Thanks for watching! If you enjoy my work, feel free to support me on Patreon :) -> www.patreon.com/uricksaladbar This site has, unfortunately, struck my last video with limited ads, and has unfairly kept it there despite me resolving the issue. Because of this issue, my Scott Pilgrim video is basically earning nothing now. So pardon the self-promotion, the Patreon essentially acts as a safety net whenever these unfortunate things happen. Don't feel the need to pledge if you don't have any money though, look after yourself before you do some stranger online. Anyway, thank you for your time and attention
This video had me losing my shit much more than the episode itself. I can imagine Zach watching this and saying, “what the fuck is all this? We just wanted to do a 20 second bit.”
@@Cosplaybuddygiraffes The half of the country who voted not to include smormu on the show should be rounded up and sterilized as to not allow more of their kind to exist.
If Smormu was alive during WWII, Hitler would have seen the error of his ways and signed a peace treaty. We best be greatful that we are blessed to live in the same era as him.
I would like to add that smormu is an intentional parallel. Not only does his name start with the same letter as Sisyphus, his head is in the shape of a slope, his silhouette being broken by the round, boulderlike shape of his eye, making the silhouette of his head look like a mountain with a boulder nearing the top. Zach is truly a genius
Half fully believing lazy, blind assumptions like "weak times, weak men, hard times, tough men", and other half mocking any kind of effort put into it, that might ever complicate those assumptions with thinking up your OWN catchphrases. "If you SAY it, you're overthinking it, so just leave the thinking to others and accept their pre-packaged ones." It sounds like an artist choosing to just recycle some Sony Vegas assets and going "look at me I'm making art!". It's like saying Harry Potter and GoT quotes are better and more honest than quoting Homer, because Homer is pretentious when people actually have to dissect it to get anything other than confirmation of what they already believe, like how awesome Apple iWand is or that there's evul Slytherin everywhere trying to cut a man's tongue because they fear what he might say. Almost like it's the first thing AFTER you're clever enough to NOT cut out a man's tongue, you just invalidate it.
Yea when I watched episode 3 I didn’t experience any of that emotional roller coaster that was mentioned. I was genuinely entertained and more focused on if shrimpina was that human girl or a shrimp lol.
Wow. I never realized Smormu was such a nuanced, intricately crafted character on par with the likes of Charles Foster Kane and Michael Corleone. Too bad I really really really don't want Smormu.
I saw Zach and Michael say somewhere that their goal for the cameos in the show were for them to still be funny even if you didn't know who they were. I think they nailed it.
I'm just happy to see a show that isn't 100% cynical for every frame of the animation. The characters are genuinely trying to make people smile, and will typically succeed, but it also acknowledges the difficulties in life and doesn't act like everything will be sunshine and rainbows all the time. It strikes a balance I don't see enough.
Its like the opposite of us as teens hating shows aimed at younger audiences for being too happy and always ending on a cheesy happy morale note. We now dislike adult comedy for being too dark and cynical, but shows often fail to convey any sort of meaningful story or message without a very large helping of negativity from beginning to end. Its supposed to resonate with us because life outside of your parent's protection can be really hard and the world is full of corruption and negativity. But if you see this too many times it gets tiring, we all have to wake up tomorrow and go through life, why burned us more with being cynical about every minute thing to be upset about? Smiling Friends doesn't shy away from having some real messages about sadness and hate, but then shows that despite these things you can still be happy.
@ShadeBoi cynicism and nihilism have their place in comedy but just having everything be like yeah everything sucks and everyone dies the end. Like no people are actually trying to make a difference or this person actually ends up happy it's like oh that makes me feel good and I want to watch more.
@@zombieranger3410 Incredibly true. That's the neverending give and take of life, culture, generations, fiction, and time. What a seesaw this existence is! We lean away from our upbringing but we lean too far into an equally unrealistic world, and so we lean back and forth until we find the balance, for that is key to truth, understanding, and subsequently joy. Nothing is black or white, and you can still smile through all the grey.
@@Tzgrey77 They even had an episode about the whole "everything sucks and everyone dies" thing and basically poked fun at the characters that had that mindset
not only that but it makes sense. Only thing I think he should have addressed in the ~50% of people who Smormu didnt make smile, at least not at first. That pie chart was nearly half and half, and he did explain reasons for not liking him. But he didnt go through the parallel *experience* of not liking him.
I don't know if it's where I'm at in life but Smiling Friends was surprisingly cozy after watching all the mean spirited nihilism of Rick and Morty. Like I genuinely couldn't stand how awful people where in the show but something about Smiling Friends didn't have that. I didn't feel bad watching a comedy.
Yeah, there's a bitter cynicism in it that was initially fresh to see in adult animation, but at this point, it's pretty done to death, needless, and makes rewatching it very, *very* difficult. It reeks of that kid you knew in highschool, maybe freshman year of college that would answer things with something along the lines of "well, I shouldn't have to do homework, because nothing actually matters and we're all gonna die someday". It's nice for pretty much every episode to end on a high note, even if it's just "Pim didn't die to a forest demon", or "We killed a stalker/would-be murderer". It's kind of ironic too, since the levity allows them to get way more gritty in each episode compared to Rick & Morty, without feeling grim or overbearing.
