Top 20 Crazy Things You Never Noticed in Rick and Morty
Pay attention, folks! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the small Easter eggs, references, and other cool details you might’ve missed while watching “Rick and Morty.”
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00:00 Oh yeah, you gotta get Swifty.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the small Easter eggs,
00:09 references, and other cool details you might have missed while watching Rick and Morty.
00:13 Now look, it's like a Where's Waldo page.
00:15 Can you find me?
00:16 Check out all these zany characters.
00:20 Number 20, Mr. Poopybutthole predicts the season 3 premiere.
00:23 Remember the days when the time between Rick and Morty seasons was nebulous and unpredictable?
00:27 It was a stressful time for us superfans, but apparently, we should have been paying
00:31 more attention to Mr. Poopybutthole for exact release dates.
00:35 The season 2 finale ends with the cliffhanger of Rick being locked up in a maximum security
00:39 Galactic Federation prison.
00:41 We then get a fourth wall breaking Mr. Poopybutthole teasing when we might see the storyline get
00:45 resolved.
00:46 "Tune in to Rick and Morty season 3 in like a year and a half or longer to see how we unravel
00:52 this mess."
00:53 Thankfully, or longer, didn't turn out to be the time frame for the season 3 premiere.
00:58 Indeed, season 2 ended on October 4th, 2015 and season 3 began on April 1st, 2017.
01:05 The difference of which is almost a year and a half.
01:07 Just as Mr. Poopybutthole said,
01:09 "We see you for season 4 in like a really long time.
01:15 I might even have a big white Santa Claus beard."
01:19 Number 19, fake real websites.
01:22 In the season 6 episode "Full Meta Jack Rick", Storylord meets his creator, a writer named
01:27 Jan working for Citadel Toys.
01:29 Jan fences frustrations with his assignment, in addition to the URL the company used for
01:34 Storytrain.
01:34 "Story Dash Train?
01:36 Who uses a dash?"
01:38 At the end of the episode, Jan is compelled to kill Storylord, but Rick says he has to
01:42 do it with a promotional toy.
01:43 "Joseph Campbell says you have to be the one to put him down."
01:46 "Wait, wait, wait, wait.
01:47 Joseph Campbell also says you have to use this brand new limited edition Rick plush
01:51 available only on Rick-Plush.biz.
01:54 Supplies are limited.
01:55 Act now."
01:56 "He did?"
01:57 [GARGLING]
01:59 Funnily enough, if you actually go to Story-Train.com, you'll be redirected to the show page on
02:04 the Adult Swim website.
02:05 And if you go to Rick-Plush.biz, you'll see an actual advertisement for a Rick plush
02:10 doll.
02:10 Unfortunately, it's unavailable in this reality.
02:13 The show's limits for meta humor knows no bounds.
02:16 "Jesus, that's the last time I buy a toy from a Rick."
02:18 "The plushes are obviously well made."
02:21 Number 18, Rick Dance.
02:23 This episode had us all trying out the Rick Dance, and we didn't need Kallaxian crystals
02:27 to do so.
02:28 But apparently, one alien did.
02:30 In the first season finale, Rick throws a massive intergalactic party when Jerry and
02:34 Beth are away.
02:35 Morty tracks down special crystals thinking it'll get them home, but all he really does
02:39 is provide Rick with party favors.
02:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:50 Now in the groove, Rick leads the guests in one of his signature dances, but Morty kills
02:55 the vibe by tossing the remaining crystals outside.
02:57 From there, a giant creature scoops them up in the backyard.
03:00 And while Morty continues to lay into Rick, we can see the buzzing monster doing its own
03:04 version of the Rick Dance.
03:06 Number 17, Customs Aliens.
03:09 "The Glarp Zone is for flarping and un-glarping only."
03:13 Rick and Morty has always worn its admiration for science fiction on its sleeve, as evidenced
03:18 by the pilot episode.
03:19 In it, Rick tries to get Megatree seeds back home and uses Morty as a drug mule when they
03:24 go through interdimensional customs.
03:26 A fun chase sequence ensues, but the focus of this entry comes with the scene's establishing
03:30 shot.
03:31 If you look closely at the various creatures populating the main floor, you can spy silhouettes
03:35 of various sci-fi characters from pop culture.
