Fionna and Cake (episode)
Finn and Jake hear Ice King's gender-swapped fan fiction.
"Fionna and Cake" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on September 5, 2011, and was written and storyboarded by Adam Muto and Rebecca Sugar. The episode is notable for introducing gender-swapped versions of the show's characters, based on sketches by character designer Natasha Allegri, and for being the most-watched episode of the series at the time.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Adventure Time
- Story
- Mark Banker
- Kent Osborne
- Patrick McHale
- Pendleton Ward
- Writer
- Adam Muto; Rebecca Sugar
- Director
- Larry Leichliter
- Airdate
- 5 September 2011
- Length
- 11 minutes
- Season article
- Adventure Time season 3
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Prince Gumball is getting ready for the Biennial Gumball Ball with help from Fionna and Cake. He asks Fionna if she wants to go with him, but the Ice Queen crashes in and tries to grab Gumball. Fionna and Cake start fighting her, but she vanishes. Gumball, who seems fine, sets up a date with Fionna. Back at the Tree Fort, Fionna and Cake argue about whether Gumball actually asked her out. Cake decides to tag along to help. They meet Gumball and his ride, Lord Monochromicorn, in the Castle Gardens. The group flies through the air while Gumball sings "Oh, Fionna" and asks her to be his girlfriend. At the ball, Prince Gumball takes Fionna to his room and locks the door. She gets flustered when he starts taking off his shirt. A drop of water hits her shoulder; she looks up and sees the real Prince Gumball trapped in a giant icicle on the ceiling. The fake prince is the Ice Queen in disguise. Fionna gets knocked out, but Cake senses trouble and rushes in. Furious, Fionna grabs the crystal sword, but it turns into ice around her hands. She uses the ice to hit the Ice Queen on the head. The Ice Queen shoves her away with a burst of snow, letting Fionna free Prince Gumball and knock out the Ice Queen with a broken icicle. Cake bursts in and sees Gumball next to Fionna in her torn dress; she jumps to the wrong idea and lunges at him, but Fionna stops her and explains it was the Ice Queen. The Ice Queen recovers and blasts Cake away, but Fionna knocks off her magic tiara, taking away her powers. The real Gumball asks Fionna on a date, but she says no, noting she does not need a boyfriend right now—unless it were the Ice King. The whole thing turns out to be a fan fiction story the Ice King is reading to a trapped Finn and Jake. He asks how they liked it; Finn hesitates but quickly agrees when the Ice King threatens them with his ice powers.
Cast
The episode features gender-swapped versions of the inhabitants of Ooo. Fionna (voiced by Madeleine Martin) is the gender-swapped version of Finn, a brave and adventurous girl who struggles with issues pertaining to attraction and romance. Cake (voiced by Roz Ryan) is the gender-swapped version of Jake, a cat instead of a dog, who is sarcastic and boisterous but loyal, possessing the power to stretch her body into convoluted shapes. Prince Gumball (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) is the gender-swapped version of Princess Bubblegum, ruler of the Candy Kingdom and frequent victim of the Ice Queen's kidnapping schemes. Ice Queen (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is the gender-swapped version of the Ice King, constantly scheming to kidnap a mate, most frequently Prince Gumball. Lord Monochromicorn is the gender-swapped version of Lady Rainicorn, communicating exclusively via Morse code, and is in a relationship with Cake.
Production
"Fionna and Cake" was written and storyboarded by Rebecca Sugar and Adam Muto from a story developed by Mark Banker, Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and series creator Pendleton Ward; it was directed by Larry Leichliter. The genesis for the episode were drawings that character designer and storyboard revisionist Natasha Allegri posted online; her creations were eventually canonized by the show's producers. Allegri re-recorded the show's theme for the episode. Sugar intended the episode to be "a jab [and] a huge celebration of the feeling of being fan" and "allowing something completely ridiculous to make your heart tighten." Sugar and Muto significantly changed the story from its original outline; the first version did not feature the Ice Queen, the ball, or the crystal sword. The second act originally featured Gumball and Fionna going on a date in a restaurant. Sugar wrote several lines for Marshall Lee—Marceline's male counterpart—but they were cut for time; she begged Ward to let her work the character back in, but he only appeared in a non-speaking cameo. Sugar originally wanted Marshall Lee voiced by Dante Basco, though he would later be voiced by Donald Glover in subsequent episodes. Neil Patrick Harris was Sugar's first choice to play Prince Gumball; she wanted to impress her brother Steven, who was obsessed with the Music Meister from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The scene with the song "Oh Fionna" was designed to blend the setting from "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and scenes featuring the Romani Ranch aliens from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Reception
"Fionna and Cake" aired on Cartoon Network on September 5, 2011, and was viewed by 3.315 million viewers, marking a 42 percent increase in viewers compared to a year earlier. It saw a dramatic increase in ratings for all boy demographics and was, at the time, the highest-rated entry of the series. The episode first saw physical release as part of the 2013 Fionna and Cake DVD, which included 16 episodes from the series' first three seasons. Tyler Foster of DVD Talk praised the episode for its creativity, humor, and message to girls, and called the song "Oh Fionna" wonderful. Richard Whittaker of The Austin Chronicle noted the episode was "an adventure in cross play" and felt Fionna's characterization appealed to the show's universality while retaining respect for the audience, and that Cake was written as a successful female analog for Jake. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club called "Fionna and Cake" one of "the most fascinating aspects of the Adventure Time craze" in a review of the fifth-season episode "Bad Little Boy." He wrote that the episode was reminiscent of earlier episodes in its bright animation, well-paced plot, music, blend of fantasy action and comedy, and focus on character-based drama. In a separate article, Sava named it one of the ten most representative episodes of the series and "the most aggressively girl-friendly episode of the series." After airing, the episode was particularly successful with fans; Sava noted the characters rapidly became among the series' most popular despite appearing in only one episode. According to the Entertainment Examiner, fans responded positively and wanted more episodes featuring the characters.
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