The eighth season of ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'', an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television series created by

Pendleton Ward Pendleton Ward is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios, and Netflix Animation. He created the series ''Adventure Time'', the Internet series ''Brave ...

, premiered on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

on March 26, 2016, and concluded on February 2, 2017, and was produced by

Frederator Studios Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio founded by Fred Seibert in January 1997. It is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc., itself a part of Kartoon Studios' Canadian holding company Wow Unlimited Media. T ...

and

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...

. It follows the adventures of Finn, a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother

Jake Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach * Jake, a member of the band Enhy ...

, a dog with magical powers to change shape and size at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, where they interact with the other main characters of the show:

Princess Bubblegum Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum (also called Bonnie or PB, occasionally Peebles or P-bubs) is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''Adventure Time'' and resulting franchise, created by Pendleton Ward. She is voiced by H ...

The Ice King Simon Petrikov, more commonly called the Ice King, is a fictional character in the ''Adventure Time'' franchise. He was first introduced in the American animated television series ''Adventure Time''. The character was the main antagonist of the ...

Marceline the Vampire Queen Marceline Abadeer, better known as Marceline the Vampire Queen, is a fictional character in the American animated Cartoon Network television series ''Adventure Time'' and resulting franchise, created by Pendleton Ward. She is voiced by Oliv ...

, Lumpy Space Princess, BMO, and Flame Princess.

Tom Herpich Thomas Herpich is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. History Herpich graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA), and was known in indie cartoo ...

Steve Wolfhard Steve Wolfhard is a Canadian cartoonist, storyboard artist, writer, and director. He was a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time'' and is a supervising director on its spinoff '' Adventure Time: Fionna and ...

Jesse Moynihan Jesse Mark Moynihan (born January 4, 1978) is an American artist, animator, composer and director. He is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time'' and as the creator of the graphic no ...

, Laura Knetzger, Kris Mukai, Lyle Partridge,

Graham Falk ''Untalkative Bunny'' is a co-produced animated series about a yellow rabbit and its life in the big city (closely based on Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). The show is aimed for kids 6–7. The series consists of small episodes (about 4–5 minutes lo ...

, Charmaine Verhagen, Sam Alden,

, Seo Kim, Somvilay Xayaphone, Hanna K. Nyström,

Ako Castuera Ako Castuera (b. 1978) is an American artist who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. Early life Castuera's father is from Mexico, and his ancestors originated from the Spani ...

, Aleks Sennwald, Polly Guo, Kent Osborne, and Adam Muto storyboarded and wrote the season. The miniseries ''

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

'', which follows Finn, Jake, BMO (voiced by

Niki Yang Niki Hyun Yang (born in Seoul, South Korea as Hyun Jeong Yang; , June 8, 1985) is a South Korean animator, writer, storyboard artist, and voice actress. After graduating from Hongik University and then CalArts, she became one of the storyboard ...

), and Susan Strong (voiced by

Jackie Buscarino Jacqueline "Jackie" Buscarino (born September 11, 1977) is an American voice actress, writer and producer. She has contributed voice-over work to animated series such as ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'', ''Adventure Time'' and ''Grav ...

) as they leave Ooo and travel across the ocean to solve the mystery of Finn's past, aired during this season. It also features guest animators

Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera Alex Small-Butera (born January 29, 1986) and Lindsay Caroline Small-Butera (born September 16, 1985), sometimes collectively referred to as SMALLBÜ, are an American husband and wife animating duo. They are best known for creating the long-runnin ...

