Rick And Morty's Justin Roiland Names Pencilvester As His Favorite Side Character From The Show
The Adult Swim series "Rick and Morty" has introduced several intriguing and unique side characters throughout its impressive Emmy-winning run, and out of all the side-splitting personalities that have made the roster at one point or another as a supporting player, co-creator Justin Roiland has named arguably one of the funniest characters from Season 2, Episode 4 ("Total Rickall") as his ultimate favorite of the many stellar options.
Roiland has been a pretty prominent player in the realm of animation, lending both his vocal skills and his above-average abilities as a writer and producer to several notable projects. Some of the standouts include "Adventure Time," "Gravity Falls," and "Solar Opposites." There is no shortage of worthwhile endeavors on his IMDb, but the most popular and successful out of all of the titles within his body of work arguably has to be that of "Rick of Morty." In addition to working as one of the show's many talented writers and executive producers, Roiland also voices the titular dimension-hopping duo as well as an assortment of other personas such as Mr. Meeseeks, Noob Noob, and Mr. Poopybutthole. Surely one would surmise that if he had to pick a favorite side character, it would be one of the many enjoyable personalities that he himself has helped bring to life. But anyone who would have guessed that would be incorrect. While each character he plays probably holds a special place in his heart, Roiland is apparently a big fan of Pencilvester.
With a name like Pencilvester, how could Justin Roiland not love the character?
When the co-creator of "Rick and Morty" did an AMA on Reddit, one user asked, "Hey Justin! Who was your favorite side character in the show?" and Roiland answered, "Pencilvester." As previously mentioned, Pencilvester was in the entry "Total Rickall," where he turned out to be an alien parasite implanting false memories in Rick Sanchez, the Smith family, and Mr. Poopybutthole. The character was voiced by Tom Kenny, who is known for also voicing several cartoon characters, including SpongeBob SquarePants. His efforts, along with Roiland's and everyone else involved in the only entry Pencilvester has ever appeared in, seemed to have really paid off well.
"Total Rickall" turned out to be one of the most-watched episodes on TV the night it aired on August 16, 2015 (via TV by the Numbers), and several outlets such as the Indiewire and The Atlantic revered the episode as one of the best in all of television for that year. It is also one of the highest-rated episodes of "Rick and Morty," according to IMDb.
Now it's probably wise to presume that all of the critical acclaim it received isn't necessarily because of just Pencilvester, but it's hard to imagine that his memorable presence did not somewhat contribute to all the success. It's unfortunate the character was killed off so quickly (via YouTube), but despite not being real in the world of "Rick and Morty," he had a big enough impact with Roiland for him to claim as his all-time favorite supporting player on the Adult Swim series.