Watch Proto Rick and Morty from 2006: Doc and Mharti [NSFW]

Doc and Mharti, the original incarnations of Rick and Morty, were created by Justin Roiland with the intention of trolling Universal Studios into sending him cease and desist letters. As you can see, they were initially a much closer (and filthier) parody of Back to the Future. In fact, the original title of this cartoon was Back To The Future: The New Official Universal Studios Cartoon Featuring The New Doc Brown And Marty McFly.

Justin Roiland explains their origins here:

I actually made this as a way to poke fun at the idea of getting cease and desist letters. At the time (October 2006) I had nothing to lose and my original intention was to call this “back to the future: the new official universal studios cartoon featuring the new Doc Brown and Marty McFly” and then I’d just sit back and wait for a letter from their lawyers to arrive. That’s actually why it’s so filthy. I was just looking to “troll” a big studio.

Then, as I began editing the radio play and boarding it, the two characters ended up becoming something different than just a bad impression of Doc and Marty from BTTF. They slowly became two of my favorite characters that I’ve ever voiced. I backed down on the cease and desist bait and changed the spelling of their names and whatever else I could still change. I mean, it’s still ultimately a back to the future joke/ (parody?), but to me all these years later, these two characters have become something of their own.

And here’s Doc and Mharti promoting Rob Schrab’s SCUD: The Disposable Assassin.