Rick and Morty is an American animated science fictionsitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. The series follows Rick Sanchez, an alcoholic, nihilistic mad scientist, and his easily distressed grandson, Morty Smith as they travel to parallel dimensions and exotic planets with extraterrestrials. These adventures commonly cause trouble for Morty's family (Jerry, Beth, and Summer), who are often dragged along as well. The series premiered on December 2, 2013, on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim. On May 10, 2018, Adult Swim announced a long-term deal with the creators, ordering 70 new episodes of Rick and Morty, through to a tenth season.[1][2]
As of December 17, 2023,[update] 71 episodes of Rick and Morty have aired, concluding the seventh season.
A six-minute short film titled Samurai & Shogun aired unannounced on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on March 29, 2020,[f] during the hiatus of the fourth season of Rick and Morty, before being uploaded to Adult Swim's YouTube channel the following day. Written and directed by Kaichi Sato [ja], and produced by Koji Iijima [ja] and Studio Deen and executive producer Maki Terashima-Furuta [ja], the episode features a different animation and art style than usual, and is heavily themed around anime, specifically Lone Wolf & Cub. The short stars Yōhei Tadano as "Rick WTM-72" and Keisuke Chiba [ja] as "Shogun Morty", the pair reprising their roles from the Japanese dub of the animated series.[83][84]
A third short film, titled Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil) and also written and directed by Takashi Sano, was released on YouTube on August 2, 2021 and aired on Adult Swim the following day. A fourth short film, titled The Great Yokai Battle of Akihabara, directed by Masaru Matsumoto and written by Naohiro Fukushima, was released on YouTube on October 10, 2021 and aired on Adult Swim the following day. A fifth short film, titled Samurai and Shogun Part 2 and featuring the return of Samurai & Shogun's Kaichi Sato as writer and director, was released on YouTube on November 12, 2021 as part of the 2021 Adult Swim Festival.
Webisodes
The Non-Canonical Adventures (2016–21)
On October 26, 2016, Adult Swim began releasing a web series of claymation shorts, Rick and Morty: The Non-Canonical Adventures. Written and directed by Lee Hardcastle, the shorts follow Rick and Morty characters into parodies of scenes from various science-fiction and horror films. The title of each short is the same as that of the film the short is parodying,[88] and each episode ends with the Adult Swim logo [as] integrated in the scene. On November 1, 2019, Hardcastle released a video compiling all the shorts, while also releasing the last ten previously unreleased shorts.[89] Additional shorts were later released in 2021.
Parodying the 1982 film of the same name, the Smith family, with the exception of Rick, is tied up, with Rick holding a flame thrower. There are four vials on the table containing blood of each member of the family. Rick begins to test everyone's blood with a heated piece of copper wire, starting with Jerry whose blood flees from the hot wire.
Parodying the 1986 film of the same name, Rick turns on an unknown portal and informs Morty that they will be the "ultimate family". His face then falls off revealing a head resembling that of a fly. Morty screams "No!" as the episode ends.
Parodying the 1989 film of the same name, a shrunken Morty has fallen into a bowl of milk and cereal. Morty screams at Rick, who is planning to eat the cereal, to not eat. However, Rick doesn't hear Morty, unintentionally eating him while talking to Snuffles, their dog.
Parodying the 2015 film of the same name, Morty inquires as to Rick's location with Jessica. "Drunk Rick" shows up from behind him, and says that although he is wasting his time talking to her, he wouldn't be wasting his time dancing with her. Rick proceeds to turn on music and lights, and begins dancing with Jessica as Morty watches them. In this episode, Morty Smith replaces Caleb Smith, Rick Sanchez replaces Nathan Bateman and Jessica replaces Kyoko.
Parodying the 1978 film of the same name, Morty is hiding in a closet from an unspecified assailant. The person begins making a hole in one of the doors of the closet. When the hole is big enough, the person sticks their head inside, revealing a person wearing a mask of Rick Sanchez. The episode adapts a scene from Halloween wherein Laurie Strode is attacked in identical circumstances by Michael Meyers wearing a painted mask of James T. Kirk.
Parodying the 1968 film of the same name, Morty is seen in a Space Shuttle wearing a space suit. He asks Rick to open the shuttle door. Rick instead says that he can't do that; after Morty asks him as to the problem Rick replies that their conversation can serve no purpose and proceeds to say "Goodbye" to Morty in multiple languages.
Parodying the 1982 film of the same name, Rick attacks Morty and pushes him to a pillar. He grabs him and prepares to kill him, but is suddenly shot in the head. Morty looks at the person who shot Rick to find it to be Jessica. As Morty looks at Jessica, the neon sign to the left lights up, revealing the Adult Swim logo. In this short, adapting a scene from Blade Runner, Morty Smith takes the place of Rick Deckard, Rick Sanchez takes the place of Leon Kowalski and Jessica takes the place of Rachael.
Parodying the 1982 film of the same name, Morty suddenly spots a "Clown Rick" at his door, while lying in his bed. Trying to sleep, but hearing honking, he looks to where Rick was to find him gone. Rick suddenly shows up by his side, grabs Morty and drags him under his bed, laughing hysterically. The episode adapts a scene from Poltergeist when Robbie is attacked in his bedroom by a clown doll.
Parodying the 1985 film of the same name, Rick has Morty's severed head on a table. Connecting it to machinery, he manages to wake him up and attempts to talk with him. Morty, realizing his predicament, angrily yells "You bastard!" and, controlling his body, approaches Rick from behind and knocks him out.