I feel like I’m gonna be hated, but Rick and Morty as far as I noticed, hasn’t don’t anything based of nihilism in the past two seasons, and the show is kind of entertaining in a few ways or another.
It seems the comedy world is collectively growing out of its "edgy = humor!" phase, and thank God for that. We'll always have edgy comedy, that will likely never go away. But for once, we can have another option too.
Is this an American thing? I always hear shit like this, I know it's an overexaggeration but I don't get where it comes from. Is American education shitty or smth?
Dang I thought I was the best at making B.S. up for essays and connecting extremely loose threads but the whole Smormu bit proved I have a long way to go before reaching this perfection
Urick's writting and delivery is so astonishingly good, with all the right flavors of sincerity, irony, humor and documentary that I just want to throw money at his face.
BRUH these VISUALS are so GOOD. I came here to watch Smiling Friends content but stayed to watch all the relevant images flash across the screen in different ways. Not to mention this essay was REALLY comprehensive and summed up everything I favor about the internet well. But my gosh, the unique graphics, so satisfying.
Grim and Narly almost seem like a reflection of other cartoons that embrace pessimism and choose to be mean spirited and just give up on hope while still wanting attention and to go on as a show rather than be stopped by the “Boss”.
Yeah, and an interesting criticism in how people hide and propagate really hateful ideas behind a facade of “nihilism” or “edgyness”. That part about “eradicating all the Puerto Ricans” that escaped Grim during his speech is what we call a “mask off moment”.
@@melaniey.5596and what's fun is how it's usually people who crown themselves as paragon of some kind of progress point that engage in this behavior. Kulaks, Judai, so many losses because of such people. It's an overly material reality analysis which has a pseudo-selflessness which in truth seems entirely inwardly obsessed.
I came into this thinking it was going to be a nice and serious video essay that can help explain why I love the show so much but then the Smormu part hit and now I’m rewatching this! Now this is how you make a video that won’t just disappear from your brain after you’re done with multitasking!
fried out of my mind rn this genuinely one of the most influential video essays ive watched in sooo long. just the analysis at the beginning of the shows deeper connections had me hooked, like watching a crash course video in school or sumn. either way you got my like and sub lol
I think my favorite part of the show. Is that being mean is shown to be wrong. While other Adult Swim shows usually has only mean or sarcastic characters. Its nice to see Smiling Friends avoid that
@@Zekyb0y Rick and morty cynicism isn’t played for laughs tho, it’s to say that despite how big and meaningless everything is shit matters to those who make it matter
What makes this video even more amazing to me is, he could have released this on April Fool's and left it up to the audience whether he is being sincere or not. But instead he just goes for it and digs some serious insights out of nowhere that have me rethinking the entire show.
Honestly I am just happy to have more Optimistic Adult Animation stuff and also a series that came from Internet people that thankfully lived up to the hype
Some comedy shows have some amazing serious and sad moments, but im so tired of everything tryng to have a depressive undertone, so it really is great to see a show who is genuine and honest on what they do
This shit us absolutely hilarious. He put the subtitle for joke at 30:40 as low skill floor observation. Man, this is the type of comedy I need in my life, subscribed.
What's refreshing is the team actually managed to develop their product for TV, rather than ditch what made their content funny to reach some nubulous "wider audience".
Jesus this video style is gorgeous I’m obsessed with it. Minimalist and colourful and interesting to look at plus visual humour wowwww graphic design is so clearly your passion
One great thing with Smiling Friends is how good the twists are. Often a small thing pointed out at the beginning leads to the big reveal at the end. For example how Satan is playing Rust like Charlie and how he is in a feedback loop.
He also orders from Salty's, Charlie's favourite. (Presumably, Salty is in hell due to his lack of care over 15 people dying due to his menu.) And there was Meant to be a scene where Charlie vapes at the start, but that was removed due to an anti-vaping sponsor of Adult Swim. For some arbitrary reason it was OK for Satan to vape, so long as the smoke was red.
The use of To Zanarkand during his delve into the complexity of Smormu’s character makes me really, really, really happy, one might say that it even put a smile on my face.
A decent summary capturing the broad strokes, but Smormu is such an infinitely complex character it would take a 5 hour video to fully explain this expertly written character.
I too was disappointed in the abstract presented in this short film. Some people study SMORMU for millenia, and he makes only a thirty minute video. quite disgraceful....
My favorite moments from the video: - Epic piano version of the Arabian Riff playing - "One must imagine Syphilus happy" says Albert Cumstain - General annoyances of life: Wiping your ass - Smiling Friend's blatant plagirism - Women can play video games - If you dont like Smormu you're racist - The random discord pings
I truly believe that Smiling Friends is easily the best greenlit animated series in many years. There's nothing else like it. Everything is handled with care and love. Not overly seuxalized, not overly violent and its strangely very wholesome. It's such a positive show and yet so absurd. I truly love it. I can't stop making videos about it. Thank you for this Urick! 🔥🔥🔥
18:02 To a person, who has actually never watched the episode those clothes are striking pure horror. The reason for that is Joe VS Elan comics, based on the real life events. The students, who were prone to flee from the cult-school, were wearing the exact same cloth. Pink T-shirt and yellow shorts so they would be more visibly striking in the woods and in general.
