WORLDBUILDING IN ADVENTURE TIME
As this chapter will begin to explore, the common elements of innovation in this ‘golden age’ have not remained exclusive to the aspect of narrative form. Building on this innovative scale and complexity in terms of narrative, and influenced by Asian traditions of animation as well as developing storytelling trends in Western media of the 21st century, the ‘golden age’ of animated serial television is furthermore characterized by an increased prominence of complex and expansive fantasy storyworlds, and strategic worldbuilding practices over their long-form structure. While Avatar features an expansive storyworld well worth examining, this second stylistic element is most salient in this project’s second object of analysis, the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time, which will be the main focus of this chapter.
Consisting of more than 280 ten-minute episodes and running for a total of ten seasons, Adventure Time is a fantasy animation that, similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender, characteristically combines bite-sized and frivolous episodic adventures with narrative elements of impressive scale and complexity. The series primarily follows its two protagonist heroes, Finn the Human and his magical shape-shifting brother, Jake the Dog. Together, they spend their time either relaxing in their treehouse with their sentient videogame system and roommate, or going on missions and adventures across the magical post-apocalyptic land of Ooo. These missions range from exploring dark dungeons for legendary artifacts and combatting ancient forces of evil, to visiting or aiding citizens from the nearby Candy Kingdom or other residents of Ooo’s many varied realms. As such, a central element of this highly imaginative cartoon is the ever-expanding and continually surprising storyworld and the seemingly never-ending variety of cartoon-fantasy stories it seems to contain. However, in addition to merely constituting an expansive collection of seemingly ‘random’ weekly adventures, the series increasingly implements continuing threads, reoccurring characters and locations, and occasional exposition of the detailed and elaborate backstory of the show’s world and its many characters. This combination then, is arguably what characterizes the worldbuilding of Adventure Time, and how its storyworld contributes to the series’ remarkable appeal to audiences both young and old, which is noted by critics (Kleber; Schindel) and academics (Thomas 6) alike.
Though Adventure Time and elements of its worldbuilding have not remained unexamined in academia, this chapter builds on and adds to existing work by considering the series’ worldbuilding as experienced along different viewing practices by its audiences of
various degrees of engagement. As such, it extends upon the discussion of the previous chapters regarding these shows and their engagement by different audiences, with a focus on the function of storyworlds. Whereas Rodrigo Lessa and João Aruájo have mentioned the series as a prime example of an (intentionally) internally contradictory storyworld often found in cartoons (92), Elijah Siegler (75, 77 – 78) as well as Paul Thomas (236 – 237) have, seemingly contradictory, praised the series’ ambitious and complex ‘mythology’, being the overarching narrative detailing the entirety of its storyworld. This chapter reconciles these two accounts by arguing that they exemplify two coexisting strategies that correspond to two distinct viewing practices and their respective perspectives, both of which will be demonstrated to have substantial ground in a reading of the show. First, an understanding of the worldbuilding practices across Adventure Time’s episodes as functioning similar to that in a transmedia franchise (Jenkins;
Ryan, “Aesthetics”, “Transmedia Storytelling”) provides a basis for the current reading. Then, using the concepts of ‘world completeness’ (Robertson; Wolf, Imaginary Worlds) and ‘world consistency’ (Lessa and Aruájo), this chapter will then demonstrate that Adventure Time’s worldbuilding features elements of both low and high ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’, sometimes colloquially grouped under the terms ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ worldbuilding (Fox; Otto).
Whereas casual and episodic viewing practices benefit from the ‘soft’ worldbuilding elements, emphasizing the world’s ‘randomness’ and seemingly endless opportunity for new world elements and narratives, dedicated and front-to-back viewers might additionally engage with its ‘hard’ worldbuilding elements, such as its expansive and complex mythology and its more consistent and reoccurring aspects across episodes and seasons. Finally, the concepts of
‘absorption’, ‘saturation’ and ‘overflow’ set out by Wolf (“Beyond Immersion”) help elucidate that this worldbuilding strategy, in contrast to more traditional cartoon worldbuilding practices, allows for a more immersive viewing experience that is made possible through these more dedicated viewing practices by a more serious or adult audience.
