What Sparked the First Flames of Adventure Time?

Pendleton Ward: The Show's Creator

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Adventure Time was initially created as an animated short by PendletonWard in 2006.  You can catch this short at the following link:  http://www.funnyjunk.com/movies/1130587/

The short rapidly went on to become an internet phenomenon with over 1 million views by November 2007. Ward decided to try to pitch Adventure Time as a full series, but it took quite a while before the Cartoon Network decided to pick up.  In 2008, Ward was working on another series entitled The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack as a writer and storyboard artist.  This format, where episodes based on outlines are written by storyboard artists, inspired Ward to utilize this same format for Adventure Time.

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Inspiration for the series stemmed from Ward's love of The Simpsons.  He thought that the early seasons had a great deal of heart.  Ward wants to make characters that feel so real that they inspire real emotion and are easy to relate to. He pulls inspiration aimed at reaching kids' hearts. He felt that it was important that Finn's character wasn't too eager to please people.  He needed to have more depth and wrath as Ward's hero

Ward oversees all creative aspects of Adventure Time.  He is also the voice behind many characters including LSP, Shelby and Abraham Lincoln.  

http://adventuretime.wikia.com/

Factoids:

In the initial Adventure Time short Pen (now known as Finn) is named after him. Ward changed the name to Finn because he "didn't want to see his name on the back of sweatjeans".

Ward is a portly, bearded man who speaks in a relaxed monotone.  He seems to be perpetually immersed in the depths of his own imagination and it is easy to link his manner with the ultra weirdness found in Adventure Time.

Ward explains the writing process as just writing with the sole purpose of making themselves laugh.

One of the writers of the show explained that when he first discovered Adventure Time, he, like many others, simply didn't get it.  He now simply describes it as "this generation's 'Yellow Submarine'".

An interview with Ward:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xiLC6PV6CY