Excited for Rick & Morty to… I guess re-premiere, given how the first episode of season 3 aired way back on April Fool's Day? If you've been hungrily hunting for anything and everything related to Adult Swim's hit show about a dimension-hopping alcoholic and his tender-hearted sidekick, you probably saw this promo which remixes more than 20 artists' visions of the titular duo:
That project was helmed by the animation studio (and frequent Adult Swim partner) known as Titmouse. We chatted with company president Chris Prynoski and the promo's creative director Matt Taylor to find out what it was like putting together such an eclectic piece of art within the short span of two months. Turns out, it wasn't as stressful as you might think.
"There was a moment where I just had to sit back and cross my fingers and hope that there were things we can connect in everybody's ideas. And to my surprise, there totally were. It was weird. It will be something that weirds me out forever," Taylor said, describing the foreseen difficulties of communicating and coordinating a creative work across multiple countries and timezones. "It was this weird zeitgeist thing."
Adult Swim gave Titmouse "a ton" of creative freedom, Taylor said, allowing the studio and artists to infuse the promo with their own sense of humor and style. Collaborators worked backward, starting from the final frame they knew their segment would end with. Each ending and concept was then sent to Taylor, who shuffled the pieces together and organized them, like a jigsaw puzzle where all the sides of every piece are interchangeable.
"You're dealing with 22 artists, but you're dealing with them singularly," Taylor said. "Everyone just got it... I think that's a testament to Rick & Morty as a comedy."
The promo serves three purposes. For Adult Swim, it's a way to remind people that the show is coming back to air this weekend. Meanwhile, Taylor hopes it will bring exposure to the artists who collaborated on the project, giving them more work and a chance to be seen by the Rick & Morty-adoring masses. But Prynoski has probably the best reason for wanting to do the promo:
"I just hope it means we get to do more cool shit like this."
Rick & Morty season 3 returns to Adult Swim on July 30 at 11:30 Eastern.
