Ward Taylor Pendleton “Pen Ward” Johnston

Pen Ward's Beginnings and Childhood
Ward Taylor Pendleton “Pen Ward” Johnston was born on September 23, 1982 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, United States.

Growing up in San Antonio, Ward always felt like an outsider especially among his two older brothers and his friends. Ward never met his father and was raised by his mother, Bettie. While Ward’s grandparents were Texas ranchers and oilmen, his mother was an artist. Bettie was a groupie for the Steve Miller Band and performed in multiple off-Broadway musicals. (Source) Because of her artistic outlook on life, Bettie encouraged Ward to be creative and would often keep Post-It notes in her purse so Ward could make a flipbook whenever he needed.

Ward describes himself as a sensitive and awkward kid"“I was fat and I had a bowl cut and I had rollerblades,” he continues. “I would put my Magic cards in a backpack and skate down to the comic shop. Just super awkward.”"It wasn’t until high school that Ward would eventually discover a place where there were other people like him. In the summer of his high school years, Ward would attend a summer camp at The California State Summer School for the Arts, his future college. During that summer he would eventually meet his future mentor Cornelius Cole III. During that summer camp, Cole would show his film Heaven and Hell. An animation film that would inspire Ward to pursue animation.

CalArts: The Struggle is Real
After high school, Ward would go on to attend the California Institute of the Arts also known as CalArts. There he would meet a lot of people that would eventually help him bring his hit show "Adventure Time" with Finn and Jake to life. Even today, Ward will often credit his time at CalArts as an experience that pushed him to be better because he was surrounded by so many talented and intelligent people.

While in school Nickelodeon was allowing CalArts students to pitch ideas. Ward would create a minute-long short, where two characters would save a princess from an evil ice king using rocket boots. Nickelodeon ultimately rejected him.

It was during a tradition at CalArts where Ward would get his first major break. Because of CalArts close ties to the industry, call the Producers’ Show. Students can submit their student films to the show and if they are admitted in, their film will be shown to Pixar, Disney, and any other company that is looking for new talent or new ideas. Eric Homan would eventually offer Ward a job at Frederator. (Source)



Starting at Frederator: Moving on Up
While are Frederator, Ward would world on a series of shorts titled “Random! Cartoons”. Ward would develop his one-minute long pitch into a seven-minute short film called "Adventure Time" and pitch it one more time. The short film consisted of a boy named Ward and his talking dog Jake who were rescuing Princess Bubblegum from the Ice King. In order to save the princess, Ward must travel in his mind to Mars where Abraham Lincoln helps Ward believe in himself.

The seven-minute long short fared no better and was also rejected by Nickelodeon. While Fred Seibert, the head of Frederator and its namesake, was pitching "Adventure Time" to various networks, he asked Nickelodeon permission to upload the short film to the Internet. The short film achieved over 3 million views on YouTube within a year of its release in 2007.

Ward would also release another short during his time at Frederator. The show was called "Bravest Warriors" and followed a group of space warriors in the distant future. This also did not do enough to garner enough attention.

While this was going on, Ward would be hired to work on the Cartoon Network show "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack." Ward’s main job during this year was storyboarding and writing. While Ward would meet more talented individuals, he would ultimately understand how to run a show. He would often talk to his boss, Thurop Van Orman, the creator of "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack," and ask to observe the creative process in different parts of the studio. [https://www.themarysue.com/pendleton-ward-interview/ Ward would later state that when Ward would ask to view something different Orman would say, “‘‘Of course you can! This is a fun factory, friend!’”]

Over the course of a couple years, Seibert would continue pitching to different networks and when the 7-minute long short would be taken down off of the Internet, someone else would upload it again. Ward would eventually get his chance when Seibert, frustrated with the lack of movement, told the executives of Cartoon Network to ask their kids if they had seen the "Adventure Time" short and if none of them had, he would give up. Luckily, one of the teenagers had and so Cartoon Network accepted the pitch for the show.