(who worked on "Beyond the Grotto") and James Baxter (who worked on "Horse and Ball"). The season debuted with the episode "Broke His Crown", which was watched by 1.13 million viewers marking a slight decrease from the previous season finale, "The Thin Yellow Line", which was seen by 1.15 million viewers. "Islands Part 8: The Light Cloud," the eighth-season finale, was watched by 1 million viewers, making it the lowest-rated ''Adventure Time'' season finale at the time. Critical reception to the season was mostly positive, with ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' writer Oliver Sava expressing pleasant bemusement that the show's quality had not suffered despite this season being its eighth. Critics were also complimentary towards the ''Islands'' miniseries: In April 2017,

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

awarded the miniseries "The Common Sense Seal", and at the

69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2016, until May 31, 2017, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

in 2017, the ''Islands'' episode "Imaginary Resources" won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. Several compilation DVDs that contain episodes from the season have been released, and a set containing the entire season was released on September 4, 2018.

Development

Concept

The series follows the adventures of

Finn the Human Finn Mertens, better known as Finn the Human, is a character and one of the two protagonists, alongside Jake the Dog, in the American animated television series ''Adventure Time'' and resulting franchise created by Pendleton Ward. He also appe ...

, a human boy, and his best friend

, a dog with magical powers to change shape, grow, and shrink at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, where they interact with the other major characters, including:

, Lumpy Space Princess, BMO, and Flame Princess. Common storylines revolve around Finn and Jake discovering strange creatures, dealing with the antagonistic, but misunderstood, Ice King, and battling monsters in order to help others. Multi-episode story arcs for this season include the introduction of the character Fern, and Finn meeting his mother and learning about what became of humanity.

Production

On July 7, 2015, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' announced that the series had been renewed for an eighth season. The season's storyline writers included

Jack Pendarvis Jack Ward Pendarvis is an American screenwriter, author, and voice actor. He is mostly known for his work on the animated programs ''Adventure Time'' and ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Personal life Jack Pendarvis was born on July 8, 1963, in Mobil ...

Adam Muto Adam Muto (born July 20) is an American writer, storyboard artist, animator, and producer known for his work as the executive producer and showrunner of the animated television series ''Adventure Time''. Career Muto was a classmate of ''Adventu ...

Kent Osborne Kent Matthew Osborne (born August 30, 1969) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and actor. He has worked for such animated television shows as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''Camp Lazlo'', ''Phineas and Ferb'', '' The Marvelous Mi ...

, and

Ashly Burch Ashly Burch (born June 19, 1990) is an American actress, writer, director, and singer. She is known for her roles as Aloy in the ''Horizon (video game series), Horizon'' series, Chloe Price in the ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange ...

. Originally, the show's seventh season was supposed to comprise the episodes "Bonnie & Neddy" through "Reboot", and its eighth season was supposed to include the episodes "Two Swords" through "Three Buckets", but when it came time to upload the seventh season onto streaming sites,

chose to end the season with its 26th episode, "The Thin Yellow Line." Consequently, the episodes "Broke His Crown" through "Reboot" (which had originally been ordered as the last episodes of the show's seventh season) and the episodes "Two Swords" through the ''Islands'' miniseries (which had originally been ordered as the beginning of the show's eighth season) were combined to form the show's official eighth season. This new episode count was cemented by the release of the complete seventh season DVD on July 18, 2017, which included episodes up until "The Thin Yellow Line", as well as the release of the complete eighth season on the Cartoon Network website. This season's episodes were produced in a process similar to those of the previous seasons. Each episode was outlined in two-to-three pages that contained the necessary plot information. These outlines were then handed to storyboard artists, who created full storyboards. Design and coloring were done at

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, and animation was handled overseas in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Rough Draft Korea Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles by Gregg Vanzo in 1991. Rou ...

and

Saerom Animation Saerom Animation, Inc. () is an animation studio located in Seoul, South Korea founded in 1987 by Gilhwan Kim. While it mainly animates shows from American animation studios, the company started making its own cartoons in 2003. Productions TV se ...

. Continuing a tradition that started with the fifth season episode " A Glitch is a Glitch", this season also features the work of guest animators. "Beyond the Grotto" features 7 minutes of animation courtesy of

, a husband and wife duo known for their web series ''Baman Piderman'', and the episode "Horse and Ball" features animation courtesy of James Baxter. He had previously provided guest animation for the fifth-season episode "

James Baxter the Horse "James Baxter the Horse" is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''Adventure Time''. The episode was written and storyboarded by series creator Pendleton Ward and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a stor ...

