This Studio Ghibli And Rick And Morty Mashup Will Melt Your Brain
The premise of "Rick and Morty" has always been deceptively simple — Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) and his grandson Morty Smith (Justin Roiland) can travel in time and space on adventures, but their adventures are always disastrous, and Rick is often callous and cruel about the entire affair. The show features everything from giant alien heads, angry neutered pets in a mech army, and Rick turning into a pickle.
Nothing says "it's complicated" like the moment Rick and Morty have to run away from their own dimension after accidentally turning everyone there into David Cronenberg-like monsters. The two set up shop with a very similar (but technically new) family. In this universe, the already existing Rick and Morty are dead.
The moment is dark, but it also opens things up to multidimensional cable boxes so that Rick and the Smith family can enjoy TV shows and commercials from other worlds.
Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network block where "Rick and Morty" airs ,decided to get in on the multiverse action by hiring artist Lee Hardcastle to craft interstitial shorts of Rick and Morty in a whole new style: claymation. Titled "Rick and Morty: The Non-Canonical Adventures," the shorts feature takes on "The Fly," "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," and other beloved franchises.
Recently, Cartoon Network returned to the world of claymation. The subject they chose to tackle through the "Rick and Morty" lens this time is absolutely mind-warping.
Totoro, the Catbus, and some heavy drinking, probably
If we were to sit down and come up with an animation studio that is as far from "Rick and Morty" as is humanly possible, a few places would spring to mind. Disney would be too obvious, and fellow Cartoon Network series like "Adventure Time" and "Steven Universe" also have their fair share of sad and/or creepy storylines.
Studio Ghibli, on the other hand, is a studio that's adorable enough to feel like it could be Rick and Morty's equal opposite number. Sure, there are scary scenes like anything involving No Face in "Spirited Away" or most of "Princess Mononoke," but these are largely stories where there is still hope — something "Rick and Morty" rarely contains.
One of the cutest anime films ever produced by Studio Ghibli is 1988's "My Neighbor Totoro," which tells the story of Satsuki and Mei, two sisters who befriend a large spirit names Totoro. One of the most memorable characters from "My Neighbor Totoro" is the Catbus, which is exactly what it sounds like — a living bus that is also a giant, Cheshire-like cat. In the story, Satsuki enlists the help of the Catbus when Mei goes missing.
In the latest claymation "Rick and Morty" interstitial, it's our title characters who are inside the Catbus, riding to what appears to be a Rick-like Totoro with spiky hair and trademark drunken drool. It's an entirely adorable moment which makes us want to see how else "Rick and Morty" might pervert the wonderful worlds of Hayao Miyazaki.
"Rick and Morty" Season 5 is airing now.