It's hard to picture Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty without his notorious amount of burping. However, the origin story of this burping might surprise you.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Justin Roiland who is the voice actor for both Rick and Morty in the show revealed how burping originally became a character trait of Rick from the get-go.
Why Does Rick's Character Burp?
"In 2006, or something, I was recording the voices for this short The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti. I was having fun doing these really crappy Doc Brown and Marty McFly impressions. During the middle of a line a burp came out naturally. It was just so funny and gross. I was like, ‘Well, let's see if I can do that again for a couple more lines.' Then, with Rick and Morty, Dan [Harmon, the show's co-creator] was like, ‘Hey, Adult Swim wants to do a show, do you have any ideas?' I said, ‘Well, what about these two voices?' Right out of the gate, the burping was part of it."
Most fans are naturally inclined to believe that the burping of Rick is edited in after recording. However, Roiland went on in the interview to confirm he actually has to burp live, although it isn't easy:
"I'm not a big burper. It's not easy for me to do. Ironically, Sarah Chalke (who voices Rick's daughter, Beth) can burp on command. She's incredible. I'm so jealous of her. I have to sit there with a low-calorie beer and a bottle of water and wait for it to work its way up. I tell the engineer that records the show, "Just leave it rolling, because I don't know when this burp is coming!" It's a disgusting process."
Does Rick Stop Burping?
After Season 3 of Rick and Morty, the frequency of Rick's burping goes down quite dramatically, but it is still present. There are theories as to why this is, however, nothing is officially confirmed.
One of the theories is down to the simple fact that Justin Roiland wanted to stop having to go through this process anymore for his health. Something that frequent low-calorie beers or carbonated drinks don't help with.
Another theory is that as the seasons go on, Rick is able to get his alcoholism under control. At the end of Season 2 when he is captured by the galactic republic, he of course is stuck in prison for a large amount of time, this would be enough time for his body to go through the removal of alcohol in his body and stop him from being physically addicted. However, later on in Season 3, we see him become the drunkest he's ever been when teaming up with The Vindicators (blacking out, defeating world ender, and setting up a Saw-like obstacle course for The Vindicators without remembering a thing). Therefore it's highly unlikely that Rick is no longer an alcoholic.
Rick's Burping
The overall reason for Rick's burping is for comic effect and it adds to the fact that his overall character is a mess with lots of inner demons. It is therefore unlikely that this trait will stop.
Related: Rick and Morty Season 5: Where to Watch and Stream the Entire Series - July 2021 Update
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