"Hug Wolf" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

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 Somvilay Xayaphone and Bert Youn, from a story by

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, and

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 ...

. It originally aired on

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 ...

on May 14, 2012. 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), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn goes through a werewolf-like

transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Trans ...

after an encounter with an Alpha Hug Wolf, turning into a Beta Hug Wolf. It is up to Jake to break the curse and turn Finn back to normal. The episode came together after Ward drew several werewolf-inspired creatures with a fondness for hugging. The music that accompanies the climax was scored by Casey James Basichis to convey Finn's transformation through music. "Hug Wolf" received largely positive critical reviews, with 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 ...

'' arguing that the episode was an analogy for the more serious topic of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

Plot

While attempting to destroy the Tree of Blight, Finn is accidentally hugged by a wolf-like creature. Later that night, after he begins to show signs of a fever, as well as a new-found penchant for hugging, Jake urges Finn to get some sleep. Ominously, in the morning, while walking through the Candy Kingdom, several citizens reveal that Finn appeared before them during the night and aggressively hugged them. Finn and Jake journey to the library and read about the "hugwolf", a

lycanthropic In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

creature that turns into a wolf in the presence of a

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...

and hugs its victims. The curse is spread from higher-level "alpha" hugwolves, to lower-lever "beta" creatures, of which Finn is now. That night, Jake and BMO try to restrain Finn, but he transforms, breaks free, and goes on a hugging spree in the Candy Kingdom. The next morning, the citizens of the kingdom imprison Finn in the dungeon. Jake in turn leads an angry mob in search of the alpha hugwolf. By tempting Cinnamon Bun with a hug, Finn escapes after he transforms. Meanwhile, the alpha creature corners Jake and his mob, but Finn shows up. Finn and the alpha wolf start hugging each other, which seems to act as a cure for the condition. Finn is returned to his former state, as is the alpha, who is revealed to be a beautiful woman. The episode ends with the woman turning into the Tree of Blight, thus scaring Jake.

Production

"Hug Wolf" was written and storyboarded by Somvilay Xayaphone and Bert Youn, from a story developed by series creator

, and Kent Osborne. The episode came together after Ward drew several werewolf-inspired creatures with a fondness for hugging. He felt that the resulting story would be humorous, and the episode came into being. In addition, Ward himself voiced the father of the gumdrop girl Finn almost attacks during one of his hugging sprees. All of the lines were improvised while Ward was in the recording booth. The music that accompanies the climactic showdown between Finn and the Alpha Hugwolf was composed by Casey James Basichis. The composer thought up several novel ways to convey Finn's transformation through music, including "burying 8bit

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

synths in distortion, playing guitar with my girlfriend’s many

fur coat Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...

s, ndscreaming into pillows". He eventually settled on using fur coats to produce a "warm, woolly" sound. The music's beat was crafted to sound like "unrelenting static electricity".

Reception

"Hug Wolf" aired on

on May 14, 2012. The episode ranked as the number one telecast of the week among boys aged 6 to 11, and 2 to 11, and it was also the number one telecast of the day among children aged 6 to 11, and 2 to 11. The episode first saw physical release as part of the 2014 DVD, ''The Suitor'', which included 16 episodes from the series' first five seasons. It was later re-released as part of the complete fourth season DVD in October 2014. Oliver Sava of ''

'' awarded the episode a "B+", arguing that the episode was an analogy for the more serious topic of

. He concluded that, "There’s no significant world building or a talking snail cliff hanger, but 'Hug Wolf' is a bizarre, clever episode with some great one-liners and visual gags. It’s not as madcap as some episodes, but it mines its central concept for all it can, squeezing out as much humor as possible from a hug-rape story."

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* {{Adventure Time episodes, 4 2012 American television episodes Adventure Time season 4 episodes Television episodes about werewolves Fictional werewolves