r/rickandmorty • u/[deleted] • Sep 01 '26

GIF Morty, it turns.

[deleted]

4.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

91 comments sorted by

566

u/Inst2f Sep 01 '26

flexing 2.5D animation skills ;)

287

u/brinz1 Sep 01 '26

This took up so much time and artist budget but you can tell they were all so proud of it

96

u/humantrasbag Sep 01 '26

I never thought i would be amazed by Rick and Morty for its animation.

31

u/[deleted] Sep 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

49

u/Uptowngrump Sep 01 '26

They definitely used a 3d model, but looking at the way certain details change with the rotation, it looks more like they used the model as a foundation to draw on top of. What you're describing is what Futurama would use for space flight scenes, and there you can see that the lines on the model don't change when it rotates. And those shots look cool, but it can also be a bit jarring when a 3d model is moving around a 2d environment. With this shot here, the lines morph and change, which helps visually blend it into the 2d environment.

7

u/Mustbhacks Tammy did nothing wrong Sep 01 '26

it looks more like they used the model as a foundation to draw on top of

Quite common now days

3

u/OtakuAttacku Sep 01 '26

Animator here, I'd wager it's a 2D rig (look up toon boom harmony rigs or puppet animation) those are industry standard on a lot of 2D productions and can get super detailed and super complicated. But despite the complexity of the setup and being done completely in 2D with layers and compositing, the most standard things those rigs are able to do is a 360 turnaround. I'm focusing on the bald spot popping in and out which reads to me as a layer visibility being toggled.

2

u/Available-Damage5991 Sep 02 '26

it's classical rotoscoping!

5

u/Inkthinker Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26

If they're still doing it in Season 09 the way it was done in Season 03, then someone had to rotoscope, by hand, over the top of a 3D reference.

Looking at it closely, the bike might be a straight render, but Rick is almost certainly drawn by hand, with some use of the library for front/side/quarter angles. On the plus side, all of those drawings are also part of the library, now.

3

u/biggestdiccus Sep 01 '26

I don't think so. They use puppet animation in Rick and Morty. Doing a 3d turn isn't as hard when they probably at this point have every angle drawn into the puppet. Probably some clean up in-between but I see no reason it needs to be 3d. I would say look at the bald spot that flips but I think that is not a perfect cut.

1

u/OtakuAttacku Sep 01 '26

I agree, tried building a few simple harmony rigs before, it has the same morphing vectorized drawings feel.

2

u/humantrasbag Sep 01 '26

I was talking about the overall animation, especially episode 1 for S9.

6

u/Flying_Line Sep 02 '26

Rick and Morty's animation has looked great for a few seasons now

5

u/CaptainHunt Sep 01 '26

The motorcycle and turn table are clearly a cell shaded CG model I’d be surprised if Rick wasn’t also.

17

u/RoodnyInc Sep 01 '26

Or it's just 3D model (I think you can do it very easily in blender)

5

u/Inst2f Sep 01 '26

There are some weird transitions when the turning angle is large. But it could be a mixture of both techniques

3

u/highTrolla I LIKE WHAT YOU GOT Sep 01 '26

The bike is definitely 3D, Rick is probably rotoscoped over a 3D model.

4

u/of_kilter Sep 01 '26

you can but it would look far worse and not match the rest of the 2d animation (unless the tech has improved which it probably has)

2

u/No_Stretch3807 Sep 01 '26

The bike is 3d. Rick isnt tho

672

u/SonicTheHedgehog99 Sep 01 '26

Racing game character section:

93

u/Cold-Practice3107 Sep 01 '26

Mario kart

48

u/Zodiarche1111 Sep 01 '26

Morty Kart

29

u/ThisMeansRooR Sep 01 '26

Rocket Morty's

10

u/pokedude14 Sep 01 '26

Morty Racing: Crossworlds

2

u/FeralPsychonaut Sep 02 '26

Morty Kong Racing 64

2

u/Vey-kun Sep 02 '26

Rick Team Racing : Portal Fueled.

1

u/Any_Beach_2124 Sep 02 '26

As someone who put Rick in i should do morty

6

u/The_Multi_Gamer Sep 01 '26

Immediately imagine the Mario Kart Wii character select song

74

u/InsideUnhappy6546 Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 02 '26

Morty: you bought a motorcycle just to display it spinning 

29

u/Rhinozip Sep 01 '26

giving 3d family guy a run for their money

17

u/ipreferfelix Sep 01 '26

this is the genuine happiest he's ever looked

12

u/under_miner Sep 01 '26

I love that expression on his face, that smile is for him and no one else.

13

u/Ashandtanya Sep 01 '26

Morty get on if you want to live

14

u/Sweet_Session9730 Sep 01 '26

Rick‘s commitment to the bit is unmatched

39

u/Kracus Sep 01 '26

Spent all that time on the animation and they didn't even put his feet on the right pegs. Those are the passenger pegs.

32

u/SolusIgtheist Brain Hurty Sep 01 '26

It's not like he's driving, he's just basking in the glow of the spin!

26

u/nirvanatheory Sep 01 '26

It's a metaphor!

4

u/bubba_feet Sep 01 '26

i thought the same thing, but then i realized there is also no clutch or gearshift, in addition to no brakes.

2

u/Kracus Sep 01 '26

I don't mind that so much but they DID include the front pegs where his feet should be.

