Mathematical! Fans have been asking, and Warner Home Video and Cartoon Network have finally answered. Adventure Time: The Complete First Season will come to DVD this week (look for our review tomorrow).
In honor of this exciting release, we sat down with Adventure Time creator Pendleton (Pen) Ward to discuss what it takes for young prospective artists to break into the industry, the direction of the show, as well as Ward's amusing contribution to the DVD bonus features.
Before Ward was famous, he visited Simpsons creator Matt Groening to discuss what it took to make it in the animation industry. While Ward could not recall what transpired during that chat, he did offer some inspiration for young artists.
“My advice comes off as generic, but I think it's important advice – and that's to keep drawing.” Ward suggests. “I think if you persist, you keep drawing, you're already one step ahead of anybody who's quit. And that's probably the biggest challenge when you're learning, whether you're drawing, or really anything at all – is to keep doing it.”
Even in the show's early days, Pen Ward was always working hard at the series, attempting to craft a show that was not only fun and funny, but also refreshing and original.
“Every day I'm just focused on trying to keep the ideas fresh and interesting.” Ward states. “For example, I wanted to put a monkey in an episode, and one of the writers, Jesse Moynihan, told me not to. He thought it was jumping the shark, that is was just cheap humor. I told him, you're right, you're right. So we took it out.”
It's this sense of originality that's turned Adventure Time from a cult series into something of a phenomenon. But Ward isn't really phased by the show's new found mainstream stardom. “I don't have a real concept of it, honestly,” Ward said. “We just work on the show every day and keep doing it. But I see how much people really like it at Comic-Con, which is a lot of fun.”
Instead, Ward spends his time focused on the story. “We're always trying to top ourselves and make each episode better than the last,” Ward said. “We don't want to become stale.”
Ward is currently putting the finishing touches on season four, while also drafting episodes for the show's upcoming fifth season. While he remained mum on all the juicy details, he did offer hints as to what fans can expect. “In future episodes you'll get to see more of the history of Ooo.” Ward offers. “There's also a few more origin stories for some of the characters. There's going to be another Fiona Cake episode coming up, which features Marshall Lee more.”
In the meantime, fans can explore the various bonus features found on the season one DVD. One special feature was actually shot on Ward's own iPhone, using a handy $150 Steadicam unit. “I wanted to put something cool on the disc,” Ward explains. “I wanted to interview everybody and put it all in one shot. Then we decided to put animation on it.” The end results are nothing short of bizarrely humorous, with the featurette almost playing like a bonus episode of the show.
But the featurette isn't the only goodie Ward was excited about. Playing as sort of a complement to the “Mom-entary” from the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg film, The Other Guys, Ward sought out another helper to add some flavor to the supplemental material. “There's a commentary from my mother with Polly Lou Livingston, who voices Tree Trunks,” Ward admits with a laugh. “It's pretty funny.”
Obviously, because this first season took quite a while to make its way to DVD, fans might be worried it'll be a few more years down the line before future seasons arrive, but Ward attempts to put those worries to rest. “I'm positive they'll be coming,” Ward assures. “I'll have to stay up and do some more special features, too.”
With the release of Seth MacFarlane's Ted in theaters, naturally the thought of doing something live action came up. Ward was fascinated by the idea of doing a feature-length movie. “I think it would be great.” Ward said. “I want to do a live-action movie with the Adventure Time characters, actually. That would be interesting.”
We certainly hope he gets the chance to do that in the near future. But, in the meantime, you can check out Adventure Time on Cartoon Network, or pick up the show on DVD or digital download.
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Source : ign[dot]com
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