In 2007, an animated short titled Adventure Time aired on Nicktoons Network. Created by Pendleton Ward, the short focuses on a human boy named Pen and his shapeshifting dog named Jake as they journey to the Ice King’s lair to save the kidnapped Princess Bubblegum. This stand-alone short’s unexpected cult popularity not only subsequently led to the creation of the eponymous animated series, but it became the catalyst that would deeply influence the television cartoons that soon followed it.

After seeing one of Pendleton Ward’s student films, Eric Homan, the vice president of creative development at Frederator Studios, contacted him for a pitch. Frederator approved the pitch and the short entered production. After its virality, Adventure Time was pitched to Nicktoons for a full series, but was rejected. Frederator proceeded to pitch it to other channels after Nicktoons’ own rights to commission a full series expired. Cartoon Network was interested in producing a full Adventure Time series and so it headed down the road toward its destiny.

Adventure Time was certainly not destined to just be a one-hit wonder. The series went on to have ten seasons from 2010-2018—its finale having aired on September 3, 2018.

Minor changes were made between short and series: “Pen” the human was renamed “Finn”, a larger cast of characters was added, and the world and mythos of the Land of Ooo greatly expanded. As the show moved forward, it explored more complex themes beyond a boy and his dog simply trying to save the day. In some ways, their world was beyond saving: Ooo further developed into a post-apocalyptic setting, maturing the series into a direction that gave it more opportunities to approach topics such as love and loss that it couldn’t have in its early beginnings. Ooo is coated with literal candy and bright color, but underneath the surface, it hid things that are dark and sour in nature. Adventure Time boomed into a bigger franchise, from memes to merchandise and comics, to a particular vision in both style and storytelling that continues to resound throughout media.

It is clear to see how the show’s boom created an interest to emulate its prowess. Whether taking cues from its distinctive art style, or its style of writing, Adventure Time not only enchanted its viewers and pale imitators, it also influenced the very people behind its production.

Adventure Time defined a grand network of creators that emerged in the succeeding generations of Western animation. For the original short, Ward hired several of his California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) alma mater to work with him. Neil Graf was a colorist who later became an artist for Gravity Falls. Julian Narino was a background designer and later worked on We Bare Bears and storyboarded for LAIKA Studios. Adam Muto designed props and continued working with Ward to eventually become Adventure Time‘s co-executive producer and showrunner. He has recently been credited as a board artist for Summer Camp Island.

This web of relationships grew as the series progressed, and Adventure Time involved the hands of more CalArts alma maters and other creatives that explored their own solo ventures later on. Storyboard artist Natasha Allegri created and produced Bee & Puppycat, another Frederator Studios joint. Patrick McHale was a major creative director before he would create Over the Garden Wall. Ian Jones-Quartey worked in boards and later created OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. In addition to contributing to the show’s music, Rebecca Sugar was a board artist and eventually conceived Steven Universe. Although a lot of these titles were conceived under a Cartoon Network umbrella, other properties were wrought from relationships that go back even further beyond network lines.

It is worth noting that Pendleton Ward also previously worked as a writer and storyboard artist on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, which in turn was a byproduct of, and often considered a spiritual successor to, SpongeBob Squarepants. A few of the iconic Nickelodeon animated series’ original creative staff carried over into Flapjack: Kent Osborne, for instance, continued serving roles as a major writer and storyboard artist from Spongebob into Flapjack’s conception. Nate Cash similarly shared Osborne’s work history but ultimately ended up working on Adventure Time himself.

It is clear that the many branches that fork in the animation industry can easily navigate back to an initial starting point. Significant in its own part of the bigger picture, we can also surmise that without Flapjack, there may have been no shake-up in the industry channeled through Adventure Time. Patrick McHale, Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls), and J.G. Quintel (Regular Show) all contributed to Flapjack contemporary to Ward’s work, long before they would become their own showrunners. But as we have indicated how animation cyclically influences herein who comes after, we can also say this paper trail can go as far as SpongeBob Squarepants.

Ultimately, whatever may have transpired within or after Adventure Time’s syndication has truly trajected contemporary animated programming to where it is now. Animation in the United States still tends to be stigmatized as limited storytelling meant for a demographic specific to younger audiences. Adventure Time is one of many Western titles that prove the medium is capable of going past the social restraints it faces. Cartoons that have since been greenlit and aired have varied beyond pre-established tropes and norms of what cartoons should be structured as. For example, Rebecca Sugar and other creatives on Steven Universe have been very open about the show’s anime influences. The show carries over character development and has also proudly explored LGBTQ+ themes—something that definitely would have been an uphill battle at a much earlier time.

Despite the promising nature of what is to come in television animation, the immediate fallout and fears that spark whenever new media is introduced has unfortunately become ritualistic. The problems of nepotism and overall accessibility into the animation industry are important to address: it is a legitimate criticism that many of the noted showrunners have attended CalArts and/or have gone through a private arts education in some way. Modern animation certainly has become an oversaturated market: it is legitimate to also question and challenge outright bad ideas. But the recurring lack of constructive engagement in increasingly volatile online environments has endangered creators’ relationships with their own works and actual well-being. Adventure Time’s ripple effect has inspired a generation of both artists and viewers to make regardless of break and these echoes should continue to ring without fear.

What Adventure Time did to influence contemporary animation is both internal and external. Not only did it redefine what cartoons can do, but it inspired and outright forwarded the careers who can create these cartoons. Although viewers bid farewell to Finn and friends and the Land of Ooo, it is hard to say that Adventure Time has truly ended. As its influence and legacy will remain ever so clear and present in Western animation now and with more to come, we can only anticipate that the adventure will just keep on going.