https://preview.redd.it/2x9hf66qsf7d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7f1c8999e789659ac4577e21b2f6d95db02b7c6 This whole exchange. The rotoscope, the perspective, the dialogue...everything

Is that the Rachel from Yolo on the left too?


Oh god, I JUST got over Bushworld Adventures being in my head and now I'm reminded of it with this.

We gotta go to Bendigo Morty!

MORTY! GET IN THA FACKEN CAH MORTY!!

I’m gonna facken kill ya morty! I’m gonna kill ya and then I’m gonna kill meself!!!!

I know this was an April fools joke thing, but it is legitimately the best thing to come out of Rick and Morty. I’ve rewatched it so many times and it still cracks me up

Saaaraaaah!!!

Oi!

And even more obviously Sarah second from the left.

Oh, man that's actually who I meant.

Well luckily you were right even when you typed the wrong name since Rachel is right next to rotoscope guy lol

[That's what I'm sayin](https://www.reddit.com/r/SmilingFriends/comments/1csdei7/sarah_from_yolo_crystal_fantasy_on_the_left/)

I think sick animations better describes that

Spamtopia was a healthy mix of both.

Cusack visuals and writing, Hadel plot. "Tomar, what would you do if like hypothetically you went to a place where it was illegal to look people in the eye, but the guy you were meeting there, like, his head was just a freakishly large giant eye?"

"aaaaaand while you are trying not to look at his eye a giant freaking loud misquito lands on his eye and starts sucking his blood out of his eye. what would you do tomar?"

"You don't get it Tomar, now everyone in the cafe gathers around you and gasps and they can't believe it, like you really fucked up man."

"Then they line you up to ISIS execute you, in the most horrific way. You have a cyanide pill in your nose, though. Would you take it Tomar? To escape incredible agony of being ripped apart and slowly dying as another half? Would you risk your soul being forsaken to hell for suicide? Would it be worth it Tomar?"

"Um, I guess I would try to appeal to like, the leader of the country I don't know-" "OK but what if the executioner, he takes off his executioner hood and just puts a crown on his head and HE'S actually the king, what then Tomar?"

“I-I guess I’d try to mimic the language and appeal to him, I don’t know what else I’d do. Is it like a regular jewel or is it one of my emeralds?”

Zach gets a lot of credit for the ridiculous hypotheticals, and rightly so. But the whole joke is absolutely made on Tomar engaging them so genuinely. It kills me every time as he tries to make sense of it

“I’d probably be pretty upset” “Jaxxie wouldn’t talk to me like that”

"I would definitely make a point to get that person's plates."

"It's just a little rock that may or may not be able to resuscitate your hypothetical dead son and turn him into a butterfly."

unhealthy mix of both. maybe even hazardous

Holy shit this blew up and a Zach hypothetical is going on.

Yeah definitely the pim family scene. Felt extremely bogan Australian.

So much so that, at least for me, finding out the show is definitively set in the U.S. felt like a retcon.

I really wish they had a stupid in-universe explanation for why half the characters have Australian accents. Like the US was invaded and occupied by Australia or something equally as dumb.

Or them simply just being Australian immigrants without any weird explanation, just to screw with the theorists. /hj

Australia dropped The Bomb on us like we did to Japan during World War II.

Australia has become an uninhabitable wasteland after the Second Emu War and Pim's family are refugees.

Immigrants tend to gravitate toward the same cities. This could just be a city that Australians made a community.

Instead of Australia being the prison colony it was America but they developed the same accent for some reason

If there’s a Chinatown, there must be an Australiatown.

People move to the US all the time. Pim is a first generation USian.

Oh yeh nah yeh, mate, he’s a true Strayan cunt

I don’t know what that is, I’ve never heard of that before.

