Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1493292
The kids stow away in his truck only to learn that the man they thought was an uncool truck driver is actually the bad- dest bounty hunter in the galaxy. His secret revealed, Terry has no choice but to take his kids on his mission—and hopefully get them home again safely before their mom gets worried. Among the objectives of the show, say Harpin and Downing, was to create a family-friendly comedy in which the dad isn't an idiot. They also wanted a world where the circumstance of the family being Black is never remarked upon, even though this aspect is groundbreaking— TV's first sci-fi animated series focused on a Black family in space. To envision the world, they enlisted Art Director Alex Konstad and Production Designer Yuhki Demers as part of their creative "rebel alliance." "That was one of the smartest things we ever did," Harpin says. "Yuhki was coming off Spider-Verse, which was so playful with color.'" The outer space of My Dad the Bounty Hunter is indeed colorful, shifting its hues almost in tune with the vibe of the spaceship like a mood ring. Harpin references the colorful '80s images of poster artist Drew Struzan, a style that suits the series' inventive alien creatures. Often, these are anthropomorphized animals like a tough, battle-scarred character inspired by the manatee. No matter how offbeat things get, "our belief is that the family story is at the heart of this," says Downing. "We really want to make a relatable family story and have this crazy wild sci-fi wrapper around it where you can enjoy yourself, but the family was our north star that keeps the storytelling grounded." PIONEERING THE MULTIVERSE Rick and Morty When you've already got one of the biggest TV shows in animation, what frontiers are left to conquer? Plenty, say the creatives of Rick and Morty. At work on the seventh and eighth seasons, they are bringing the dementedly brilliant scientist Rick and his grandson/sidekick Morty into their second decade of creating intergalactic mayhem. "There is some really messed-up stuff that nobody has seen yet—some wild stuff coming, but there always is," says Executive Producer Scott Marder. "Our writers' room is an example of the fact that people have their passions that they bring to the show, and anything is fair game," says Executive Producer and Writer James Siciliano. "We have people who love anime and people who love horror. Our show doesn't just do sci-fi." It also doesn't do traditional storylines, as Siciliano knows firsthand. He was a fan of the show when he joined the series as a Writer's Assistant on the third season. He quickly found out how the "your TV is broken" manifesto of Co-creator and Executive Producer Dan Harmon comes into the play. These are situations that are so offbeat and bizarre that when you're watching, you start to think your TV must be broken. Case in point: in the episode "Rattlestar Ricklactica," written by Siciliano, the discovery of space snakes and an evolved snake planet spirals off into a future- altering depiction of a snake historical timeline, à la The Terminator. Siciliano wrote close to two minutes of snakes hissing wordlessly at each other as serpent history unfolds. F E AT U R E "Everyone is breaking their back to make the most beautiful new cityscape and galaxies and aliens that we've never seen before. It's really amazing how you can let your imagination run wild on this show…" — Scott Marder above and right: Pushing the envelope is a hallmark of Rick and Morty, from outlandish characters and wacky stories to the use of animation techniques in unexpected ways. Rick & Morty images courtesy of Adult Swim 24 KEYFRAME