The Music of Ooo

The Music of Ooo is the name of a vinyl release by label Spacelab9. This record collects 38 songs culled from the first seven seasons of the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time.

The Music of Ooo
Soundtrack album by Adventure Time cast
Released	October 2016 (2016-10)
Recorded	c. 2009–2015
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	34:28
Label	Spacelab9
Producer	Casey James Basichis, Tim Kiefer
Adventure Time cast chronology
Marceline The Vampire Queen – Rock The Nightosphere (2015) The Music of Ooo (2016)

Background and release

On November 20, 2015, Spacelab9 released the Marceline The Vampire Queen – Rock The Nightosphere picture disc 12-inch Mini-LP, containing the songs "The Fry Song" (from the second season episode "It Came from the Nightosphere"), "I'm Just Your Problem" (from the third season episode "What Was Missing"), "Journal Song" (from the third-season episode "Marceline's Closet"), "Nuts" (from the fourth season episode "I Remember You"), "Remember You" (also from "I Remember You"), "Housing Hunting Song" (from the first season episode "Evicted!"), and "Not Just Your Little Girl" (from the fourth-season episode "Daddy's Little Monster"); this vinyl release was exclusive to the music and clothing retailer Hot Topic.[1] Regardless, this made it the first time that songs from Adventure Time had been commercially released.[2]

Several months later, on July 19, 2016, it was announced that Spacelab9 would once again be issuing a vinyl record containing songs from Adventure Time. However, instead of a limited 12" release, this record would feature over 38 tracks from the show, and would come packaged as a traditional record album.[3]

Music

The record opens with the theme to Adventure Time, as performed by Ward, who is accompanied by a ukulele.[4] The finalized version of the theme song was originally supposed to be a temporary version. Ward said, "I recorded the lyrics for the opening title in the animatics room where we have this little crummy microphone just so that we could add it to the titles and submit it to the network. Later, we tried re-recording it and I didn't like it ... I only liked the temp one!"[4] Because the series' finalized theme song was originally recorded as a temp track, ambient noises can be heard throughout. For instance, the sound of Derek Drymon typing can be heard while Jake is walking through the Ice Kingdom.[4]

The record contains only two first season songs. The first of these is "The Jiggler", taken from the episode of the same name. The song was produced by Casey James Basichis and makes heavy use of auto-tune.[5] The final first season song, "The Home Song" (which has also been released as the "House Hunting Song") was the first musical piece produced for "Adventure Time". The song, which plays over a montage of Finn and Jake looking for a new home, was sung by Ward and Olivia Olson and features lyrics written by Ward and music by Patrick McHale. When it came time to record for the show, Ward recorded both a "high intensity" version of the song and a more subdued variant. However, Ward was dissatisfied with his version, and urged the crew to use McHale's recording in the final episode. Derek Drymon, a producer on the first season, however, urged Ward to use his own.[6] In a 2016 Tumblr post, McHale explained:

When I was working on Season 1 of Adventure Time (2009? 2008?) we had to write a montage song for the episode "Evicted!" while Finn and Jake are looking for a new house. Pen wrote a bunch of lyrics, so I brought them home and fine tuned them and put them to music. I recorded a demo that was too long, so I just digitally sped it up to be the right length (which is the recording above). [The song] was supposed to sound sort of... lame... like sort of… like a lame singer songwriter guy who’s into Dave Matthews but isn’t nearly as talented. That was, like, a thing in the early 2000s… a lot of people played this certain acoustic guitar style, but I don’t know the name for it. Maybe it has tinges of what was called "Emo"? Or… what does Hoobastank sound like? Uhh, I don’t know. Who cares. I’m old now and I don’t remember anything. [...] In the end I didn’t want to sing the final version, so Pen did the singing in the show. He did more of a Blink 182 style thing. Blink 182? Is that right?[7]

Only two songs represent the show's second season: "Susan Strong" and "Friends". "Friends", sung by BMO (voiced by Niki Yang), was taken from the episode "Video Makers", and its lyrics were written by former series storyboard revisionist David C. Smith whereas its music was composed by Tim Kiefer.[8]

Eight songs on this record were taken from the show's third season, including: "All Gummed Up Inside", "All Warmed Up Inside", "As a Tropical Island / On a Tropical Island", "Extremities Song (Balloon Music)", "Melons (I Was Wrong)", "My Best Friends in the World", "Oh Fionna", and "Sleepy Puppies". "My Best Friends in the World", from the episode "What Was Missing", was written by Rebecca Sugar as a celebration of the friendship she shared with her coworkers, especially her storyboarding partner, Muto.[9]

