Unlocking the Rick and Morty Multiverse: A Look at the Show‘s Animation Software

As a passionate gamer and animation fan, I‘m constantly scouring the internet for behind-the-scenes intel on how my favorite shows are made. And one that continues to blow my mind is Rick and Morty – with its reality-bending sci-fi plots, irreverent humor, and visually surreal animation style.

So how do creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon bring this chaotic multiverse to life? The secret lies in Toon Boom Harmony.

Toon Boom Harmony: Unleashing 2D Animation Potential

Toon Boom Harmony is quickly becoming the industry-standard software for 2D animation, adopted by studios worldwide for acclaimed shows like Rick and Morty, BoJack Horseman, Bob‘s Burgers, and many more.

As a vector-based solution tailored for puppet rigging and cel animation, it can help achieve major efficiencies compared to traditional hand-drawn techniques. But Rick and Morty pushes Harmony to its limits – with extremely complex worldbuilding and hundreds of morphing character/background designs across dizzying multiverse locales. Thankfully, Harmony boasts powerful features to assist:

Node-Based Pipeline

With nodes, entire scenes can be rigged into flexible hierarchies – characters can be separated into distinct parts (arms, hair, facial features etc.) for easier manipulation. Makes light work animating Rick‘s constant intoxicated burping!

Advanced Deformation Tools


From stretch and squashing limbs to warping reality around spaceships, Harmony enables intricate deformations essential for Rick and Morty‘s signature elastic, trippy visuals.

Unlimited Render Styles

The software mixes slick 2D vector rendering with bitmap drawing options, even integrating subtle 3D for boosting realism in shots. This blend gives Rick and Morty its deceptively simple yet visually diverse aesthetic.

Comparison of Toon Boom Harmony against affordable animation software alternatives (1-5 stars shown)

Harmony does demand a steeper learning curve given its advanced toolset. But for replicating Rick and Morty‘s style – it‘s an unbeatable beast!

Alternative Tools for Aspiring Rick & Morty Animators

Of course, not all of us can afford Harmony‘s $600+ price tag as an amateur animator or content creator. Luckily, plenty of cheaper and even free options exist nowadays that borrow concepts from Harmony and can help mimic Rick and Morty‘s irreverent animation charm:

Adobe Animate – Formerly known as Flash, Adobe Animate offers solid 2D rigging and animation with customizable vector/bitmap brushes. Easy integration with other Adobe tools makes it great for full production pipelines.

Blender – The open-source 3D creation giant is beloved for video game design and 3D animation. But Blender now boasts awesome 2D cel animation capabilities too – quadrupling down with buses that look like dogs!

Pencil2D – A super lightweight and intuitive tool tailored for beginner animators. With simple onionskinning and drawing tools, it‘s perfect for understanding 2D cartoon animation principles integral to Rick and Morty‘s style.

Over 30+ minutes per episode are needed to produce Rick and Morty animation even with Harmony‘s assist. But with clever usage of above programs‘ deformers, rigging, and illustration features – you‘ll be channeling the cartoon multiverse madness in no time!

So whether you‘re animating your own Video Game Boss fight or bending reality with a homebrew D&D campaign – the right software can bring all those zany ideas to life just like Rick and Morty. Just be sure to avoid any fascist alternate timelines along the way!