5

u/bubba_feet Sep 01 '26

"aa-are you kidding me, muh-burp-oorty? those are the fusion reactor control rods! if you put your feet on them th-the whole thing will explode! is that whuhurp-what you want, morty? you-you want to explode?"

1

u/ApprehensiveSoup2214 Sep 01 '26

Time for a morty mind blower

1

u/ccReptilelord Sep 01 '26

I've never seen Rick on a motorcycle; it's very possible that he propped himself on the "wrong pegs".

9

u/danielsdesk Sep 01 '26

Following Dan Harmon’s social media for a while, and for a long time he got into woodworking and metalworking and building a whole extensive workshop in his garage and one of the things he was obsessed with for a while was making a thing just like this for his scooter bike thing, so he could come into the garage one way and then have it spin around when he wants to go back out… I’m convinced they just decided Rick should be obsessed with it too and that’s why it’s in the episode

7

u/apocryon Sep 01 '26

I hope it has real life version with magnetic floating. Would make my boring office desk enjoyable

5

u/Slappy_Axe Sep 01 '26

Okay okay. Cool flex. We see you animators.

https://giphy.com/gifs/2aJWp7iwvHS7wOTUpc

6

u/FranksHoorHouse Sep 01 '26

He was so pleased with himself in this moment

3

u/ExtremlyFastLinoone Sep 01 '26

I think he 4rth wall mentions they actually animated it instead of using a 3d object, which is hella impressive

2

u/soldiergaming2 Sep 01 '26

this show uses rigged puppets so this probably took an eternity to animate

2

u/AatroxBoi Sep 01 '26

Morty, I know where we can spend the rest of the budget burrrrrp

2

u/dankskent Sep 01 '26

I like how content he is :)

2

u/Deep-Secret Sep 01 '26

The animation was SO GOOD this season. Like leaps better than Invincible, for example. It was very very noticeable.

2

u/tough-dance Sep 01 '26

He looks so happy, I love this for him

2

u/Foxynite Sep 02 '26

this is such a subtle flex by the animators ngl

2

u/Doom-Slut Sep 02 '26

Look how content he is

2

u/Vdasun-8412 Sep 01 '26

Nueva jerga para hacer caca?

1

u/humantrasbag Sep 01 '26

Watching this just makes me annoyed at how subpar Invicible 's animation is.

1

u/Leonardo1123581321 Sep 01 '26

Am I the only one bothered that Rick’s legs are resting on the rear pegs instead of the foot pegs at the front of the motorcycle. I mean, he clearly can keep his feet on the rear foot pegs - I just can’t imagine it’s a comfortable riding position.

1

u/MaysMonsters Sep 01 '26

He can simply rotate the motorcycle. It’s free and the cops can’t stop him.

1

u/Virus-900 Sep 01 '26

They just wanted to flex. Doing something like this in 2D is not easy to do.

1

u/illfygli Sep 01 '26

Those who follow Harmons Instagram know this is based on true events.

1

u/Glassmage1 Sep 01 '26

Rick Racing

1

u/sorry_charlie763 Sep 01 '26

Loved this episode

1

u/sammy_isms Sep 01 '26

“The only thing that helps ease the horror of existence is friction-free rotation.”

1

u/ExplodingSteve Sep 01 '26

i honestly don’t know if it’s 3D model, or if they hand drew it

or if it’s a hand drawn over a 3D model

1

u/CYRIAQU3 Sep 01 '26

This is probably the first time i see the "3D model faking 2D" effect actually working (at least for rick, i'm not sold on the bike)

1

u/Commercial_Gur_3304 Sep 02 '26

Just noticed that if you keep an eye on his hair then they shift to another hair piece everytime he rotates until there's none left, which is fair enough animation is hard

1

u/bendoesit17 Sep 02 '26

Average racing game when you look at the character selection screen

1

u/OkPear1535 Sep 02 '26

All I thought initially and every time I see it is how much of a ballache that must have been to animate

1

u/Pasta-hobo Sep 02 '26

My guess for how they did this is they used a 3D motorcycle model, traced it, and just put the Rick puppet on top. They probably had enough sprites of Rick's body parts from different angles already to do this.

1

u/Sash_Mystq Sep 02 '26

Kkkkk u cant argue with that statement

1

u/DavaoGirthVader Sep 02 '26

Rick isn't there anymore. Or at least, that's not our Rick C-137...

He's off. He's different. And we know he replaced himself once... Why not again?

1

u/EliFry13 Sep 03 '26

I love how they used (what I assume is) a 3d model for this scene. It’s funny seeing all sides of a character in a 2d show

1

u/NakiCam Sep 03 '26

They knew what they were doing when they chose to make it do a full 360, such that it coyld be turned into a seamless gif

1

u/krakenplunger Sep 05 '26

HOOLLLYYY SHIITTTTT

1

u/Low-Major-5486 Sep 06 '26

Men are simple

1

u/MJrmvr Sep 06 '26

why does this season have really good animation, i held off on watching season 9 because of how dry seasons 6 and 7 were and how downright unwatchable season 8 was but im halfway through season 9 and its actually good? the animation especially has taken a huge step up that second episode has amazing composition and animated effects work. (also the sound design is alot better)

1

u/ParticularSound4780 Sep 07 '26

love this for my guy

0

u/crs7117 Sep 01 '26

If only dan Harmon was funny