". In both episodes, James Baxter the animator lends his voice to the equine character of the same name. Storyboard artists who worked on this season include:

, Laura Knetzger, Kris Mukai, Lyle Partridge,

, Charmaine Verhagen, Sam Alden,

, Seo Kim, Somvilay Xayaphone, Hanna K. Nyström,

, Aleks Sennwald, Polly Guo, Kent Osborne, and Adam Muto. This was the final season to feature several long-serving storyboard artists and production crew members. Moynihan left the show after completing " Normal Man" to finish his web comic ''Forming''. Finally, supervising director Andres Salaff left after this season to storyboard on Cartoon Network's series ''

Uncle Grandpa ''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that ran from September 2, 2013, to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from '' The Cartoonstitut ...

''. Conversely, the season also saw the return of former storyboard artist Ako Castuera (who returned to storyboard the episode "Broke His Crown" with Nyström before working as a storyboard revisionist, starting with "Two Swords"). and former storyboard artist and creative director

Cole Sanchez Cole Sanchez is an American storyboard artist, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He is best known for being a writer, storyboard artist, director, and occasional voice actor on the animated television series ''Adventure Time'' (2010–1 ...

(who took the position of one of the series' supervising directors starting with "Two Swords").

Miniseries

During the eighth season of ''Adventure Time'', the miniseries ''

'' aired at the end of January and the beginning of February 2017. This event was first hinted at before the airing of the first ''Adventure Time'' miniseries ''Stakes'' (2015) when head story writer Kent Osborne revealed that the show would likely produce several more miniseries. ''Islands'' tells the story of Finn, Jake, BMO (voiced by

) and Susan Strong (voiced by

) leaving Ooo and traveling across the ocean to solve the mystery of Finn's past. During their trip, they encounter various creatures, new friends, and a variety of mysterious islands. The voyage culminates with a trip to Founder's Island, where Finn learns what happened to the rest of the human race and meets his mother, Minerva (voiced by

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born ) is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and '' Bad Sisters'' (2022 ...

Cast

The season's voice actors include:

Jeremy Shada Jeremy Shada (; born January 21, 1997) is an American actor, musician and singer. He is best known for his work as the voice of Finn the Human from the American animated television franchise ''Adventure Time'' and Lance in '' Voltron: Legendary ...

(Finn the Human),

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

(Jake the Dog),

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

(The Ice King),

Hynden Walch Hynden Walch (born February 1, 1971) is an American actress best known for voicing Starfire in the ''Teen Titans'' franchise and Princess Bubblegum in ''Adventure Time''. She also voiced Penny Sanchez in '' ChalkZone'', Elsie in ''Stanley'', ...

(Princess Bubblegum), and

Olivia Olson Olivia Olson (born May 21, 1992) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and writer, largely known for her voice roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in ''Phineas and Ferb'' and Marceline the Vampire Queen in ''Adventure Time''. She also played ...

(Marceline the Vampire Queen). Ward himself provides the voice for several minor characters, including Lumpy Space Princess. Former storyboard artist Niki Yang voices the sentient video game console BMO in English, as well as Jake's girlfriend Lady Rainicorn in Korean. Polly Lou Livingston, a friend of Pendleton Ward's mother, Bettie Ward, plays the voice of the small elephant Tree Trunks.Livingston, Polly Lou (Actress). 2012. "Tree Trunks" ommentary track ''Adventure Time'' Season One VD Los Angeles, CA:

.Ward, Bettie (Artist). 2012. "Tree Trunks" ommentary track ''Adventure Time'' Season One VD Los Angeles, CA:

Jessica DiCicco Jessica Sonya DiCicco (; born June 10, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for voicing in animated television series and video games. Her first voice role was the announcer for Nickelodeon's educational channel Noggin. DiCicco has since ...

voices Flame Princess, Finn's ex-girlfriend and the sovereign of the Fire Kingdom.