03:37 These include a Xenomorph from the Alien movies, Korg from Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Mystery
03:42 Science Theater 3000's Tom Servo, Crotee Robot, and Gypsy, and for some reason, Big Bird and
03:48 Mr. Snuffleupagus.
03:49 Number 16, RIP Frank Palicki.
04:02 Speaking of the pilot, when Rick wants Morty to come with him on his search for the Megatree
04:15 seeds, he intervenes in a violent encounter between Morty and the school meanie Frank
04:19 Palicki by freezing the kid on the spot.
04:21 We naturally expect Frank to eventually thaw, but instead, he soon tips over and shatters
04:26 into countless pieces.
04:33 It's a rough way to go, but it leads to a subtle and very morbid gag later on.
04:37 When we return to school later in the episode, we can see the American flag outside at half-mast,
04:42 whereas prior to Frank's death, it wasn't.
04:44 We imagine the school bulletin announcing Frank's passing was difficult to explain.
05:01 Number 15, I'm Mr. Meeseeks, Look at the Background.
05:07 While numerous wacky characters are mere one-offs, the Mr. Meeseeks episode was so well-received
05:12 that it practically demanded the scrawny blue guy make reappearances.
05:16 Mr. Meeseeks also makes memorable cameos, but there are a few instances where the animators
05:20 have simply drawn him into the background.
05:22 When we first visit the Intergalactic Arcade, Blips and Chits, a Meeseeks can be seen giving
05:26 advice to a gamer behind Rick and Morty.
05:28 In the Morty's Mindblowers episode, the memory of them in the Collector's Menagerie
05:32 shows a pair of Meeseeks trapped in their own display, and based on their agony, we'd
05:36 say they've been existing for far too long.
05:45 Number 14, Human Music.
05:47 In the episode M. Night Shyamalians, an alien race called the Zygerions trap Rick and Morty
05:52 in endless simulations.
05:53 Oh, and Jerry too, but that was an accident.
05:56 In an effort to keep Jerry pacified and unaware of his reality, the Zygerions approximate
06:00 their best interpretation of human music.
06:02 However, it's so simplistic that not even babies would find it entertaining, which of
06:07 course means it's perfect for Jerry.
06:20 A season later, Rick drops Jerry off at the Jerryburee, an essential daycare for Jerrys
06:25 from different realities.
06:26 It's a Jerry paradise, as evidenced by the human music being faintly played in the background.
06:31 So, did Rick lift the human music from the Zygerions, or was he in charge of the simulation
06:45 all along?
06:52 Number 13, Venusian.
06:54 This one's obvious for any French-speaking viewers, but it actually goes a little deeper
06:57 than that.
06:58 In the episode where Beth and Spacebeth fall in love and pull a Sanji Napero, they bond
07:02 over Venusian wine, prompting Spacebeth to implant in her counterpart the ability to
07:06 speak the planet's language.
07:11 Clearly, this is just French, but if Venus is known for their amorous ways, then what
07:18 better than the language of love?
07:20 French was also chosen because Beth's voice actor, Sarah Chalk, is fluent in it, in addition
07:24 to German.
07:25 Interestingly enough, though, six episodes later, actual Venusians make an appearance,
07:29 and they're definitely not speaking French.
07:32 We're guessing they too have language implants.
07:40 Number 12, Shelf Time Travel.
07:42 For as science-fiction-heavy as the show can be, it's largely stayed away from one of
07:46 the genre's most prominent storytelling devices, time travel.
07:49 Creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have both made it known that they aren't fond
07:53 of those kinds of narratives, citing that it's well-trod ground.
07:56 While Roiland is no longer affiliated with the show, it seems like Rick too isn't a
08:00 fan.
08:14 To his credit, Rick could probably invent almost anything, and he seemingly has tinkered
08:18 with time travel before, as he's had a box on his garage shelf labeled "time travel
08:22 stuff forever."
08:23 So, in a way, the show has literally shelved the idea of time travel.
08:31 Number 11, Tobias Fuenke.
08:34 Going back to the M. Night Shyamalan's episode, its biggest guest star is actor David Cross,
08:39 who voices the Zigerion leader, Prince Nebulon.
08:44 Nebulon, like the other Zigerions, is extremely disgusted by nudity, which Rick uses to his
08:54 advantage to buy him and Morty some privacy, even though Morty is also a simulation.
