Animation

RICK AND MORTY Recreate Classic Movies in Claymation Shorts

by Michael Walsh
Oct 30 2019 • 1:58 PM

Update: The newest short offers up a bloody good chainsaw homage to Evil Dead 2, which was also made by claymation animnator Lee Hardcastle.

It’s been two long years since the season three finale, but we are finally close enough to new episodes of Rick and Morty we can almost smell Rick’s burps and Morty’s nervous sweat. The best/worst grandfather and grandson duo in the infinite universes are set to return to Adult Swim next month on November 10, for what we are hoping will be the first five-episodes of a still-unannounced full season. Until we know for sure though that season four will be as squanchy as we would like, we’re going to savor every bit of Rick and Morty we can get, even if they give us stories that aren’t official. That’s what they’ve been doing with their new Non-Canonical Adventures claymation shorts, which pay tribute to classic Hollywood movies.

Every day this week on Twitter, Adult Swim has been sharing a new, super short clay animation video of the pair recreating memorable moments from very famous films. The first featured Morty in the role of Home Alone‘s Kevin McCallister, as he prepared to defend his home with a BB gun pointed at his kitchen’s doggie door as a dangerous intruder lurked outside.

These are clearly Non-Canonical Adventures if Rick Sanchez can be outsmarted by a kid and his Bugs Bunny contraptions. If Kevin McCallister had gone up against Rick, he would have been portal-gunned into a volcano for trying to smash Rick in the face with a paint can.

The second claymation short serves as a tribute to the most gruesome scene from Jaws, as Rick finds himself in the role of Quint just as he his boat was attacked by the shark.

This one seems like a more plausible predicament for Rick to find himself facing than being bested by some snot-nosed kid using tar and feathers. A shark doesn’t make plans that can be bested, and you can’t out maneuver the razor-sharp teeth of a perfect killing machine. But the chances Rick would allow himself to be stuck on a small boat while hunting a giant deadly fish still seems unlikely.

However, the show’s most recent movie recreation almost feels like it could be one of the series’ official parodies, like when they spoofed Mad Max: Fury Road or The Purge. It finds a terrified Morty (that checks out) running for his life in the woods (still good) and into an even worse situation (wait… is this an actual episode?), in a The Blair Witch Project homage that also includes an ending that makes us yell “oooooh weeeee!”

Fact: Every appearance of Mr. Poopybutthole, official canon or not, is perfect. They could remake The Blair Witch Project with him and we’d see it 15 times. And if the show needs more ideas to get us more episodes in season four they should go ahead and make it.

Featured Image: Adult Swim