Food Chain (Adventure Time)
"Food Chain" | |
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Adventure Time episode | |
Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 7 |
Directed by | |
Written by | Masaaki Yuasa |
Story by | Masaaki Yuasa |
Production code | 1025-161[1] |
Original air date | June 12, 2014 |
Running time | 11 minutes |
Guest appearance | |
| |
"Food Chain" is the seventh episode of the
The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn and Jake learn about the food chain after being turned into its different parts—small birds, big birds, bacteria, plants, and finally caterpillars—by Magic Man (voiced by Tom Kenny). As Finn and Jake journey along the food chain, they meet another character named Erin, whom Finn falls in love with and attempts to marry. The episode concludes with Finn and Princess Bubblegum (voiced by Hynden Walch) singing a song about how the food chain works.
The episode was the second (following
Plot
While on a trip to the Candy Kingdom's Natural History Museum, Finn and Jake are turned into birds by Magic Man. The duo sing a version of
The two are promptly turned into plants, wherein they sing the song "We're Plants". Finn and Jake are turned into caterpillars, where Finn meets Erin (voiced by Minty Lewis). The two fall in love and get married, only for birds to disrupt the ceremony. Immediately, Finn and Jake awaken from their reverie back at the Natural History Museum. The ending dénouement features Finn and Princess Bubblegum singing the titular song "Food Chain", which details how the food chain works.
Production
"Food Chain" was written, storyboarded, and directed by noted Japanese animator
The episode also guest stars Regular Show storyboard artist Minty Lewis as the caterpillar Erin. Lewis has had limited experience with voice acting (she plays the role of Eileen on Regular Show), but in an interview with Newsarama, she expressed her surprise at being asked to voice a character for "Food Chain": "Having never done any voice acting besides Regular Show, I was very surprised to get a call asking me to do a voice on Adventure Time."[5] Lewis and the other cast members of Adventure Time recorded their lines with coaching from Yuasa, his translator, and the director. Unusually, the storyboard for "Food Chain" had been drawn and written out in a vertical, rather than horizontal format, as is common in the anime industry. In addition, the storyboard had been entirely written out in Japanese and then translated into English. Minty noted that "it seemed like [the producers of Adventure Time] put a lot of trust in Masaaki Yuasa to make something amazing without really understanding what he was doing until he was done."[5]
Reception
"Food Chain" first aired on Cartoon Network on June 12, 2014, and was watched by a total of 1.97 million viewers.[6]
Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A−", calling the installment a "visual feast with a bizarre storyline".[7] Comparing the episode to David OReilly's fifth-season episode "A Glitch Is a Glitch", Sava argued that "Food Chain" was simpler, storywise, but equally bizarre in terms of style. Sava applauded Yuasa's unique take on the series, specifically highlighting his idiosyncratic use of sound effects and music. Sava also pointed out that "Food Chain" would be an excellent episode to use in a classroom setting in order to teach about the actual food chain.[7] The site later selected "Food Chain" as a stand-out episode from the sixth season.[8]
Yuasa and Choi were both nominated for an "Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production"
Explanatory notes
References
- ^ Adventure Time production staff (November 8, 2013). "King of Ooo". KingOfOoo. Tumblr. Retrieved November 9, 2013. Note: Production codes are stamped onto various storyboards that must be searched for.
- ^ Yuasa, Masaaki (June 12, 2014). "Food Chain". Adventure Time. Season 6. Episode 7. Cartoon Network.
- ^ B, Jonathan (April 20, 2014). "Adventure Time Panel Wondercon 2014". Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ^ Polo, Susana (October 28, 2014). "Our Interview With Adventure Time's Head of Story and the Voice of Flame Princess!". The Mary Sue. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ a b Smith, Zack (July 22, 2015). "Pre-SDCC 2014: Regular Show's Minty Lewis Gives Us An 'Eileen Day' At KaBOOM!". Newsarama. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ Pucci, Douglas (October 6, 2014). "[Douglas Pucci, revealing the ratings numbers for June 12 and July 31 episodes of Adventure Time]". Twitter. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Sava, Oliver (June 12, 2014). "Adventure Time: 'Food Chain'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- ^ Adams, Erik; et al. (December 10, 2014). "The Best TV Shows of 2014, Part 1". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- ^ "41st Annual Annie Awards Categories". AnnieAwards.org. International Animated Film Association. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- ^ Eiga, Natalie (June 22, 2015). "Masaaki Yuasa's Adventure Time Episode to Run in Japan in July". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
External links
- "Food Chain" at IMDb