The Eyes (Adventure Time)

"The Eyes" is the second episode of the second season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Kent Osborne and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a story by Merriwether Williams, Steve Little, Patrick McHale, Pendleton Ward, and Thurop Van Orman. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on October 18, 2010.

"The Eyes"
Adventure Time episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 2
Directed by
Written byKent Osborne
Somvilay Xayaphone
Story byMerriwether Williams
Steve Little
Patrick McHale
Pendleton Ward
Thurop Van Orman
Production code1002-031[1]
Original air dateOctober 18, 2010
Running time11 minutes

The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn and Jake are kept awake by an unsettling horse that does nothing but stare at them with its big eyes. Eventually, after a night of attempting to get the horse to leave them alone, the two discover that it is actually the Ice King (voiced by Tom Kenny) in disguise; he is trying to learn the secret to being happy like Finn and Jake.

Plot

Finn and Jake are kept awake by an unsettling horse that does nothing but stare at them with its big eyes. Eventually, after a night of attempting to get the horse to leave them alone, the two discover that it is actually the Ice King in disguise; he is trying to learn the secret to being happy like Finn and Jake.

Production

The story for "The Eyes" was developed by Merriwether Williams, Steve Little, Patrick McHale, Thurop Van Orman, and series creator Pendleton Ward.[2] Kent Osborne and Somvilay Xayaphone collaborated on the storyboard, which was submitted for network approval April 1, 2010.[3] Larry Leichliter served as the episode's director, Patrick McHale and Cole Sanchez served as its creative directors, and Nick Jennings served as its art director.[2]

The horse disguise that Ice King dons to spy on Finn and Jake was inspired by a fat Shetland pony web comic character, created by Kate Beaton.[4][5] Beaton was asked by Ward himself if the character could appear in the episode.[6] She later referred to the opportunity as "a pretty great thing".[7]

Reception

"The Eyes" first aired on Cartoon Network on October 18, 2010. The episode was viewed by 2.264 million viewers and scored a Nielsen rating of 1.4/2 percent. This means it was seen by 1.4 percent of all households and 2 percent of all households watching television at the time of the episode's airing.[8] This marked a slight increase in ratings from the season premiere, which had been viewed by 2.001 million viewers.[9] The episode first saw physical release as part of the eponymous 2011 DVD, Adventure Time: My Two Favorite People, which included 12 episodes from the series' first two seasons.[10] It was later re-released as part of the complete second season DVD in June 2013.[11]

Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club awarded the episode a "B+", and noted that both the episode and the series as a whole were evidence that Cartoon Network was "laying the foundation for fondly remembered animated entertainment that today's kids will be talking about on whatever replaces the internet, 15 years from now."[12] Pierce particularly praised the episode's middle act—which features Finn and Jake trying desperately to get rid of the horse—writing that the sequence resembles "classic Warner Bros. cartoons of the past" and that the scenes illustrate "that [Adventure Time] works best when it mines the area where absurdism and physical humor meet."[12] Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk wrote that the episode's premise was "so simple", but that "the way the horse is presented made his every on-screen appearance draw a laugh."[13] Matt Fowler of IGN named the episode a "standout" from the series' second season.[14]

Explanatory notes
  1. Director
  2. Creative director
  3. Art director

References
  1. Seibert, Fred (August 17, 2010). "A Good Name, Like Good Will, is Got by Many Actions and Lost by One". Frederator Studios. Retrieved January 19, 2013. Note: Some of the original episodes' titles were changed during production; for instance, "It Came From the Nightosphere" was originally just called "Nightosphere".
  2. Leichliter, Larry (director); Patrick McHale & Cole Sanchez (creative directors); Nick Jennings (art director); Kent Osborne & Somvilay Xayaphone (storyboard artists) (October 18, 2010). "The Eyes". Adventure Time. Season 2. Episode 2. Cartoon Network.
  3. Seibert, Fred. "'The Eyes' Storyboard". Scribd. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  4. Hudson, Laura (October 23, 2010). "Kate Beaton's Fat Pony Makes a TV Cameo on 'Adventure Time'". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  5. Homan, Eric (October 14, 2010). "'The Eyes' Characters". Frederator. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  6. Smith, Zack (July 7, 2015). "Kate Beaton Delivers a Fractured Fairy Tale with 'The Princess and the Pony'". Newsarama. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  7. Beaton, Kate. "['The pony returns...']". HarkAVagrant.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  8. Seidman, Robert (October 19, 2010). "Monday Cable Ratings: Monday Night Football Plunges, But Still On Top + Yankees/Rangers, Pawn Stars, WWE RAW, Real Housewives of Atlanta & Much More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  9. Gorman, Bill (October 12, 2010). "Monday Cable Ratings: Monday Night Football Up; 'Real Housewives of Atlanta,' 'American Pickers' Slip, MLB Playoffs & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  10. Leichliter, Larry et al. (2011). Adventure Time: My Two Favorite People (DVD). Warner Home Video.
  11. Leichliter, Larry et al. (2013). Adventure Time: The Complete Second Season (DVD). Warner Home Video.
  12. Pierce, Leonard (October 18, 2010). "Adventure Time & Regular Show | Other Shows | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  13. Rizzo III, Francis (September 27, 2011). "Adventure Time: My Two Favorite People". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  14. Fowler, Matt (June 27, 2013). "Adventure Time: The Complete Second Season Blu-Ray Review". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
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