Rick and Morty is moving on at Adult Swim following the firing of co-creator Justin Roiland, as season 7 is set to premiere without him later this year. Back in January, it was reported that Roiland had been booted from the show and that his voice roles would be recast. As Roiland voiced both titular roles, this may be an issue for some fans, as new voice actors will be tasked with trying to replicate these roles which have been established with another person’s voice over the course of six previous seasons.
The series had a presence at the Annecy Animation Film Festival for a panel called Rick and Morty: 10 Years of Intergalactic Adventures. Present at the event were Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen and executive producer Steve Levy. Speaking with the French publication Premiere, the two reiterated that Roiland’s voice won’t be featured at all in the next season, as Ouweleen confirmed that he “will be replaced in dubbing.” He then agreed how important the voices are when it comes to animated shows, but with that said, he believes this transition will go well, especially with what he feels is the show’s best writing yet.
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“No, not imitators,” Ouweleen said when asked if “imitators” would be taking over Roiland’s roles. “In any case, the idea is that we feel that they are the same characters. Listen: voices are obviously super important in an animated series. And, of course, none of us wanted to go through what we went through. But I’ve been in animation for a long time, and I know that what makes a series is its different parts coming together. If the voices are obviously a big part, there is also the writing of the characters, their design… I have reason to believe that the transition will go well.”
Levy added, “The writing quality has never been better, and all the screenwriters have stayed. I don’t think anyone will bat an eyelid hearing the new voices.”
“Yes, I believe it is possible,” Ouweleen also said when asked if someone who may not be aware of the recasting would even notice the switch.
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These are the plans, but solidifying a new voice actor (or voice actors) still has yet to be done. Levy revealed that they are still “in the recruitment process,” so nobody’s been officially signed on at this time. Even so, Ouweleen still feels confident that they’ll find someone that the fans will accept, pointing to how even a character as iconic as Bugs Bunny continued on just fine after legendary voice actor Mel Blanc.
“It’s looking good. It’s a rather unique situation,,” he said. “I’ll take an example: there have been several great Bugs Bunny voice actors, and I love what Jeff Bennett has done with them. But it’s not Mel Blanc! And yet we recognize the character. I even think that for Rick and Morty we will do even better… It will be fine. It’ll be great.”
Season 7 of Rick and Morty doesn’t yet have a release date.
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