John DiMaggio and Sasha Knight Talk New Finn-isms and Jake Quotes in Adventure Time: Side Quests

Cartoon Network fans have truly been blessed with the returns of some of their favorite shows. From The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball to Regular Show: The Lost Tapes, it feels like a modern Cartoon Network renaissance is occurring. That feeling is further reinforced with the arrival of Adventure Time: Side Quests.

Adventure Time fans know that this isn’t the first series to revitalize the franchise due to Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake‘s recent release. However, Side Quests takes the franchise back to its early days, where Finn and Jake aren’t burdened by vampiric families, elemental wars, and the fearsome Lich.

I had the opportunity to speak with John DiMaggio and Sasha Knight about Adventure Time: Side Quests, what it takes to embody Finn and Jake nowadays, and more.

Even though Knight is a newcomer to the Adventure Time franchise, the actor has always been interested in voicing Finn. Knight recalled what it was like to develop the mannerisms of the energetic hero.

“That part came a little bit easy for me,” Knight began. “People have told me that Finn is like my spirit animal. I think that Finn’s whole personality came pretty naturally.”

Given how long the original Adventure Time series ran, there have been many Finn-centric episodes that explore who he is. Reflecting on the Cartoon Network show, Knight looked back on which stories inspired him the most.

“When I was originally crafting my version of Finn, I watched a bunch of the early seasons to figure out how I wanted to portray him and also hone in on exactly what makes Finn, Finn, if that makes sense,” Knight explained. “There’s not one episode in particular, but definitely the earlier stuff.”

Although Knight embodies a younger Finn, older fans know that Jeremy Shada voiced the original, young adult Finn. Knight also spoke about whether he got in touch with Shada and received advice from him.

“Not really, no,” Knight said. “I just watched some more early episodes and early [season] clips, and then the rest was just coming from my soul.”

However, John DiMaggio’s familiar voice as Jake shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans. Although it’s been some time since DiMaggio returned to voice Jake, the actor was excited to return to the franchise. DiMaggio reflected on how Adventure Time: Side Quests captures the core of who Jake is.

“I think the most important thing is the relationship between this boy and his dog,” DiMaggio described. “All the other characters are very important as well, but I just think that this thing stands out.”

“Hearing Sasha do it [perform as Finn] for the first time, I was just so impressed. Just the way it sounded, I thought he really, really nailed it. The two of us being able to be conversational, being able to just have that rapport, is really important.”

DiMaggio also reflected on his bond with Shada during the original Adventure Time run. “Jeremy did such a great job and now he’s a grown man, and I miss him. We’re still friends, and I see him at cons, but Sasha is gonna be with this role for a while.”

“It’s important that he knows, and everybody else knows, that he has the freedom to do what he wants to do within this character and within this role and within this show, because he’s doing a great job. I’m just excited for him.”

Watch the full interview with John DiMaggio and Sasha Knight:

Furthermore, the iconic-ness of Jake extends to some of the memorable lines that he gives throughout Adventure Time. Whether it be offering wisdom to Finn or a simple one-liner, Jake always comes up with some of the best quotes.

DiMaggio and Knight recalled what their favorite Jake lines were and how it stuck with them.

“The one line that sticks with me is, ‘Dude, sucking at something is the first step of being sort of good at something,'” DiMaggio began.

“It’s just the most amazing advice that you could get from a cartoon. It’s just so universal. It can be applied to so many things in your life. I’ve said it to fans of the show when I get to meet fans of the show, I’ve said it to them, and it hits them.”

“I have a shirt that says, ‘You’re getting hung up on imaginary problems. You got to focus on what’s real, man,'” Knight recalled. “I was wearing that shirt on FaceTime with my grandparents. They’re like, ‘Wow, that is a great shirt. I love what it says!’ So, we sent them shirts.”

Given how each episode of Adventure Time: Side Quests has a different story, there are many one-off stories that new and old fans can enjoy. DiMaggio and Knight recalled which episode they’re most excited for fans to watch.

“I jokingly say all of them because it’s really true,” DiMaggio stated. “I love bringing this character back to life and getting to work with some new blood. I really just feel like Sasha’s doing such a fantastic job.”

“All my favorite ones are all the ones that I got to do with John,” Knight added. “I think that there’s probably correlation there because that was so fun. The first one that I got to record with John was this one called “Island of Shame,” and I really liked that one. I think that one’s really funny!”

“There’s one that I liked, we’re trying to find each other,” DiMaggio added. “I don’t know if we’re allowed to talk about that!”

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Adventure Time: Side Quests premieres on Monday, June 29, on Hulu and Disney+.

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