This is what happens when you let a philosopher have access to the unbridled bizarre between the couch cushions bit of the internet for 30+ minutes. Plato would be jealous of your smormu epitology
You had me right up until you misidentified Smormu's "arabian riff". Any true Smormu Fan would know that Smormu is in fact referencing Lyle's iconic intro to his videos, not some random "arabian riff".
This is the only problem I have with the essay, although smormu is so notoriously complex that you could probably connect his character to the Arabian riff through his interconnecting plot lines
I like that in the first episode they try and make the client happy with vague garbage like going to an amusement parks and the guy rightfully admits that having fun made him feel a little bit better but he knew it was fleeting. But then he found a purpose in work, in feeling useful and that's what have jim long term happiness. Zach says there are no messages but I think he is well documented in earning against momentary small fake victories (he talks frequently about the gooning epidemic that is frying young men's minds with porn)
I love how Zach is portrayed as a degenerate sewer dwelling globinoid even though he's actually an intelligent and highly motivated libertarian beefcake in real life.
Yes, Desmond smiled when he found purpose in his life (realized he could use his gun to kill blibles, perform a useful service that would help people, & earn a living in the process) & was also smiling during his commercial, showing that this time rather than a short-lived thrill to briefly disturb his routine, now his daily routine has been filled with meaning. You also see this with 3D Squelton. He stops crying when Pim suggests he could become a balloon maker. Again, this idea is exciting to 3D Squelton because it offers him a long-term identity/journey to embark on that could give his life direction. Zach has indeed said the series is meant to be just silly humor for anyone to enjoy without heavy-handed preaching, but I think (whether on purpose or not) his views on life do pop up from time to time. Zach has said in interviews that what Desmond said (& to some extent even what the Frowning Friends said) is essentially valid, however he is not crushed by the "absurdity" of things, & instead is more motivated to give meaning to his life by setting ambitious goals & working his ass off to see what kinds of cool stuff he can create.
@@marvelsandals4228 Yeah I seem to remember Zach saying that the people he hates the most are nihilists but that he doesn't blame them necessarily because nihilism is so easy to fall into
While others have said it before, it’s nice to see an adult cartoon that isn’t just a cynic’s circlejerk like Rick and Morty or trying to ape the antics of the Griffin family. I wouldn’t mind Rick and Morty ending on Mr. Frog killing the cast. I’m kind of expecting some of those generic adult cartoons to try pathetically mock this show like how Paradise P.D. had the audacity to take a dump on Brooklyn Nine-Nine really.
@@stproducciones9140 Peter will probably get a job as a voice actor for a thinly veiled parody of Smiling Friends, then like cough before reading the script and excusing himself before the director tells him to keep going and keep that in, "because worse is better now! Keep it all in!" and when Peter struggles to finish the sentence, maybe stuttering or farting, the director freaks out saying "Now this is REAL expertly done dialogue!"
@@bluecanine3374 "boy this is worse than the time i made an adult swim cartoon" * Cuts to Peter Griffin dressed as Charlie in a poorly recreated background from Smiling Friends * "Nyehehehe and they said I needed to learn how to draw"
Zach and Michael gave me so much hope for adult animation, best part of the show is the dialogue exchanges and shows how you can make something even funny by just the way characters talk to eachother (also they aren't unnecessarily mean to eachother) (Also I had the whole sisyphus moment at the end, dear gosh I had anxiety throughout the video)
I was feeling like the second half felt like a delayed April Fools joke... then I expanded the description. Always love these videos and way to stay committed to the bit
the thing I love the most about the show is what zach has been going on about since the beginning of the idea, the characters are just people. They put their hands in their pockets and have realistic reactions and conversations. That's the most fun part, and why the funniest scene in the show is when Charlie slams his fist into Jeremy's lungs and he slumps over wheezing and trying to breathe, it's damn good writing
With so many shows telling me how nothing matters and the world sucks, having a show that makes me laugh, a show that makes me wanna smile, there ain’t nothing better
This is just a well documented video that the animation community heavily needs; so much potential in these creators, that and just, it's entertaining, all your videos are, thank you so much, keep up the good content.
All the animators/animations talked about and referenced to I all adore! Thank you Urick for giving these people the light they deserve, your definitely one of them. :)
This is a brilliant point because I’ve shown smiling friends to like 5 of my friends who have no idea about Zach or Michael or sleepy cabin and they all absolutely adore it. Humor that can be enjoyed universally rather than servicing long time fans goes a very long way
Watching Oneyplays alot of people from there are voice actors for this show and they get people they joke about all the time to voice act also. As a fan of Zach it's great to see this show be so popular. And watching Bigtop Burger I hope that show/minisodes gets it's fame and popularity that it deserves
I love how aware urick is of his own quirks in his speech and presentation, in order to effectively make fun of it. Listen to his influction of "none, the-LESS" at 23:30.
