The Rickmobile Is Coming to Chandler's Alamo Drafthouse

Phoenix, it’s time to get schwifty in here.

The Alamo Drafthouse in Chandler will be the lone Valley stop of the “Don’t Even Trip Road Trip” tour, a celebration of the popular Adult Swim animated comedy Rick and Morty. On Saturday, August 26, the Rickmobile, a truck in the shape of the titular sociopathic scientist Rick Sanchez, will pull up in the movie theater parking lot.

Fans can get pictures taken next to the vehicle named for the smartest man in the universe, which also turns into a pop-up store featuring exclusive merchandise related to the show. It remains to be seen whether there will be any boxes of Eyeholes or Mulan Szechuan McNugget sauce available for purchase.

"We’ll have a mix of products from our licensees – home décor, board games, socks, and hats," says Jim Babcock, Adult Swim's vice president of consumer marketing, by email. "We also [have] some items we created specifically for the Rickmobile – special T-shirts and hoodies, a growing Squanchy, and a pool float."

The Rickmobile began its journey from Atlanta in May, a month after Adult Swim surprised fans with the first episode of the third season of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s demented take on Marty McFly and Doc Brown from the '80s movie classic Back to The Future. According to a recent safe-for-work article on Playboy.com, hardcore fans have been following the unique marketing gimmick in the same way Deadheads followed The Grateful Dead in the band’s heyday. They wait outside the Rickmobile early in the morning and meet other fans of the show.

"Fans often line up early and our hosts have been remarkable," Babock says. "There can be a long line sometimes and items do sell out, so we try to communicate all that to our fans, and people have been very pleasant."

Consider this your warning to arrive at the Alamo Drafthouse early if you want to get your hands on the coveted souvenirs. If fashionable lateness is more your style, the Rickmobile also will make appearances in Tucson on Friday, August 25, and Flagstaff on Sunday, August 27.

It has been nearly two years since the second season of Rick and Morty ended with a cliffhanger that will remain unspoiled here. In the time since, the show’s popularity has skyrocketed thanks in no small part to reruns and its increased availability on streaming services. In the weeks leading up to the July 30 season premiere, the brainy show with an affinity for butt and penis jokes was grabbing attention on mainstream media, including a story on National Public Radio, that most refined of news outlets. In the radio piece, pop-culture savant Harmon spoke about the show’s broad appeal.

“We did not sit down at all to say, let's create the new Kermit the Frog because that would be an awful – I don't think that's what Jim Henson was doing,” he told reporter Nina Gregory, “I think Jim Henson said, ‘This is a green sock that I'm using to express what it's like to be Jim Henson.’ And it ended up becoming this classic character. But when you try to make something with mass appeal, it's usually garbage.”

According to Alamo Drafthouse creative manager Lauren Knight, the theater is working on special screenings to commemorate the event as well as drink and cocktail specials at the lobby bar.

The “Don’t Even Trip Road Trip” Tour, featuring the Rickmobile, is scheduled to stop at Chandler's Alamo Drafthouse on Saturday, August 26, starting at 6 p.m. For more information, visit Adult Swim's website.