As mentioned above, Adventure Time and its storyworld are upon first impression primarily characterized by their highly imaginative and fantastical nature. Set in the magical land of Ooo, the series’ world features many classic fantasy elements such as wizards, dragons, vampires, and magical crowns, swords and dungeons among other more common fantasy tropes. In addition to this, it features a wide array of more unusual and original fantasy elements such as a kingdom entirely constructed of all sorts of candy, including its citizens, as well as a species of rainbow-unicorn creatures named ‘rainicorns’, a slime-based kingdom with corresponding slime-people, and even a kingdom and people entirely consisting of an undetermined substance termed ‘lumpy space’. The introductory sequence emphasizes the
series’ importance of its expansive and varied storyworld, as it opens with a bird’s eye view shot moving at high speed through the land of Ooo, providing a passing glimpse of more locations and characters than one can take in in its short duration, or than can be covered in a single episode. This large number of varied world elements and their importance to the series as a whole position Adventure Time distinctly within the fantasy genre. As noted earlier, works of this genre are often ‘world-dominant’ texts that emphasize the role of their storyworld and audiences’ interest in this aspect of the story (Ryan, “Aesthetics” 40 – 41). In accordance, Adventure Time’s episodes explore its storyworld in many and ever-expanding directions.
Featuring a similar narratively complex balance of episodic and serial narrative as Avatar: The Last Airbender discussed in the last chapter, but with more emphasis on the episodic narrative, many of its episodic narratives introduce entirely new locations, characters and events that add to the elaborate storyworld. The first season’s 26th episode “Gut Grinder”, for example, in which the protagonists track down a mysterious monster, introduces as many as three entirely new species and settlements in one ten-minute adventure: Soft People, Cube People, Spiky People and their respective villages. Appearing virtually unannounced and with little to no logical connection to other world elements outside their direct narrative context, this instance exemplifies the series’ tendency to introduce new and surprising pockets of the world with each new episode.
In this respect, a significant portion of the series’ episodes features a form of storytelling that prominently involves worldbuilding by actively exploring and developing the series’
fantasy storyworld within its narrative. To put this into context, this form of worldbuilding-storytelling seems to conform to what Jenkins observes as a prominent development in popular media in the 21st century, as he states that “[m]ore and more, storytelling has become the art of world building, as artists create compelling environments that cannot be fully explored or exhausted within a single work” (114). Jenkins primarily discusses extended media franchises that spawn multiple works crossing over into various media and platforms. However, his theorization of worldbuilding in transmedia storytelling can also productively account for the world-dominant storytelling of Adventure Time, as its expansive storyworld can impossibly be covered within a single episode’s narrative. Rather, its world is described and expanded through many connected but relatively individual stories, demonstrating that, as Jenkins also notes, “a [compelling] world can support multiple characters and multiple stories” (114). Though worldbuilding in television series predates Jenkins’ discussion and his objects of interest, this understanding does provide a productive model for the current reading of this series. Ryan (“Transmedia Storytelling”) even goes as far as to state that due to its reliance upon an
overarching storyworld, rather than on a single overarching narrative, the now-common concept of ‘transmedia storytelling’ would more accurately be termed ‘transmedia worldbuilding’ (4 – 5). As is the case in the majority of Adventure Time, these extended transmedia works do not contain a single serial narrative, but rather speak to an audience’s desire to return to and learn more about a single storyworld (4). Similar to an extended transmedia storyworld, Adventure Time as a whole might be understood as a large collection of often relatively self-contained narratives taking place in a large overarching storyworld. Similarly, as Jenkins notes as well (115), each interesting world element then has potential for further development into other components of the entirety. In this way, while almost every episodic narrative allows new viewers to be introduced to the world, it also invites viewers to engage with and immerse themselves more actively within the show’s world by consuming its other components, “as audiences seek information beyond the limits of the individual story” (Jenkins 116).
This layered potential of the series’ worldbuilding, often allowing for out-of-context enjoyment of single episodes as an initial introduction to the world, while also rewarding further and more serious engagement with the entirety, forms the basis for the current reading. In what follows, then, I will demonstrate that the series’ worldbuilding correspondingly combines two distinct strategies, that each provides substantial ground for one of these two distinct viewing practices. In short, some worldbuilding elements are especially well suited for a casual and episodic viewing practice, as they constitute a practice of ‘cartoon-style’ worldbuilding that is unrestrained and ‘random’ at times, allowing each new episode to contain new and surprising world elements without the expectation of direct or logical connection to others. Conversely, some worldbuilding elements rather emphasize continuity, consistency and reoccurrence across episodes and seasons. These elements, then, constitute a more elaborate ‘fantasy-style’
worldbuilding practice that requires and rewards dedicated viewing practices with attention to detail and to these larger interconnected worldbuilding threads.