Andy Milonakis Andrew Michael Milonakis (; born January 30, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, rapper, and internet personality. He is best known for his work on '' The Andy Milonakis Show'', a sketch comedy series that aired on MTV and MTV2 from 2005 to 2 ...

voices N.E.P.T.R., a sentient robot who makes and throws pies.

Justin Roiland Mark Justin Roiland (born February 21, 1980) is an American voice actor, animator, writer, and producer. He co-created the Adult Swim animated sitcom ''Rick and Morty'', for which he voiced the protagonists Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith from 2013 ...

provides the voice of the Earl of Lemongrab. Several episodes, including most of the episodes in the ''Islands'' miniseries, feature Jackie Buscarino, who voices Susan Strong. The ''Adventure Time'' cast records their lines together as opposed to doing it individually. This is to capture more natural sounding dialogue among the characters. Hynden Walch has described these group session as akin to "doing a play reading—a really, really out there play." In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from a range of professions, including actors, musicians, and artists. In the season opener "Broke His Crown", both

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

and

Pamela Adlon Pamela Adlon ( ; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American-British actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in '' Ju ...

reprise their characters Betty and Gunter the dinosaur.

Dan Mintz Dan Mintz is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Bob and Linda's oldest daughter, Tina Belcher, on the animated show ''Bob's Burgers''. As a comedian, he is known for his extremely deadpan delivery, keepin ...

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

, and

Laura Silverman Laura Jane Silverman (born June 10, 1966) is an American actress and the older sister of actress and comedian Sarah Silverman. She acted in '' Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic'' and '' The Sarah Silverman Program'' portraying a fictionalized vers ...

return to reprise their roles as T.V., Bob, and Ethel in "Lady Rainicorn of the Crystal Dimension". This episode also features former storyboard artist Bert Youn and comedian

Fred Stoller Fred Stoller (born March 19, 1958) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and author. He is best known for portraying Gerard on ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. Early life Stoller was born in New York City and grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. ...

voicing the rainicorns Lee and Roy. The episode "I Am a Sword" guest stars

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series '' Strangers with Candy'' (1999–2000) and the prequel film '' Strangers with Candy'' (2005), wh ...

, Agee, and Melinda Hill; Sedaris plays Bandit Princess, Agee plays a Merchant and Science Cat, and Hill plays Space Bear and Sharon the spiky person. Storyline writer Ashly Burch plays Bun Bun in the titular episode, which also features

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his deep voice and screen presence in over 300 roles in film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' The Thing'' (1982), ''Pla ...

reprising his role as the former Flame King. In "Elemental",

Lauren Lapkus Dorthea Lauren Allegra Lapkus (born September 6, 1985) is an American actress and comedian, known for portraying Susan Fischer in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2014, 2019) and Jess in the HBO comedy-drama se ...

is introduced as the voice of ice elemental, Patience St. Pim. "Five Short Tables" sees the return of

Madeleine Martin Madeleine Martin (born April 15, 1993) is an American actress, known for voicing JoJo Tickle, the title character on the Playhouse Disney children's animated TV series '' JoJo's Circus'' and Fionna Campbell in the Cartoon Network series ''Adve ...

Roz Ryan Roz Ryan (born Rosalyn Bowen) is an American actress, singer and comedian who has worked for productions in film, television, and Broadway theatre for over 40 years. Ryan's first role on Broadway was in '' Ain't Misbehavin, a Fats Waller-influ ...

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On September 27, ...

, and

Emo Philips Emo Philips (born Philip Soltanec, February 7, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His stand-up comedy persona makes use of paraprosdokians spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice. Career The character of Emo Philips appea ...

