Finn and his magic dog Jake get surreal in Pendleton Ward's all-ages acid fantasy, Adventure Time.
(Images courtesy Cartoon Network)

For adults, Adventure Time’s animated acid fantasy wobbles hilariously between psychedelia and subversion. Yet kids can still enjoy the show’s juvenile hijinks about a boy and his dog mystically adventuring in the onomatopoetic land of Ooo.

That impressive versatility has allowed Adventure Time, created and written by Pendleton Ward, to rake in award nominations and ratings success like so much zombie candy.

But what hallucinatory origins give Adventure Time its surreal spirit as it unreels psychedelic stories about Finn the human boy and his magical dog Jake?

“Well it didn’t come from drugs,” Ward told Wired.com. “I mean, I wanted to make a show that my kid-self would be into. I grew up playing Nintendo, Candy Land and Dungeons & Dragons, and watching Rankin/Bass and DIC Entertainment cartoons and anime. All the artists working on the show are inspired by their own unique nostalgia, but I think we all grew up surrounded by trippy and imaginative media. So it doesn’t feel unusual to write stories about a shape-changing dog and his human friend.”

Perhaps not, but the stories are tad more than unusual. You might not want to drop the brown acid during Season 1 episode “Freak City,” which found Finn (voiced by righteous dude Jeremy Shada) transformed into a foot that comes to the aid of mutants. Same with “Ricardio the Heart Guy,” in which Star Trek’s George Takei shows up as a suave but sinister jerk who plots to cut out the heart of nerdy love interest Princess Bubblegum and make out with it.

In Monday’s episode, “The Monster,” previewed in the exclusive clip below, Finn and Jake retrieve Lumpy Space Princess, a mostly grotesque but totally gut-busting mass of hair and purple cloud voiced by Ward. It’s a mad, mad animated world, as well a geek attractor no matter the demographic.

“If you’re asking me if adults can love cartoons without being man-baby whackjobs, then yes!” said Ward. “Animation is a sophisticated craft, but my cartoon is turbo-art. With some fart jokes.”

Much of the appeal of Adventure Time, now in its third season, lies in the show’s cast, which draws deeply from the stoned depths of fandom. Aside from Futurama’s brilliant John DiMaggio, who voices Jake, the irrepressible Tom Kenny (Mr. Show, SpongeBob SquarePants) stars as hapless serial kidnapper Ice King. Takei has been joined by guest stars Paul Reubens, Lou Ferrigno, Henry Rollins and Biz Markie.

‘I like to hire actors, comedians, musicians who I’m a geek for.’

“I like to hire actors, comedians, musicians who I’m a geek for,” Ward said. “When Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Worf) came in, I did 11 backflips. When ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic voiced a talking banana a little while back, my guts shotgunned out of my nose. Tom Kenny is amazing; I can’t say enough nice things about how jammin’ he is. He and Tom are so comedically brilliant; whenever they ad-lib lines and jokes, I try to keep it all in the show. The cast is the bees knees.”

And so are the gags, especially the raunchy ones. In one episode, Finn must execute a “ball drop,” although it’s not what you think. Finn routinely drops halfway nasty quotes — “Baby, I know what you crave” and “I’m not gonna spank your hams” are two memorable examples — and Jake is no slouch with wisecracks like, “Girl, if you weren’t a figment of my imagination, I’d want to have your baby” and “Just hop on my powdered donut, boy!”

Stop Standards and Practices, I don’t want to get off.

“Everyone just writes what makes them laugh,” said Ward. “I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. Standards tell us what we can and can’t do, but usually we try to keep it pretty tame.”

Ward said his favorite jokes are slice-of-life moments. “Like in the episode ‘Mortal Recoil,’ when everyone tells the Ice King that he’s old and he has a moment where he sighs and realizes that no one perceives him as a hot young dude. I like sad stuff!”

Adventure Time airs Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Cartoon Network.