Underlying this analysis are two concepts taken from worldbuilding theory: ‘world completeness’ and ‘world consistency’. These two related factors might be used in different degrees to describe the structure of a storyworld. One could imagine, for example, a highly
‘complete’ but less ‘consistent’ world, or any other configuration. For ‘world completeness’, Benjamin J. Robertson follows Wolf’s (Imaginary Worlds) definition of “the degree to which the world contains explanations and details covering all the various aspects of its characters’
experiences, as well as background details which together suggest a feasible, practical world”
(38). Furthermore, he emphasizes it to not be a static or ‘a priori’ factor, but rather “an emergent phenomenon arising out of the interactions amongst the objects that make up that world” (82).
The ‘completeness’ of a storyworld is thus determined by the degree to which it provides a proper and encompassing account of all its elements and details. Though a fully ‘complete’
storyworld is practically unattainable (84), a world’s ‘completeness’ can be dynamically developed throughout the material that describes it. The related factor of ‘world consistency’, then, is described by Lessa and Aruájo as the degree in which a storyworld is “internally free of contradictions” (90). Often seen as an important criterion for a world’s realism or believability, a consistent world “must follow a given set of implicit rules governing the overall macrostructure of the world to which it belongs” (90). Adventure Time, then, contains worldbuilding elements of both low and high ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’, or for the present purpose also grouped under the terms ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ worldbuilding, hereby providing the opportunity for two distinct forms of engagement with its storyworld.
Firstly, I will address the series’ worldbuilding strategy marked by ‘soft’ worldbuilding characteristics, being the use of world elements with a low level of ‘completeness’ and
‘consistency’. In their discussion of ‘world consistency’, Lessa and Aruájo mention Adventure Time as a specific example of consistent and purposeful low-‘consistency’ worldbuilding (92).
Though they do not provide any concrete examples, worldbuilding elements of low
‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’ are easily found among the series’ many episodic narratives.
An especially striking example can be found in the eighth season’s 17th episode “High Strangeness”, in which a recurring secondary character, Tree Trunks the tiny elephant, is visited through a mysterious portal by her priorly unintroduced ‘alien husband’ with whom she, the episode reveals, has already borne multiple alien-elephant hybrid children in the past. This single episode introduces a number of new world elements, such as the existence of this intergalactic species and their apparent involvement with inhabitants of the known regions of the storyworld, as well as this already familiar character’s priorly unknown alien offspring.
However, these elements stand out for their lack of ‘completeness’, as they are introduced entirely, unannounced, unexplained and uncontextualized. This particularly low completeness simultaneously, and perhaps strategically, makes a direct in-world contradiction in this case hard to identify, as the series’ common use of elements lacking any contextual connections in general often a priori excludes the possibility of such connections being logically consistent or not. However, in a more general sense, these sudden new elements also bear little to no consistency with surrounding world elements. This escapade, for example, is a highly absurd addition to the relatively comprehensive knowledge of this character that has been presented up until this point, who spends most of her time tending to her garden and baking pies. The overt use ‘retconning’, or retroactively introducing narrative continuities, as is the case here
with the introduction of the apparently previously born ‘alien children’, also add to this episodes’ strikingly liberal treatment of its extended contexts. Additionally, while other episodes have explored the storyworld’s outer-space surroundings and its inhabitants, this newly introduced alien species, as well as this recurring character’s alien offspring, are never referred to outside this episode either before or after this moment. Some clear examples of more direct contradictions in other episodes, however, include this same character being abducted to another dimension in one episode (“Tree Trunks”) and then without explanation appearing normally a few episodes later (“Evicted!”) (most likely as a result of divergence in production and broadcasting schedules), and protagonists Finn and Jake learning a myriad of powerful wizard spells in an episode in season one (“Wizard”) while not having them anymore without any reference to these events for the rest of the series.
