James Baxter the Horse

Synopsis
Finn and Jake are inspired by a horse to create their own ultimate feel-good maneuver to cheer anyone up.

Plot
The episode starts with BMO opening the door of the Tree Fort and carrying an egg, singing a song about being pregnant as it is walking along. It holds the egg up in the air, but a butterfly accidentally knocks it down and breaks it, making BMO cry. Finn and Jake notice BMO crying, so they try and cheer him up, but are not able to. While they are thinking about how to cheer BMO up, James Baxter arrives on a beach ball, and whinnies his name continuously, cheering BMO up. Finn and Jake praise the horse, and decide that they should spread the good will by whinnying their names to cheer people up.

Finn and Jake start by whinnying their names near a funeral to cheer the mourners, however this did not work and Finn suggested they should try to cheer up another person. They arrive at the Candy Kingdom and tries to cheer up a Green Lollipop Girl whose ice-cream had been dropped on the ground, but she instead became terrified and ran towards an alleyway. Finn and Jake continue to make noises, which made the girl scream and the two hastily backtrack out of the alley.

The scene changes to Finn and Jake sitting on a hill watching James Baxter entertaining a group of Candy Children. Finn and Jake contemplate on how could they cheer up people similar to James Baxter, and realized that they have to have their own style to make others feel good.

Back at the Tree Fort, Finn and Jake make noises and dance around, as BMO records their actions with a video camera strapped on its head. BMO asks why is it recording them, and Finn answers that they are attempting to find a style which can be suitable for what they are trying to do. The three of them climb up into the bathtub, and as Jake scrubs BMO, Finn analyzes the video and adjust its settings (speeding it up or slowing it down) by touching BMO's face. They soon found a portion of the video which causes them to laugh, but Finn suggest if they want to match James Baxter's level, they have to go deeper

The scene shifts to a wooded area, by which the three go to Institute of So Und. They arrive inside the entrance and was received by a guide. Finn asks where is the studio to make the best "feel-good" sound, and the guide replies that they have to "think happy thoughts" and follow their heart.

They arrive at a studio full of speakers and electronic equipment. The three scope the room, and discover how they could use this equipment to "force happiness into the listener." After several tests and adjustments to how the sound was generated, Finn and Jake realized that what they were missing were "feel-good" body actions, and once thy got hold of this realization, the three of them slept, exhausted from the ordeal.

Finn and Jake came back to the Candy Kingdom to see the same Lollipop Girl crying, this time because of a fallen drink cup. The girl noticed them and remembered the past encounter, then screams, but Jake told her to quiet down and see their new demonstration. Afterwards, the girl was laughing loudly, and the two knew that their gimmick had worked. They continued making other people happy (including four Grass People, a ghost, and more Grass People at a meeting) until they saw the same mourners in the funeral they encountered yesterday. Finn apologizes for their behavior the previous day, and entertained them, making them happy.

Suddenly, the coffin opens and the dead person's skeleton pops out, rolling in the ground. The mourners and Jake ran away, terrified, while Finn battles the skeleton. The skeleton's ghost appears as Finn asks Jake for some help. Jake appears inside of a flower and grows large, but were thrown back when the ghost spits onto them. The ghost throws a large chunk of land at them, which they dodge. Jake protects Finn from the attacks, but the ghost punches them down into the ground.

Finn tells an injured Jake that he will block the next attack, but Jake realized they would die and performs a rhythmic clap, telling Finn that he should listen for the sound for they might be separated in the 9th Dead World. Suddenly, James Baxter appears, calming him as he has almost beaten the duo to death. The ghost carries Finn and Jake out of the hole and puts them gently onto the ground, and asked them if they knew this guy. They reply that they know him, while the horse, realizing night is coming, deflates his beach ball, folds it into a triangular hat, and trots off as the episode ends.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * BMO
 * James Baxter
 * Milk Ghost

Minor characters

 * Candy People
 * Green Lollipop Girl
 * Candy Kids
 * Funeral Guests
 * Pizza People
 * Institute of So Und Guy
 * Grass People
 * Tree People
 * Rock People
 * Snail

Songs

 * "BMO's Pregnant Song"

Trivia

 * Jake showed that BMO's screen has a touch screen function when he used it to slow down and speed up the video.
 * This episode shows that Finn and Jake know how to operate technology to a degree, as they were shown to maneuver the appliances seen in the studio.

Cultural references

 * James Baxter is the name of an animator who worked for Disney and Dreamworks animation studios. The title card shows James Baxter drawing a horse on a beach ball, in a similar fashion to an animator.
 * The skeleton at the funeral resembles those featured in Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead in Spanish), a Mexican holiday focusing on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.

Episode connections

 * The 'EAT' sign that appeared in "Memory of a Memory" and "I Remember You" is seen in the bathroom of the Tree Fort.
 * Del.jpg of the candy people cheering for James Baxter looks like Peppermint Butler but smaller and doesn't wear clothes. This candy person was also seen at the daycare in "Goliad."

Errors

 * BMO appears a little larger compared to Finn than he usually is.
 * When Finn, Jake and BMO entered a room in the Sound Institute, if the viewer looks closely, Finn seems to be missing his shoes.

Production notes

 * James Baxter seems to be animated more fluidly than the rest of the characters, most likely due to this episode's guest animator. Test animation of the horse is seen during the credits of both this episode and its companion, "Princess Potluck."
 * You'll notice that the dividing line is between "James Baxter the Horse" and "Shh!," which have production codes 1014-124 and 1014-129, respectively (between them is where the movie would have gone).
 * According to Adam Muto, the idea of asking James Baxter to animate a character in the show came from when Pen Ward attended an animation lecture by him at CalArts. Someone asked Baxter to animate a horse on a beach ball, which he declined, but the image stuck with Pen.