Moral Orel is a stop motion show created by Dino Stamatopoulos that aired on Adult Swim from 2005 to 2008, with a prequel special airing in 2012. The show follows a young boy named Orel Puppington as he tries to do good in his strictly religious town of Moralton, often interpreting sermons literally with disastrous consequences. As you can tell, the show deals with the topic of religion, but the primary focus is on the hypocrisy of the people in Moralton. It questions how they use their teachings, but manages to do so without broadly stating "religion is dumb, nugh!". Albeit incredibly sceptical, you don't often see religion approached with sincerity in adult cartoon comedies.
(Nugh!)
I may not have made the show sound like anything remarkable just yet, but I'll briefly go over each season and the special with some spoilers along the way. There are some specific things that happened during its run that I feel are worth mentioning as well.
Season 1:
Early on in the show, Stamatopoulos was still figuring out what he wanted to do with the characters. Although the humour can be dark, the first season is mostly a comedy. Each episode in this season follows a similar formula: Orel goes to church, misinterprets a lesson and does something terrible, then gets punished by his dad (by belting) only to be taught another terrible lesson in its place. Despite this though, the show does begin to develop characters and plot threads that are explored more in the following seasons. We begin to see cracks in the Puppington's nuclear family set up with Orel's parents (Clay and Bloberta) clearly despising each other, the episodes eventually leading to their divorce in the season finale... which is why it's strange that the season finale was aired first.
The season 1 finale of Moral Orel happens to be a Christmas episode, so it was premiered as part of a Christmas programming block on Adult Swim before the rest of the season. It takes a darker tone, in some scenes making use of dramatic camera angles and a lack of music or dialogue. As you can imagine, without the build up and context of the previous episodes the finale just left people confused as to what the show was, especially after being advertised as a comedy.
(Christmas joy...)
There were also some more issues regarding intended episode order when the rest of season 1 aired. This doesn't affect the show too much, but this way the episodes start relatively tame and get more twisted as they continue; just remember this show won't be for everyone. Here's the intended order:
- The Lord's greatest gift
- Waste
- Charity
- Omnipresence
- The blessed union
- God fearing
- Maturity
- Loyalty
- God's chef
- The best Christmas ever
Season 2:
This season opens with the reveal that Clay and Bloberta will actually be staying together, but only for the sake of appearances; Orel thinks this means everything will be fine. He has always been naive in believing that things are okay if that's what he's told, but season 2 begins to play with this idea. We start to see Orel questioning people a bit more, sometimes coming to his own conclusions about his outlook and practices, but it's not often as pleasant as that. We also begin to see episodes ending with Orel saddened or hurt by the lessons he learns, and with wider interaction with other townsfolk in Moralton, how his trust in his authoritative figures begins to fade. This is most evident in the two part season finale. These are very powerful episodes, my description alone probably won't do them justice.
Nature part one and two introduce an even more dramatic tone shift. The episodes are almost completely devoid of humour and hold on some incredibly tense and uncomfortable moments. Nature sees Clay taking Orel on a hunting trip, but Orel can't bring himself to kill anything, leaving Clay disappointed. Clay is a drinker and until this point it has been portrayed humorously, but these episodes reveal the worst of his alcoholism. Drunk and spiralling, Clay bitterly rants about his life and family, regressing into disturbing screams. For the first time we see Orel tearfully confront his father, but to no avail. As the situation worsens, Clay accidentally shoots Orel in the leg, but completely denies responsibility and shows no remorse.
(Clay Puppington: evil bastard.)
Through all these events Orel realises he has no reason to look up to his father in his "true nature", his positive and trusting outlook shattered.
Season 3:
Higher ups at Adult Swim loved the direction Stamatopolous was taking the show in and asked for him to make the next season as dark as possible, something they would later regret. When they saw some early versions of scripts for season 3, they cancelled the plan for 5 seasons and cut down the third to 13 episodes. It's strange considering that they asked for it, but they said the show was becoming too depressing. With the infamous episode Alone depicting themes of abuse, rape and abortion all in one place I can't say it's a complete surprise. There are also episodes about abandonment, emotional and physical numbness, and even an episode about Orel having enlightenment beaten out him... Take this season slow if it's too uncomfortable, it gets pretty heavy and can be a lot to process.
There are still some very sweet moments though, trust me.
(These two are adorable.)
Season 3 is mostly comprised of episodes coinciding with or leading up to the events of the hunting trip, becoming even more focused on the other inhabitants of Moralton. We learn about the pasts of certain individuals in Orel's life and how they were shaped. You'll find yourself understanding them more, but not necessarily sympathising with them. Most of the people in Moralton are horribly flawed, but that's what makes them feel so real and why this show really stands out. Unfortunately, because of the season being cut short, some plot lines and character arcs were dropped or rushed. It's understandable given the circumstances, it's just a shame that some developments couldn't get more focus, including the ending.
As the still recovering Orel dwells on his father being beyond redemption, he realises that he can separate himself from the bad in his life and become his own person instead of forwarding his abuse. I would've loved to have seen more time spent on Orel's struggle and growth into possibly the only healthy adult in Moralton, but the cuts to the show meant that the revelation ended up being restricted to a few sentences in the final episode. I don't know if the show would have ended the same way had cuts not been made, but the ending we got is still so important, even if it's somewhat brushed off. Despite all the hell Orel went through, he still turned out okay and broke the cycle.
(Hot dog, a happy ending!)
Beforel Orel, "Trust":
The prequel follows 4 year old Orel being sent to his distanced grandfather's house while Bloberta is pregnant with his younger brother. We see that Orel's highly trusting and impressionable nature has always been part of him, making him a target for manipulation at an early age. The prequel also tackles the idea of inter-generational trauma with some callbacks to the series. There's an interaction between Clay and his father that shows his reliance on warped religious teachings exist mostly out of spite and a need to feel worthwhile. Clay's father acknowledges his mistakes and trusts that Orel will know when to question those around him. With a sly little wink, we see that he may have always been wiser to his circumstances than it appeared in the series.
(The best awkward wink he could manage.)
"Dear Orel, always remember son, even though you are the perfect candidate for brainwashing in this town, you're also too pure and good hearted to be corrupted."
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Moral Orel is a fascinating show in its entirety and was ahead of its time. It can be silly, it can be brutal, and it makes foam resin puppets seem so real. I think Orel himself is adorable. I've never felt so protective of a fictional character before, he provides hope in a sobering coming of age setting that's full of broken people he could become. I don't feel that giving away the ending was too much of a spoiler, because it just feels so earned... plus knowing it going in probably makes the more depressing scenes more bearable.
As I've mentioned, even in its lighter moments this show is definitely not for everyone, though I highly recommend it to anyone who's willing to give it a try. It's a little obscure and deserves more attention. If you want to laugh uncomfortably and cry (sometimes at the same time), give Moral Orel a shot.
(I couldn't resist.)
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