[ART BOOK REVIEW] ‘Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Seasons 3 & 4’

As a fan of Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time you’re currently probably awaiting the release of the show’s seventh season, which is due to come out this Fall. In case you’re not sure what to do in the meantime, Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Seasons 3 & 4 is an all-new book about the making of the show that you might be interested in.

Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Seasons 3 & 4 explores the title cards, which can be seen in front of each episode of the show, and the artists who made them. The book takes you chronologically though all the title cards starting with the first episode of season three through the final episode of the fourth season and discusses how all the title cards came to be and who made them.

The book starts off with an introduction about the show and the artists that are showcased in this book. The introduction talks about the history of the show and what to expect in the book. While the introduction is completely unnecessarily if you’re a fan of the show it was nice for someone like me, who is not as familiar with the show, to learn a little bit about some of its history and achievements. After the introduction the book introduces all the artists who are part of this book. Each artist showcased in this book gets a little introduction paragraph in which they discuss awards they won while working on the show and some of the particular things they did while they worked on the show.

After these introductions you dive right into the first title card of the show’s third season. Each title card has two full-spread pages dedicated to it. One of the pages has an image of the title card as it appeared in front of the episode, while the other page has some information about the title card and how it was made (as well as some smaller images that show the progression of the title card from the very first sketch to a more refined piece of art).

With each one of the title cards you can read about who made it, what their inspiration was, or why they decided to make the title card the specific way it turned out to be. All the artists were interviewed, so on most pages you’ll also find some quotes from the actual artists who worked on the specific title card as well as relevant quotes from the associated episode. I really liked these paragraphs, but I wish they could have had some more in-depth discussions on the design process instead of the basic information that was included in the book.

Each title card also has about two to three progression images that show the different stages of how the title card was made. While about two to three progression images dedicated to each title card seem about the right amount, the progressions are overall rather boring and uninspired. Usually it’s three of the exact same images, but one is sketchy and black and white while the other is cleaned up and in color. Since this is an art book, I would’ve preferred to see some more variation and quick sketches artists made while working on this design.

Since there’s a title card for each episode, this book is a nice companion piece in case you’re rewatching the show’s third and fourth seasons. You can read the episode’s pages right after you’ve watched the episode, and it’s a fun way to learn a little bit about more about how the title card for that particular episode was made and designed.

Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Seasons 3 & 4 is overall a fantastic book if you’re a really big fan of the show. It’s a nice way to get a lot of fun behind-the-scenes information on something that is a big part of each of the episodes, the title cards. So, if you’re a big fan of the show who can’t get enough of anything Adventure Time related, what are you waiting for? Go and check out this book! Personally though, as someone who is not (yet) a big fan of the show, I felt that the book lacked content. I like the idea of having an art book just about title cards, but I wish that the information given in the book would’ve been more interesting and that we got to see more of the design process for the title cards (like quick sketch ideas that the artists put on paper). The book is overall a great book, but it could use some simple improvements.

✮✮✮

Purchase:

Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Seasons 3 & 4
Amazon: US | CA | UK
Book Depository: US | UK

Edited by: Hannah Wilkes