Gweek 108: Adventure Time with Martin & Olivia Olson

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Martin Olson and his daughter Olivia Olson do so many cool things that it’s hard to know where to start. Martin is the head writer for the fantastic Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb. Not only has he written for every episode of the show, he’s also written over 200 songs for the series.

Martin’s 21-year-old daughter Olivia, plays the character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz on Phineas and Ferb, and she plays Marceline the Vampire Queen on Cartoon Network's animated series Adventure Time!, a cartoon my daughter Jane and I are obsessed with. Olivia sings on both series. (Here's Olivia singing “All I want for Christmas” in the movie Love Actuallywhen she was 11).

Martin is the author of two terrific books, which I’ve reviewed on Boing Boing: The Encyclopaedia of Hell (published by Feral House) and The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia, which he writes as the character he plays in the series, Hunson Abadeer, aka the Lord of Evil, who coincidentally happens to be Marceline’s father..

Olivia has a new EP of her music out, called Beauty Is Chaos, and she and her father just put out a full-length CD of songs called The Father Daughter Album of Unspeakable Beauty.

Martin and Olivia came over to my house for the interview, and Jane joined us for the discussion. Before we get started, here’s a part of a track from The Father Daughter Album of Unspeakable Beauty called “There is in China.”

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