By Darrel Washington, Staff Writer
I remember one day in 2007 coming home from school and turning on the TV. I turn to Nicktoons, in hopes of catching reruns of Jimmy Neutron. Instead I find the pilot for a show called Adventure Time.
It starred a young boy named Finn and his talking, magical dog, Jake, and they are fighting an evil wizard known as the Ice King. I had no clue what I was watching, but kept watching anyway. By the time the episode finished, I was in love. I wanted more of this show. Unfortunately, I got nothing until 2010 when I started seeing previews for Adventure Time with Finn and Jake on Cartoon Network.
After Adventure Time with Finn and Jake premiered, it blew up. As time went on and more episodes came out, the show’s popularity just grew and grew. Thanks to its widespread popularity, I met others at my school who watched the show and became friends with them. As the series developed, so did its story and characters. For example, main character Finn the Human, went from an awkward, violent, happy-go-lucky boy who just wanted to have fun and go on adventures to a more serious, peaceful young man who goes through very painful life lessons and uses them to become a better hero and friend.
As I kept watching Adventure Time throughout the years, they provided me with very important lessons that I feel helped me to become a better person. It taught me about virtues like empathy, the fact that people often make mistakes and that it’s all a part of growing up, and how everything stays the same but changes. Alhough some of these lessons were subtle and some were pretty obvious, they all still managed to stick with me in some way or another.
I’m not the only one who Adventure Time has emotionally touched. With the series now ended, you’ll find countless articles and videos where adults, teens, and children reflect back on the show. Many of them speak about pretty much the same topics: what the show meant to them and the effect it had on modern pop culture. Though I’ve read reflections on how the show has helped individuals with things such as learning to carry on from hard experiences, how to make friends, and how it even helped them to work up the courage to come out to family and friends.
Adventure Time affected cartoons and where they could go in terms of storytelling and other aspects. When it arrived on our television screens, we had shows such as Spongebob Squarepants, Fairly Odd Parents, and more. A lot of them were happy-go-lucky shows that didn’t take risks with visuals or storytelling. Adventure Time went places not too many children’s shows went and helped pave a road for future story driven children’s cartoons like Steven Universe and Netflix’s Voltron.
Without a doubt, this show about a boy, his best friend, and all of their crazy adventures have changed lives and the future of cartoons. I grew up getting to learn the secrets of the Land of Ooo and its inhabitants. To have to finally say goodbye after so many years feels like I’m saying it to a family member. I’m very happy I was able to be one of those who started watching from the very beginning to the very end. So thank you — thank you to my favorite show of all time and all of the cast and crew who put years of work into bringing this beautiful world to life. I will never forget it and will even show it to my future children. Goodbye Adventure Time.