"Adventure Time" and the Golden Age of Pen
One of the many reasons it took so long is because Ward was doing something so traditionally different from what was considered normal animation. Tom Kenny, the voice of the Ice King and the iconic Spongebob Squarepants, once stated that "Adventure Time" was “‘This is this generation’s ‘Yellow Submarine’”

Two years after the premiere of "Adventure Time", Ward would get a chance to launch his other series "Bravest Warriors". The show premiered on Frederator's YouTube channel titled Cartoon Hangover and would run for four total seasons.

While the show's success continued to build, Ward realized the effort it took to run a show like "Adventure Time". During the middle of the shows 5th season, Pen Ward would give up his role as showrunner but continue to play his role of Lumpy Space Princess and attend writer’s room meetings until eventually he handed over the reigns completely to his friend and fellow CalArts graduate Adam Muto.



Ward would eventually explain why he gave up his control during an interview with Rolling Stone. Ward stated that "“‘For me, having quality of life outweighed the need to control this project and make it great all the time.’”" Post "Adventure Time" Adventures

After the show ended in 2018, Ward would return to animation through a Netflix series titled The Midnight Gospel that was released on April 20th, 2020. The series is a partnership with podcaster and comedian Duncan Trussell. The concept is a show where a man by the name of Clancy goes to dying worlds in order to interview the people that live there. The show even uses clips from Trussell’s interview podcast The Duncan Trussell Family Hour.

Pen Ward is also involved in four short films that take place in the "Adventure Time" universe titled "Adventure Time": Distant Lands on HBO Max.

Themes in Pen Ward's Work
"Adventure Time" and other Pen Ward creations have caught on as a symbol or the beginning of a new era of animation. In many interviews, Ward is often asked about his work and why he believes it is so accessible to all ages. He often answers this question by stating that the focus of the writer’s room and his own work is to make a show that he and his friends would like. "“We're just making it for ourselves. I feel like all the writers and board artists that are writing all the jokes and dialog, we're all just trying to make ourselves laugh and just keep ourselves interested.”"Ward has talked about how the writing process will sometimes remind him of things he laughed at or enjoyed as a kid or what would’ve made him happy as a kid.

He also talks about the beauty of animation and how a moment can astound and mesmerize someone. He values small moments and what happens in those moments. This can come from the beauty of animation or the beauty of emotion from words the characters say."“Not a lot of cartoons have time to sit and be mesmerized. Finn wakes up and there are these tiny shrimp tickling on his sea helmet and it's really nice. It's just a brief moment, but it made the episode for me.”"Overall his goal is to just make people laugh and happy and to write characters that are realistic and human. "“For the personalities of all the characters I try not to make them one note. Finn and Jake and everyone have a whole range of emotions, so they're not just the ‘annoying guy’ or the ‘dumb guy.’'"It doesn’t matter if there is a character made out of bubblegum or a talking dog, Ward wants people to connect with his characters through the realistic nature of his cartoons. "“‘That just makes me think about how this is the first thing that some kids are watching and all these ideas aren’t old hat to them,’ he said. ‘I think a lot about exploding kids’ minds with the cartoon. . . I try to just have fun.’”"

The Style of Pen Ward
Pen Ward has openly admitted he is not an artist. He likes to entertain but he does not believe in his art skills. The skill he does have, he credits a lot of the people he has worked with or his talented friends from CalArts. He often talks about how they inspire each other and how the relationship he shares with other animators is “give and take.”"“My influences are my friends. I've always tried to draw like Pat McHale (writer on 'Adventure Time') and Somvilay Xayaphone (storyboard artist and writer on 'Adventure Time'). These are dudes who influenced my drawing styles from while we were in school together. Julian Narino's wide-eyed expressions and sense of humor influenced me and JG Quintel's (creator of Regular Show) droopy lips also were an influence when I was working on 'The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.'”"Ward sticks to simple and in that simple animation, he strives to make people happy. Ultimately, he wants viewers to not have to do a lot of work and to beagle to feel emotionally connected to the simplicity of his style. There is something to putting a little bit of yourself into your art and so he encourages the storyboarders on his shows to put themselves in the character. This makes the character look slightly different from person to person but Ward enjoys that about animation.

