marcellX
Since: Feb, 2011
10/21/2012 00:00:00
one of only five really great animated shows currently in production
did you meant in general or only kid's shows
Hisaishi
Since: Aug, 2011
10/21/2012 00:00:00
@ marcellX Fixed
Keep it easy.Leave a Comment:
The Ice King Arc
Let's be honest. Adventure Time is one of only five really great children's animated shows currently in production. The other four are Cartoon Network's Regular Show, Nickelodeon's Legend Of Korra, The Hub's My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and Disney's Gravity Falls. There are other shows that make the mark. They just get muddled each other, getting overshadowed by the shows that nail it. Though, put simply, if I were to make the case why Adventure Time is the best of these, look no further than the Ice King arc.
Often a MacGuffin or major event takes precedence in the arc. However, AT's overlapping arcs manage to run the gamut of different ways of telling a story, often with characters. There's the Enchiridion arc, the Fire Kingdom arc, the Lich arc, and several aborted arcs (remember Billy and Susan Strong? Yeah, what happened to them?). By far, the Ice King arc is the strongest.
The episodes necessary to figure out the Ice King are as followed: "Prisoners of Love", "The Enchiridion!" "The Eyes", "Mortal Folly/Mortal Recoil" "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I and II", "Princess Monster Wife", "Beyond This Earthly Realm", "I Remember You", and "Simon and Marcy".
This arc is just fantastically written in terms of pacing and delivery. Like a strange mix of Harvey "Two-Face" Dent and Dr. Victor "Mr. Freeze" Fries of Batman: The Animated Series, Ice King is a character that we initially write off as a one-trick pony. He provides gags but we don't connect with him on a personal level. It isn't until "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" that we see just who this character is. He has mental damage that scars him and we really have to sympathize with him. The dark chaos that blinds him is just gut wrenching, and we feel terrible for having laughed at him. The next three arc episodes deliver lighter blows until Season 4's penultimate episode, where the team up I have waited for is revealed. Marceline Abadeer and Ice King team up musically and have deconstructions that can't be ignored and the end result is story writing perfection. The past meets the present and we are all floored.
There is a reason why Tom Kenny states this is his current favorite character is the Ice King. SpongeBob SquarePants has run his course. People love emotional characters and will continue to do so for a long time.