Three of the songs of the record were culled from the show's fourth season: "Dream of Love", "Let Me Show You Something Special", and "Oh Bubblegum". The first, "Dream of Love", which is a duet between Tree Trunks (voiced by Polly Lou Livingston) and Mr. Pig (voiced by Ron Lynch), was taken from the eponymous episode and was written by McHale; when he was writing and recording the demo version, he envisioned Tree Trunks' part to sound like Dolly Parton, and for Mr. Pig's part to be reminiscent of Meat Loaf.[6] "Let Me Show You Something Special" is a duet between the Ice King (voiced by Tom Kenny) and his monstrous creation, Princess Monster Wife (voiced in tandem by Ward, Hynden Walch, and Steve Little). The song, which was taken from the episode "Princess Monster Wife", was also written by McHale, and was inspired by the 1992 song "A Whole New World", from the animated feature film Aladdin.[10] McHale recorded a demo track of the song, featuring himself accompanied on guitar; during the recording of this demo, however, his cat kept meowing loudly. The crew found this funny, and so, in the finished episode, Gunter's cat can be heard meowing several times.[6] Originally, it was planned for Princess Monster Wife to join in with the Ice King and sing the song as a duet. Hynden Walch actually recorded her part, and the production staff intended for Ward and Little to record their lines as well. However, in the end, the crew decided it was funnier for the Ice King to sing both parts.[11] "Oh Bubblegum" is taken from the penultimate season four episode "I Remember You"; its lyrics were written by Cole Sanchez and Sugar, whereas its music was written solely by Sugar.[12]

Seven songs were selected from the show's fifth season, including: "Bad Little Boy", "Good Little Girl", "I Just Can't Get Over You", "Have You Ever Had a Friend", "Lemonhope's Got Feet", "Lemonhope's Song", and "Rap Bear & Finn's Rap".

Eleven songs were selected from the show's sixth season, making it the most-represented season on the record. These songs include: "A Kingdom from a Spark", "Baby's Building a Tower into Space", "Everything's Falling into Place", "Food Chain Song", "Little Brothers", "Lost in the Darkness", "Money", "Prismo's Ritual", "That's All I Need", "We're Plants", and "Yeah, Girl It Stinks". The song "A Kingdom from a Spark", which was written by Andy Ristaino, is meant to explain the mythological origin of the Fire Kingdom via its lyrics.[13] The original version of the song was meant to sound more like "an ancient dwarven war song", but it was rewritten into "a more folksong-y version".[14] "Baby's Building a Tower into Space" was once again written by Leslie Wolfhard.[15] "Little Brothers" was written by guest storyboard artist Madéleine Flores and her fiancé J. Smith. According to Flores, "[Writing the song] was super fun because we both have little brothers, so we used them as inspiration!"[16] "Everything's Falling into Place", "Prismo's Ritual", and "Yeah, Girl It Stinks" were all written by Jesse Moynihan.[17][18][19] The original lyrics for "Yeah, Girl It Stinks" featured the line "hot boxing up the palace", but because Cartoon Network thought it could be construed as a drug reference, the line was changed to "Dutch boxing".[19] "Lost in the Darkness" was written by Jesse's brother, Justin.[20]

Near the end of the record are included two versions of "Everything Stays", both of which were written by Sugar and taken from the show's seventh season. The song, which was penned several years after Sugar's departure from the series, was used prominently in the miniseries Stakes. Series storyboard artist Hanna K. Nyström revealed on Tumblr that, during the storyboarding of the episode "Everything Stays" (the second installment in the Stakes miniseries), she found herself unable to write a lullaby for the scene between Marceline and her mother. She relayed her issue to Muto, who contacted Sugar and asked if she would be willing to pen the song. Sugar agreed and based the song on an incident that occurred in her childhood. According to her, she once lost a stuffed animal in a garden. A year later, she found it; the sun had bleached the exposed surfaces, but the underside was still the same. She explained, "[The stuffed animal] wasn’t better, or worse, just different. It was the first time I realized that things will change no matter what, even if they’re left alone, and stay completely still."[21] Muto was excited to have Sugar return to work on the show, and noted at the 2015 Adventure Time San Diego Comic-Con International panel that "because [Stakes] was a Marceline miniseries, it wouldn't really feel complete unless Rebecca Sugar wrote a song for it."[22] The first version of the song on the record is a duet between Marceline and her mother, and features Sugar's vocals (as Sugar voiced Marceline's mother in the miniseries).[23]

