As usual, the Rick and Morty brand used an international day of pranks to pull some shit on fans. And it was, uh, not totally well received.
Dropping a surprise Rick and Morty episode on April Fools has become something of an Adult Swim tradition. Ever since co-creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland pulled a reverse-prank by dropping a legitimate episode of their long-awaited Season 3 on April 1 2017 without warning, fans have developed a pretty high standard for these kind of hijinks.
So when they got a completely batshit Rick and Morty parody by Australian animator and Youtuber Michael Cusack instead of real Rick and Morty content, they were not amused (as seen in this comment thread).
But if we're being real here, the 10-minute short is actually pretty hilarious -- and very much in-line with the ethos and comedic stylings of Rick and Morty. And to get even realer: learn to take a goddamn joke, Rick and Morty fans.
I mean, what did you expect?
Both Roiland and Harmon have made it abundantly clear that they would not be working on Season 4 until they and Adult Swim came to an agreement on the renewal contract for the show. So instead Bushworld Adventures was written and produced exclusively by Michael Cursack.
And the result was like an acid trip of a loving homage to the original show.
There's still plenty of hallmarks from Rick and Morty, only recontextualized through Cursack's own demented vision. There's the self-referential fourth wall breaking, crude animation, disturbingly toxic relationship between grandfather and grandson, and some vague sci-fi mission that gets bungled.
But there's also plenty of great deviations that stay truer to Cursack's work, bringing his own brand of Australian humor into the mix. And you probably never knew you needed a Bush Wizard version of Jerry bullying his son with Rick before watching Bushworld Adventures.
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For fans who are wary about the lack of involvement from the original creators (both were deathly silent about it on Twitter), that's fair. Negotiations with Adult Swim over the new contract seem a bit tense, and who knows how Roiland or Harmon feel about this use of their creation.
But we are most likely years away from a new Rick and Morty season. So let's take our fixes where we can get them. The interdimensional premise of the show allows it to totally reinvent itself on a whim.
On a simple enjoyment level, Bushworld Adventures takes advantage of what makes Rick and Morty so great. Because. The interdimensional premise of the show allows it to totally reinvent itself on a whim.
And that's what happened here: a different but equally unhinged animator took Rick and Morty for a spin, and it was pretty fucking rad.