09:05 It's a funny bit, but considering Cross' most famous role, it makes it even more sense.
09:10 On the sitcom Arrested Development, Cross played Tobias Fuenke, who suffers from "never
09:14 nude" syndrome, meaning he has a strong aversion to letting anyone see him naked, including
09:18 himself.
09:19 It's a neat character connection, and Cross unsurprisingly plays both to perfection.
09:38 Number 10, House Damages.
09:39 In the day-to-day of Rick's adventures, not everything remains intact.
09:49 You can't make an omelette without cracking a few planets, right?
09:52 In many cases, the destruction wrought by Rick, Morty, and whatever intergalactic presence
09:57 they're pissing off this week is repaired, with the Smith-Sanchez household as good as
10:01 new by the next episode.
10:02 But not always.
10:07 At the end of Season 1, the house and part of the lawn are transported to another dimension.
10:11 When they're returned, a huge crack is left across the driveway.
10:14 The crack never fully goes away, with Jerry weed-whacking it later in Season 2's auto-erotic
10:19 assimilation.
10:20 In that same season, Summer accidentally blasts a hole in the garage roof, and remains lazily
10:24 repaired with boards for subsequent episodes.
10:37 Number 9, Jerry Misses Doofus Rick.
10:40 Jerry has it rough.
10:41 Despised by his father-in-law and disrespected by his family, he's less the head of the
10:45 household and more the butt of every joke.
10:47 Yes, he's sort of a mess, but it's not like he's the most terrible person on the planet.
10:55 The lonely Jerry is therefore astounded when he makes a friend, Rick of Earth Dimension
11:00 J-19 Zeta-7, aka Doofus Rick.
11:13 The two part ways at the end of close encounters of the Rick kind, but evidence that Jerry
11:20 still thinks of his friend crops up in a later episode.
11:23 In it, a picture of Doofus Rick, along with a Titanic model and jar of applesauce, can
11:28 be seen hidden on a shelf in the garage, likely placed there by Jerry.
11:33 Stowaway Parasite.
11:35 Roughly halfway into Season 2, the Smith family home becomes infested with a pest far worse
11:39 than most.
11:46 The parasite moves from person to person, creating false memories and identities in
11:50 a bid to repopulate the planet.
11:58 While Morty eventually figures out how to defeat them, the show never elaborates on
12:01 how they got inside in the first place.
12:09 However, two episodes earlier, at the end of Morty Knight Run, Rick loads up his spaceship
12:17 with green crystals.
12:18 A pink, egg-like lump is clearly visible on one of the rocks.
12:21 Later, Rick is seen dumping those same green crystals in the trash.
12:25 As the dead aliens are shown to have similar pink lumps on their spines, the crystals are
12:28 most likely the culprit.
12:30 Eric Stoltz
12:32 Rick and Morty started off as a riff on the 1985 classic Back to the Future.
12:44 The parody, which followed Doc Smith and Marty McDonald on their horrible adventures, somehow
12:53 spawned the much more enjoyable Rick and Morty.
12:55 With that and a little Back to the Future trivia in mind, we get our next entry.
12:59 The original casting of Marty McFly, who later became Morty Smith, was not Michael J. Fox,
13:04 but Eric Stoltz.
13:05 Perhaps in some parallel dimension, Stoltz was never recast.
13:08 And, in season one's close Rick-counters of the Rick kind, there is an Eric Stoltz
13:12 version of Morty, albeit in his role as Rocky Dennis from the film Mask.
13:21 This film was also released in 1985, four months before Back to the Future's summer
13:25 release.
13:27 You Are Always Wrong
13:28 When Morty accidentally becomes a father after procuring an alien sex robot, Rick and Summer
13:33 head off to the robot's planet of origin to find out what's what.
13:45 On Gazorbazorp, they find a world sharply divided by gender.
13:49 The females, proud, beautiful, and hilariously passive-aggressive, are the dominant gender.
13:56 The males, subjugated for their reproductive purposes, have devolved into violently horny
14:01 monsters.
14:04 When Rick offends the females, he is put on trial.
14:09 As he and Summer approach the judge's throne, the Latin phrase "Sisemper Culuminum"
14:14 becomes visible.
14:15 Unless you can read old languages, this might go right past you.
