Tree Trunks (episode)

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the character.

Tree Trunks
Production code:	692-016
Airdate:	April 12, 2010
Credits
Director:	Larry Leichliter
Story:	Merriwether Williams Tim McKeon
Written & storyboarded by:	Bert Youn Sean Jimenez
Episodes
Previous "Prisoners of Love"
Next "The Enchiridion!"

"Tree Trunks" is the fourth episode in the first season of Adventure Time. It's the fourth episode overall.

Synopsis

Tree Trunks joins Finn and Jake on an adventure through the Evil Forest in search for the legendary Crystal Gem Apple.

Plot

Finn and Jake are playing with swords when Tree Trunks the elephant invites them into her house to have some of her apple pie. The first pie is touched by a fly, so Tree Trunks throws it away and makes another pie. As Finn and Jake eat the pie, Tree Trunks asks them what they would do if they could do anything. Finn says that he would go into space to fight space monsters, and Jake would carve his face onto the moon. Tree Trunks says she wants to pick an apple, but it is known as the rare Crystal Gem Apple. It is located in the Evil Forest, and Finn and Jake decide to make her wish come true. When they reach the Evil Forest, they encounter the Wall of Flesh and try to fight it, but because Tree Trunks is naive, she begins putting stickers on it. The Wall of Flesh flees when Finn cuts off one of its arms, and soon Tree Trunks walks away, following a Skeleton Butterfly. She is attacked by Sign Zombies and begins having a tea party with them, not knowing they want to kill her. Finn and Jake fight off the Sign Zombies and continue their adventure until they encounter a Brain Beast. Finn goes to fight it, but Tree Trunks' "adventurer's instincts" tell her to put on makeup and seduce the Brain Beast with her womanly charms. Jake has to leap in to save Tree Trunks while Finn attacks the monster's magic gem weak spot. Finn yells at Tree Trunks for putting herself in danger, and she leaves in tears, only to find the Crystal Gem Apple growing inside a mushroom-shaped tree. Unfortunately, a Crystal Guardian appears and begins copying Finn and Jake's actions, blocking every attempt to fight it physically. As Tree Trunks is picking a mushroom, a Skeleton Butterfly appears with a keytar and plays music. As Tree Trunks dances with the butterfly, the Crystal Guardian begins copying her. Noticing this, Finn and Jake try to fight it while it is distracted, but the Crystal Guardian is able to copy them all simultaneously. The two adventurers realize that they have to fight the monster "Tree Trunks-style." They put on makeup and trick the monster into letting Tree Trunks take a bite of the Crystal Gem Apple. She bites the apple, pauses for a second, then explodes, leaving Finn, Jake, and the Crystal Guardian shocked, and staring at each other in horror. In a final enigmatic scene, Tree Trunks is seen walking in front of a crystal background. (To be continued in "Crystals Have Power").

Characters

Major characters

• Finn
• Jake
• Tree Trunks

Minor characters

• Wall of Flesh
• Crystal Guardian
• Brain Beast
• Sign Zombies
• Skeleton Butterflies
• Worms
• Snail

Trivia

• The My Two Favorite People DVD did not include the scene where Tree Trunks was walking with the crystal background behind her. That's because it came with the original version, that does not have the ending.
  • This episode originally aired on Cartoon Network as the original version without the ending, but viewers everywhere complained that it was "too dark," so nowadays, the episode aired with the ending.
• When Tree Trunks was putting stickers on the Wall of Flesh, she describes a horse as a unicorn without a horn.
• According to the book, "Adventure Time: The Original Title Cards (Vol 1)", the episode was originally titled "Tree Trunks: She's Steppin' Out!" but later changed because someone at Cartoon Network Studios did not like the idea.

Episode connections

• The story of Tree Trunks' disappearance is continued in the season two episode "Crystals Have Power."
• This episode shows Jake's sword for the first time, but it is not confirmed it is his until "Conquest of Cuteness."
• In this episode, Jake makes a face similar to the one he made in "Take Her Back."

Errors

• When Tree Trunks puts her picnic basket down, the rope disappeared.
• There is a rug in front of Tree Trunks' house and when Tree Trunks calls Finn and Jake in the rug disappears.
• When Jake is drinking from the peanut cup, it looks like he is drinking milk (seeing a little drip of white coming from his mouth), but when he spits it out, the drinks looks like it is tea or coffee.
• Tree Trunk's house has less detail throughout the episode.
• When Jake spits out his drink, the mess from his mouth is gone.
• When Finn is telling Tree Trunks to stay out of the Crystal Guardian fight, Jake's mouth disappears.
• There are continuous errors of the colors on the crystal floor.
• When Tree Trunks is walking in the Crystal Dimension, her make-up appears to be gone.
• When Finn slashes off the Flesh Monster's arm, the stickers on the Flesh Monster disappear.
• The Sign Zombies change continuously.

Censorship

This episode was censored in some countries. See Censorship of Adventure Time for more information.

Gallery

Official art

The original form of the Crystal Guardian

Concept of the transformed Crystal Guardian

Concept art of the Brain Beast

Background art

Inside Tree Trunks's house (1/2)

Inside Tree Trunks's house (2/2)

Tree Trunks house (outside)

The forest of apple trees

Evil Forest (1/2)

Evil Forest (2/2)

Tree Trunks's picnic cloth

The Crystal Gem Apple tree

Screenshots

Arabic Title Card

"The sexiest adventurer in the world"

Tree Trunks tempting the brain beast with her body

Tree Trunks biting the Crystal Gem Apple

Tree Trunks wanting to seduce the Brain Beast

Tree Trunks just before she explodes

Jake screaming "NOOOOO!"

Tree Trunks puts the apple pie in the trash.

Storyboard panels

See Full Storyboard

Tree Trunks storyboard panel