Adventure Trip

In his interview with The RollingStone, Pendleton Ward, the creator of the hit television show Adventure Time, shares his experiences running the show and tells tales of an awkward childhood, awkward adulthood, and his awkward modern life. Being the head of a largely popular television show has taken its tole on the introverted Pendleton Ward. It opens him up to unwanted social interactions and excessive mental and physical fatigue. Some time during the fifth season of the show, Ward resigned from his position to take on a simpler role of writer and storyboard artist. His former position was taking too much out of him and he longed for a simpler life of isolation and pizza. The down side of having created one of the most diverse and unifying cartoons on television is that children, teens, and adults could all watch and appreciate the show and add to the immense burden of a growing fan base. Tom Kenny, voice actor of the show's antagonist, says that he can see a lot of Ward in the character. Slowly loosing their sanity, loosing control of the world around them, and craving social interactions despite lacking social skills. When Pen was younger, he took notes on others and calculated the best ways to interact with each person, including girls. He was sensitive and caring like Finn the Human. He did not like when his siblings swore and he tried raising money for saving the rainforest. He also lived with his visual artist mother who encouraged his creativity. He later went on to CalArts where he finally discovered a place where he belonged. There, his films were recognized by a producer at Frederator and he got a job making shorts for Nickelodeon where he created a short called Adventure Time. Nickelodeon rejected Ward's pitch to turn it into a full-length show, but later Cartoon Network would give him the green light. To deal with living with four roommates and his introvertedness, Penn does some of his work in coffee shops so he can avoid contact with people as he works. During meals, he prefers to draw rather than talk. In the future, he plans on writing an Adventure Time movie, working on a game, and having a fun and relaxing time when he does them.

I never realized just how much of a burden it was to run a show, especially when you're an introvert. It's a shame that the tole has been so great on Pendleton Ward. Being an introvert and running an insanely popular show is extremely taxing. Not for the feint of heart. Did Ward know what he was getting into when he started the show? And when did it start becoming too much? This sounds like a problem that any show could have. It's something we should be wary of, but it shouldn't deter us from doing what we love.