The overt lack in these elements of any logical relation to other world elements outside of the episode’s direct narrative context thus marks the narrative worldbuilding in these episodes as strikingly low in terms of ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’. According to Lessa and Aruájo, such elements are in many cases considered unrealistic and of negative influence on a well-constructed storyworld (90). However, they also note that certain genres and their audiences are less strict in their demand for ‘world completeness’ and ‘consistency’, with cartoons going back to Disney’s Mickey Mouse being a prime example (92). Thon’s concept of “medium-specific charity” (87) entails a similar theorization of such commonly accepted conventions by viewers (or readers). He similarly argues that requirements of representational correspondence or realism may differ between different media, and this can arguably be extended to the categories of genre as well, which entails that in some media certain representational inconsistencies are commonly excused or accepted as a result of dominant conventions of a medium. These ‘softer’ worldbuilding elements, then, should arguably be understood in this sense, as, rather than functioning as factors in the construction of an expected
‘complete’ and ‘consistent’ storyworld, they function to constitute a ‘cartoon style’ of worldbuilding that is conventionally less reliant on these former factors and rather benefits from a sense of openness and ‘randomness’ without being bound to strict requirements. This worldbuilding strategy, then, is closely linked to the series’ episodic narrative element, since as a result, every single episode allows for the introduction of new and surprising world elements, without the limiting requirement or expectation of direct or logical connection to others.
Consequently, this strategy is most salient to casual and irregular viewers such as children, who watch single episodes, likely out of order. They primarily experience the worldbuilding in Adventure Time as ‘consistently inconsistent’, benefiting from the seemingly unrestrained
nature of this worldbuilding strategy, and the endless and absurd narrative and worldbuilding possibilities it allows.
An additional consequence of such a viewing practice marked by inconsecutive and dispersed watching of single episodes, is the fact that any elements of higher ‘completeness’
and ‘consistency’ between and across episodes and seasons are less likely to be noticed.
Namely, besides the many episodes containing one-off characters, events and locations with seemingly no connection or consequences outside their direct narrative context, the series also features elements of higher ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’ that constitute additional ‘hard’
worldbuilding elements. This includes storyworld elements such as its world’s ‘mythology’, as noted by Thomas (236 – 237) and Siegler (77 – 78), as well as many characters’ individual backstory and other consistent and recurring elements that cross and accumulate over the series’
length. Together, these aspects constitute an element of ‘hard’ worldbuilding that emphasizes consistency and continuity, and that requires and rewards a dedicated and engaged, most likely adult audience that watches consecutively and seeks to construct the larger overarching description of the world that emerges along the many episodes.
A telling example of this can be found in a character named Marceline the Vampire Queen, a notorious inhabitant of Ooo who is introduced halfway into the first season (“Evicted!”) and over time becomes a prominent recurring character throughout the series. In accordance with the series’ common disregard for any immediate context or logic upon the introduction of new storyworld elements, the character of Marceline initially stands out for her highly unconventional configuration of dispersed character traits. She is, among other things, a queen of vampires who, instead of blood, consumes the color red from everyday items such as apples and crayons. She is also said to be the daughter of the ruler of the ‘Nightosphere’.
Besides this, she is a thousand years old but has the appearance of a teenage girl with a rock aesthetic, who plays an ax-shaped bass guitar. She also poses an initially undefined collection of supernatural powers such as shapeshifting, warp-transporting and the ability to extract and consume other’s souls. Upon first impression, this character is thus primarily striking for its highly remarkable combination of more conventional fantasy elements with just as much odd and offbeat elements that give it a cartoon-like frivolousness and ‘randomness’. In line with the series’ tendency of ‘soft’ worldbuilding, many of the character’s varied traits are presented unexplained, uncontextualized and even seemingly inconsistent. For example, her existence as the only vampire in the land of Ooo is long unexplained, as is her seemingly random set of supernatural abilities. Furthermore, her status as both queen of vampires, as well as daughter of
the ruler of the ‘Nightosphere’, besides constituting a seemingly illogical and hyperbolic combination, are long left to speculation.
Initially, this character of seemingly low ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’ might not seem out of place for the casual and episodic viewer who might perceive the series’
worldbuilding primarily as continuously introducing new, surprising and ‘random’ elements.
