The third season of the show has just ended in style, in an episode containing many winks and American conspiracy theories. But did you know that the series itself contains references to the first creations of Justin Roiland, the mastermind behind Rick and Morty.
By going back to the origins of these crazy characters we discover a humor much more trashy than that of the series. Created this year, the RoilandTV.com site brings together these anime imagined by Justin Roiland and his colleagues, several years before the adventures of Rick and Morty. Because the latter may have an immeasurable imagination, he remains a poor draftsman. On the platform appears all kinds of parodies, videos, cartoons … Stories that have given birth to many characters and universes today assimilated to the adventures of the most intelligent scientist and his grandson.
A glance at the winks
The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti
A clearly simpler humor, less reflection and a result close to the series as far as the characters are concerned. In short, a simple parody of Back to the Future, with a rather dry humor.
Dogs World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npu3VnYs3IA&t=105s
Drawings still in draft form, but a structured narrative. If this more concise way of evolving his characters in the story is close to that of Rick and Morty, it is not his only common point. With Dog World Justin Roiland also familiarizes himself with the concept of parallel universes. The biggest common point of this cartoon with the show remains its credits, which Justin Roiland did not hesitate to reuse.
Mr Sprinkles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urB-lCSruoo&t=4s
Mr Sprinkles parody of The Cat in The Hat, is an Anglo-Saxon character for children. The series of dozens of episodes of 2 to 3 minutes opposes reality and imagination. The hero evolves in a reality where the animated characters are mistreated by society. Imprisoned, interned, pushed back, until they went mad. Probably Justin Roiland's best pre-Rick and Morty creation, and also the most successful. We also find Rick's crazy vocabulary and accessories in the hero's suitcase.
House of Cosbys
With one of my favorite theme songs, sung, or rather shouted, by Justin Roiland, House of Cosbys tells the story of a Cosby fan. After finding a hair of his idol, he uses it to clone a whole bunch of crazy Cosbys. Drawings less neat than Mr Sprinkles but the humor of Justin Roiland is still present.
Unbelievable Tales
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1MSVFQXtoE
Unbelievable Tales, literally "The Unthinkable Tales", lives up to its name. It is this cartoon that will introduce King Jelly Bean, the gray bean who tries to rape Morty in the fifth episode of the first season. And believe it or not, he manages to do much worse during those 4 minutes.
The Unmarketables
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcMFHRXp8xM
This short cartoon mocks the cartoon industry with great intelligence. Criticizing a certain visual standard to respect to consider oneself marketable. A message that also refers to Justin Roiland's first creations. Recognizable are the silhouettes of Rick and Morty, nicknamed Puppy Butthole Pooerson and Pumpkinseeds and Peanuts for the occasion. The drawings and dialogues are by Dan Harmon and Jutin Roiland, suggesting a very beautiful collaboration that will flourish later.
Harmon-Roiland or The Power of Complementarity
Justin Roiland has always loved to parody, it is the very basis of his humor. Back to the Future, which became Doc and Mharti, then the famous Rick and Morty. Going through House of Cosbys whose name of the parodied is in the title. Or Mr Sprinkles, a parody of a lesser-known character in France: The Cat in the Hat. Justin Roiland has made parody his specialty and it has allowed him to expand his range of characters like never before, whether they are taken from his previous sketches or from the cinema.
Dan Harmon, the co-creator of the adventures of Rick and Morty, has always been fascinated by the structuring of stories, the logic of the script, the choices that a good screenwriter must make… Subjects that he addresses many times in his show Harmontow. We can see that DanHarmon likes to play with the codes of storytelling with series like Harmon Quest, Community or Rick and Morty. Excellent series, all of which he wrote and in which he reinvents narrative and scriptwriting codes. One of his analyses, extremely interesting, concerns the narrative structure, theorizes how to give a natural tone to any story. A theory that can be summarized by a drawing called "story circle" (below).
Storytelling comes naturally to humans, but since we live in an unnatural world, we sometimes need a little help doing what we'd naturally do.
Storytelling comes naturally to us, but since we live in a world that is no longer in a world, we sometimes need a little help to do what we would naturally do.
Dan Harmon
What emerges from the evolution of the character is that Dan Harmon's participation in the Rick and Morty project has brought to Justin Roiland's overflowing imagination. A narrative structure, clearer and more comprehensive, for a larger audience. Dan Harmon knew how to soften this humor, make it a trademark and no longer a simple mixture of crazy ideas. It is the association between Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland that gave the show a unique visual, scripted and humorous identity, which we are so fond of.
Finally, here is one of the most advanced parodies of Justin Roiland. It shows us that he is not afraid to be inspired by the depths of the net that we would not dare to explore. I want to talk about 2 Girls 1 Cup, its series of 5 episodes, with a rudimentary budget, but assumed. A web series that can even be very funny when you can no longer pay attention to the artifices used to give life to objects and special effects worthy of the first editing software.
As for Dan Harmon, I leave you with his last project before the adventures of Rick and Morty: Harmon Quest. A series that cleverly mixes role-playing games and cartoons in a relentless quest. Funny, exciting and ingenious, Harmon Quest is 2 seasons of fun that make you incredibly want to bring out its Dungeon and Dragon board and its 20-sided dice.