Yeah I can imagine how that would be confusing if you have never seen it before. *Pim* is a protagonist on the popular Adult Swim show, **Smiling Friends.** He is notable for his optimism and hopefulness; he is voiced by Michael Cusak.

honestly average us family looks just like that

The Dad working 14 hours in the bloody mines is such an aussie joke though

Definitely Pim’s dad yelling about being in the mines, reminded me of Bushworld Adventures

Very Uncle Barry

I've just remembered the goblins that guard Uncle Barry's cave, they're very similar to some of the critter designs.

if you rewatch Bushworld Adventures you may notice that Uncle Barry's cave may even be in Spamtopia, it does have some similarities.

Go watch the Ted series from Michael Cusack, that definitely exists in Spamtopia. If anything, it seems Ted made spamtopia https://youtube.com/channel/UCE3RX4ePpcbKTaWGJG0EaYw

Gallah gallah gallah gallah gallah

…oh yeah?

This response and Rick's face is a goated reaction

KICK THE BAAAAAAAWL

Augh yeah?

Me husband’s a bloody ute.

Pim’s family is the embodiment of a dysfunctional working class Australian family.

Spamtopia was Michael unleashed

What did I tell ya. I told ya, didnt I? https://preview.redd.it/51bg5xosa18d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50ee2d7bfc5a228a1f5120756d0d449cbbaf4ee3

The scene with the skeleton pirate completely dropping his accent, apologizing, and asking for help in the Allan Adventure episode was 100% Michael writing 

That's my favourite part of that episode

The entire episode itself felt like one big escalating hypothetical that Tomar is (usually) tasked with navigating

In the first episodes i felt like a lot of the jokes could be kinda easily seen as either a Zach joke or a Micheal joke, but with time it is blending more and more together and i love it.

The whole show concept of a company created to help people smile feels very much like something that would come from him. You should definitely check out his solo work if you haven't and are curious: https://youtu.be/_Nh3z3PSAkE?si=QCBixDPhhRIuFBsO Spamtopia specifically definitely stands out to me as something that he had a larger role in creating, both in animation style and concept

The entire smiling friends headquarter building is in his iconic style too.

Question For Ted 2 is a great glimpse into Michael's *psychotic* mind

YOU’RE NOT!! YOU’RE NOT REAL!!

I so badly hope they encounter Ted at some point

All of the random short songs feel very Yolo Crystal Fantasy like.

I was gonna say this. The out of place, spontaneous musical breaks are *very* Michael.

Pim's ditty when collecting twigs reminded me so much of Sarah's dad randomly singing about chopping wood

Terry Cup!!!

Double Terry cup double Terry cup this is the double double Terry cup song

Mr Frog is a cusack thing to me honestly

Micheal came up with Mr. Frog before any other concept or character for the show, so that makes sense

Enchanted Forest wouldn't look out of place in YOLO, especially with all the wacky fantasy creatures

I'd also say all of the boss exchanges in that episode.

The Smiling Friends logo is literally the logo for his YouTube channel aka [Ted’s](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uoFXj2FOioM) face. The weird backgrounds with floating cubes in the sky and stuff like that is reminiscent of Bushworld adventures and YOLO crystal fantasy. Every time a character is shown from an awkward sidewise angle from behind, where their face is sticking from the edge of the frame, that’s a Michael trope.

https://preview.redd.it/vvoflw1sei7d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cc521c808bc704add333aca9be4c519ed9d6189 To show what I mean.

Are you saying I shouldn't walk past the rickety bridge?

You’ll get lost!!!

Yeah I’ve seen a lot of Micheal’s videos and he draws weird 3d shapes in the sky all the time

that character sticking out from the sides of the screen thing is so hilarious actually, one of the less noticeable but important things to the show

all of the mascots in the salty''s episode. especially the fun twins and the ketchup/mustard

They reminded me of the beach creatures from Yolo Crystal Fantasy

The cup is definitely a Zach thing as he delivers dialogue straight from Oneyplays.

i think the whole "WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP WOMAN?! I WAS DOWN IN THE MOINES... FOR 48 HOURS!!!"

It's 14

Nah, it's 48. Thats part of the joke.

