"Guardians of Sunshine" is the sixteenth episode of the
second season of the American animated television series ''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''. The episode was written and storyboarded by
Ako Castuera
Ako Castuera is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''.
Early life
Castuera's father is from Mexico, and his ancestors originated from the Spanish city C ...
and
Tom Herpich
Thomas Herpich (born October 4, 1979) is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''.
History
Herpich graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA), and was k ...
, from a story by Mark Banker, Steve Little,
Patrick McHale
Patrick McHale Victoria Cross, VC ( ga, Pádraig Mac Céile; 1826 – 26 October 1866) was born in Killala, County Mayo and was an Ireland, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the fa ...
,
Kent Osborne
Kent Matthew Osborne (born August 30, 1969) is an American screenwriter, actor, animator, producer, and director. He has worked for such animated television shows as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''Camp Lazlo'', ''Phineas and Ferb'', ''The Marvelou ...
,
Thurop van Orman
Mark "Thurop" Ashton Van Orman (born April 26, 1976) is an American cartoonist, animator, voice actor, television writer, producer and director best known for being the creator of Cartoon Network's ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'', in ...
,
Pendleton Ward
Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston (born September 23, 1982), known professionally as Pendleton Ward or simply Pen Ward, is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Freder ...
, and
Merriwether Williams
Merriwether St. John Williams (born March 28, 1968) is an American television writer, former Nickelodeon executive and actress, who has worked on television shows such as ''Happy Tree Friends'', ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''My Little Pony: Friends ...
. It originally aired on February 21, 2011.
The series follows the adventures of
Finn (voiced by
Jeremy Shada
Jeremy Shada () is an American actor, musician and singer. He is best known for his work as the voice of Finn the Human from the American animated television series ''Adventure Time'' and Lance in '' Voltron: Legendary Defender''. He is also know ...
), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother
Jake
Jake may refer to:
Name
* Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer
* Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach
Animals
* Jake (rescue dog), a s ...
(voiced by
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode,
Finn and
Jake
Jake may refer to:
Name
* Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer
* Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach
Animals
* Jake (rescue dog), a s ...
must defeat the three bosses of a video game they are transported to from inside
BMO.
"Guardians of the Sunshine" was the first episode of ''Adventure Time'' to feature
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
animation. The scenes set inside the titular computer game were animated by
CalArts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...
and
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
graduate Ke Jiang. The episode was met with mostly positive critical reception, and was seen by 1.73 million viewers.
Plot
Finn and Jake are playing the
Side-scrolling video game
''
A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphic ...
''Guardians of the Sunshine'', and Finn attempts to use a combo move to beat the final
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, a ...
(a toad named "Sleepy Sam"). He, however, fails and angrily remarks that if he were actually in the game, he could easily beat Sleepy Sam. But BMO explains that actually being in the game is extremely dangerous. However, BMO's warning goes unheeded, and Finn and Jake eventually decide to trick BMO into transporting them into its "Main brain game-frame", which allows them to be realized as characters in ''Guardians of Sunshine''.
The duo attempt to beat all of the game's bosses—Bouncy Bee, Honey Bunny, and Sleepy Sam—but soon realize that their adventuring skills do not transfer in this new digital environment. After Finn and Jake lose several lives,(with Jake jumping in to a fire pit twice and Finn being killed by Bouncy bee and Sleepy Sam) they attempt to break out, accidentally causing the game to glitch. Finn, Jake, as well as Bouncy Bee, Honey Bunny, and Sleepy Sam, are all ejected into the real world, and the three bosses decide to destroy BMO for imprisoning them. Luckily, Finn manages to successfully use the combo move from the beginning of the episode, destroying the monsters.
Production
"Guardians of Sunshine" is the sixteenth episode from the
second season of ''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''.
The episode was written by
Ako Castuera
Ako Castuera is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''.
Early life
Castuera's father is from Mexico, and his ancestors originated from the Spanish city C ...
and
Tom Herpich
Thomas Herpich (born October 4, 1979) is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''.
