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<span {{[[Template:|]]}}</noinclude>>"Who needs Candied Island? It's safer at the docks!"
—Bubbie, the show's opening sequence

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is a 2008 American animated television series for Cartoon Network that premiered on June 5. The show was created by cartoonist Mark "Thurop" Van Orman, who has worked as a writer and storyboard artist on other shows such as Camp Lazlo and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.


Premise[]

The premise starts, as a child, Van Orman spent three years living near a bayou, where he was forbidden to socialize with a local fisherman. Disobeying his parents, Van Orman would visit the fisherman, who would tell tales of the sea. When he was 13, his family moved to Utah, but he was able to convince his parents to allow him to go back to Florida and stay with some family friends. During this time, Van Orman found a boat, and took it out in the middle of the night. Eventually getting lost, it took him three days to finally return. When he related these stories to his friends, they were more interested in the disasters and "misadventures" than if everything had gone as planned.[1]

Van Orman also was fascinated by Dairy Queen commercials, which depicts landscapes made of ice-cream. He wanted to explore those fantasy lands, not so much to eat the ice-cream, but just for sheer exploration.[2]

The backgrounds were chosen to be reminiscent of the 1800s. The three main protagonist, Flapjack, K'nuckles and Bubbie are drawn in a more "cartoony" style than the rest of the world, who are drawn in a more realistic manner. This lends contrast between the world of Flapjack and the real world of Stormalong Harbor. K'nuckles is developed as a good for nothing, with Bubbie being more sincere, also lending character contrast between the main characters of the show.[3] To add more contrast, the tough guys of the show are depicted as hunting candy, which is the real treasure.[2]

The humor is considered "uncomfortable", building an awkwardness and deliberately misleading the appearance of the situation, before delivering the punchline.[4]

Characters[]

Name Description
Flapjack Flapjack is an excitable, adventure-loving boy who was raised by Bubbie, a talking whale. Despite her warnings, Flapjack is spellbound by K'nuckles' stories and has set his sights on becoming a real adventurer. He seems to admire K'nuckles very much and considers him a good friend, even though K'nuckles tends to deceive him. Voiced by Thurop Van Orman.
Captain K'nuckles Captain K'nuckles is a washed-up, old sailor who claims to be the greatest adventurer the world has ever known. He is always telling outrageous tales of his adventures and getting Flapjack wrapped up in his high seas hijinks, though he is also fond of Flapjack. His name is pronounced as it's spelled (the initial /K/ is not silent). Voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray.
Bubbie Bubbie is a talking whale who acts like an over-protective mother to Flapjack. She prefers the safety of Stormalong to the dangers of the open seas, but Bubbie is always there for Flapjack, no matter what kind of trouble K'nuckles gets him into. Voiced by Roz Ryan.
Peppermint Larry Peppermint Larry is the overly-friendly owner of the Candy Barrel who supplies candy to Flapjack and K'nuckles. When they don't have money for candy, Larry feeds them unreliable clues to help them find Candied Island. Larry is married to his beloved candy-wife, who is a source of his frequent bouts of paranoia and psychosis. On numerous occasions, he's made it clear that he hates pickles. Voiced by Jeff Bennett.
Doctor Julius Barber Doctor Julius Barber is the local doctor, surgeon, and barber in Stormalong Harbor. It was later revealed that he also performs surgery. Voiced by Steve Little.

Episodes[]

Main article: The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack/Episodes

Home Media[]

DVD volumes:

  • Volume 1 (October 20th, 2009)
  • The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Friends (October 7th, 2014)

All three seasons are available on iTunes. On Google Play[5] and Amazon[6] the only season currently available for purchase is the first season.

The series was released on Hulu in 2015 and was available on HBO Max from May 2020 to May 2023. It is also available on Max in May 2023 and later on Disney+ in December 2023.

Appearances in other media[]

In other works[]

In the Steven Universe crossover episode, Say Uncle, Flapjack's name makes an appearance on a list from Uncle Grandpa.

Flapjack, K'nuckles, and Bubbie all appeared together in the Villainous special, The Lost Cases of the Future.

Captain K'nuckles made a cameo in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, Crossover Nexus, where he appeared both as stone and one of Ben 10's transformations.

The series was acknowledged in the Cartoon Network 30th Anniversary video in October 2022.

Flapjack, Captain K’nuckles, and Bubbie made a surprise cameo appearance in the Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake episode Prismo the Wishmaster, where it was revealed Flapjack's world is actually part of the Adventure Time multiverse, somehow as an alternate version of Ooo.

Video games[]

Flapjack and K'nuckles were featured as playable characters in the 2011 video game, Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion. Peppermint Larry also appears but as an assist character.

Captain K'nuckles appeared as a shop owner in the 2018 mobile game, Cartoon Network: Match Land. Flapjack was introduced as a boardwalk customer in the game's 1.2.0. update.

Trivia[]

  • This was the last Cartoon Network series to premiere during the Fall era, right before switching to the Noods era.
  • Fans of Cartoon Network consider The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack as the sister series to Chowder.
  • Van Orman originally came up with the idea for the show in 2001 and pitched the show to Cartoon Network that same year and again in 2004 before it was picked up in 2007.
  • Some video platforms had the early episodes in different aspect ratios. iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon Prime have them cropped to fullscreen, while HBO Max had them in widescreen.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

Cartoon Network Studios Series
Cartoon Network Original Series
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