Artwork

The record itself came in three variants, which were themed after Adventure Time characters: green ("Tree Trunks"), white & blue ("Finn"), or tan ("Me-Mow").[24][25] The album cover is a picture of Finn and Jake that was designed by former lead character designer and storyboard artist Andy Ristaino for the title card of the third-season episode "Hitman".[26] Likewise, the album's gatefold image is taken from the title card of the first-season episode "Tree Trunks", which was designed by Nick Jennings.[27] The sleeve of the record contains notes about the songs "Let Me Show You Something Special", "Dream of Love", and "Bacon Pancakes", courtesy of Patrick McHale and Rebecca Sugar.[24][25]

In addition, a rainbow vinyl variant (themed after the character Lady Rainicorn) and a red variant (themed after Peppermint Butler) were released as New York Comic Con exclusives.[28][29] These both feature different front and back covers, with the former being taken from the title card of the fourth season episode "Who Would Win?", and the latter being from the title card of the third-season episode "No One Can Hear You", both designed by Ristaino.[26][30] The gatefold image on these variants is also different, being taken from the title card of the third-season episode "Wizard Battle".[26][29][31] A Gunter variant has also been pressed exclusively for distribution via Hot Topic.[32]

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Adventure Time Theme Song"	Pendleton Ward	0:21
2.	"Baby"	Jeremy Shada	0:44
3.	"The Home Song"	Pendleton Ward and Olivia Olson	1:28
4.	"Friends"	Niki Yang	0:44
5.	"Susan Strong"	Jeremy Shada	0:38
6.	"All Gummed Up Inside"	Jeremy Shada	0:42
7.	"All Warmed Up Inside"	John DiMaggio	0:40
8.	"As a Tropical Island / On a Tropical Island"	John DiMaggio	0:48
9.	"Extremities Song (Balloon Music)"	Jeremy Shada	0:34
10.	"Melons (I Was Wrong)"	Jeremy Shada	1:06
11.	"My Best Friends in the World"	Jeremy Shada and Olivia Olson	2:16
12.	"Oh Fionna"	Neil Patrick Harris and Madeleine Martin	0:57
13.	"Sleepy Puppies"	Jeremy Shada	0:37
14.	"Dream of Love"	Polly Lou Livingston and Ron Lynch	1:54
15.	"Let Me Show You Something Special"	Tom Kenny	1:04
16.	"Oh Bubblegum"	Tom Kenny	1:14
17.	"Bad Little Boy"	Donald Glover	0:22
18.	"Good Little Girl"	Donald Glover, Madeleine Martin, and Roz Ryan	1:47
Total length:			17:57

Side B

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"I Just Can't Get Over You"	Jeremy Shada	0:43
2.	"Have You Ever Had a Friend"	Riki Lindhome	0:32
3.	"Lemonhope's Got Feet"	Justin Roiland	0:52
4.	"Lemonhope's Song"	Hynden Walch	1:25
5.	"Rap Bear & Finn's Rap"	Andy Samberg and Jeremy Shada	1:07
6.	"A Kingdom from a Spark"	Jessica DiCicco	1:08
7.	"Baby's Building a Tower into Space"	Jeremy Shada	0:40
8.	"Everything's Falling into Place"	Jeremy Shada	0:38
9.	"Food Chain Song"	Jeremy Shada and Hynden Walch	1:30
10.	"Little Brothers"	Pendleton Ward and Thurop Van Orman	1:07
11.	"Lost in the Darkness"	Ashly Burch and Jeremy Shada	0:35
12.	"Money"	John DiMaggio	0:22
13.	"Prismo's Ritual"	Jeremy Shada and John DiMaggio	0:20
14.	"That's All I Need"	Pendleton Ward	1:07
15.	"We're Plants"	Jeremy Shada and John DiMaggio	0:32
16.	"Yeah, Girl It Stinks"	Olivia Olson	0:40
17.	"Everything Stays" (Young Marceline & Mom)	Rebecca Sugar and Ava Acres	0:30
18.	"Candy Kingdom"	Unknown	2:00
19.	"Everything Stays" (Marceline Solo)	Olivia Olson	0:43
Total length:			16:31