@@MyArchive930 You just don't have a high enough I.Q. to fully appreciate and understand the subtle narrative and political importance of Smormu, and the social commentary provided from how he's presented to the show and through his actions.
this video reads like a 10-page essay that was rushed in two days and done with minimal research ... this video reads like the 10-page essay I did two days ago
Thanks for watching! If you enjoy my work,
feel free to support me on Patreon :)
-> www.patreon.com/uricksaladbar
This site has, unfortunately, struck my last video with limited ads, and has unfairly kept it there despite me resolving the issue. Because of this issue, my Scott Pilgrim video is basically earning nothing now. So pardon the self-promotion, the Patreon essentially acts as a safety net whenever these unfortunate things happen. Don't feel the need to pledge if you don't have any money though, look after yourself before you do some stranger online.
Anyway, thank you for your time and attention
first
Oh what a surprise TH-cam is still fucking shit
to the person who says first you get zero b!tches
Smormu is my god. Worship him. Be One with Smormu
I love the swipe at Hasan (and other twitch reactors) with the empty chair reacts
This is what exposure to half a minute of Smormu does to a man
True nirvana is achieved
I can't wait for the show's finale where (!!!spoilers!!!) Smormu stares at the screen for five hours! So many people will ascend that day.
I been saying this for months
I’m not sure about you guys but I would let Smormu sleep with my wife.
@@randomguy7928 smormu is the second coming of christe
Damn, man managed to talk about Smoormu 10 times longer then he existed.
100 times*
@@makeitthrough_ ^stop being a nerd
*THIS CAN NEVER BE UNDONE*
This video had me losing my shit much more than the episode itself. I can imagine Zach watching this and saying, “what the fuck is all this? We just wanted to do a 20 second bit.”
First time I lost interest in any of his videos lol
"maybe you don't like Smormu because you're racist"
That killed me.
It's funny because its true! Correct things are always funny!
the smormu will not be televised
It’s untrue because even racists can’t hate Smormu, he’s just such a presence.
You’d need to have no love in your heart to dislike a chad like Smormu
@@Cosplaybuddygiraffes The half of the country who voted not to include smormu on the show should be rounded up and sterilized as to not allow more of their kind to exist.
If Smormu was alive during WWII, Hitler would have seen the error of his ways and signed a peace treaty. We best be greatful that we are blessed to live in the same era as him.
this feels like a schizophrenic's application hoping to be invited to work on the show. i love it.
Or languages arts or film teachers in 100 years
I would like to add that smormu is an intentional parallel. Not only does his name start with the same letter as Sisyphus, his head is in the shape of a slope, his silhouette being broken by the round, boulderlike shape of his eye, making the silhouette of his head look like a mountain with a boulder nearing the top. Zach is truly a genius
Bravo Zach!
And Michael, don’t forget Michael
massively overanalysed
@@maddeypuppetsMy brother in chode, have you watched the video this comment is under?
.....🧐😒🤣lmfao hwuht muh dude
Half an entertaining little essay, half a magnificent shitpost, pure masterpiece
Half fully believing lazy, blind assumptions like "weak times, weak men, hard times, tough men", and other half mocking any kind of effort put into it, that might ever complicate those assumptions with thinking up your OWN catchphrases. "If you SAY it, you're overthinking it, so just leave the thinking to others and accept their pre-packaged ones."
It sounds like an artist choosing to just recycle some Sony Vegas assets and going "look at me I'm making art!". It's like saying Harry Potter and GoT quotes are better and more honest than quoting Homer, because Homer is pretentious when people actually have to dissect it to get anything other than confirmation of what they already believe, like how awesome Apple iWand is or that there's evul Slytherin everywhere trying to cut a man's tongue because they fear what he might say. Almost like it's the first thing AFTER you're clever enough to NOT cut out a man's tongue, you just invalidate it.
@@sboinkthelegday3892 what the fuck are you on about
@@sboinkthelegday3892 ok
Hay que rezar a nuestro nuevo Dios smormu
@@sboinkthelegday3892 ok
Imma be honest, the Smormu bit is played so straight that I'm still sitting here wondering if it was serious or not
Honestly same here, but he did site "Albert Cumstain". So I have my doubts
Yeah it’s a bit lol
i'd put my money on it being half-and-half
Yea when I watched episode 3 I didn’t experience any of that emotional roller coaster that was mentioned. I was genuinely entertained and more focused on if shrimpina was that human girl or a shrimp lol.
thats the point
Wow. I never realized Smormu was such a nuanced, intricately crafted character on par with the likes of Charles Foster Kane and Michael Corleone. Too bad I really really really don't want Smormu.
Maybe, you're racist
SINNER
You're racist
What a racist
whatever racist
Man just did a genuine review and a cynical parody of "smiling friends is so important" videos at the same time.
this is a parody?? jesus i’m autistic
@@dreamofyouandiThere’s no way you took the Smormu half seriously
I did for a while😭@@distracted-tea
@@distracted-tea .....halfway.. I only understood halfway...
I saw Zach and Michael say somewhere that their goal for the cameos in the show were for them to still be funny even if you didn't know who they were. I think they nailed it.
Rest in peace Gilbert Gottfried. His last role being him playing literally God in such an amazing show is truly ending on the highest note possible
this is NOT how i wanted to find this out, thanks
Same here. Not how I wanted to find out. But I appreciate it. He was a legend and I'm sad to see him go.
Hate to break the news, but it was just someone impersonating him.
@@Sweetwintercherry your source?