However, dedicated and consecutive viewers will later on in the series be rewarded with a gradual revelation of this character’s backstory, motivations and other details. As such, it is a prime example of emergent ‘completeness’ and developing ‘consistency’ within the series. The second season’s “It Came from the Nightosphere”, for example, details her father, the ruler of the ‘Nightosphere’, and this demonic dimension, hereby providing initial details of her origin and explaining, for example, her ability to extract souls of others. In season five’s “Simon and Marcy”, another substantial piece of her backstory is revealed, as the episode uses a frame narrative to recount crucial events of her childhood almost a thousand years ago and explains her lengthy and complicated relationship with another major character, The Ice King. Most revealing, however, are the episodes of the eight-part miniseries titled “Stakes” that is implemented in the show’s seventh season, and that is primarily centered around this character’s backstory. These episodes, among other things, elucidate Marceline’s relation with and loss of her human mother, and, most importantly, the events that led to her vampirism and her status as queen of vampires and last vampire in Ooo, as well as each of her different supernatural powers. As such, these multiple moments dispersed across the series’ length add to the accumulating description of the character, developing its ‘completeness’ and
‘consistency’ over time. This worldbuilding element, and other storyworld elements that are gradually expanded in detail and extend, such as Ooo’s history and creation, Finn’s birth and family, and the surprisingly tragic backstory of the comic antagonist The Ice King, constitute a worldbuilding strategy that is marked by accumulation and continuity across extended amounts of episodes and seasons. Along this process, these elements are developed from ‘random’ and seemingly inconsistent, to elaborately explained and contextualized. In this sense, the series adheres to Tischleder’s observation that “the vast narrative scope of serial television affords the creation of complex serial worlds” (122). Additionally, this form of more elaborate fantasy- or
‘hard’ worldbuilding is likely to be only appreciated by dedicated long-term viewers, most likely an adult audience who, more than a casual child audience, follows and reconstructs these larger-scale worldbuilding threats that emphasize continuity and consistency, and gradually advance ‘completeness’ and ‘consistency’ over the series’ extensive length.
Furthermore, besides the fact that these more elaborate and developing storyworld elements constitute a form of worldbuilding that clearly differs in nature, as well as in required viewing practice from more traditional cartoon-style worldbuilding, this aspect of ‘hard’
worldbuilding contributes to a construction of Adventure Time’ storyworld that allows for a more immersive viewing experience. Here, Wolf’s (“Beyond Immersion”) discussion of the concept of ‘immersion’, and his further theorization of the additional elements of ‘absorption’,
‘saturation’ and ‘overflow’ provide productive theoretical ground. Wolf posits that the concept of ‘immersion’, in which storyworlds function as “places for the audience to go vicariously”
(204), only constitutes a basic and momentary form of the audience’s experience of a storyworld. A more elaborate and complex storyworld, together with a more dedicated audience, he argues, allows for a more immersive experience that involves ‘absorption’, which involves actively remembering a world, its content and characteristics and recalling or reconstructing it upon subsequent ‘visits’ (205). A world even more elaborate and detailed can then lead to ‘saturation’, “occupying of the audience’s full attention, concentration, and imagination, often with more detail, nuances, and subtleties than can be held in mind all at once” (206) and even ‘overflow’, in which a storyworld extends beyond what a viewer can retain at once, keeping a world “alive in the audience’s imagination” (208).
As argued above, Adventure Time’s ‘hard’ worldbuilding elements distinctly rely upon this process of ‘absorption’, as world elements are developed over the course of many episodes and must be remembered and recalled upon recurrence sometimes after multiple seasons and many hours of material. This possession of background knowledge, Wolf states, importantly
“adds to the story’s depth and nuance, enhancing the reader’s pleasure and understanding”
(207). Additionally, the process of dedicated audiences constructing and, importantly, reconstructing elements of the series’ elaborate storyworld by keeping track of these large-scale worldbuilding threads provides the opportunity for more active engagement and consequently, higher degrees of immersion. Furthermore, the highly extensive number of elements introduced over the course of the series’ 283 episodes inevitably results in a state of ‘saturation’ and subsequently ‘overflow’, as episodes often introduce one or more entirely new characters, locations and events, which are initially unknown to be either never referred to again, as is the case with the alien encounter in “High Strangeness”, or to sprout multiple episodes worth of elaborate and detailed exposition, as happens to the character of Marceline. Here, the ‘soft’ and
‘hard’ worldbuilding strategies thus intersect to influence the audience experience. Similarly, this initial uncertainty might actively encourage viewers to continue watching, in the hope of fascinating elements being developed from ‘soft’ to ‘hard’ and hereby gaining further