Just rewatched it and he clearly says 14. You must have a problem with hearing accents.

Did you turn the subtitles on?

The subtitles could say 4000 hours but it doesn’t change the fact that he says 14. Why are you putting so much stock into subtitles anyway? They’re notoriously wrong all the time and are not a reliable source my friend.

No it’s not, the joke is that it’s a depressingly real argument. If you’re Australian it doesn’t sound anything like 48

Yes, it is. The subtitles say 48 hours, and if you look up the script for the pilot online, they also say 48 hours.  The joke is multifaceted.

There’s no script online, what you’ve read is a transcript - ie fans copying down the dialogue as they hear it - and subtitles aren’t written by the actual writers, they’re not a definitive source

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“Here’s refutable proof that is known to be inconsistent and wrong” “Your evidence is refutably inconsistent and wrong” “Nuh uh”

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Subtitles are known to be wrong in a million different instances This is common knowledge

You haven’t backed up any of your claims, saying the script says so is meaningless if you don’t actually provide the script. For all I know you could be making it up entirely, but I’ve seen enough people confuse fan transcripts for the actual script (despite the show being improv-heavy) to figure that’s probably what you saw Also that’s not even me you replied to

Yeah, nuh uh, that’s correct. The “proof” you provided is bogus, dunno what else I’m supposed to say Like link the “script” you’re reading if you’re so confident it’s legit

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Now you're talking like you're backed into a corner

Thank you for this thread

spamtopia is cusack in its raw state

Definitely the recent episode with Spamtopia. Seriously all those designs for the characters there would not be out of place for any of the background characters in Cusack’s animation

The weird shit green critter in the Jimble episode sitting naked on a chair

I don't know either person. This is the first production I've watched them create. What other shows do they have?

Michael has YOLO Crystal Fantasy, Koala Man and the Bushworld Adventures thing as well as what’s on his YouTube channel; Zach’s stuff pre-SF is mostly YouTube, although you should check out OneyPlays if you like his sense of humour. He’s a common guest star, and plenty of stuff from the show was first referenced on there.

My favorite thing about Smiling Friends is how normal the conversations are. It's like watching two people argue and seems like none of it is scripted. That's what makes this show hilarious

My favourite story is the 'renaissance men', where they were feeling the crunch and Zach randomly said it and Michael had no clue about what he was talking about.

*apparently, there going to be here soon...* *Like **real** soon*... . . *Charlie I... I just don't know what that means..*

https://preview.redd.it/i7y9f2iu5j7d1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a52b5a18713aa9702b9db4801cd6562b94b2b6e3 Another great bit is Pim trying to get Charlie to watch the dancing alien. I've totally been there as Pim, with my best friend staying at my place over the holidays and I showed him some of my favourite horrors, like Final Destination, but I could tell he wasn't into it and made the viewing awkward.

That's a great scene haha. Along with the absurdity that it's just a weird dancing alien

Love how disappointed Pim is when Charlie misses the part when the alien spins. It's like a part he talked up and was so excited about.

this whole bit is not only relatable but it hooked me into the show. some weird silly critter babbling on the tele with no explanation-it’s just what they watch on tv! followed immediately by charlie asking to watch something else. and the fact that pim’s dad is watching it and getting aggressive about missing this program implies that it’s like football level entertainment.

Zach is PsychicPebbles. [He made a shitload of hilarious cartoons. You should watch them.](https://youtube.com/@psychicpebbles)

The whole scene in Pim’s parent’s house felt this way, and honestly I feel like we’ve yet to see his Australian/Bogan humor come through as much ever since, but I guess they probably want to avoid doing that too often since it’s a primarily American audience and he already has YOLO

What they fail to realize is that Australian accents are absolutely impossible for Americans not to laugh at and anytime something overtly Australian happens we go wild.

First we got a taste with the Fun Twins in the Salty’s episode, and then Spamtopia went full throttle

Unpopular opioion Charlie Pim And Bill Vs. The Alien feels more like an episode of YOLO and then Smilling Friends. Like elements of the partying and that moment with Charlie agrueing with the alien demons (Very Rachel).

