INTERVIEW: Co-creator behind ‘Rick and Morty’ has some adventures up his sleeve

One is fairly old, sporting graying Lisa Simpson hair. The other is much younger and nervous about the dangers of the world. Together, they are as compatible as oil and water, yet somehow they’re intrinsically tied by blood and a sense of gallivanting adventure. They are Rick and Morty, and they have invaded TV sets around the country.

Justin Roiland, co-creator and executive producer of Adult Swim’s new animated series, Rick and Morty, recently told Hollywood Soapbox that the half-hour animation show began after Dan Harmon, also co-creator and executive producer, gave him a call one day. They had been friends for 10 years, and Roiland said he had a reputation as the “animation guy.” Adult Swim, the adult comedy block on Cartoon Network, was looking for a show, so Roiland helped Harmon pitch a story about this grandfather-grandson team that sets out on 22-minute adventures every week.

Greenlight.

The type of humor in Rick and Morty is traditional, in the sense that it’s episodic and centered on an unlikely comedy duo. But other than that, the show embraces its out-of-the-box plot lines. For example, a few minutes into the pilot episode, Rick (the grandfather) is drunk and driving a spaceship to help Morty (the grandson) find a girl from his math class. Oh, and they have plans to drop a mysterious “bomb” as well. All in a day’s work.

Roiland called the show a sci-fi “Trojan horse” because having these intergalactic adventures allows the creators to use common science-fiction tropes in each episode. From flying saucers to scary monsters, Rick and Morty face it all.

Roiland said the behind-the-scenes work on the show is similar to the “traditional animation turnaround.” Rick and Morty is not like South Park, which is able to spit out episodes rather quickly (“The South Park guys are brilliant,” Roiland said.). The first season of the new Adult Swim show began production in October 2012 and ended in spring of this year. Audiences had their first taste at the pilot Dec. 2.

During the production, there was a time when these adventures were going to be 15 minutes, a common length for many Adult Swim cartoons. However, the network asked for 22-minute episodes (30 minutes with commercial breaks), so viewers now have the chance to see even more Rick and Morty.

“That was exciting for us,” Roiland said, adding that going longer allowed the series to reach a certain level of depth. “[It] transformed into a much more sophisticated [show].”

Roiland is not only the co-creator and executive producer, he also voices the title characters. He said Rick is much more complex, while Morty is a “simpler archetype.” He enjoys providing voices for both characters “for different reasons.”

When viewers catch new episodes of Rick and Morty, which air Mondays at 10:30 p.m., they will see some improvisation on the screen. Roiland said that having some improv “brings realism to it,” and he loves the “imperfection” of the conversations.

The “animation guy” has been spying on Twitter recently and is impressed by the overwhelmingly positive response to the first couple of episodes. He hopes that with so many ideas still flowing in his head that Rick and Morty’s adventures will continue on Adult Swim for the foreseeable future … or at least until Rick crashes the spaceship for good.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Rick and Morty airs on Adult Swim on Mondays at 10:30 p.m.