The Weird World of Adventure Time Comes Full Circle

Nobody really expected a cartoon featuring post-apocalyptic candy kingdoms and Korean-speaking unicorns to become a children’s-television success story. Nor did anybody expect that same show to be a success story with just about every other demographic out there, either.
But that’s exactly what happened to Adventure Time, an animated series following the exploits of Finn, a 14-year-old boy, and his best friend, Jake, a walking, talking and shape-shifting dog. Together, the pair has inspired a loyal legion of fans of that number in the millions. And, now in its fifth season, the show that began as a one-off animated web short is coming back to the medium on which it originally debuted: streaming video. All past seasons of Adventure Time will go live on Netflix Instant at the end of March, with new episodes still airing through the spring on Cartoon Network. If you binged on House of Cards earlier this year, prepare your queue for a dose of trippy whimsy.
Adventure Time’s evolution from web short to international franchise has surprised and stumped even those intimately involved with the show, like John DiMaggio, the voice behind Jake (as well as Futurama’s Bender). He remembers one conversation with voice actor Tom Kenny — Adventure Time’s Ice King villain — about the show’s unexpected popularity.
“I was like, ‘I just don’t get it man,’” DiMaggio recalls. “And he said, ‘You know what? This is this generation’s Yellow Submarine. It’s that kind of world.’ It finally struck me — and I get it ever since.”
(MORE: Disney: Hand-Drawn Cartoons Coming to TV This Summer)

Read more: http://entertainment.time.com/2013/03/29/the-weird-world-of-adventure-time-comes-full-circle/#ixzz2Ovp93s00