Thursday, January 14, 2016

Adventure Time - Bad Jubies Review

"Bad Jubies" was actually previewed at the San Diego Comic Con in 2015 and is one of the few episodes from the series done by a guest storyboarder and/or animator, such as David O' Reilly's "A Glitch is A Glitch", and Masaaki Yuasa's "Food Chain". Bad Jubies is written and directed by Kirsten Lepore, known for her stop-motion shorts from 2008 to 2013, as well as working in animated segments for MTV and the Nick Jr show "Yo Gabba Gabba".

I've provided links in the video description for some of the work Lepore has made, including some advice when making stop-motion animation. So check those out.

In Bad Jubies, a what I would describe as an "Apocalyptic Storm" is on its way to Ooo that would last a month. So Finn & the gang decided to create a bunker for them to live until the weather clears itself. Jake, however, having a weird epiphany, chooses not to help Finn and the others to build a bunker.

The bunker is finally built and the gang went in to wait the storm out. LSP, being LSP, consumes all the food and water, which starts a ruckus within the group. Jake tells everyone that ever since the news of the storm, everyone's acting so negative, or the 'Bad Jubies', and revealed he was working on making various sounds of nature. The storm finally arrives and reveals to be sentient, ready to pound on Finn and the gang. The gang then do the nature sounds as the only way to defeat 'Bad Jubies' is with 'Good Jubies'. The storm stops its rampage and chose to be a breeze to enjoy the wonders of nature and life. Jake gives the storm his notebook of sheet music as it leaves. Everyone then commends Jake before an Eagle swoops LSP away.

This is one of the most beautifully made stop-motion animation I've seen and Lepore simply delivers. And good timing too, since the stop-motion film Anomalisa is also out in theaters to rave reviews. I'm just saddened that in the end credits, they did show some bits of how the episode was made, but due to time constraints, and the fact that Cartoon Network ditches the end credits scene for promotions, we can only see like 10 seconds of it.

Actually, I do notice that the end credits go much faster than in the previous seasons. I guess they did deliberately for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

Now because this is a guest-made episode, it is a stand-alone one and is not part of the continuity, which is fine because it is so well made both visually and in the narrative. LSP's persona adds to the comical element and Jake's optimism adds those good feelings or "Good Jubies" into the episode, which adds a positive message for the young viewer.

Like "A Glitch is A Glitch" and "Food Chain", "Bad Jubies" is another success for the show in giving creative freedom to guest animators and would like to see more of this in the near future. Wonder what it would take for the AT staff to lend the episode to Studio MadHouse or Studio Trigger? I'd pay top-dollar for an action packed Adventure Time episode from the studio behind One Punch Man, or Kill la Kill.

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