There might be no member of the Rick and Morty universe more beloved than the super positive Mr. Poopybutthole. The good-hearted white sheep of the Smith family, who didn’t even press charges after Beth shot him, is the only character from the show worthy of a sincere, touching backstory. But it turns out we almost never even got to meet him, because the classic episode that introduced Mr. Poopybutthole to the world originally had a very different character in his spot. And we doubt we would have loved “Bullet Boy” nearly as much.
Show writer and producer Mike McMahon shared a photo of an original outline for “Total Rickall,” the first time Mr. Poopybutthole appeared on the show. The rest of the outline is basically exactly what made it into the final script, only instead of our favorite thin yellow fella, it was “Bullet Boy, a bullet with goofy eyes, arms, and legs” who showed up.
Spring cleaning today, came across the pre-outline beat sheet for Total Rickall, when Mr. Poopybutthole was briefly Bullet Boy. Crazy that this was 4 years ago. pic.twitter.com/PmbJmLgVld
— Mike McMahan (@MikeMcMahanTM) April 5, 2018
While Bullet Boy would have been a fitting, ridiculous Rick and Morty character too, there’s no chance—even if he had Mr. Poopybutthole’s exact personality—that he would have become so universally cherished. Mr. Poopybutthole just looks so silly with his big hat and absurd shaped body it’s impossible not to love him. And even though he ended up taking an actual bullet courtesy of a paranoid Beth, it was obviously a great change everyone is happy with.
Yeah me too. It was based on a @JustinRoiland character called Titty Longballs.
— Mike McMahan (@MikeMcMahanTM) April 5, 2018
In case you’re curious as to what aforesaid character looked like, here’s a link to a highly upsetting and NSFW old sketch by Justin Roiland. (Now we are really glad we got the Mr. Poopybutthole we know and love.)
Do you think Bullet Boy would have been as memorable? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Images: Adult Swim
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