Adventure Time: Side Quests premieres June 29 with a sleeker new animation style

Prepare for a throwback with a fresh coat of paint. TheWrap has the exclusive first look at the trailer for Cartoon Network Studios’ latest Adventure Time series, Adventure Time: Side Quests, which premieres on Disney+ and Hulu in the U.S. starting June 29. Outside the U.S., TheWrap reports it will premiere on Cartoon Network and HBO Max.

This matters because it is not just another spinoff. It is the first time an Adventure Time show will premiere outside of the Warner Bros. Discovery ecosystem, which is a big distribution tell in a media world that is increasingly about platform leverage and audience capture. In the trailer, Jake cheerily asks into a phone, “Finn and Jake, how can we assist you?” after learning that Ice Kingdom is once again messed up, and Finn jumps into action, flipping and vowing to punch Ice King in the gut. The rest of the preview plays like a loving callback to Adventure Time’s early seasons.

But the headline change is visual, not just narrative. The big difference in this first trailer is the animation style of Side Quests. TheWrap describes it as more colorful and slicker than Pendleton Ward’s typical animation style, with an effect that feels more childlike and innocent. That is a strategic creative choice as much as it is an art decision. Animation style is a brand signal. It tells new viewers how they should emotionally “read” the series, and it tells long-time fans whether the show is aiming for nostalgia comfort or a different tonal lane.

The story timing is part of that signaling too. While other Adventure Time interactions tend to occur after the events of the main series and expand on increasingly mature lore, Side Quests follows the early days of Jake the dog and Finn the human’s adventuring. In other words, this is positioned as a pre-lore (or at least earlier-lore) entry point. That typically reduces onboarding friction for people who have not kept up with the show’s later developments, which is useful when you are asking audiences to follow you onto new platforms.

The series is also staffed like a continuity-minded sequel, even with the stylistic tweak. Adventure Time: Side Quests is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and was announced in 2024 during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The returning cast includes Finn (voiced by Sasha Knight) and Jake (John DiMaggio), along with Ice King (Tom Kenny), Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), Marceline (Olivia Olson), and BMO (Niki Yang). Those names are not random. They are familiar anchors that help keep a “rewind to early days” premise from turning into a reboot that feels disconnected.

Key creative roles are also spelled out. Nate Cash, who worked on the original Adventure Time, serves as showrunner and executive producer for Side Quests. Darrick Bachman works as story editor, Victor Courtright and Niki Yang direct, Nick Cross serves as art director, and Matthew Janszen is the composer. This division of labor matters for decision-makers because it hints at how the show is trying to balance brand consistency with a controlled transformation. The creative leadership is partly “of the original,” while the direction and art direction are where the visual pivot lands.

On distribution, the stakes are distribution economics dressed up as scheduling. Side Quests is premiering on Disney+ and Hulu in the U.S., while Cartoon Network and HBO Max carry it outside the U.S. TheWrap specifically notes that this marks the first time an Adventure Time show will premiere outside of the Warner Bros. Discovery ecosystem. For operators and partners, that is a relationship signal: it suggests broader platform reach, potentially different audience demographics, and a new kind of measurement of success. The best launch metrics are not always the same across platforms, and a series like Adventure Time, which has a long tail, can be evaluated by platform-specific retention and discovery, not just single-week viewership.

Finally, there is the franchise math. TheWrap calls Side Quests the third Adventure Time spinoff after the four hourlong specials of Adventure Time: Distant Lands, which premiered in 2020 and 2021, and Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, which premiered in 2023. Cartoon Network Studios will also be producing Adventure Time: Heyo BMO. When a franchise stacks spinoffs like this, it is not only because fans are hungry. It is because studios are trying to make their intellectual property durable across formats and platforms, turning one world into multiple entry doors. For executives watching content portfolios, the question is simple: can you extend a proven universe without diluting it? Side Quests is betting that it can, using early-era storytelling, familiar characters, and a sleeker, more colorful animation style to bridge old fans and new viewers on June 29.