Parodying the 1986 film of the same name, Morty is about to be attacked by a xenomorph queen. Jerry, robotic in nature as well as legless, is seen to be in agony nearby. Suddenly, the door of the elevator opens, revealing a drunk Rick in a power loader, determined to take on the queen; he instead passes out and falls over, crushing the legless robotic Jerry. The episode parodies the climax of Aliens, with Rick Sanchez taking the role of Ellen Ripley, Morty taking the role of Newt, and Jerry taking the role of Bishop. The Rick and Morty franchise has had multiple canonical connections to the Alien franchise: Rick mentions facehuggers in the episode "Auto Erotic Assimilation", later encountering one with Morty upon travelling to the dimension in which the Alien films are set in Alien: Covenant - Rick and Morty.
Parodying the 1982 film of the same name, E.T. Rick takes cans of beer from Fridge and drinks them. At the same time, Morty, telepathically connected to E.T. Rick, is seen in a classroom being affected by the alcohol that Rick consumes. Upon trying to leave the Kitchen, E.T. Rick passes out; at the same time Morty vomits upon his desk.
Parodying the 1984 film of the same name, an incredibly injured Morty is seen sitting beside Gizmo on a Couch. Rick shows up and places money on the couch, holding up a cage intended for Gizmo as Morty accepts the money. The episode parodies the conclusion of Gremlins, with Rick taking place of Mr. Wing and Morty taking place of Billy.
Parodying the 1971 film of the same name, Rick is drinking with Birdperson, Mr. Meeseeks and Mr. Poopybutthole, surrounded by furniture and statues of Morty.
Parodying the 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Rick is seen fixing a television as Morty enters the room. A picture of Mr. Poopybutthole is on the wall behind him. Looking at each other, Rick points to Morty and starts emitting a piercing scream, shocking Morty. The screen turns to black then white as the Adult Swim logo hatches from a nearby pod.
Parodying the 1999 film of the same name, Morty is on a roof of a building when Rick shows up in front of him. Rick pulls out a weapon and begins to shoot at Morty. Morty successfully avoids most of the bullets in slow-motion until one of them enters Morty's head through his sunglasses, causing Morty to fall off of the roof as it begins to rain. In this episode, a parody of a scene from The Matrix, Morty takes the place of Neo while Rick takes the place of Agent Smith.
Parodying the 1984 film of the same name, Morty, employed as a Ghostbuster, walks through a hotel corridor and spots a ghost of Rick, who glides quickly towards him. Morty hides his face behind hands as Rick slimes him. Morty takes the place of Peter Venkman in this parody while Rick takes the place of Slimer.
17
"Beetlejuice"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
18
"The Blair Witch Project"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
19
"Evil Dead 2"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
20
"Hellraiser"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
21
"Home Alone"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
22
"Jaws"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
23
"Predator"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
24
"Reservoir Dogs"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
25
"Terminator 2"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
26
"Videodrome"
November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01)
27
"Pulp Fiction"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
28
"Godzilla vs Kong"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
29
"Hostel"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
30
"Hobo with a Shotgun"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
31
"Hereditary"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
32
"My Neighbour Totoro"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
33
"Stand by Me"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
34
"Soylent Green"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
35
"Tremors"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
36
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"
January 1, 2021 (2021-01-01)
Other webisodes
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
"Bushworld Adventures"
Michael Cusack
Michael Cusack
April 1, 2018 (2018-04-01)
Rick and Morty travel to Bendigo in search of the Green Cube. Along the way, they encounter an overly helpful convenience store clerk, Jerry posing as a Bush Wizard, goblins who live in a wombat hole, and "Uncle Barry", a giant with dementia who forms an instant bond with Rick. An eleven-minute episode titled "Bushworld Adventures" aired unannounced on Adult Swim on April 1, 2018, one year after the surprise premiere of the third season of Rick and Morty, as part of Adult Swim's annual April Fools' prank. Written, directed and produced by Australian animator and YouTube personality Michael Cusack, the episode features a different animation and art style than usual, and is heavily themed around Australian humor.[106]
On May 20, 2021, Adult Swim announced a short spin-off series entitled The Vindicators was in development, alongside spin-offs from other Adult Swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, and Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell. The ten-episode series premiered on Adult Swim's YouTube channel—each episode runs between two and three minutes.[107] The series centers on the characters Supernova, Vance Maximus, Alan Rails, Crocubot, Million Ants, and Noob Noob previously introduced in the Season 3 episode "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender".[108] Each episode is written by Sarah Carbiener and Erica Rosbe, and directed by Maite Garcia. The series is produced by Atomic Cartoons.
Animatic scene
In August 2016, Adult Swim posted an "animatic"[109] scene entitled State of Georgia Vs. Denver Fenton Allen on YouTube.[110] This consisted of the voices of Rick and Morty reenacting[111] a transcript of a real-life court case of the same name. The visual animation consisted of only basic, black-and-white sketches. In October 2016, a fan-made fully-animated production version of the scene was released on YouTube,[112][113] with the title Judge Morty: State of Georgia Vs. Rick Allen. It was later blocked by Turner on copyright grounds, but many fans have since reuploaded the video online.
Notes
^The third season of Rick and Morty premiered unannounced on April 1, 2017. The remaining episodes began airing weekly on July 30, 2017.[3]
^This episode premiered unannounced and re-ran for four hours straight with improving ratings. This is the viewership of only the first broadcast of the episode.[29]
^An alternate title used for this episode is "Tales from the Citadel".[35]