Ward is also influenced by Japanese culture and animation. Specifically, Ward has spoken about his admiration for Miyazaki and his film My Neighbor Totoro. Ward, when speaking about the animation film:"“It's really beautiful and it makes me feel really good inside to watch it and I want to recreate that feeling. I'm just inspired by that feeling. I often times try to make things like that. We try to have moments like that.”"Overall, his style comes down to the moments he creates and how those moments influence the story. He can be very meticulous about the simplicity of the moment and how that may make the audience feel. "“I remember I was mixing an episode last night, mixing the sounds and effects and the picture all together at the post-house and there was a really long fart sound that I needed to have in there for the story to work, for the jokes to work. And I remember making a call and having a really serious conversation with the network about making sure that this fart can stay in there, and we went back and forth about how juicy it could be. I didn’t want it juicy, So he was like, “Oh, it can be really dry and that’s fine. As long as it’s not over the top. Diarrhetic.” [Laughs. I was like, ‘Okay, I can work with that.’” Then I ended up doing the sound into the microphone. [Makes long, dry fart sound.] I have a lot of those kinds of conversations.” ]"But ultimately, it is the opinions of the people that worked with and under Ward that truly reveal who he is as a creator and his style. Rebecca Sugar, a storyboard artist and songwriter that once worked on "Adventure Time" and would go on to create the hit series Steven Universe, once called Ward a poet. "“Penn lets them express themselves with super-interesting results. I think he’s really a poet, also. That’s what people mistake for trippiness.” She let that distinction settle before pressing on. “He’s expressing thoughts about very modern feelings that people have,” she added. “These feelings are frivolous, and that’s confusing. Good poetry is like that. Penn is letting that happen. That’s why he’s such an enigma — he’s an amazing artist.”"

Filmography

 * "Adventure Time": Distant Lands, TV Mini-Series, Creator and Writer [1 ep, 2020]
 * "The Midnight Gospel", TV Series, Co-Creater and Writer [8 eps, 2020]
 * "Bravest Warriors", TV Series, Creator and Writer [86 eps, 2012 - 2018]
 * "Adventure Time", TV Series, Creator and Writer [142 eps, 2012 - 2018]
 * "Bee and PuppyCat", TV Series, Writer [1 ep., 2016]
 * "
 * "Uncle Grandpa", TV Series, Writer [1 ep., 2015]
 * "Over the Garden Wall", TV Series, Writer, [1 ep., 2014]
 * "The Marvelous MIsadventures of Flapjack", TV Series, Writer [11 eps., 2008 - 2009]
 * "Random! Cartoons", TV Series, Creator and Writer [2 eps., 2008 - 2009]

Awards

 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program - 2018 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Winner, Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program - 2017 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program - 2016 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Winner, Emmy for Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program - 2015 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program - 2014 ["Adventure Time"]


 * Awarded, 2014 Peabody Award - Children's Entertainment ["Adventure Time"]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program - 2013 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Winner, Shorty Award for Best Web Series - 2013 [Bravest Warriors]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program - 2012 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program - 2011 ["Adventure Time"]
 * Nominee, Emmy for Outstanding Short-format Animated Program - 2010 ["Adventure Time"]

Criticism
While Pen Ward does have his detractors, over critics have loved his creations and his unique style of animation.