@@Sweetwintercherry imdb says it was Gilbert
I'm just happy to see a show that isn't 100% cynical for every frame of the animation. The characters are genuinely trying to make people smile, and will typically succeed, but it also acknowledges the difficulties in life and doesn't act like everything will be sunshine and rainbows all the time. It strikes a balance I don't see enough.
Its like the opposite of us as teens hating shows aimed at younger audiences for being too happy and always ending on a cheesy happy morale note. We now dislike adult comedy for being too dark and cynical, but shows often fail to convey any sort of meaningful story or message without a very large helping of negativity from beginning to end. Its supposed to resonate with us because life outside of your parent's protection can be really hard and the world is full of corruption and negativity. But if you see this too many times it gets tiring, we all have to wake up tomorrow and go through life, why burned us more with being cynical about every minute thing to be upset about? Smiling Friends doesn't shy away from having some real messages about sadness and hate, but then shows that despite these things you can still be happy.
@ShadeBoi cynicism and nihilism have their place in comedy but just having everything be like yeah everything sucks and everyone dies the end. Like no people are actually trying to make a difference or this person actually ends up happy it's like oh that makes me feel good and I want to watch more.
@@zombieranger3410 Incredibly true. That's the neverending give and take of life, culture, generations, fiction, and time. What a seesaw this existence is! We lean away from our upbringing but we lean too far into an equally unrealistic world, and so we lean back and forth until we find the balance, for that is key to truth, understanding, and subsequently joy. Nothing is black or white, and you can still smile through all the grey.
Also doesnt do the other 180 of everything and everyone sucks like rick n morty
@@Tzgrey77 They even had an episode about the whole "everything sucks and everyone dies" thing and basically poked fun at the characters that had that mindset
i can’t believe you made an entire essay on a character who’s basically a satire of the cousin oliver trope
Smormu
and I can't believe he made me believe it xD
not only that but it makes sense. Only thing I think he should have addressed in the ~50% of people who Smormu didnt make smile, at least not at first. That pie chart was nearly half and half, and he did explain reasons for not liking him. But he didnt go through the parallel *experience* of not liking him.
And here I find you in the comments, the man who sent me the Mega link that let watch Smiling Friends in the first place
Cousin who
This is like when the english teacher analysis a sentence for 40 minutes
You should put this in the description:
"My source? I made it he fuck up."
I don't know if it's where I'm at in life but Smiling Friends was surprisingly cozy after watching all the mean spirited nihilism of Rick and Morty. Like I genuinely couldn't stand how awful people where in the show but something about Smiling Friends didn't have that. I didn't feel bad watching a comedy.
Yeah, there's a bitter cynicism in it that was initially fresh to see in adult animation, but at this point, it's pretty done to death, needless, and makes rewatching it very, *very* difficult.
It reeks of that kid you knew in highschool, maybe freshman year of college that would answer things with something along the lines of "well, I shouldn't have to do homework, because nothing actually matters and we're all gonna die someday".
It's nice for pretty much every episode to end on a high note, even if it's just "Pim didn't die to a forest demon", or "We killed a stalker/would-be murderer". It's kind of ironic too, since the levity allows them to get way more gritty in each episode compared to Rick & Morty, without feeling grim or overbearing.
Yeah, smiling friends is dark, but it’s not mean spirited. It strikes a good balance
I feel like I’m gonna be hated, but Rick and Morty as far as I noticed, hasn’t don’t anything based of nihilism in the past two seasons, and the show is kind of entertaining in a few ways or another.
It seems the comedy world is collectively growing out of its "edgy = humor!" phase, and thank God for that. We'll always have edgy comedy, that will likely never go away. But for once, we can have another option too.
I recommwnd watching the video essay “a smiling friend in a sea of frowns“ because it talks about exactly that
When your english teacher asks you to explain the significance of the curtains in the background being blue
Pure gold
Color theory.
Is this an American thing? I always hear shit like this, I know it's an overexaggeration but I don't get where it comes from. Is American education shitty or smth?
@@silverag5761 very
I love how meticulous the animation is, but then they're like "okay make this characters run cycle 3 frames lol"
I love how they made Pim casually run at lightning speed, while in the Halloween special he runs like normal.
i find it so ungodly funny in the show when a characters walk cycle is just two frames of the legs going up and down 😭
Dang I thought I was the best at making B.S. up for essays and connecting extremely loose threads but the whole Smormu bit proved I have a long way to go before reaching this perfection
Dude, I forgot about Smormu until he popped up at the end. I had to remind the beginning.
It's crazy how deep you when into that lol
Urick's writting and delivery is so astonishingly good, with all the right flavors of sincerity, irony, humor and documentary that I just want to throw money at his face.
Give money to Easter bunny 🌚🐰
this joke feels so sarcastic that I'm not even sure if he's joking anymore.
