Seriously – this show is amazing. Lewis introduced it to me, and after watching just one episode I was enthralled. I thought the art style was a little off at first, but the sheer imagination evident in the character designs made that fade into nothing. It’s not just the visuals, it’s the unique characterisation, as well as the original twists on the traditional Aesop’s Fable-style moral lessons.
The story revolves around Finn – the last human alive – and his buddy Jake, whose family adopted Finn when they found him as a baby. Jake is a dog with magical stretching powers, by the way. Finn has devoted his life to vanquishing evil, being righteous and saving others because he was saved at a young age himself by Jake. That they live in a post-apocalyptic world in which magic has returned is novel – usually magic is prevalent before the dawn of technology, not way after it. Each 11-minute long episode usually revolves around a villain or monster, while simultaneously telling the larger story of the Land Of Ooo. It’s an irreverent and modern take on Dungeons and Dragons, if you will.
Magic? Check. Mysteries? Check. Monsters? Check. Combine this with action, humour that can easily fly over kids heads and an incredible range of inventive, quirky and diverse characters and species, and you get a cartoon that I am really enjoying, and is arguably up there with The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory as one of the best Cartoon Network shows of all time.
