Carton Network and Hulu are bringing back Finn and Jake for Adventure Time: Side Quests. Honestly, that was already enough to instantly get my attention. However, finding out that Matthew Janszen is writing the music for it makes the whole thing even more interesting, especially if you appreciate good soundtrack scores.
Keep reading more about this news and when you’ll be able to watch the new series.
There are some TV announcements that make you go, “Oh, cool.” Then, there are the ones that immediately send animation fans and score nerds into full detective mode. Matthew Janszen composing the music for Adventure Time: Side Quest absolutely belongs in that second category.
Let me repeat that. According to Hulu’s press release for the new series, Janszen is credited as the composer for their upcoming Adventure Time spin-off show, premiering on June 29, 2026, on Hulu and Disney+.
Furthermore, Cartoon Network Studios produced the series, which will be a lighter, more self-contained return to the Land of Ooo. In other words, it will follow a young Finn and Jake as they take on silly, energetic adventures inspired by the franchise’s earlier seasons.
That alone should be enough to get Adventure Time fans excited. But for us who love animation scoring, Janszen’s involvement is one of the most intriguing parts of the whole package.
Now, what makes this assignment such a fun fit is that Adventure Time has a very specific vibe. Ooo is whimsical, strange, funny, sweet, and occasionally emotionally devastating, sometimes all within a single episode. Even during the goofy moments, the world never feels disposable.
The music must help sell that balance. It must sound playful without becoming generic kiddie-comedy wallpaper, meanwhile supporting the fantasy adventure without making everything an oversized epic bombast.
Moreover, Side Quests is bringing back the standalone chaos, colorful imagination, and the loose, exploratory spirit of early Adventure Time.
For a composer, that means creating music that can pivot quickly between absurd jokes, sincere friendship, magical weirdness, and bursts of action. That is a harder assignment than it looks, and it is exactly why fans of television scoring should be paying attention.
Janszen’s recent résumé makes the choice feel especially promising. For example, he’s the man behind the music for such hits as Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Bugs Bunny Builders, Megamind Rules, and Tiny Toons Looniversity.
In other words, he has the experience if you want somebody fluent in fast-moving animation. All of those shows required flexibility, comic timing, and the ability to give heightened worlds a polished musical shape without flattening their personality.
That matters a lot here. A franchise like Adventure Time doesn’t need a score that simply tells viewers when to laugh or feel wonder. It needs a composer who can drop into a bizarre cartoon motif. It must then feel internally consistent, almost as if the music is another character wandering around Ooo with the cast.
Janszen’s background suggests someone comfortable with bright color, elastic tone changes, and the kind of musical storytelling that soundtrack and animation fans notice immediately, even when casual viewers don’t realize what the score is doing.
For soundtrack collectors, this news also sparks immediate curiosity about what the actual palette will be.
Will Side Quests go for
Obviously, we don’t have an official album track list or released score cues yet. So, nobody should pretend otherwise. But that uncertainty is part of the excitement.
Animation music fans know the thrill of hearing a new series click into place during the first episode. That’s when a main theme or recurring motif suddenly tells you the show’s musical language in seconds.
Because Side Quests is being sold as both an entry point for newcomers and a love letter to existing fans, the score has a real opportunity to bridge those audiences. It can feel fresh enough for a new generation while still capturing the handcrafted, emotionally sincere oddness that made people fall in love with Adventure Time in the first place.
It also helps that Janszen is joining a creative team that understands exactly what fans want from this corner of animation.
For instance, we know that Nate Cash is the showrunner and executive producer, with Darrick Bachman as story editor. Meanwhile, Victor Courtright and Niki Yang are directing the project with Nick Cross as art director.
That lineup gives the project a strong animation-first identity rather than a brand extension being assembled from a distance. In other words, this does not read like a cynical recycling of familiar characters. It’s a genuine creative effort to revisit a beloved world with people who understand its weirdness, warmth, and visual-musical rhythm.
Because the show’s chasing a specific tone, the choice of composer becomes even more important. All because the music is often the glue that holds the visual style, pacing, and emotional memory together. As a result, a strong score can make standalone episodes feel iconic, while a weak one can make even beautiful animation drift aimlessly without impact.
So yes, the return of Finn and Jake is already big news. And yes, the June 29 premiere date gives fans a very real countdown clock. But if you love themes, textures, motifs, and the secret sauce that makes animated worlds feel alive, Matthew Janszen might be the key reason Adventure Time: Side Quests works.
That’s because this assignment requires imagination, discipline, and a real affection for cartoon storytelling. And on paper, he seems like a smart match for all three.
However, until we hear the first notes for ourselves, the hype remains theoretical. But for now, this is exactly the behind-the-scenes update that should have animation fans, soundtrack collectors, and longtime residents of Ooo feeling very optimistic.
However, that’s just my opinion. But what’s yours? Post your thoughts in the forums or comments below.
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