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NYCC: Rick & Morty Invade New York

Rich Epstein writes for Bleeding Cool:

Rick & Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roland were in town along with actors Chris Parnell and Sarah Chalke were on hand to promote the release of the Season 1 DVD and the upcoming second season.

The group entered with a Meseeker box, and was immediately joined by Mr. Meseeks who they sent off to find and harass the Toy Hunter.

One thing you learn at a panel with these people, is that they are really funny and that Justin Roland has no filter.  When they decided to improv a Rick & Morty scene about a family breakfast (with Dan Harmon playing the role of Summer), it quickly devolved into Justin riffing between the characters of Rick and Morty about french toast that cannot be repeated on a family website.

The crew was here to promote the DVD set, and it does sound great.  There is the usual commentary track, although it had to be done twice.  The first time, Justin was so drunk and, in his own opinion, so inappropriate, that it had to be redone.  Dan saw this as a challenge, and decided to show Justin how to drink.  If listening to the creators slur their way through the commentary isn't your thing, there are additional commentary tracks with writers from the Simpsons, Adventure Time, and a host of other shows.

During his commentary, Matt Groenig commented that all of the eyes look like butts, and according to Justin that was entirely intentional, it's a holdover from when Justin worked with Dan on the Channel 101 website.  According to Justin, all of the butts and genitalia in the show is intentional.  He said that most animation rooms have a whiteboard, where the animators draw all of the things that they know could never make it into the show.  He and Dan instructed their animators to do the opposite, make the show that they want to see.

They also found time to plug the Rick & Morty comic, a monthly book being published by Oni Press beginning next month.

We got to see a sneak peak of season 2, although the animation isn't finished yet, but the jokes were there and the audience loved it.  According to Justin and Dan, when the season starts Jerry and Beth's relationship will be back to it's usual place.  These are not people who were meant to live their lives together.  One of their favorite episodes of season 2 involves the two of them seeing a marriage counselor on another planet.

Since Community has been renewed, Dan isn't working on Rick and Morty as much but he does still give notes to Justin.  In fact, he re-wrote one of the lines after watching the clip with the rest of the panel.

RickMortyAccording to Dan, the writers sit around in the room coming up with ideas while Justin is with the animators.  When Justin comes back in, he will pick up an idea and just start riffing as Rick and Morty and that's how they'll know if they have a winner.

We did get a few hints as to what to expect in Season 2: Ball Fondlers will return, when asked whether the bodies in the backyard would have an impact Justin replied with a very telling "no comment" and we won't find out more about Jerry's camping trip.  Justin said he has no intention to reveal what happened, and that he would instead leave that for the people making the comic.

The crew was very grateful to be on the main stage at NYCC this year, calling it humbling after being in one of the small rooms last year.


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Dan WicklineAbout Dan Wickline

Has quietly been working at Bleeding Cool for over three years. He has written comics for Image, Top Cow, Shadowline, Avatar, IDW, Dynamite, Moonstone, Humanoids and Zenescope. He is the author of the Lucius Fogg series of novels and a published photographer.
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