References

1. "Adventure Time Presents: Marceline The Vampire Queen – Rock The Nightosphere 12" Vinyl Hot Topic Exclusive". Hot Topic. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
2. "Spacelab9's Licensed Vinyl LPS Hit Trade Through Retailer Exclusives". ICv2. November 19, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
3. "'Adventure Time' Music Coming to Vinyl". Modern-Vinyl.com. July 19, 2016. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
4. Ulloa, Alexander (2010). "Adventure Time (2010)". Art of the Title. Art of the Title, LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
5. Homan, Eric (April 20, 2010). "'The Jiggler' Score". Frederator. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
6. Ward, Pendleton, et al. 2014. "Distant Bands: The Music of Adventure Time" [Featurette], Adventure Time Season Four [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Cartoon Network.
7. McHale, Patrick (September 22, 2016). "I'm not sure if this has been posted already..." Tumblr. Retrieved September 23, 2016. Note: Information taken from Patrick McHale's official Tumblr account.
8. Kiefer, Tim (May 30, 2014). "'Friends Don't Fight'". KingOfOoo. Tumblr. Retrieved October 14, 2016. Note: Information taken from the official Adventure Time Tumblr account.
9. Sugar, Rebecca (Storyboard artist). 2014. "What Was Missing" [Commentary track], Adventure Time Season Three [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Cartoon Network.
10. McHale, Patrick (August 30, 2014). "@PaulThomas1992 mostly i was just trying to do something like "i can show you the world"..." Twitter. Retrieved September 1, 2014. Note: Information taken from Patrick McHale's official Twitter account.
11. Muto, Adam. Spring.me. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014. "They recorded takes of ['Something Special'] with Hynden Walch singing the female part of the song [...] The intention was that Steve Little and Pen would sing that part too. But it in the end, it was funnier to have Ice King do a duet with himself." Note: Information taken from Adam Muto's the official Spring.me account.
12. Sugar, Rebecca (October 16, 2012). "'Oh Bubblegum' and 'Nuts' Demos!". Tumblr. Retrieved April 16, 2013. Note: Information taken from Rebecca Sugar's official Tumblr account.
13. Ristaino, Andy (December 4, 2014). "'A Kingdom from a Spark'". Tumblr. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Andy Ristaino's official Tumblr account.
14. Ristaino, Andy (December 4, 2014). "Demo of 'A Kingdom from a Spark'". Tumblr. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Andy Ristaino's official Tumblr account.
15. Wolfhard, Steve (May 6, 2014). "'Baby's Building a Tower Into Space'". Tumblr. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Steve Wolfhard's official Tumblr account.
16. Flores, Madéleine (July 13, 2014). "'Lil Bro' Demo". KingOfOoo. Tumblr. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from the official Adventure Time Tumblr account.
17. Moynihan, Jesse (November 21, 2014). "Is That You?". JesseMoynihan.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Jesse Moynihan's official website.
18. Moynihan, Jesse (June 6, 2015). "Adv Time 2 Part Finnale". JesseMoynihan.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Jesse Moynihan's official website.
19. Moynihan, Jesse (January 22, 2015). "Marceline Song". JesseMoynihan.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Jesse Moynihan's official website.
20. Moynihan, Justin. "Michael Justin Moynihan Resume" (PDF). MichaelJustinMoynihan.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Note: Information taken from Justin Moynihan's official website.
21. Nyström, Hanna K. (November 20, 2015). "Everything Stays". Tumblr. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015. Note: Information taken from Hanna K. Nyström's the official Tumblr account.
22. Foley, Jon (July 12, 2015). "Adventure Time Steven Universe Panel San Diego Comic-Con 2015". YouTube. Event occurs at 6:00. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
23. Kickham, Dylan. "Adventure Time Cast Reveals What's in Store for Season 7 at New York Comic-Con". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
24. "Adventure Time Presents: The Music of Ooo – Exclusive Vinyl". ThinkGeek. 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
25. McGlaun, Shane (October 10, 2016). "The Music of Ooo Vinyl Will Make Your Brain Go All Stupid". Technabob. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
26. Ward, Pendleton; et al. (2015). Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards (Vol 2). ISBN 9781783295111.
27. Ward, Pendleton; et al. (2015). Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards (Vol 2). ISBN 9781783292875.
28. "Adventure Time: The Music of Ooo LP ["Lady Rainacorn" Rainbow Colored Vinyl Variant] NYCC Exclusive". New York Comic Con. 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
29. Spacelab9 (October 6, 2016). "[Promotional post about the variants]". Facebook. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
30. 'The Music of Ooo' (Variant Back Cover). Spacelab9. October 2016.
31. 'The Music of Ooo' (Variant Gatefold Image). Spacelab9. October 2016.
32. 'The Music of Ooo' (Gunter Variant). Spacelab9. October 2016.