The wait has been long for Season 3 of Rick and Morty, but for series co-creator Justin Roiland, the wait for some of that McDonald's Szechuan dipping sauce has been even longer. The sauce was a promotional menu item in 1998 for the release of Disney's Mulan before it went to that great refrigerator in the sky where all limited food releases eventually go. Roiland resurrected interest in his beloved sauce when it featured prominently in the Season 3 premiere of his hit show which aired last April, where it quickly consumed the internet. McDonald's has heard the demands for the sauce to return and they've sent a special gift to Roiland.
Yep, that's a straight up jug of official McDonald's Szechuan Sauce. Justin Roiland revealed on his Twitter page that the special package had arrived just in time for the premiere of Rick and Morty Season 3 with a caption that simply read "Holy shit." Specially packed in a container marked Dimension C-1998M, the Szechuan Sauce was accompanied by a letter from McDonald's Chef Mike. The note read that the sauce hailed from a parallel dimension where it's 1998 every day. There's no smart phones or social media, but there's plenty of that Mulan McNugget sauce, and Chef Mike was able to bring some back to our world. Best of all, the letter reveals that some "lucky fans" will also get to "experience the glory," meaning the sauce will somehow be made available for the rest of the world to have. You did it, the Internet! You forced McDonald's to bend to your will!
In the particular episode that featured the sauce, Rick revealed that his whole purpose for existing was to get some of that Mulan dipping sauce. It was his series arc and even if it took 9 seasons, he was gonna find that McNugget sauce! The deep specificity of the joke helped launch it into meme status and it became a running joke on the internet. Not only did thousands of fans petition McDonald's to bring back the sauce, but a single bottle of the stuff sold on eBay for $14,000. The obsession was real and McDonald's has seemed to realize that the Rick and Morty fan base is large enough that it's a good business decision to resurrect the sauce.
You can watch Rick voice his burning desire for the Szechuan Sauce in the clip below, where he lays it all out for Morty.
Rick and Morty returns tonight, July 30, on Adult Swim at 11:30 p.m. EST.
