Rattleballs
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"Rattleballs" is the forty-sixth episode of the fifth 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
Andy Ristaino Andy Ristaino is an American artist who is best known for being a former lead character designer, writer, storyboard and background artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. Life and work Ristaino grew up in New England and went ...
and Cole Sanchez, from a story by
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Jack Pendarvis, Adam Muto, and Moynihan. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on January 27, 2014. The episode guest stars
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...
as the eponymous character. 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 kno ...
), 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 ...
(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'', H ...
), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn meets an old sword-fighting robot named Rattleballs (voiced by
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...
), and learns that Rattleballs was part of an elite force made by Princess Bubblegum long ago to protect the Candy Kingdom; however, the group became too destructive and so they were all destroyed, save for Rattleballs. After a short skirmish, Rattleballs proves that he is not a threat, so Bubblegum relents and does not destroy him. During the recording of "Rattleballs", Wilson brought his son to the session; DiMaggio noted it was odd because both he and Shada were excited to meet the actor due to his role in the American sitcom ''
The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...
'', whereas Wilson and his son were in turn excited to meet them, because they were both fans of the show. The episode was viewed by 2.213 million viewers, and 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 ...
'' applauded the episode for providing Rattleballs with a solid debut.


Plot

After his breakup with Flame Princess, Finn vows to do whatever Princess Bubblegum wishes. Soon, however, he becomes a burden, and Bubblegum orders Finn to take some time off and rest. Finn wanders to the junkyard, where he is saved from a collapse of garbage by a mysterious swordsman. They soon duel, but Finn is quickly defeated. However, after Finn shows remarkable bravery in defeat, the mysterious swordsman spares him, but heavily criticizes his dueling skills. The mysterious being is introduced as Rattleballs (voiced by
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...
), a hybrid gumball and robot warrior. He eventually agrees to take Finn on as his sword appreciative, and tells him about his past; he was originally a member of an elite police force created by Princess Bubblegum to patrol the Candy Kingdom, but once crime was largely eliminated, the robots became extremely violent and took to illegal
street fighting Street fighting is hand-to-hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or occasionally even death. Some street fig ...
. Bubblegum disbanded the entire contingent, although Rattleballs escaped and has been living in the junkyard ever since. Finn, torn between loyalty to the princess and his newfound sword master, eventually tells Bubblegum due to his chivalric code of honor. Bubblegum orders her banana guards to arrest Rattleballs, although he easily—though non lethally—defeats the entire police force. Bubblegum, realizing that Rattleballs may not be a threat, pretends to decommission the robot, but allows him to patrol the city at night, fighting crime.


Production

"Rattleballs" was written and storyboarded by
Andy Ristaino Andy Ristaino is an American artist who is best known for being a former lead character designer, writer, storyboard and background artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. Life and work Ristaino grew up in New England and went ...
and Cole Sanchez, from a story by
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. Art direction was handled by Nick Jennings, whereas supervising direction was helmed by Elizabeth Ito. Ward and Ristaino worked on developing the look for Rattleballs. Initially, Ristaino wanted Finn to have a sword that would "talk back to him and insult his swordsmanship", although this idea was later scrapped because of the introduction of the grass sword in the previous episode. Lead character designer Matt Forsythe helped develop the look for the "medieval banana guards"—who had originally appeared in the early episode "The Vault"—a task he later called "fun". Forsythe also modeled one of the banana guards after a 14-year-old identified only as Chris, who had voiced a character in the episode " Root Beer Guy" by means of the
Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqu ...
. The episode guest stars
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...
as the titular character. Wilson, a reported fan of the show, brought his son Walter to the recording session because he too was a fan. Both DiMaggio and Shada were excited to meet and work with Wilson, both being fans of the American television series ''
The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...
'' in which Wilson played the character Dwight Schrute; DiMaggio later noted that, "He was kind of geeking out on us, and eremy and Iwere kind of geeking out on him."


Reception

"Rattleballs" aired on January 27, 2014 on Cartoon Network. The episode was watched by 2.213 million viewers, and received a 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic Nielsen household rating. 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. Sometim ...
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 0.5 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds at the time of the broadcast. The episode was the 70th most-watched cable program in the 18–49 demographic on the night it aired. 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 ...
'' awarded the episode an "A−", calling it "a particularly exceptional debut" for the titular character. Sava felt that the episode was good because it featured "hilarious voice work from Rainn Wilson as Rattleballs, dynamic action sequences, €¦a story that expands on Ooo mythology, €¦but most importantly, it uses the new cast member to expand Finn and PB's characters." In the end, he noted that "Rattleballs" was an entry that had multiple levels of delivery.


Explanatory notes


References


External links

* {{Adventure Time episodes, 5 2014 American television episodes Adventure Time (season 5) episodes Fictional food characters Fictional knights Fictional robots Fictional swordfighters in television Television episodes about robots