Sometimes a show truly is the result of its creators. With Rick and Morty, the team-up of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland produced something zany, new and absurd. Can the show survive without half the team?
It really is hard to imagine anyone voicing Rick, Morty and a plethora of absurdist characters other than Justin Roiland. The voice actor has an extremely distinct vocal pattern that is carried through all of his creations. They stumble, they stutter, they belch, they do all sorts of little vocal mechanics that Roiland invented or developed in order to make them distinct. In other words, they’re very difficult to emulate. Yet that is exactly what Adult Swim and all other partners seeking to continue with Rick and Morty are going to be forced to do. Adult Swim is electing to recast Rick, Morty and all the other characters as the company parts ways with Justin Roiland due to charge of domestic battery and false imprisonment. What is not so clear is what has changed that makes the company take such an aggressive stance to someone not yet convicted.
The reason for my query is that Roiland was arrested three years ago and hit with a restraining order. But domestic issues happen all the time and Adult Swim kept the voice actor and writer on-board. Now, as the court date approaches, both Adult Swim and his video game company he created are dropping Roiland from their association.
On Jan. 12, NBC News was the first to break the news that Roiland was charged with one count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud or deceit in Orange County based on an alleged 2020 incident with an unnamed Jane Doe that Roiland was dating. Roiland has pled not guilty, and in 2020 was released on a $50,000 bond. Several pretrial hearings have already occurred, and Roiland is expected to return to court April 27.
In a statement earlier this month, Roiland’s attorney T. Edward Welbourn said the media coverage of the case has been “inaccurate.”
— Katie Kilkenny, THR
While I get not wanting to be associated or working with someone charged with something heinous, I have to wonder if these companies have discovered something new. Otherwise, what has changed? And why would you take such drastic actions in a case that is ultimately a he-said-she-said unless there’s compelling evidence? That’s not to excuse bad behavior and abuse, but rather it’s to say that the process has not yet played out.
Whatever has caused this immediate reversal in behavior from at least two companies (and perhaps more to come given Roiland’s connections with Hulu), it’s not certain that they hyper-popular Rick and Morty will survive such a change. Sure, continuing forth with the remaining episodes on the mega contract both Roiland and Harmon acquired may seem prudent from a business standpoint… but is it practical? If there’s a sense in the show of a change from one voice to another, I have a feeling all of this will die off pretty quickly in terms of the show’s success.
It should be noted that Justin Roiland continues to proclaim his innocence. Here at That Park Place, we honor the presumption of innocence and will do so in this case as well. We also highly recommend that men and women in abusive relationships seek a certified counselor and/or therapist and take every step necessary to ensure both parties are safe. We do not condone bad behavior towards any person, and neither should you.
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