The Rick and Morty thread

[Drtooth]

I'm very impressed how far this show has come in 2 years. They were a Simpsons couch gag, and an extended on at that. Look at the other guest couch gag animators. Bill Plymton, John K, and the Triplets of Belleville guy (name escapes me). All long established animators and well known in the animation community (though not well enough for me to remember that guy's name, apparently). And then Rick and Morty. It's that mainstream that it got that privilege. Wow. Only other AS show to get that honor was Robot Chicken, but that was a while after it was established.

Let's see Mr. *&^%$ Pickles do that!

 

[JJandJanice]

I'm very impressed how far this show has come in 2 years. They were a Simpsons couch gag, and an extended on at that. Look at the other guest couch gag animators. Bill Plymton, John K, and the Triplets of Belleville guy (name escapes me). All long established animators and well known in the animation community (though not well enough for me to remember that guy's name, apparently). And then Rick and Morty. It's that mainstream that it got that privilege. Wow. Only other AS show to get that honor was Robot Chicken, but that was a while after it was established.

Let's see Mr. *&^%$ Pickles do that!

Not to much some of the animators from the Simpsons including Matt Groening himself provided audio commentary on the DVD release of season 1.

 

[Drtooth]

The season premiere validates why I think this is the best [as] show, if not the best adult animated series, on the air today. They aren't afraid to be experimental and dark with the sci-fi parody concepts. And that the episode continued exactly where the last episode left off and having to deal with the consequences of those actions. So refreshing in adult animation, where continuity and consequence are few and far between. Really hope to see more first season concepts pay off.

 

[Oscarfan]

Oh yeah, that season premiere was great. This is probably their best "not ridiculous/plotless/dumb for the sake of it" (which I enjoy to a certain extent) show other than the Venture Bros (which is also great).

 

[Drtooth]

Rick and Morty and Venture Bros are two of the best adult cartoons today. Both shows could easily just be cheap parodies as their concepts suggest. Rick and Morty coming out of a BTTF parody (a vulgar but hilarious one made to tick off Universal's lawyers), Venture Bros a dark parody of HB's 1960's action adventure shows. Both shows go to dark, deep themes that other adult shows avoid to get the most of rapid fire gags. Even the episode Rixty Minutes, complete with improvised comedy gags, managed to have some deep meaning and that emotional punch of Morty talking about eating breakfast just feet away from his dead body. Meanwhile, Venture Bros gets into the deep, psychological ramifications of child adventurers. Seriously, someone needed to take that trope down a peg. When you're old enough to realize action teens are really child soldiers, that's the moment your childhood dies. And Venture Bros runs with it...and not always for laughs.

 

[mr3urious]

Netflix's BoJack Horseman also manages to go to deep, dark places by deconstructing washed-up actors and former child stars, and the struggle to make it back in the public eye as anything other than a punchline. All in a universe of humans and anthropomorphic animals living side by side, with not a single non-anthro creature in sight.

 

[Drtooth]

I gotta check that out, but there's so much on my Netflix plate now. My sister found me El Chapluin Colarado (you might know it as the thing Bumblebeeman on The Simpsons was based off of...and it's a million times funnier than that to boot).

You look at some of the adult cartoons and they seem to follow either Family Guy or ATHF. Not that they're essentially bad, and it varies from show to show. Mike Tyson Mysteries is pretty stupid, but it's all the more amazing for it, meanwhile Mr. Pickles goes so overboard with its rapid misfire naughty jokes that it ruins the series' admittedly clever concept with obvious humor done poorly.

That said, if there's one thing I think adult animation is in dire need of, it's an adult action show. Sure, there's Toonami and its Kill la Kill dub (among others), but there hasn't been a made for Western audience action adult show since maybe Aeon Flux... maybe that G.I. Joe movie they showed in parts on CN?

 

[beatnikchick300]

I just started watching that recently. Hands down, it's the best cartoon for adults currently airing (in my oh-so humble opinion). It has an interesting animation style, and is trying to genuinely do its own thing (by which I mean, it's not trying to rehash South Park or Family Guy, like a lot of other adult cartoons seem to). That, and it's actually really funny.

 

[Drtooth]

On any other cartoon, Rick's abuse at Morty like in last nights episode would have been some cheap laughs. Here, you can tell he's frustrated because of Morty's idealism. Like he knew in advance that

Spoiler

saving "fart" would entail becoming wanted men, losing one of his best friends (someone who can tolerate him), the deaths of innocent people (something he really hammered at Morty), and ultimately knowing that "fart" was going to be assassinated for a reason, and Morty's actions would have been for naught anyway.

And that gets me to realize the obvious. Rick wants to crush Morty's idealism because it's clear that Rick made the same mistakes over and over and became jaded. He was clearly an idealistic scientist who thought he'd grow to be a great man, but his actions lead to similar outcomes that Morty reached. That's probably why the Ricks hate Doofus Rick so much. Not because he's an idiot, but because he didn't have that cathartic bitterness that killed such idealism. That's Rick and Morty's relationship right there. He's trying to push the idealism far out of him. He hates seeing his former self in Morty.

And Jerryboree was endlessly hilarious. Sure, the joke could have been Jerry is such a useless and stupid loser that he's treated as a child and it could have been the end of it. But once again, the writers add their trademark depth. As big of a self centered jerk Rick is, and as much as he hates Jerry, he cares enough not to let him die on one of their missions. Which adds a bit of fridge horror. Rick does care about Jerry, even though it's just through knowing his daughter would be royally angry if anything happened to him. Some of the Jerrys were never picked up. It's easy to say that those Ricks didn't care and just left them there, and some Ricks realized Jerry would be happiest there. Personally, I think that the Jerrys that were left behind were from Ricks and Mortys that didn't make it back.

 

[Drtooth]

That last episode was massively important for one thing...

Spoiler

something broke Rick. The completely devoid of human emotion, incredibly cynic Rick cried.

That's about as important a revelation as Morty telling Summer about the events of "Rick Potion No9" at the end of the the innocuous enough Rixty Minutes episode (even though it was a long set up about Jerry and Beth's relationship). I also love the backhanded parody of a sci-fi standby,warping the cliche of a mind possessing super being by showing it as a good thing that brings about world peace and betterment of the populous. And by trying to give everyone their individuality back, everything goes to pot.

Also... Patton Oswalt as the Borg.