When Pen Ward left his controlling role at "Adventure Time", Neil Strauss at Rolling Stones compared Pen Ward and "Adventure Time" to classic children's television, solidifying his spot among the greats."'Yet somehow one of the most introverted people in Hollywood has created a show that, arguably more than anything on television, connects in the deepest way with children, teens and adults alike. . .it belongs in the pantheon of kids’ programming – including Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Ren & Stimpy and Ralph Bakshi’s Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures – that has an immense cult following among adults. This may be because the 'Adventure Time' world is so imaginative, many think that to invent this kind of stuff, you’d have to be on drugs (which Ward says he doesn’t do).”"Fred Seibert, the creator and manager of Frederator, stated that Ward was the perfect boss because he could somehow know where he was going but also be open to new ideas and changes while maintaining control of his staff. "'I have never seen anyone who can let go as much as Pen lets go while at the same time having absolute control of what’s going on'"Eric Kohn at Indie Wire stated that not only was the rapid growth of fans impressive but also the celebrity cameos and people that wanted to voice a character on the show. "''Adventure Time' has garnered acclaim not only from a significant fan following but from the industry, as demonstrated by the growing list of guest voices: Ron Perlman, Wallace Shawn, Donald Glover and Steve Little have all contributed to various episodes.'"Finally, when "Adventure Time" was ready to finally end the series in 2018, James Poniewozik at the New York Times pondered about how Adventure Time and by extension, its creator fit into the history of television."'this animated epic. . .is one of the visual and artistic wonders of the last decade, a gorgeously lacquered jawbreaker with a bittersweet center'"Poniewozik continues and tries to understand why Adventure Time is so successful and so influential in pop culture today. He argues that:"'Adventure Time is one of the best representations I’ve seen on TV of this aspect of growing up — at once being excited about what you’re becoming and mourning what you were. And it’s not only Finn and his sword-brother who have to deal with this double-edged (so to speak) issue.'"Overall, although there will always be some people that will look down at animation and Adventure Time as just children's television, clearly the show has had an affect on the culture and will continue to influence future generations of animators and creators.

Pen Ward: Trend Setter and Talent Cultivator?
While Pen Ward and "Adventure Time" should be celebrated as the first in a new wave of animation, the reality is that "Adventure Time" and the culture that Pen Ward created with his show was one of the greatest talent incubators in modern animation. There are many creators that started at "Adventure Time", took the lessons and relationships they learned from their time at "Adventure Time", and went on to create their own series that was just as successful.


 * Rebecca Sugar started as a storyboard artist and eventually became a writer on "Adventure Time." She is also known for creating some of the series most memorable songs. Sugar would go on to leave "Adventure Time" and create her show “Steven Universe”. This would be the first Cartoon Network show to be created by a woman.
 * Ian Jones-Quartey got his start on shows such as “The Venture Brothers,” but would end up following Sugar to "Adventure Time" when she came to work on the show. He would go on to create his own series tilted, “OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes.”
 * Patrick McHale was hand-selected by Pen Ward to be the creative director on “Adventure Time.” After spending much of his time at the series, he would go on to create the spooky mini-series titled “Over the Garden Wall.” The mini-series is often hailed as a modern fairy tale.
 * While Julia Pott was animating before she began work on “Adventure Time,” she did eventually move from the United Kingdom to the United States to work on her original series and “Adventure Time.” She would eventually go on to make her delightful series “Summer Camp Island.”
 * Nick Jennings, while a veteran of the industry, would help develop the overall look of “Adventure Time.” Jennings would eventually leave adventure time to produce the successful reboot of “The Powerpuff Girls.”
 * Natasha Allegri was a character designer and storyboard revisionist at “Adventure Time” She would eventually kickstart and successfully jumpstart her own series on Cartoon Hangover’s YouTube channel, “Bee and Puppycat.”
 * While J. G. Quintel never worked on Adventure Time, the creator of the immensely popular “Regular Show” met Ward in college at CalArts and both would become close friends and feed off of each other’s styles and ideas.
 * Ward also met Alex Hirsch at CalArts. While he has not yet created a series with Hirsch, their friendship allowed for both people to grow and become amazing creators in their own right. Hirsch is the creator of the popular Disney Channel show “Gravity Falls.”

The reality is that while “Adventure Time,” almost ten years after its premiere, seems like a staple in animation now, it only appears that way because of the groundbreaking storytelling and animation that Pen Ward facilitated. While Ward would never take credit for the success and movement in animation today, the reality is Ward was trying something new and different and weird with his show “Adventure Time” and without him, the animation would not be what it is today. As Jason Krell from Gizmodo puts it, "“15 years ago, Adventure Time might have been too weird to survive on TV, but now the world has wholeheartedly embraced its weird charm. And in doing so, dozens of other animators now have the freedom to create the quirky cartoons they want while drawing in the kind of audiences network executives love to see.”"Without Pen Ward there would be no “Adventure Time” and without “Adventure Time” there are so many creators that would not have the market or opportunity to create in a style totally their own. The industry and culture are better because Pen Ward embraced his awkwardness and pursued his dreams as an introverted industry changer.