; they voice Fionna, Cake, Marshall Lee, Ice Queen, and Cuber. The episode also guest stars

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( ; born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's '' The Eric Andre Show'' from 20 ...

as Flame Prince,

Crispin Freeman Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Grayw ...

as Turtle Prince and Ice President, Keith Ferguson as Prince Gumball (standing in lieu of the character's original voice actor,

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

, who was unavailable due to prior commitments), and Elle Newlands as Butterscotch Butler. "The Music Hole" features several guest actors, including

Ashley Eriksson LAKE (which stands for the founding members Lindsay, Ashley, Kenny, and Eli) is an American indie pop band, based in Langley, Washington. They are currently signed to Don Giovanni Records. History Formed in 2005, in Olympia, Washington, they ...

as the titular Music Hole, and

as Susan Strong.

Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her performances as Maeby Fünke in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006; 2013–2019), Dory Sief ...

voices Charlie,

Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) for which he earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast. He is also ...

voices Grand Prix, and

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinfo ...

voices the turtle announcer in "Daddy-Daughter Card Wars". "Preboot" sees the return of Buscarino as Susan Strong and

Collin Dean Collin Dean (born January 8, 2005) is an American former actor. Personal life Collin hails from Gilbert, Arizona, and he has an older sister. Career Voice acting Dean was the voice of Lincoln Loud in the Nickelodeon animated series, '' The Lo ...

as Tiffany; the episode also introduces

Lennon Parham Lennon Parham (born October 26, 1975) is an American actress and improvisational comedian from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. With frequent collaborator Jessica St. Clair, she created and co-starred in NBC's ''Best Friends Forever'' and U ...

as Dr. Gross.

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...

reprises his role as Rattleballs, as well as voicing the adult version of Sparkle in "Reboot". The episode "Two Swords" introduces the character of Fern, voiced by Hayden Ezzy. The next episode, "Do No Harm", sees both Jeff Bennett and Hill reprise their roles as the Grass Wizard and Doctor Princess, respectively. In "Wheels",

Marc Evan Jackson Marc Evan Jackson (born August 21, 1970) is an American comedian and actor. Some of his roles include Sparks Nevada in the '' Thrilling Adventure Hour'', Kevin Cozner in ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (he also hosts a podcast based on the sitcom, titled ...

reprises his role as Kim Kil Whan, and Rae Gray guest stars as Jake's granddaughter, Bronwyn. Ron Lynch returns as Mr. Pig in "High Strangeness". "Horse & Ball" features British animator James Baxter, who voices the horse of the same name.

Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004), voice and motion capture for Sonny in '' I, Robot'' (2 ...

returns to voice the character Chatsberry in "Jelly Beans Have Power". The ''Islands'' miniseries features

Josh Fadem Josh Fadem ( ; born July 19, 1980) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life Fadem was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2000. Car ...

as Whipple the sea-dragon,

Helena Mattsson Helena Mattsson (born March 30, 1984) is a Swedish actress. She began her career appearing in Swedish stage productions before moving to United States. She starred in the 2007 science fiction action thriller film ''Species – The Awakening'' ...

as Alva,

as Vinny,

Jasika Nicole Jasika Nicole is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is known for her role as Agent Astrid Farnsworth on the Fox series ''Fringe''. She has guest-starred in ''Scandal'' as Kim Muñoz. She starred as Carly Lever, the ...

as Frieda, Livvy Stubenrauch as young Kara/Susan, Sharon Horgan as Finn's mother Minerva, and

Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an ...

as the Widow. The miniseries also sees

reprise her role as Dr. Gross and

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the a ...

return to voice Finn's father, Martin. Other characters are voiced by

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of his work has consisted of vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Adventure Time'', ''American Dad!'', '' Avatar: The Las ...

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression, anxiety, suicide and mental illness. Her first comedy alb ...