Only thanks to your comment, I realised that it's an April Fools Day video
Shrimp odyssey was just a joke from Oney Plays where they pretended that a game called Worm Odyssey existed
Jreg prepared me for this
@@askele-tonofgaming4878 and the Arabian song is just a call back to something Zach did on oneyplays
@@dycotomaskey9258Lyle’s classic theme song
I genuinely can’t tell if this is serious or ironic, and this is EXACTLY how I feel when watching Smiling Friends. Good Job, I guess?
oh same im so confused
i mean you couldn't actually text the number so that can be a hint
It’s both, the beginning quarter is serious and the rest of it is a meme
that "I guess?" explains how ı feel so well dude hfjftjfg
80% ironic 20% dude happy because indie animators are getting tv shows
BRUH these VISUALS are so GOOD. I came here to watch Smiling Friends content but stayed to watch all the relevant images flash across the screen in different ways. Not to mention this essay was REALLY comprehensive and summed up everything I favor about the internet well. But my gosh, the unique graphics, so satisfying.
7:15 it wouldn’t be a proper adult swim show without that stock footage fire
This reminds me of the film essays I had to read during this semester. You really capture the “grasping for straws” type writing
Grim and Narly almost seem like a reflection of other cartoons that embrace pessimism and choose to be mean spirited and just give up on hope while still wanting attention and to go on as a show rather than be stopped by the “Boss”.
now that's an interesting point
(・o・)
Yeah, and an interesting criticism in how people hide and propagate really hateful ideas behind a facade of “nihilism” or “edgyness”. That part about “eradicating all the Puerto Ricans” that escaped Grim during his speech is what we call a “mask off moment”.
@@melaniey.5596and what's fun is how it's usually people who crown themselves as paragon of some kind of progress point that engage in this behavior. Kulaks, Judai, so many losses because of such people. It's an overly material reality analysis which has a pseudo-selflessness which in truth seems entirely inwardly obsessed.
I support Smormu.
I came into this thinking it was going to be a nice and serious video essay that can help explain why I love the show so much but then the Smormu part hit and now I’m rewatching this! Now this is how you make a video that won’t just disappear from your brain after you’re done with multitasking!
fried out of my mind rn this genuinely one of the most influential video essays ive watched in sooo long. just the analysis at the beginning of the shows deeper connections had me hooked, like watching a crash course video in school or sumn. either way you got my like and sub lol
I think my favorite part of the show. Is that being mean is shown to be wrong. While other Adult Swim shows usually has only mean or sarcastic characters. Its nice to see Smiling Friends avoid that
The moment Charlie is mean he literally dies
One of the few good adult shows that isn't trying to be like Family Guy.
@Benjamin Zwart for like 2 seasons sure
Family Guy is so painfully unfunny. It's absolute ass.
and yet all shows trying to be like family guy are good
@bigcoomer 69 Rick & Morty tries to mimic family guy in some aspects, everything has to be acid and cynical
@@Zekyb0y Rick and morty cynicism isn’t played for laughs tho, it’s to say that despite how big and meaningless everything is shit matters to those who make it matter
This was a life changing experience the really unraveled the complexities of the enigma that is Smormu. Thank you.
What makes this video even more amazing to me is, he could have released this on April Fool's and left it up to the audience whether he is being sincere or not. But instead he just goes for it and digs some serious insights out of nowhere that have me rethinking the entire show.
21:50 I love the subtle Jerma dumptruck
13:33 over half of modern adult animated series now:
Uricksaladbar has completely lost it when the Smormu part happened
This is the funniest goddamn video I've seen in a long time Urick. So many jokes induced heavy coughing fits and it was worth it.
Honestly I am just happy to have more Optimistic Adult Animation stuff and also a series that came from Internet people that thankfully lived up to the hype
Some comedy shows have some amazing serious and sad moments, but im so tired of everything tryng to have a depressive undertone, so it really is great to see a show who is genuine and honest on what they do
This shit us absolutely hilarious. He put the subtitle for joke at 30:40 as low skill floor observation. Man, this is the type of comedy I need in my life, subscribed.
You walked a very thin line of serious and joking so well I can't tell which this video was. XD
i'm gonna be real i feel like i'm having an anneurysm trying to wrap my head around what's going on in this video and i love it
the TL;DR is: Smormu is the best character ever written in fiction and those who disagree are scientifically wrong
The 7 Stages of Grief:
Depression
Bargaining
Anger
Depression
Existentialism
Satan's Plump Hole
Smormu
What's refreshing is the team actually managed to develop their product for TV, rather than ditch what made their content funny to reach some nubulous "wider audience".
Exactly. I feel like that's a trap that China, IL got stuck in. I still enjoyed the TV series though
Jesus this video style is gorgeous I’m obsessed with it. Minimalist and colourful and interesting to look at plus visual humour wowwww graphic design is so clearly your passion
didnt expect this to turn into a indepth analysis about smormu and his links to depression and syphisys but im very glad
Urick: Smormu is a genius character placed in the show
Zach: hehe funi blue man
Showing contempt animation that isn't just random gore and gross out is SO refreshing
I too love hateful animation
especially for [Adult Swim]s standards
One great thing with Smiling Friends is how good the twists are. Often a small thing pointed out at the beginning leads to the big reveal at the end. For example how Satan is playing Rust like Charlie and how he is in a feedback loop.
He also orders from Salty's, Charlie's favourite.
(Presumably, Salty is in hell due to his lack of care over 15 people dying due to his menu.)
And there was Meant to be a scene where Charlie vapes at the start, but that was removed due to an anti-vaping sponsor of Adult Swim.
For some arbitrary reason it was OK for Satan to vape, so long as the smoke was red.
or Mip on the Enchanted Forest episode ends up being a stalker who is the reason the smiling friends are there.
