"Rattleballs" | |
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Adventure Time episode | |
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 46 |
Directed by |
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Written by | Andy Ristaino Cole Sanchez |
Story by | Kent Osborne Pendleton Ward Jack Pendarvis Adam Muto |
Original air date | January 27, 2014 |
Running time | 11 minutes |
Guest appearance | |
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"Rattleballs" is the forty-sixth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time . The episode was written and storyboarded by Andy Ristaino and Cole Sanchez, from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, Adam Muto, and Moynihan. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on January 27, 2014. The episode guest stars Rainn Wilson as the eponymous character.
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 meets an old sword-fighting robot named Rattleballs (voiced by Rainn Wilson), and learns that Rattleballs was part of an elite force made by Princess Bubblegum long ago to protect the Candy Kingdom; however, the group became too destructive and so they were all destroyed, save for Rattleballs. After a short skirmish, Rattleballs proves that he is not a threat, so Bubblegum relents and does not destroy him.
During the recording of "Rattleballs", Wilson brought his son to the session; DiMaggio noted it was odd because both he and Shada were excited to meet the actor due to his role in the American sitcom The Office , whereas Wilson and his son were in turn excited to meet them, because they were both fans of the show. The episode was viewed by 2.213 million viewers, and Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club applauded the episode for providing Rattleballs with a solid debut.
After his breakup with Flame Princess, Finn vows to do whatever Princess Bubblegum wishes. Soon, however, he becomes a burden, and Bubblegum orders Finn to take some time off and rest. Finn wanders to the junkyard, where he is saved from a collapse of garbage by a mysterious swordsman. They soon duel, but Finn is quickly defeated. However, after Finn shows remarkable bravery in defeat, the mysterious swordsman spares him, but heavily criticizes his dueling skills.
The mysterious being is introduced as Rattleballs (voiced by Rainn Wilson), a hybrid gumball and robot warrior. He eventually agrees to take Finn on as his sword appreciative, and tells him about his past; he was originally a member of an elite police force created by Princess Bubblegum to patrol the Candy Kingdom, but once crime was largely eliminated, the robots became extremely violent and took to illegal street fighting. Bubblegum disbanded the entire contingent, although Rattleballs escaped and has been living in the junkyard ever since.
Finn, torn between loyalty to the princess and his newfound sword master, eventually tells Bubblegum due to his chivalric code of honor. Bubblegum orders her banana guards to arrest Rattleballs, although he easily—though non lethally—defeats the entire police force. Bubblegum, realizing that Rattleballs may not be a threat, pretends to decommission the robot, but allows him to patrol the city at night, fighting crime.
"Rattleballs" was written and storyboarded by Andy Ristaino and Cole Sanchez, from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. Art direction was handled by Nick Jennings, whereas supervising direction was helmed by Elizabeth Ito. [1] Ward and Ristaino worked on developing the look for Rattleballs. [2] [3] Initially, Ristaino wanted Finn to have a sword that would "talk back to him and insult his swordsmanship", although this idea was later scrapped because of the introduction of the grass sword in the previous episode. [3]
Lead character designer Matt Forsythe helped develop the look for the "medieval banana guards"—who had originally appeared in the early episode "The Vault"—a task he later called "fun". [2] Forsythe also modeled one of the banana guards after a 14-year-old identified only as Chris, who had voiced a character in the episode "Root Beer Guy" by means of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. [4]
The episode guest stars Rainn Wilson as the titular character. Wilson, a reported fan of the show, brought his son Walter to the recording session because he too was a fan. Both DiMaggio and Shada were excited to meet and work with Wilson, both being fans of the American television series The Office in which Wilson played the character Dwight Schrute; DiMaggio later noted that, "He was kind of geeking out on us, and [Jeremy and I] were kind of geeking out on him." [5]
"Rattleballs" aired on January 27, 2014 on Cartoon Network. The episode was watched by 2.213 million viewers, and received a 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic Nielsen household rating. Nielsen ratings are audience measurement systems that determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States, which means that the episode was seen by 0.5 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds at the time of the broadcast. The episode was the 70th most-watched cable program in the 18–49 demographic on the night it aired. [6]
Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A−", calling it "a particularly exceptional debut" for the titular character. [7] Sava felt that the episode was good because it featured "hilarious voice work from Rainn Wilson as Rattleballs, dynamic action sequences, […] a story that expands on Ooo mythology, […] but most importantly, it uses the new cast member to expand Finn and PB's characters." [7] In the end, he noted that "Rattleballs" was an entry that had multiple levels of delivery. [7]
Finn Mertens, better known as Finn the Human, is a character and one of the two protagonists in the American animated television series Adventure Time and resulting franchise created by Pendleton Ward. He also appeared in the spin-off series Adventure Time: Distant Lands and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. He was voiced by Jeremy Shada in most appearances. The character made his debut in the original pilot, where he is named Pen and voiced by Zack Shada, Jeremy's older brother. Jonathan Frakes voices Finn as an adult in some appearances.
