‘Rick And Morty’ Creators ‘Get Schwifty’ At Stan Lee’s Comikaze [Video]

Rick and Morty creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon were sure to “Get Schwifty” at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Los Angeles Comic Con 2016, which just wrapped up after running from October 28 to October 30. In a fan video posted earlier this week of their recent panel, Dan Harmon jokingly dances to a request from the crowd (“Get Schwifty” is a song featured in the Rick And Morty Season 2 episode of the same name). Rick and Morty, the popular sci-fi/comedy on Adult Swim, has a had a dedicated cult following since its early inception.

Justin Roiland jokes that despite its popularity among Rick and Morty fans, the “Get Schwifty” song was essentially a minor joke that became something much more.

“All of those songs were licensed Turner music that we made for a Rick And Morty game on the Adult Swim website. I just went in and sang over them – I didn’t care. And then we kept listening to them as we were writing Season 2 and Harmon was like, ‘We have to use these.'”

After being introduced onto the stage, Roiland enjoyed pointing out all the people portraying Rick in cosplay in the crowd. One huge Rick head, with the wearer’s head where Rick’s mouth is, reminded Roiland of the Muppet character Beaker. It led Dan Harmon to remember a time in his early 20s when he was employed portraying Captain Crunch (in a full mascot-like costume) in Milwaukee.

“I could see through the Captain Crunch mouth, that’s what I would look through when the kids would hit me. I would grab them and go, ‘Knock it off!’ And so the kid would just see Captain Crunch’s mouth right in their face and me saying ‘Knock it off!’… and I was on ice skates at Milwaukee’s Winter Fest… it paid something of a wage… but that’s what happens when a human pillow goes on an ice rink with a bunch of six-year-olds.”

Just 14 hours left to buy this limited release shirt by @ZenMonkeyStudio and get hashtag schwifty. https://t.co/rIzQ6o1O8q pic.twitter.com/hw7LN2OfSS

— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) October 19, 2016

Here are some other highlights of the panel.

• Roiland and Harmon gave a quick back and forth on the origins of Mr. Meeseeks.

Roiland – “We were working on a storyline and I said ‘This isn’t fun! This should be fun!’ and I got on my back and was rolling around.”

Harmon – “So he was rolling around on the floor, and I was looking at [fellow writer] Ryan Ridley and I said ‘Can we just do this show? Just look at him’ and Justin goes, ‘I’m Mr. Meeseeks!’ I said, ‘Look his name’s Mr. Meeseeks. Just work with him. That’s our job.'”

Roiland – “So Dan said, ‘Ok, we’ll put that in, it’ll be part of it.'”

• Harmon on the sometimes very dark tone of Rick and Morty.

“I want to explore the idea… like rules that people can’t get hurt, the idea of TV ratings like TV-14 and explicit lyric [warning labels]… you’re just going to have to go to a darker place to affect people!”

Harmon on fan reaction and devotion.

“I think the tipping point came around the time of Lost was on the air… what we saw with Lost was… they were putting treasure maps and secret codes and the audience was saying ‘Yes, we’re obsessed with this show’ and the show was saying ‘That’s ok. We want you to be more obsessed with it.’… obsession level counts for a lot… it’s a great time to make TV.”

Harmon on young fans.

“I’m not telling people how to raise their kids… but when I was 8 or 9 years old my parents were separated and my mom and I didn’t have a very emotional relationship… we didn’t hug… but she read sci-fi and we started going to sci-fi conventions together…

” …I was thinking everyone’s a robot, I became obsessed, I thought the world was some game that God was playing with me and everyone was fake, I was losing my mind. But, if you read something like Douglas Adams at that age, then you go ‘Ok, maybe this world is real, because this guy’s talking about what I’m talking about.'”

Roiland followed up with a tease about the Season 2 finale, which ended with Rick in a maximum security prison in space.

“How is Rick gonna get out of that pickle? You guys probably have a bunch of fan theories about how that’s gonna go down.”

Annoyingly for fans, little else was mentioned of Season 3.When one fan asked about the fate of Birdperson, a

When one fan asked about the fate of Birdperson, a friend and ally of Rick who was gunned down in the Season 2 finale, Roiland thought a moment about responding, but ultimately said, “You’ll thank me when you watch it yourself.”

You can watch the fan video of the full panel here, via YouTuber Macgyver7th.

[Featured Image by Adult Swim]