Or the very casual mention of the “Renaissance Men are coming to town” and at the very end we finally see the pay off
9:26 idk if its a coincidence or not, but that michael, an australian, and his line are upside down is amazing
16:38 I CANNOTBELIEVE THAT STARTED PLAYING when he came on screen. Incredible video, 10/10
The use of To Zanarkand during his delve into the complexity of Smormu’s character makes me really, really, really happy, one might say that it even put a smile on my face.
Stay smiling, friend. :)
I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANTED SMORMU TO BE THE FIFTH SMILING FRIEND :’(
Amazing that you took a 12 min essay on Smiling Friends' Success, and added 20 min of absurdity
I think that's kinda his point. Underlining the power of absurdism via an absurdist take.
really well produced. god like editing. good shit bro
A decent summary capturing the broad strokes, but Smormu is such an infinitely complex character it would take a 5 hour video to fully explain this expertly written character.
I too was disappointed in the abstract presented in this short film. Some people study SMORMU for millenia, and he makes only a thirty minute video. quite disgraceful....
My favorite moments from the video:
- Epic piano version of the Arabian Riff playing
- "One must imagine Syphilus happy" says Albert Cumstain
- General annoyances of life: Wiping your ass
- Smiling Friend's blatant plagirism
- Women can play video games
- If you dont like Smormu you're racist
- The random discord pings
I played that Albert Cumstain part over several times wondering if I misheard it lol. Good to know someone else heard it too!
Those Discord pings were jumpscare-worthy, ngl
the discord pings made me so mad!!!!!!
I truly believe that Smiling Friends is easily the best greenlit animated series in many years. There's nothing else like it. Everything is handled with care and love. Not overly seuxalized, not overly violent and its strangely very wholesome. It's such a positive show and yet so absurd. I truly love it. I can't stop making videos about it. Thank you for this Urick! 🔥🔥🔥
18:02 To a person, who has actually never watched the episode those clothes are striking pure horror. The reason for that is Joe VS Elan comics, based on the real life events. The students, who were prone to flee from the cult-school, were wearing the exact same cloth. Pink T-shirt and yellow shorts so they would be more visibly striking in the woods and in general.
Holy shit Joe vs Elan is exactly where my mind went with that part too
the editing is next level, keep up the good work bro! subbed
This is what happens when you let a philosopher have access to the unbridled bizarre between the couch cushions bit of the internet for 30+ minutes. Plato would be jealous of your smormu epitology
Gotta say, calling Smormu the Sisyphus of Smiling Friends immediately followed by the theme for Majula is pretty funny.
You had me right up until you misidentified Smormu's "arabian riff". Any true Smormu Fan would know that Smormu is in fact referencing Lyle's iconic intro to his videos, not some random "arabian riff".
DON'T OUT HIM!
This is the only problem I have with the essay, although smormu is so notoriously complex that you could probably connect his character to the Arabian riff through his interconnecting plot lines
I like that in the first episode they try and make the client happy with vague garbage like going to an amusement parks and the guy rightfully admits that having fun made him feel a little bit better but he knew it was fleeting. But then he found a purpose in work, in feeling useful and that's what have jim long term happiness.
Zach says there are no messages but I think he is well documented in earning against momentary small fake victories (he talks frequently about the gooning epidemic that is frying young men's minds with porn)
I love how Zach is portrayed as a degenerate sewer dwelling globinoid even though he's actually an intelligent and highly motivated libertarian beefcake in real life.
Dude that was the entire point of the Christmas episode. Charley literally says this to Satan.
@@NoName...... If only Smormu hadn't died in that freak Jelqimg incident
Yes, Desmond smiled when he found purpose in his life (realized he could use his gun to kill blibles, perform a useful service that would help people, & earn a living in the process) & was also smiling during his commercial, showing that this time rather than a short-lived thrill to briefly disturb his routine, now his daily routine has been filled with meaning. You also see this with 3D Squelton. He stops crying when Pim suggests he could become a balloon maker. Again, this idea is exciting to 3D Squelton because it offers him a long-term identity/journey to embark on that could give his life direction. Zach has indeed said the series is meant to be just silly humor for anyone to enjoy without heavy-handed preaching, but I think (whether on purpose or not) his views on life do pop up from time to time. Zach has said in interviews that what Desmond said (& to some extent even what the Frowning Friends said) is essentially valid, however he is not crushed by the "absurdity" of things, & instead is more motivated to give meaning to his life by setting ambitious goals & working his ass off to see what kinds of cool stuff he can create.
@@marvelsandals4228 Yeah I seem to remember Zach saying that the people he hates the most are nihilists but that he doesn't blame them necessarily because nihilism is so easy to fall into
The sheer amount of joy present in that smile at 13:57 has made my entire month.
Dude I love that Worthikids showed up in the intro I LOVE their music and their animations!
The fact it took me until the Smormu part to realize this video was a joke kind of pisses me off. I'm so stupid
It's only like five minutes of joke before that, anything before is probably serious. Don't beat yourself up about it too much
While others have said it before, it’s nice to see an adult cartoon that isn’t just a cynic’s circlejerk like Rick and Morty or trying to ape the antics of the Griffin family. I wouldn’t mind Rick and Morty ending on Mr. Frog killing the cast.
