Cartoon Network’s Biggest Creators Unite for Adult Swim’s The Elephant: New Trailer Revealed

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The Elephant is a special kind of collaborative project that brings together four creators behind some of Cartoon Network’s biggest hits like Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and more. This new special sees three teams craft their own part of the story, but none of the teams know what the others have done for their parts. All coming together in a way that’s a surprise to even the creative teams themselves, you can check out the trailer for Adult Swim’s The Elephant below ahead of its premiere later this month.

When Does The Elephant Come Out?

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Premiering with Adult Swim on Friday, December 19th at 11:00PM ET without any ads, The Elephant will also be made available for streaming with HBO Max the next day. Adult Swim is also planning to release a special behind the scenes documentary, “Behind the Elephant” on December 20th (that’s also going to be made streaming with HBO Max) with an encore airing of the special too. As for what to expect from the special, even with this trailer the story for it all is still very much a mystery as the three segments seem wildly different from one another.

Adult Swim’s The Elephant will feature three distinct segments. One segment will be crafted by Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe and its new sequel, Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars) and Ian Jones-Quartey (O.K. KO! Let’s Be Heroes), one segment will be overseen by Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), and one segment will be crafted by Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall). But the creators didn’t communicate directly with one another about what they did. Instead Adventure Time alums Jack Pendarvis and Kent Osborne helped to guide each of the separate productions as “game masters” making sure the core elements tie together.

Why Is Adult Swim Releasing The Elephant?

“Every year around this time, we try to give the Adult Swim audience a gift they didn’t know they needed, and this year, it’s ‘Adult Swim’s The Elephant,’” said Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim, about why this new experimental special was crafted in the first place. “But really, the gift was working with this brilliant team and creating an excuse for their longtime friendship and creative partnership to continue and evolve. We can’t wait for you to see the results of this crazy experiment.”

At a time where fans are curious about Cartoon Network and Adult Swim’s future within Warner Bros. and it’s potential sale to Netflix might mean for the animation industry, so The Elephant coming as a special celebration of these creators and their talents means it’s a rather unique kind of project hitting at just the right time. It’s definitely going to be a perfect gift to watch for the holiday season.

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