, Steve Little, and

Melissa Villaseñor Melissa Anne Villaseñor ( ; born October 9, 1987) is an American comedian, actress, musician, and illustrator. First garnering attention for her stand-up shows and impressions, Villaseñor found wider success when she was hired to join the cast ...

. Note: To reveal who voiced what character, one must click on the various characters under "Guest Stars" to reveal their voice actor or actress.

Broadcast and reception

Broadcast

Much like the sixth and seventh seasons, the eighth season of ''Adventure Time'' featured several "bomb" weeks, or weeks when new episodes debuted every day. The first of these began on January 23, 2017, with "Two Swords"/"Do No Harm" and concluded on January 27, 2017, with "Jelly Beans Have Power". The second week-long string of episodes occurred between January 30 and February 2, 2017, during which the whole of ''Islands'' aired.

Ratings

The season debuted on March 26, 2016, with the episode "Broke His Crown". It was watched by 1.13 million viewers and scored a 0.3 Nielsen rating in the 18 to 49-year-old demographic. Nielsen ratings are

audience measurement Audience measurement calculates how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic. The term is someti ...

systems that determine the audience size and composition of

television programming Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automatio ...

in the United States. In this case the episode was seen by 0.3 percent of all households with viewers aged between 18 and 49 years old. This marked a slight decrease in viewership compared to the season seven finale, "The Thin Yellow Line", which was seen by 1.15 million individuals, but it marked a marginal increase compared to the previous season's premiere, "Bonnie & Neddy" which had 1.07 million viewers. The season concluded with the eight-part miniseries ''Islands''. This string of episodes saw an uptick in viewers, with the first two episodes scoring a 0.3 Nielsen rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and being watched by 1.2 million viewers. During the week that ''Islands'' aired, ''Adventure Time'' attained viewership numbers over 1 million for every episode. Despite this, "Islands Part 8: The Light Cloud" was still the lowest-rated finale for the show at the time of its airing.

Reviews and accolades

In a review for the episode "The Music Hole", ''

'' writer Oliver Sava wrote, "I love that after seven seasons the show hasn't lost sight of what makes it so compelling to such a wide audience." Each episode was also graded by ''

'' with a different

letter grade Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

; ''Islands'' received an A, and the rest of the season received nine B's, and nine A's. ''The A.V. Club'' did not review "Daddy-Daughter Card Wars" because episodic coverage of the series was intended to stop following the airing of "The Music Hole". However, after the airing of "Preboot" and "Reboot", their episode coverage returned due to popular demand. ''Islands'' was met with mostly positive reviews. Many criticssuch as Zack Smith of

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

and Oliver Sava of ''The A.V. Club''applauded how the miniseries started with quirky adventure episodes before culminating in an emotional finale. Other critics complimented the greater development of the miniseries' characters. Zach Blumenfeld of ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

'' complimented the miniseries' philosophical musings, which he argued "takes on shades of ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'' and

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

to cast a critical eye on technology and the human spirit." In April 2017,

awarded the ''Islands'' miniseries The Common Sense Seal, calling it a "beautiful animated miniseries

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

explores a deep backstory." In July 2017, the ''Islands'' episode "Imaginary Resources" won a

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation at the

Episodes

Home media

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

released several DVD compilations that contain episodes from the eighth season. The first was ''Card Wars'', released on July 12, 2016. The second release, ''Islands''—which included all of the titular miniseries—was released on DVD on January 24, 2017. This release was notable because it marked the second time that ''Adventure Time'' episodes had been released on DVD before officially airing on Cartoon Network. The first instance was the release of the episode "Princess Day" on the DVD of the same name on July 29, 2014, before it first aired on TV on July 31, 2014).

US release

A DVD set that includes season eight along with seasons nine and ten was released in the United States on September 4, 2018.

Australian release

On November 28, 2018, the season was released by itself on DVD and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in Australia.

Notes

References

{{Wikiquote Adventure Time seasons 2016 American animated television seasons 2017 American animated television seasons