User Reviews

This was the first "Adventure Time" episode that I've watched, and my impressions about it were very positive, renewing much of my hopes about the future of television animation.

In many ways, "Adventure Time" is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable cartoons from the recent years: While at first sight, this just seems as something completely "random" and "wacky" (Like several modern cartoons) it also reunites several virtues that made it very entertaining and charming, such as the fluid and colorful animation, the unpredictable plots, the likable characters, the atypical sense of humor (Which uses some archetypes from fantasy stories and video-games in a very unusual way) the combination of all those elements is certainly something crazy and unexpected, and yet, at the same time, it has a cute and endearing quality that gives this show a strong possibility to became a future classic.

"Slumber Party Panic" was a strong start for this series (Well, there is also the pilot, though there are some differences between that animated short and the rest of the series, so this chapter could be considered as the "official beginning" of Adventure Time) In my opinion, this was the best introduction that any casual viewer could have of this cartoon, that could be easily considered as one of the best parts of the whole series.

The episode is centered around Finn trying to keep his "royal" promise to Princess Bubblegum while also protecting the candy people from the zombies. It serves as an on screen introduction of Finn, PB, Jake, Lady Rainicorn and some candy people while also reincarnating many others in-universe. The invention of the decorpsinator serum at the end of the episode helps set a lighthearted tone for rest of the series.

Something that caught my attention is how the episode handles its moral message. Moral messages are expected from of kids cartoons, especially in their first couple episodes. I usually find such episodes to be weak, but Adventure Time is not an ordinary cartoon. The message is delivered trough action and not just verbally, and is also used as an opportunity to build Finn's character. Finn doesn't break his promise until the end of the episode even though he doesn't know what significance a "royal" promise carries over a normal one. And when he does, it's only because he's been mislead by the Princess about the reason of the promise. He also is unfazed by the Gumball Guardians trying him for breaking the promise (he's thrilled actually), which again demonstrates that his trustworthiness doesn't originate from an external source. He's virtuous not because of an authority demanding it, but because he thinks that's the right thing to do. This is a good way to deliver moral messages in cartoons imo.

PB and the candy people get the most attention after Finn, and Jake's more of a side character throughout the episode, but that's mostly okay as the very next episode builds his character.

PB is introduced as the smart character. Other than that, unless you count being a royalty as a personality trait she is pretty plain.

Overall, a solid start. 8/10.

This establishes the characters, both Finn and Princess Bubblegum fantastically, without having to delve too much into their characterization. Finn is demonstrated as an honorable warrior and Bubblegum is established as an intelligent scientist.

At the same time, the rest of the Candy Kingdom is shown to be very ignorant and not very intelligent.

Jake has not been fleshed out yet other than caring for Finn.

Finally, Finn's care for Bubblegum is demonstrated as well as Bubblegum's care for Finn, of course to a lesser degree. Finn relishes in being the hero, which is great for a show of this style, aiming at kids (for the most part) and providing them with a good, yet humanized role model. He is not invincible, and does make mistakes, as shown by breaking the royal promise. I find this episode to be a great one to start such a great show.

When an experiment by Princess Bubblegum goes wrong, it's up to Finn and Jake to solve it. "Slumber Party Panic" is an adequate start to a brilliant series. The plot is relatively engaging, but far shallower than the show would eventually become.

7.5/10 (B-)