"The Lich" is the twenty-sixth episode and season finale of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Skyler Page, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on October 22, 2012. The episode guest starred Lou Ferrigno as Billy, and Ron Perlman as the Lich.
"Lady & Peebles" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Cole Sanchez and Rebecca Sugar, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on August 20, 2012. The episode guest stars George Takei as Ricardio.
"In Your Footsteps" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Skyler Page, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on April 30, 2012. The episode guest stars Eric Bauza as a bear and features Ward voicing the Lich-possessed snail.
"Princess Cookie" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Skyler Page, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on June 18, 2012. The episode guest stars Donald Faison as Baby-Snaps.
"You Made Me" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Jesse Moynihan, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on August 27, 2012. The episode guest stars Justin Roiland as the Earl of Lemongrab.
"Ignition Point" is the twenty-second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Somvilay Xayaphone and Bert Youn, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on September 17, 2012. The episode guest stars Keith David as Flame King and Paul F. Tompkins as Furnius.
"Reign of Gunters" is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Ako Castuera and Jesse Moynihan, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, and Adam Muto. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on October 8, 2012.
"Frost & Fire" is the thirtieth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. It was written and storyboarded by Luke Pearson and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a story by Kent Osborne, series creator Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and showrunner Adam Muto. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on August 5, 2013. The episode guest stars M. Emmet Walsh as the Cosmic Owl.
"Time Sandwich" is the thirty-third episode from the fifth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. Its original air date on Cartoon Network was September 9, 2013. The episode was written by Kent Osborne and Cole Sanchez and directed by Elizabeth Ito, from a story by Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. Tom Kenny lent the voice of Magic Man, the episode's antagonist.
"Root Beer Guy" is the forty-third episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Graham Falk, from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on December 2, 2013. Pendarvis voices the title character, and guest star Anne Heche voices the character's wife, Cherry Cream Soda.
"Wake Up" and "Escape from the Citadel" are the first two episodes of the sixth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. "Wake Up" was written and storyboarded by Andy Ristaino and Cole Sanchez, whereas "Escape from the Citadel" was storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard. Both episodes' stories were developed by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. The two episodes originally aired on Cartoon Network on April 21, 2014. The episodes guest star Kumail Nanjiani as Prismo, M. Emmet Walsh as the Cosmic Owl, Miguel Ferrer as Death, Ron Perlman as the Lich, and Stephen Root as Martin.
"Incendium" is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the third season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Adam Muto and Rebecca Sugar, from a story by Mark Banker, Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on February 13, 2012. The episode guest stars Keith David, and also features Jessica DiCicco, who would go on to play the recurring role of Flame Princess.
"Something Big" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Jesse Moynihan, from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Moynihan, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on July 3, 2014. The episode guest stars Jill Talley, Alan Oppenheimer, Keith Ferguson, and Steve Agee.
"Furniture & Meat" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written by Cole Sanchez and Andy Ristaino from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, and Adam Muto.
The ninth season of Adventure Time, an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward, premiered on the Cartoon Network on April 21, 2017 and concluded on July 21, 2017, and was produced by Frederator Studios and Cartoon Network Studios. The season follows the adventures of Finn and his best friend and adoptive brother, Jake, 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, The Ice King, Marceline the Vampire Queen, Lumpy Space Princess, BMO, and Flame Princess.
"Elements" is an eight-episode-long miniseries that aired as part of the American animated television series Adventure Time's ninth season on Cartoon Network from April 24 to April 27, 2017. Adventure Time follows the adventures of Finn, a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake, a dog with magical powers to change shape, and grow and shrink at will. In this limited event series, which itself follows the events of the Islands miniseries, Finn, Jake, and BMO return home to discover that Ooo has been turned into a veritable dystopia thanks to extreme elemental magic. Finn and Jake team up with Ice King, Betty, and Lumpy Space Princess to set things straight.
"Ketchup" is the name of the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Seo Kim and Somvilay Xayaphone, from a story by lead writer Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis, Julia Pott, Patrick McHale, Ashly Burch, and series showrunner Adam Muto. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on July 18, 2017 and guest stars J. G. Quintel as a blue jay.
"Hot Diggity Doom" and "The Comet" are the final two episodes of the sixth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. "Hot Diggity Doom" was written and storyboarded by Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard, and "The Comet" was written and storyboarded by Jesse Moynihan and Andy Ristaino. Both episodes' stories were developed by Pendleton Ward, Adam Muto, Kent Osborne, and Jack Pendarvis. The two episodes originally aired on Cartoon Network on June 5, 2015. As part of a 5 night event called the #FINNALE which aired the final episodes of Season 6. They are: You Forgot Your Floaties, Be Sweet, Orgalorg, On The Lam, and the 2 part finale.