The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is a one-of-a-kind cartoon notable for its surreal art style and witty humor. It first premiered on Cartoon Network in 2008 and lasted 3 seasons before being canceled in 2010. The show, often referred to as just 'Flapjack,' was generally well-liked and even received a few awards for animation. The reasoning behind its cancellation was unfair, especially considering how it inspired dozens of other successful cartoons in terms of animation and humor. If the show got a reboot in 2021, a lot of the humor would be very well received.
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is a story about a boy named Flapjack who lives inside of a whale named Bubbie alongside his pirate friend Captain K'nuckles near the city of Stormalong Harbor—a collection of boating docks out in the middle of the ocean. Flapjack and K'nuckles are both in search of Candied Island. The show is filled with a ton of tough, strange, and surreal characters who all seem to use candy as a form of food, drink, and payment. Flapjack sees himself as an adventurer but is very young and naive. The final season ends without Flapjack or Captain K'nuckles ever having set foot on Candied Island.
The decision to cancel the show was made after just 2 seasons, but Cartoon Network gave creator and voice actor Thurop Van Orman and the team a third season to wrap up the show. Orman pitched The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack around 2001 after just graduating from school at the California Institute of Arts. Because of his lack of experience, he was denied. So, he got to work storyboarding and co-writing for shows like The Powerpuff Girls and The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy. A couple of years later he tried his pitch again and was accepted. After the show was canceled, Orman went on to do work on Adventure Time. Cartoon Network's reasoning for canceling the show was because Flapjack didn't match with its new lineup of shows for a young male-targeted demographic.
The inspiration from The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack was obvious within the world of cartoon animated shows for the next 10 years. The animation style was so unique and combined several art forms including stop motion claymation and puppetry. The imagery was surreal—a freeze of any frame looks like a surrealist painting. Flapjack was known for doing a lot of closeups on characters that showed a more detailed view of them. During these closeups, the animators were not afraid to get a little weird and sometimes dark, making their characters have hideous detailing that might scare some younger viewers. But because of the sharp and sassy humor, there was always a way for the occasionally horrific imagery to become funny.
Shows like Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Gravity Falls were all clearly inspired by the humor and animation as well as the framing of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. The creators of these shows all had previously done work on Flapjack and went on to carry some of the techniques from this show into their own. Flapjack inspired these shows to include over-the-top wacky characters with more adult-themed situations like working a minimum wage job with a lack of respect (like in Regular Show) or have a couple of naive pals get into supernatural situations way over their heads (Adventure Time).
There are a ton of memorable episodes in The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, but the episode 'Sea Legs' was so good it even won a Primetime Emmy for its outstanding animation. This episode is peak Flapjack surrealism and includes a story about a giant pair of legs floating in the middle of the ocean with a sign that reads "Don't touch my legs" that Captain K'nuckles ignores and decides to wear. During the episode, K'nuckles loses his own legs and has a head trip where he is talking to his subconscious mind that appears to him as a big fish head. Later in the episode, the top half of the body returns and collects its legs.
This show was canceled too soon, and many fans (new and old) of animated shows with comedic and silly elements with undertones of something a little darker would love this series to get a reboot. Flapjack has a bit of a gender fluid identity—although he is referred to as a young boy—and any child would be able to see themselves in him. The humor and voice acting is comedic to keep the kids entertained, and the situational comedy can be enjoyed at almost any age. The show has a gritty feel to it and combined with live-action stop motion elements, it makes it that much more surreal.
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack was creative, funny, and aesthetically pleasing. It should have at least gotten a few more seasons. Its legacy lives on because of the shows it inspired. If new episodes were made today, possibly with more live action elements, it would rival any show it was up against. It was canceled because network producers didn't think boys would like it, but in a world where parents are teaching their children to like what they want regardless of their gender, it would do very well today.