When I first heard the announcement about Mondo’s second gallery show for Adventure Time, I felt underwhelmed. I didn’t know much about the show other than the fact that it was a wacky cartoon, and a wacky cartoon was a stark change of theme from Mondo’s first gallery opening which was a science fiction movie theme.
I did not know it at the time, but Adventure Time started from being a short on Nickelodeon’s Random! Cartoons. The short became a viral hit on the internet, Cartoon Network picked it up, and the rest is history – well, since 2010 when the series started. The cartoon is rated TV-PG due to its – as creator Pendleton Ward puts it – “subversive humor” which brings many adult jokes into play that most children would not understand until way later in life, kind of like the cartoons I used to watch back in the day.
Instead of shrugging off the Adventure Time gallery event, I decided to keep an open mind about the whole thing and spoke with a few people here and there about the show. My boss told me it was the kind of show you want to enjoy with an alcoholic beverage. Other people only told me that it was totally awesome and said it was not describable. Overall, from the positive reviews I was hearing, my interest was piqued. I decided to take the plunge and made plans to attend both the gallery event and the Mondo Adventure Time Feast that was taking place the next day. I was to have an Adventure Time weekend!
First, however, I watched an episode of Adventure Time to get a feel for it. I did not want to watch a bunch of episodes before the feast event; I wanted to be surprised, but I wanted to know a little bit about the show. A friend directed me to the episode “It Came from the Nightosphere” as primer material. After watching the episode, I finally understood why people liked the cartoon so much. It did have a lot of adult humor in it and did not play it safe like other cartoon shows. My nephews watch some really tame shows compared to this. I did laugh out loud a few times – a rarity, indeed. When I mentioned to my sister that I was going to check out Adventure Time, she told me that it was too inappropriate for her children.
Fast forward to the day of the Mondo Gallery event. Fellow Nerdlocker writer Roman and I had an opportunity to speak with Pendleton Ward at the gallery for about ten minutes. The guy was completely chill and even signed and sketched on the piece of art I bought from the show entitled My Neighbor Jake, which was a mash-up between My Neighbor Totoro and Adventure Time. Coincidentally, one of Pen’s main influences is My Neighbor Totoro. We talked about many things, but the main impression the guy left on me was that he seemed to understand what makes for an entertaining cartoon show and he likes his fans. Talking to him was just like talking to anyone else; I did not feel uncomfortable during the entire conversation. Pen is the type of guy with whom I would want to enjoy a beer or three.
I admitted to Pen that I had only seen one episode, and he asked me to describe it. I thought back to asking people about the show. It was not describable, but I gave it my best. I told him about the soul-sucking dad monster and the sudden surprise ending. He asked if I saw the last shot. I remembered it, and laughed.
The following day, I attended the Adventure Time Feast at the Alamo Drafthouse with Roman. While we were standing in line, I noticed that 98% of the people there were adults. People came dressed up as Jake or Finn; they were that psyched enough about the event. My friend Hector brought his two boys to the event, and they were watching Adventure Time on an iPod the entire time.
Once we finally sat down and things were underway, Roman bought a pitcher of beer. I could barely even finish one beer due to the insane amount of food served to us. The guy to my left finished the first meal served to him and didn’t even touch the other two courses. Talk about a lot of food! Check out the image of the menu.
The servers brought the food out to coincide with specific episodes. For instance, the episode with the everything burrito sparked the burritos to be served. I would say that I enjoyed the first course the most, but I think that was when I was the most hungry. The sandwich was filled with a lot of tasty meat, and I love mashed potatoes. I even dipped the sandwich in the jalapeno sauce for a little bit of spice.
The second meal tasted a bit weird to me, but that might be because I was starting to get really full. I tried to use the angel soup as a dipping sauce for the burrito. It was kind of tasty. I took one bite of the jello. I gave up at the midway point in the burrito. The third meal came, and I had already loosened my belt by that time. I ate half the hotdog, ate one french fry, and then devoured the ice cream. I looked at Roman’s plate. He didn’t even touch the hot dog. Dude missed out.
Back to the marathon screening itself: We were shown several episodes encompassing a wide range of Adventure Time shows: 10 in total. We watched “Slumber Party Panic,” “It Came from the Nightosphere,” “The Pods,” “Hitman,” “Wizard Battle,” “Fionna and Cake,” and a few others. We even got to see the world premiere of “Return to the Nightosphere” and “Daddy’s Little Monster.” Sweet! The whole theater erupted in laughter several times. It was rather entertaining watching these bite-sized pieces of entertainment.
After the show, creator Pen Ward and the voice of The Ice King Tom Kenny took interview questions. I tried to pay attention, but I was in a food coma of sorts. I awoke from my food slumber at one point when Pen Ward said he was from San Antonio, and some gentleman screamed really loud in excitement which also caused Pen to scream loud in excitement as well.
After the show, we got to pick up some sweet Adventure Time posters by Dave Perrillo. I went back to my car and got out My Neighbor Jake to have it signed by The Ice King AKA Tom Kenny, but the line for signatures was not moving at all. Pen is such a cool guy that he was chatting up each person who was trying to get a signature. I decided that My Neighbor Jake was cool enough as it was and left, but I will definitely remember this Adventure Time weekend for years to come. Now I just need to wait for the first season to be released on DVD (June 10).
If you are interested in any of the remaining original pieces from the Adventure Time show or need info on what is dropping, and when, read the latest from the Mondo Gallery Director Justin Ishmael. Also see below for pictures of the original artwork that is still available. I’d hurry, they are going quick!
Adventure Time Gallery Posters And Original Art On Sale Info
This weekend we hosted a gallery event in Austin, TX for one of our favorite animated show ADVENTURE TIME! We released lots of original art and posters and we will have the posters for sale tomorrow! The original art was amazing and we were proud of everything that came in. The remaining pieces are available HERE.
Please follow us(Mondo) on Twitter for the on sale announcement. These posters will be available online at a random time on Wednesday, May 2nd.
Poster by Methane Studios. 18″x30.5″ screen print. Hand numbered. Edition of 195. Printed by D&L Screenprinting. $40
Poster by Tom Whalen. 18″x24″ screen print. Hand numbered. Edition of 200. Printed by D&L Screenprinting. $40
Poster by The Little Friends of Printmaking. 24″x36″ screen print. Hand numbered. Edition of 175. Printed by D&L Screenprinting. $40
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