Adventure Time: Should your children be watching it?

You might recognise the colourful magical land, strange characters and distinctive voices but dismissed it as yet more throwaway kiddie fare.

Or, perhaps you noticed that the abstract themes and storylines actually go a little deeper than your usual children’s shows.

Adventure Time is now a cult classic enjoyed by viewers of all ages but sadly, it’s been confirmed that this fun and popular show will end in 2018.

There is still time to get on board though (season 8 is imminent in the UK), and there are plenty of episodes to re-run until your little one’s eyes go square.

But just what’s going on behind that trippy animation set in the Land of Ooo, and should have you have cause for concern?

Here’s what you need to know.

Who’s in it and what’s it about?

Jake the dog and Finn the human are the leads.

They are best friends who go on many adventures, usually involving their odd mates, and get into various scrapes.

These two are adorable, flawed in a human way (they make mistakes and get into danger but friendship and courage wins out), plus they learn about feelings along the way.

They do, however, seem to live in a land without rules or boundaries – much like your imagination.

Plus, there are a host of princesses (who are possible love interests for Finn), the grumpy Ice King, Lady Rainicorn (a rainbow hued creature who only speaks Korean), BMO (a useful living device) and plenty of other strange or cute animal like characters.

Worrying themes

Marceline is a vampire. She has fangs, eats souls and was initially a considerable adversary. But now, she is one of Finn’s greatest friends.

The Ice King is considered to be ‘mad’ and does come up with strangely violent schemes, he also kidnaps princesses in order to marry them – the princesses always escape or are rescued.

The flipside of the story is the Ice King is sad and lonely, and going about his desires in the wrong way.

There are also ghosts, zombies and demons.

And The Lich is a terrifying undead king (but appears rarely).

Other adult themes

Characters have girlfriends and boyfriends and much is made of attractiveness and getting married.

There are also some innuendos about taking relationships further though that might be over the head for younger viewers, and some characters do kiss and hug and smooch.

Lumpy Space Princess, for example, has a particularly checkered romantic history.

Characters text on phones and insult each other in wildly creative ways, and they have their own curse words (which are quite funny) but you might hear a ‘butt’ or that something ‘sucks’.

There is quite a bit of violence, mainly comic in tone but sometimes it does feel a little serious.

They do use weapons (such as swords and flame guns) but mainly against the more magical or unreal creatures.

Some of the episodes can get quite dark, but problem-solving usually wins out – no matter how bizarre the reasoning.

Oh and there are plenty of gross fluids and sweet foodstuffs.

Conspiracy theories

Of course, such a complex world and open-ended storylines have attracted theorists – the internet is stuffed full of strange ideas about the show and if your child starts investigating, they could stumble across them.

For example, the Land Of Ooo is a post-apocalyptic land and its inhabitants are mutant survivors of a nuclear disaster called The Mushroom War.

The landscape has hidden clues – such as bombs – that support this and the discovery of real human zombies hidden under the sea has probably proven this to be true.

Or it’s actually all a dream.

Finn is in a coma after a suicide attempt following the death of his beloved dog Jake and now just creates adventures for them in his mind.

Or Jake the dog is a drug taker and the whole show is a series of LSD trips and the Ice King has dementia and/or depression.

Fans will certainly be hoping for some resolution or revelation when the show finishes.

Or maybe it should be left as it is without answer or reason?

Should your children be watching it?

Adventure Time has been heavily censored to pass for younger UK audiences and can be safely watched by anyone over the age of 10.

Younger kids might not get the more adult or subtle references but the random absurdity of the show in general should set it apart from reality for most children.

Plus, the colourful graphics, singing and dancing, and larger than life characters are certainly entertaining.

The show is fun and engaging and stuffed full of irony and knowing references that older kids will love.

It’s also wildly inventive and edgy, which is what will keep modern children – used to digital devices, the internet and horror tropes – watching.

Writer: Alice Wright for Metro.co.uk