Rick and Morty is an animated sci-fi sitcom on the Cartoon Network. The brainchild of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, Rick and Morty first premiered on December 2, 2013. This cartoon has become such a hit in such a short period of time that some fans are willing to permanently get the characters inked on their bodies. Many people will see this tattoo and wonder why they have a crazy looking scientist with green drool coming out of his mouth and a young boy tattooed on their body. It goes without saying that getting a Rick and Morty tattoo is the ultimate sign of fandom and a reminder as to just how funny and weird this animated sitcom is.

The Story Behind Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty was created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. The two collided at a short film festival in Los Angeles called Channel 101 where Roiland had been submitting content since 2004 (a year after the festival started). Roiland’s style was a crude and strange and often left audience members confused about what they just saw. Harmon, one of the co-founders of Channel 101, had become a fan of Roiland’s work.

Fast forward, Harmon had created, and produced NBC’s primetime show Community and Roiland had been doing voice work for Disney and Cartoon Network. Harmon was briefly fired from Community and at the same time, Adult Swim was looking for a primetime show and reached out to Harmon. Initially, Harmon didn’t think the network fit his style but nonetheless, he reached out to Roiland to see what he had up his sleeve and that’s where Roiland pitched Rick and Morty.

Roiland had initially wanted to do one 11-minute show but Adult Swim was pushing for a 30-minute slot. This is where Harmon’s background in character development and dialogue. Harmon decided the best way to elongate the show was to create a family around Rick and Morty.