Adult Swim expands ‘Rick And Morty’ universe amid raft of adult animation spin-offs & two original series

Rick And Morty

WarnerMedia’s young adult animation brand Adult Swim has ordered four new digital short series spin-offs to existing titles, including Rick And Morty, as well as two new full original series.

Among the full series commissions is Royal Crackers, a half-hour animated comedy series that follows two brothers: Stebe, a family man with a wife and child; and Theo Jr., a single, bass guitar player trying to relive his glory days. Together they live in their comatose father’s house waiting for him to die so they can inherit his cracker company empire.

The series is created by Jason Ruiz who also serves as executive producer along with Seth Cohen and is produced by Titmouse and will premiere on Adult Swim in 2022.

Smiling Friends follows on from the pilot which aired on Adult Swim in April 2019, about a company that aims to lend a helping hand to anyone who calls their hotline – no matter how absurd the issue. The 15-minute animated series is created, written and produced by Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel and will premiere on Adult Swim later this year.

Each of the spin-off series, meanwhile, will comprise of 8-10 mini-episodes and focus on minor characters that have appeared in or been inspired by the existing shows, and will be made available across digital platforms, globally between 2021-2022.

The Vindicators is a spin-off from Rick And Morty, seeing the return of the superhero characters Supernova, Vance Maxiumus, Alan Rails, Crocubot and Noob Noob as they “fight crime, avert genocides, and yuk it up without Rick and Morty.”

Erica Rosbe, Sarah Carbiener, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland will executive produce, with Rosbe and Carbiener commenting: “We are thrilled to work in the Rick And Morty universe again, and these shorts are an incredible opportunity to explore what happens in the aftermath of the Vindicators saving (or destroying) worlds. We’re so excited to show how this team of superheroes is plenty dysfunctional whether Rick’s around to have half of them murdered or not.”

Alabama Jackson is a stop-motion animation spin-off from Robot Chicken, featuring the voice of Donald Faison (Scrubs) as the titular smooth-talking time traveller, who lands in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, every time.

Faison also created the series, which is produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. He commented: “It’s been my dream to create something with stop-motion animation ever since [Robot Chicken creator] Seth Green showed me clips of this crazy sketch show he was working on where the stars were the toys I grew up playing with.

“For it to come full circle and for my show to be made with this same team of artists only makes me more excited to explore the stories of Alabama Jackson.”

Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell: The Animated Series will serve as a fifth season of the show but now in the form of animated digital shorts.

Cruel boss Satan (Matt Servitto), bumbling demon Gary (Henry Zebrowski), and other characters will return for the workplace comedy set in hell. A Williams Street production, the show is created by Casper Kelly and Dave Willis.

“We are thrilled to expand the Pretty Face universe into animation, especially since it will be animators sweating over their Cintiqs (alt. drawing tablets?) rather than us sweating in a humid Georgia August swamp battling mosquitoes while covered in red make-up.” joked the Pretty Face creators Dave Willis and Casper Kelly. “We just hope the bosses will let us release the ten-hour Snyder cut of Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell: The Animated Series.”

Aquadonk Side Pieces is a continuation of the animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, exploring what happens in the later lives of various side characters and villains such as the Mooninites, the Plutonians, MC Pee Pants, the Frat Aliens, Happy Time Harry, Handbanana, and the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past.

The series was created by Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis and is due to premiere later this year. It is the only one of the digital series to so far have been given tentative release date details.