14:18 However, it roughly means "You are always wrong" or, if it's a reference to a passage
14:22 in Deuteronomy, "constant oppression."
14:24 In any case, justice is far from blind on Gazorbazorp.
14:30 Summer is Jerry with Different Hair
14:31 Of all the Smith-Sanchez family members, Morty is the only one with his own distinct look.
14:36 No one else has that round little noggin.
14:38 Beth and Rick have similar characteristics like their oval face (and, of course, substance
14:42 use, but that's a whole other topic), but it's Jerry and Summer who are dead ringers
14:45 for each other.
14:46 They literally look exactly the same, especially as Summer is the only leading female character
14:53 not to wear makeup.
14:54 She has no eyelashes and no lipstick.
14:59 Side by side, Summer and Jerry are identical, each just sporting different hair and clothes.
15:03 We'd say like father like daughter, but skin deep is where the similarities begin and end.
15:09 Rick's Musical Past
15:10 Rick is secretly a musician.
15:12 Before it was directly mentioned, we were given hints to his musical past throughout
15:15 the series.
15:16 When a race of giant heads suck Earth into an intergalactic talent contest, a frustrated
15:21 Morty bails on the whole situation and has to be rescued by Bird Person.
15:32 At his house, he sees photos of Bird Person's life, one of which shows him in a band with
15:36 Rick and Squanchy called Flesh Curtains.
15:38 Rick's musical aptitude also gets a nod in Big Trouble in Little Sanchez when Tiny
15:43 Rick writes and performs a song on the spot.
15:57 And later in Season 3 in the ABC's of Beth, Rick is seen fiddling around on a guitar as
16:02 he writes the song "Doo-Doo Butt".
16:06 Perhaps he never lost his musical flair.
16:10 Harmon and Roiland Cameos
16:12 Most creators like to subtly put themselves in their work, and Harmon is no exception,
16:16 nor was Roiland.
16:17 In Season 1, the family pet turned dictator Snowball transports all the dogs on Earth
16:22 to a new world in reference to Roiland's earlier project, Dog World.
16:40 In Auto-Erotic Assimilation, Rick dictates the plot of a fictional TV show as it airs,
16:45 but in fact describes scenes from Harmon's previous show, Community.
16:59 The following episode, Total Rick Call, features a Nintendo-flipping scheme that Justin Roiland
17:03 actually attempted.
17:12 And when three people are sacrificed to the giant heads in Get Schwifty, the sacrifice
17:16 labeled "thief" is drawn to resemble Justin Roiland.
17:19 Finally, the closing card, Harmonious Clap Trap, follows Dan Harmon's relationship
17:23 status from marriage to divorce and life with his new girlfriend.
17:28 Gravity Falls Crossovers
17:30 Several shout-outs between Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty creators Alex Hirsch and
17:33 Justin Roiland have been made.
17:37 Rick and Morty's Big Trouble in Little Sanchez features a small image of Gravity Falls antagonist
17:41 Bill Cipher in the corner of a computer screen.
17:44 A pair of Mortys wearing Mabel and Dipper headgear can be seen in the background of
17:47 the Rickshank Rick-Demption.
17:53 As for Gravity Falls, the real-life publication of Dipper's Journal #3 features a replica
17:57 of Ford's Wanted poster with the message "Rick was here" written in code.
18:01 And when Grunkle Stan loses a notebook, pen, and mug into a giant portal, those three items
18:12 are spat out of a portal Rick opens in close encounters of the Rick kind.
18:33 Walter White's House
18:35 After being arrested by the Galactic Federation, Rick shows a Federation agent his memory of
18:39 the day he perfected portal technology.
18:45 The memory shows him at his family home, at work in his garage, and happily married before
18:50 his family is blown up.
19:00 Compelling but fake, a false recollection used to facilitate his escape from the brainalizer
19:05 But if you, the viewer, thought there was something familiar about the old Sanchez place,
19:22 you were right.
19:23 That's because the house Rick creates is a replica of Walter White's house from the
19:27 critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, right down to the hedges.
19:30 See, if the Federation spent more time watching groundbreaking television instead of trying
19:34 to do whatever it is they do, they would still have a government.
19:37 Were there any crazy things we missed?
19:39 Get schwifty down in the comments!
19:48 Thanks for watching!
19:58 (upbeat music)