History
Herpich graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA), and was k ...
. A separate group of writers—Mark Banker, Steve Little,
Patrick McHale
Patrick McHale Victoria Cross, VC ( ga, Pádraig Mac Céile; 1826 – 26 October 1866) was born in Killala, County Mayo and was an Ireland, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the fa ...
,
Kent Osborne
Kent Matthew Osborne (born August 30, 1969) is an American screenwriter, actor, animator, producer, and director. He has worked for such animated television shows as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''Camp Lazlo'', ''Phineas and Ferb'', ''The Marvelou ...
,
Thurop van Orman
Mark "Thurop" Ashton Van Orman (born April 26, 1976) is an American cartoonist, animator, voice actor, television writer, producer and director best known for being the creator of Cartoon Network's ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'', in ...
,
Pendleton Ward
Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston (born September 23, 1982), known professionally as Pendleton Ward or simply Pen Ward, is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Freder ...
, and
Merriwether Williams
Merriwether St. John Williams (born March 28, 1968) is an American television writer, former Nickelodeon executive and actress, who has worked on television shows such as ''Happy Tree Friends'', ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''My Little Pony: Friends ...
—came up with the idea for the episode, which Castuera and Herpich adapted to a
storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
.
The creator of ''Adventure Time'', Ward was the
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
during this season, although he later resigned from that position during the
fifth season.
The episode is the first in the show to use animation not drawn entirely by hand.
The scenes set in the game are rendered
three-dimensionally,
stylized with discernible
polygons
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
and a low frame rate reminiscent of
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
.
These were done by Jacky Ke Jiang, a graduate of the
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...
. For the production of the characters and the environment in the scenes, Jacky was responsible for producing their
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
s,
rigging their meshes, and animating them by himself. In total, the scenes run for almost six minutes.
Release and reception
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
originally aired "Guardians of Sunshine" on February 21, 2011.
The episode was viewed by 1.73 million viewers and scored a 0.3
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic. Nielsen ratings are
audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites. Somet ...
systems that determine the audience size and composition of
television programming
Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule.
Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...
in the United States, which means that the episode was seen by 0.3 percent of all households aged 18 to 49 years old were watching television at the time of the episode's airing.
The network released the episode on DVD, first in 2012, as part of the ''It Came from the Nightosphere'' box set,
and later in 2013, as part of a box set for the complete second season.
Charlie Jane Anders
Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...
of ''
io9
''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...
'' itemized the episode in a list of fictional depictions of
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
.
Ben Bertoli of ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
'' similarly listed it as one of the best episodes related to video games in animation.
Anders praised the episode for its humor and described the animation as in the style of
third-generation video games, a return to how virtual reality was first depicted in fiction.
Matt Fowler of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' called it a high-quality episode of the second season,
while Oliver Sava of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' described it as an episode representative of the show as a whole.
Jason Holmes of ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
' ...
'' wrote positively of
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
, who voices Jake, and anticipated that the episode could be the best one of the series.
Bertoli praised the animation and found Finn and Jake voluntarily entering the game unique,
though according to René A. Guzman of the ''
San Antonio Express-News
The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...
'', who found the episode inspiring of a game based on ''Adventure Time'', it was comparable to ''
Tron
''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...
''.
The network later released the first
video game based on the show in 2012. Marked by the involvement of Ward, Jeff Schille of ''Game Rant'' wrote that this came to no surprise, given "Guardians of Sunshine" and "Dad's Dungeon" from the third season.
See also
*"
A Glitch Is a Glitch
"A Glitch Is a Glitch" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''Adventure Time''. It was written, storyboarded, and directed by Irish filmmaker David OReilly. It originally aired on Cartoon Netw ...
", a 2013 episode of ''Adventure Time'' which features 3-D animation courtesy of
David OReilly
Explanatory notes
References
External links
*
{{Adventure Time episodes, 2
2011 American television episodes
Adventure Time (season 2) episodes
Television episodes about video games