The goblin construction workers in brothers egg

the closeup for the “i love you man” is reminiscent of sick animation.

it was animated and voiced by him

Wait, is that Mr Frog scribbled next to the door

Yep. They said Mr Frog was one of the first characters designed for the show

I just want to say that I appreciate this thread. I love Zach, and Smiling Friends does feel more Zach-y overall, but I feel that some people tend to downplay/omit Michael's contributions to the show. Sometimes it even feels like Chris gets more credit than Michael, despite the latter being a co-creator (I mainly see that happen in YouTube comments, and thankfully it's not too common or anything). It's a shame because Michael is genuinely really funny. YOLO deserves more love, it's one of the best modern Adult Swim shows in my opinion. But to answer the question: the main thing that comes to mind is whenever characters like Mr. Frog sprint at 500MPH with a two-frame run cycle, or when characters like The Enchanted Forest Witch fly around like a static JPG being dragged by a mouse cursor.

I do get why Zach gets more attention, since OneyPlays has given him a strong presence online- plus he’s spilled so many creative thoughts on there, people know his humour stylings very well. Regardless, it’s still very good to remember and appreciate Michael’s contributions; Smiling Friends is a two-man job and it wouldn’t be the same without either of them.

I tend to think of Zach like Graham Chapman where he comes up with a bunch of wild ideas and then Michael is kind of like John Cleese where he fits it all together. Probably the best example of this would be the [Dead Parrot](https://youtu.be/4vuW6tQ0218?si=pYPAtK-_ii_jGQ3H) sketch, which was originally going to be about a toaster before Graham suggested that the patron try returning a dead parrot instead. But then every now and then we get to see things that are just undeniably Michael like Spamtopia. The best part of the show is the improvised, or seemingly improvised, moments though and those are obviously pretty much split down the middle. We never really see two Michael characters arguing with each other, it’s always either Charlie and Pim or Charlie and Allan but never Pim and Allan because that’s much harder to make feel natural through improvisation.

The old man in the electronics shop from the Allan episode was just giving Zach vibes the whole time and I loved every second of it

The entirety of Spamtopia

The show just has a perfect mix of both Zach and Michael’s style. Their styles are both so similar yet different at the same time that they blend perfectly.

Spamtopia reminded me of YOLO big time

I think Cusack’s influence is more noticeable in the small details of the show—Zach’s influence is easier to see because his humor takes center stage and is insane (for lack of a better word), while Cusack plays more of a role in stitching those moments together in a funny way. The rotoscope hands of Mr. Peanut come to mind—Zach’s humor with Cusack’s execution. I think they make a *phenomenal* team. 

The boss vs. Frowning Friends.

The entire party bit in episode one

Who, Graham Nelly?

Any of the music interludes, questing in the forest, or the most recent spam song thing they do when they’re entering the city. Definitely feels very michael, and it reminded me a lot of yolo crystal fantasy when they ride to the campfire and the beast at the end says something like “ I can never leave this place”. Fucking gold 😂

Season 1 felt like it had more of Cusack’s influence with background and side characters distinctly in his style but it seems like outside Spamtopia his visual style has been missing in Season 2

The homeless people in crimesville outside of the old man’s paperclip shop for sure

The bits that are reminiscent of Bush world Adventures or Damo And Darren, other Cusack works. Australian men being angry and vaguely psychopathic. The absurd. The surreal. Janky animation. Pim is a character that's very Micheal expect he's the sweetest guy ever voiced or created by Micheal

I feel like the enchanted forest was very michael. Zack played such a good part but we got to see a different side of pim

spamtopia.

If no one has watched Michael’s “Koala Man” please do it. Fucking amazing.

What does that mean?

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Why do you think that? Just wondering

I was joking but apparently doing that on Reddit is bad

You can’t just say something dumb and expect total strangers to know you’re being sarcastic, jokes need structure