot of interpretive disputes have arisen from Adventure Time. One of the hottest topics of debate within the Adventure Time fan community is the possible lesbian relationship between two major characters. Fans have come together to debate the possibility of the relationship and the intentions of the creators.

On September 26, 2011 the episode “What Was Missing” aired on Cartoon Network. Controversy broke out when "Mathematical!", a promotional video series for Adventure Time, posted a recap video that focused on the possible lesbian subtext between two female characters, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. The video series was posted on a YouTube channel which was linked to on the Frederator Blog. They were produced by Frederator Studios, and did not directly involve the actual Adventure Time crew although the production company is directly involved with the creation of the show. As soon as the video went up, discussion boards and comments exploded concerning the relationship. The video caused such an uproar that it was taken down and an apology was eventually issued saying that although the artwork shown in the video was done by an artist from Adventure Time, the implication of the lesbian subtext was simply fan conjecture and not cannon. Mathematical! was canceled and the video was removed but that did not stop fans from speculating about the intentions of the creators of Adventure Time and the possibility of a cannon lesbian relationship on a children’s show.

Parents and fans alike flooded the Adventure Time communities to debate the implied relationship. Many claimed that a homosexual relationship was inappropriate for children while others stated that they were not homophobic but did not think a children’s cartoon was the ideal venue for political issues. An anonymous fan comments that,

"“I dont think it would be good for the story. as the tv shows events state they are both attracted to males and have shown no sign of lesbian or bisexual tendencies, the only reason it seems to add a lesbian or bisexual relationship in the show would be to make a statement or some kind of protest and why would we bring real world politics into the show? come on guy its Adventure Time!!”" To which another fan replies: "“It's true that they've both shown to be attracted to males, but you can't say that it's proven that they aren't attracted to females just because they've never been shown to be. That's an argument in lack of evidence. It would be perfectly possible for both ladies to be bisexual. Anyway, those sorts of labels aren't even going to come up on a kids show. It doesn't have to be political, it can just be sweet!”anonymous user" Adventure Time fans are torn over the possibility of the relationship. Entire blogs are dedicated to discussing the relationship. Some fans support the relationship because of their support of homosexual equality while others are against is for the same reason. For some, it is a progressive step in the right direction while to others it is a topic unfit for a children’s cartoon. Whatever stance a fan takes it is certainly one of the hottest topics in the Adventure Time community. Fans search other episodes for possible hints that the creators tried to make, make deep analyses of all the characters involved, and dissect every piece of dialogue between them. Forums discuss the creator’s intentions and explore the creator’s reactions to the Mathmatical! scandal. Many fans look at what the artist of the original artwork that had suggested the relationship, Natasha Allegri. Some fans claim that she made the drawings for fun and never intended to make them cannon. Others claim that her status as a creator on the show reveals their intentions of making the relationship cannon. One fan defends Natasha, "“Natasha's drawings of Marceline and PB were featured in the recap video, but she could have drawn those just for fun but people in my opinion overreacted to the whole thing.” DawnOfTheNewDay"  The same fan comments later about the creators intentions:  “the Adventure Time crew and writers never meant to make it look as if they were in that kind of relationship. Like I said people overreacted to the whole story.” DawnOfTheNewDay Another fan speculates that the creators may have intended to have the relationship but never make it official,  "“Personally, I believe that the creators always intended to drop little hints of what there could be but they just wanted to leave it up to the fans' imaginations.” tigger" Some fans defend the creators saying that they have a creative license over the show and should not be subject to what the fans say the show should be. "“Animators/Writers shouldn't have to always worry about people taking their work out of context. But the AT crew is quite personal with their fans, so it is to be expected that they want to please people and keep to their intended vision and not get sucked in by Fanficion. Bunai82" While other fans think that the creators are not doing enough to defend themselves and the show, "“this show isn't meant for small children and I doubt the creators meant for it to be that way either. Creators need to man up and face the soccer moms that are against the relationship with a defiant NO.” kairos" Although the episode aired nearly two years ago fans continue to debate the issue. As of now the Adventure Time wiki Marceline article only states that the two characters have a friendly rivalry and there is “a lot of fan speculation about their relationship.”  Remediation  To remediate something, in the fandom sense, is when fans channel a text through their own vision. Millions upon millions of examples of remediation of a text exist today whether it be a fan video, fan fiction, fan art, fan music, etc. The internet has made it possible for people to produce and share various forms of remediation with ease. Adventure Time fans are no exception. Fans of the series have made every type of fan art that can be imagined.

Fan Art
Possibly the most popular forms in which fans express their love for Adventure Time is through fan art. Fans of the series create art using various mediums as tributes to the show. The most popular categories of Adventure Time art seem to be either recreations of the characters into different styles of art or artwork expressing character relationships. When fans restyle their favorite characters, whether they are made more realistically or perhaps drawn in anime style, it is a way for them to participate in the design of a character and a way to have the characters exist outside the show. Recreating the characters gives the fans a sense of ownership of the characters. Now they are depicted in

ways that the fans wish to see them and which they themselves created. The desire to draw pairings of the characters, cannon or "fanon", comes from the wish to see their favorite characters together. Like redesigning, fan art of couples gives the fans a sense of participation and control over the characters. Now they can see the characters not as the creators wish to see them but as the fans wish to see them.

Music Covers
<p class="MsoNormal">Adventure Time is unique in that it has several musical numbers in several episodes. While usually unconventional, with songs like “Daddy, Why Did You Eat My Fries” and “Bacon Pancakes”, these songs are usually favorites amongst fans. Fans are inspired  to make covers of these songs and often post them on community sites or youtube so that others can experience the songs as well. Creating covers of the Adventure Time songs is a popular outlet for fans to express their love of the show. It allows them

be creative while expressing their devotion to the series. It also functions as a sort of role playing experience in which fans can sing the songs that their favoritecharacters sang and participate in the story. Because many other cartoons do not have the combination of older fans and musical numbers Adventure Time fans have this unique category of remediation almost to themselves.

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Fanimation
<p class="MsoNormal"> <p class="MsoNormal">Another popular means of remediation is fanimation, animation done by fans. Much like fanfiction, these videos often explore story lines which the series will not or has not explored. Romantic situations between characters, for example, or narratives with more adult themes may be the subject of a fanimation. Another way Adventure Time is unique is that the series features two “alternate universe” episodes that are “gender bender”, meaning all the characters are essentially the same but the opposite gender. Referred to as “Adventure Time with Fiona and Cake” these episodes are extremely popular with the fan community and are just as equally featured in fan art as the regular characters. Because of its popularity and because there are only two episodes, Fiona and Cake are subject to several fanimations, more so than the regular cast. In these fan-made cartoons the fans can explore all the storylines they wish to see with Fiona and Cake. Many are “gender bender” recreations of original episodes. The fact that these fans create their own animations, a difficult task, is a testament to their devotion to the series.

<p class="MsoNormal"> <h2 class="MsoNormal">Additional Resources Adventure Time Wiki

Land of Ooo Fansite

Cartoon Network's Adventure Time page