I’m kind of expecting some of those generic adult cartoons to try pathetically mock this show like how Paradise P.D. had the audacity to take a dump on Brooklyn Nine-Nine really.
I expect a family guy jab two years from now
@@stproducciones9140 Peter will probably get a job as a voice actor for a thinly veiled parody of Smiling Friends, then like cough before reading the script and excusing himself before the director tells him to keep going and keep that in, "because worse is better now! Keep it all in!" and when Peter struggles to finish the sentence, maybe stuttering or farting, the director freaks out saying "Now this is REAL expertly done dialogue!"
@@bluecanine3374 "boy this is worse than the time i made an adult swim cartoon"
* Cuts to Peter Griffin dressed as Charlie in a poorly recreated background from Smiling Friends *
"Nyehehehe and they said I needed to learn how to draw"
your videos are so well put together it’s baffling
15:19 god dammit dude. I was reading this out loud, completely invested, and then you hit me with the sonic hooters. Touché.
Zach and Michael gave me so much hope for adult animation, best part of the show is the dialogue exchanges and shows how you can make something even funny by just the way characters talk to eachother (also they aren't unnecessarily mean to eachother)
(Also I had the whole sisyphus moment at the end, dear gosh I had anxiety throughout the video)
I was feeling like the second half felt like a delayed April Fools joke... then I expanded the description. Always love these videos and way to stay committed to the bit
the thing I love the most about the show is what zach has been going on about since the beginning of the idea, the characters are just people. They put their hands in their pockets and have realistic reactions and conversations. That's the most fun part, and why the funniest scene in the show is when Charlie slams his fist into Jeremy's lungs and he slumps over wheezing and trying to breathe, it's damn good writing
I want an episode dedicated to Alan doing a job in his own unique way while Charlie and Pim are in the background cleaning up the office or something
31:22 why the fuck did I get an ad during the moment of silence
With so many shows telling me how nothing matters and the world sucks, having a show that makes me laugh, a show that makes me wanna smile, there ain’t nothing better
I will never forget Smormu, truly made me think about life.
I genuinely can't tell which parts of this video are satire and which aren't, i love it :)
I know that the date for this is April Fools Day, but knowing the Smiling Friends fandom, I’m not even sure anymore.
This is just a well documented video that the animation community heavily needs; so much potential in these creators, that and just, it's entertaining, all your videos are, thank you so much, keep up the good content.
25:34 ok this has to be your funniest video, and your serious tone makes it even better
All the animators/animations talked about and referenced to I all adore! Thank you Urick for giving these people the light they deserve, your definitely one of them. :)
10:53 oh damn it’s me 👀
Great video, always down for more Smiling Friends content on YT!
9:38 ah yes, Dave as Dave
when the ul'dah night music started to play i did a double-take and had to check if i left my game on lol
You actually had me in the first half not gonna lie, the smormu reveal got me LMAO
15:18
That just made me cackle with delight and clap my feet together like a little baby
This is something zack would say.
This is a brilliant point because I’ve shown smiling friends to like 5 of my friends who have no idea about Zach or Michael or sleepy cabin and they all absolutely adore it. Humor that can be enjoyed universally rather than servicing long time fans goes a very long way
I cant believe it literally took him saying smormu embodied the ethos of sisyphus for me to realize this was shitpost LMAO
"The reflection reflects nonetheless" is such a raw line I need it
I have never been so pissed yet so entertained simultaneously, kick ass job.
Watching Oneyplays alot of people from there are voice actors for this show and they get people they joke about all the time to voice act also. As a fan of Zach it's great to see this show be so popular. And watching Bigtop Burger I hope that show/minisodes gets it's fame and popularity that it deserves
I love how aware urick is of his own quirks in his speech and presentation, in order to effectively make fun of it. Listen to his influction of "none, the-LESS" at 23:30.
your critique videos are great but I have a special place in my heart for your positive videos, i hope you make more like these!
I'm so glad you showed Jeremy. I also agree that his entire three stage joke set up was fantastic.
I love that the Arabian Riff is being played on the piano in the background. Chef’s kiss from Urick
God dammit I hear it now lol
Damn, I was NOT expecting you to go through a couple of minutes on why you're in love with Smormu. I hope the two of you are very happy together
This channel doesn’t really cover philosophy so as soon as the word “absurdist” started being thrown around I knew this was a joke.
Of course you would consider this as a "joke". Not everyone can see the subtle capitalism symbolism in smormu.
@@NoName...... If you were to examine the entire show, you realize that analyzing him alone missed the entire point of the show.
@@MyArchive930 You just don't have a high enough I.Q. to fully appreciate and understand the subtle narrative and political importance of Smormu, and the social commentary provided from how he's presented to the show and through his actions.
@@schrimply5980 you didn have to cut him like that
@@apairofglasses775 Any anyway, the IQ scale is in itself arbitrary and thus, to be nice, just there.
Hearing the Ul'Dah theme in the middle of the video really caught me off guard I thought I had a tab open or something. Stellar vid btw
this video reads like a 10-page essay that was rushed in two days and done with minimal research
...
this video reads like the 10-page essay I did two days ago