Top 10 Times Rick and Morty Parodied Pop Culture
#10: “Doc and Mharti”
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“Big Trouble in Little Sanchez” Before “Rick and Morty” parodied “Back to the Future,” there was “The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti.” Created in 2006 by Justin Roiland, this collection of shorts had a lot more of a lewd interpretation of the sci-fi duo. Anyhoo, “Rick and Morty” has nodded to this previous inspiration a couple of times. One incident was in the episode “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez.” With Tiny Rick having issues, Summer notices his disturbing drawing. His self-portrait bears an uncanny similarity to Roiland’s past project. Speaking of the show’s creators that had their previous work mentioned, Dan Harmon's “Community” was also showcased in “Auto Erotic Assimilation.”
#9: Dota
“The Ricks Must Be Crazy” With a show about sci-fi shenanigans, robot fights were always going to be featured. And the perfect place for one was in “The Ricks Must Be Crazy.” With Rick and Zeep clashing heads, the duo is trapped in the wilderness of the Teenyverse. So, what are two brawling scientists set to do with no technology? Make rustic wooden weapons! At one point, they battle each other with low-tech mechs. Well, the lead prop designer for the show, Brent Noll, mentioned in his blog that the design for Zeep’s machine was inspired by the “Dota” video game series. In particular, the character of Timbersaw. With the rounded control area, it's easy to see the connection. Shame Zeep didn’t have a massive saw, though.
#8: Jimmy McMillan
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“The Ricklantis Mixup” 2010 was a bizarre and entertaining time for New York’s political scene. And, of course, we’re talking about one iconic person, in particular, Jimmy McMillan. Running under his own group, the “Rent Is Too Damn High Party,” the eccentric politician campaigned for that year’s gubernatorial election. During a debate, he regularly responded to questions with his slogan. Which turned McMillan into a meme. Unfortunately, he didn’t win the election. “Rick and Morty” decided to nod to the iconic McMillian during “The Ricklantis Mixup” episode. One of the presidential candidates, Rick Guilt Rick, looks a lot like the New York politician with his fantastically styled beard, tailored suit, and black gloves.
#7: Gravity Falls
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“Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind” Since the show began, a fan theory was birthed into existence that “Rick and Morty” takes place in the same universe as “Gravity Falls.” After all, the Disney cartoon was created by Alex Hirsch, a good friend of Justin Roiland. So, the animators of “Rick and Morty” have stoked the rumor-fires by adding references to Hirsch’s show. In the end credits of the “Gravity Falls” episode “Society of the Blind Eye,” Stan loses a notepad, a pen, and a mug to the portal. As a fun nod to this moment, as Rick and Morty are escaping citadel security in “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind,” they open up a load of portals. One of the holes spits out Stan’s lost items.
#6: Cloud Atlas
“Rixty Minutes” The episode “Rixty Minutes” gave us the origin of the amazing interdimensional cable, providing the Smith family a smorgasbord of TV programs to take in, for better or worse. One of the first channels they tune into has Jerry as a famous actor on a Letterman-esque talk show. Later, we see a clip of him filling in for Tom Hanks on “Cloud Atlas.” The Smith family soon makes comments mocking the film’s lack of notoriety. Owch. However, the “Cloud Atlas” dialogue is pretty spot on in the parody. It also makes us wonder if Jerry has replaced Hanks in everything. These are the things that keep us up at night.
#5: Fantastic Four
“Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind” As Rick and Morty arrive on the citadel and meet the Council of Ricks from across the multiverse, Marvel fans might have experienced a little déjà vu. And for a good reason! The idea is seemingly influenced by the Fantastic Four line of comics. In 2009, the Interdimensional Council of Reeds concept was introduced. Similar to the Ricks, the Reeds are different versions across the multiverse. As such, there are bizarre variants of Mister Fantastic. Like Charles Xavier Reed, Morbidly Obese Reed, Rock Gargoyle Reed, and so on. Also, the Council of Reeds gets obliterated, just like the Ricks. The only difference is the lack of multiversal Morty-esque sidekicks. Fingers crossed, we get the introduction of an H.E.R.B.I.E. army in Marvel.
#4: Lucky Charms
“Rixty Minutes” For some reason, there seems to be a theme where cereal mascots try to keep their prized breakfast away from desperate children or the other way around. Like with Trix and Lucky Charms. The latter was one of the parodies used in the interdimensional cable in “Rixty Minutes.” In the commercial, we see an apprehensive Tophat Jones talking about his Strawberry Smiggles. Gross name aside, the cereal is seemingly what psychotic kids crave. After eating a bowl, Jones is grabbed by emotionless children. They then split him open and eat what he had already consumed. It’s pretty grim. But…we also wonder what the cereal tastes like since it must be amazing if kids are willing to do this to get to them.
#3: Doctor Who
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Comic “Rick and Morty #19” Like “Back to the Future,” another franchise that’s obviously influential throughout “Rick and Morty” is “Doctor Who.” All we need is a regenerating Rick, a spaceship shaped like a police box, and British accents to get the full effect. But there is a moment in “Rick and Morty” that makes the parody super obvious, and it’s not in the show. In issue 19 of the “Rick and Morty” comic, we’re introduced to the suited and hat-wearing Peacock Jones. He travels around with Summer. However, Jones then makes a pass at her. When he’s rejected, he becomes a “nice guy” and rants about this being the payoff for Summer being his traveling companion. Gross.
#2: Jack and the Beanstalk
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“Meeseeks and Destroy” It’s not just film and TV franchises that get to be a “Rick and Morty” pop culture parody. Even fables can get in on the action. With most of the Smiths coping with Mr. Meeseeks being out of control, Rick and Morty are in a fairy tale world that draws inspiration from “Jack and Beanstalk.” After all, they take out a giant, just like Jack. Only their experience is more horrifying, and they also get the taste of consequences since they were arrested. Then, the “bean” part of “beanstalk” comes in the form of King Jellybean, the gross royal that attempts to assault Morty in the bathroom. But he gets justice in the form of a laser blast from Rick.
#1: Talent Shows
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“Get Schwifty” In one form or another, the human race has been plagued by a burden for years. Talent shows. Whether it’s “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “Britain’s Got Talent,” or something else, they all left their sticky smudge on our collective culture. As such, “Rick and Morty” poked fun at them in “Get Schwifty.” With the floating doom-inducing heads demanding, “show me what you got,” Rick and Morty need to perform musical numbers to impress their merciless aliens. After all, the talented musicians have all perished, except literal Ice-T. If the duo fails, the Earth gets wrecked by the Cromulons. So…slightly more at stake than experiencing Simon Cowell’s shame-inducing zingers.
