History WesternAnimation / MoralOrel

** Let's not forget Florence (a name associated with cows in reference to the character's weight) who has a fixation with zebras. Cows resemble zebras in that they both have black and white coats, but the latter is generally thought to be prettier; Florence yearns to be a zebra rather than a cow.

* AnimalMotifs: The blue bird in "Nature" - likely meant to symbolize Orel's innocence, the bird appears in key scenes throughout the first part before flying off at the end of the episode [[spoiler:when Orel finally fires off his dad's pistol]]. It stays missing until the end credits of the second part.
** Likewise with the flies that appeared in the same episode, symbolizing Clay's desolation. They appear in the end credits with Orel's bird, symbolizing that his innocence has been stained.

*** Ironically Putty's advice backfired so spectacularly as well that many of the people tried to pass off Orel to the next unfortunate shmuck, as well as trying to plea with god on a technicality that Orel was just "eaves dropping on them talking to themselves" so they dont end up in hell.

* BlackComedy: Really, ''really'' black comedy - '''especially''' in Season Three. [[{{Discworld}} The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train]]. [[ItGotWorse On fire]].

* {{Blipvert}}: The last episode, "Honor" opens with the very end of the first episode "The Best Christmas Ever" with Orel believing deeply that God will fix everything, and he still has hope, followed by a rapid fire montage of scenes from the series during the one year between both episodes. The montage ends with Orel getting his cast off his leg after being shot in "Nature." showing the extreme contrast of the once innocently faithful Orel one year prior, to the more depressed Orel who's endured innocence shattering events by the end of the series.
* BloodBath: The episode "Innocence" sees Orel learn about blood's powers to show one's innocence to God and remain young forever in separate conversations with the Christeins and Coach Stopframe, as well as seeing him recruit Doughy, Billy, Tommy, and Maryenetta to provide blood for Orel to bathe in. The episode "Grounded" begins with Clay finding Orel in the tub and covered in blood with the other kids around him, bleeding from their wrists. The show itself, however, presents all this in AnachronicOrder with the conclusion to these events in "Grounded" being aired first and the set-up in "Innocence" being shown later.

* CrossDressingVoices: Orel Puppington is voiced by Carolyn Lawrence.
* [[{{Funny/MoralOrel}} Crowning Moment Of Funny]]: See the page

** Considering that even Reverend Putty and Daniel [[KickTheDog kick the dog]] several times, he somewhat invokes this trope mildly.
* LoudGulp: Happens in every episode just before Orel's father beats him as punishment for whatever he did wrong that day.

* NotSoAboveItAll : Miss Censordoll, after Orel gets her favorite food (eggs) banned from the town, as far as Censordoll going to the Moralton black market to get her eggs like the rest of the townspeople. Also Reverend Putty in "Closeface", who bonds with his daughter after finding out that they both have a snarky sense of humor.

* PassionPlay: Where Orel sings a song as Judas about how he hates Jesus.

* SoundtrackDissonance: During season three, the show uses "No Children" by the Mountain Goats to highlight the fucked up marriage of Bloberta and Clay Puppington.

* TakeThat: After his movies aren't very well appreciated, Orel concludes that sometimes things are misinterpreted. When asked for an example, he scratches his head with TheBible trying to come up with an answer. Really, the whole series.

* TheMoralSubstitute: Imagine if all media was Christian fundamentalist propaganda? Yeah, this trope is subject to a brutal {{Deconstruction}}, showing just how dysfunctional, and disturbing such a world would be.

* TruthInTelevision: Unfortunately, as odd as it seems to most people.

* WastedSong: "Nesting" has its own dark orchestral cover of the opening theme... which is played over some of the lowest-quality visuals the show has ever had. On top of that, the song gets ''cut off before it's finished'' by Ms Censordoll slamming a window.

** When the first episode features a Zombie Apocalypse and the show just gets ''darker'' from there...that's the ''definition'' of a CrapsackWorld.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Blatantly obvious when Orel agrees to give up his dog. He's to be taken to the Cavalry Hill Hospital to be put down. On the way, he's thrown a stick which looks suspiciously cross-like, which he carries all the way there.

** ExecutiveMeddling. Season 3 was originally going to be 20 episodes, and scripts and animatics had been prepared for all of the episodes--then Adult Swim slashed the order to 13 episodes. This was done after the higher-ups saw rough cuts of the the first couple of episodes, most notably "Alone"--which featured the reveal that not only had one of the female characters purposely allow herself to get sexually assaulted by a rapist in order to have sex, but showed the character in the aftermath of performing a coat-hanger abortion upon herself to kill the child conceived by the rape, as well as her obtaining an orgasm after mentally reliving being raped. According to Dino Stamatopoulos, "Alone" basically got the series cancelled even though its tone was Dino simply following orders to create darker episodes following the success of "Nature". The episode count getting reduced meant that the entire second half of the season had to be aborted (no pun intended), leaving the show with two episodes to deal with the fallout of "Nature", which resulted in a slapdash finale and most of the Miss Censordoll/Clay storyline getting cut.

The show served as an affectionate (and adult-oriented) quasi-parody of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' until series creator Dino Stamatopoulos (aka [[{{Community}} Starburns]]) began to move the focus away from Orel midway through Season One. Dino began to explore the dark underbelly of the seemingly happy-go-lucky townspeople of Moralton, which culminated in the two-part Season Two finale "Nature": [[spoiler:after getting drunk during a hunting trip with Orel, Clay ''shoots his own son in the leg'', shattering Orel's innocence for good in the process.]]

* RapeAsComedy: Orel raping women with a pastry bag, in order to be able to masturbate in season one.

* CompanionCube: Nurse Bendy's use of teddy bears as a stand-in for family units, since she believes that they won't take advantage of her sexually. When one of them [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything falls upon her rear while she's bending over]], she goes into a complete breakdown, believing her trust has been shattered. She got better after reuniting with her actual son.

* FreudianExcuse: Clay's an asshole because his insanely religious mother raised him like a spoiled prince (because all of her ''ten'' previous pregnancies never made it to term because of her constant drinking and smoking which she stopped when pregnant with Clay because she was praying to god that he would make it) and his father (who never wanted children and who never forgave Clay for the prank that led to his wife's fatal heart attack) emotionally shunned his child, to the point of telling him that he wasn't even worth the effort of physically abusing him, which led to Clay becoming a hellion if only to get slapped by his father, which for Clay was the only emotional response he could ever get out of his father. Bloberta, meanwhile, is the unwanted middle child of an emotionally abusive mother who treated her second daughter like an unwanted pet; she became an obsessive-compulsive neat freak to replace her addiction to booze, after introducing Clay to alcohol and watching him become a massive jerk with ''his first drink''.

While the show was cut short, fans kept hope alive for a revival. After 2007, Adult Swim only played reruns of the show sporadically, but in late 2011, the network began rerunning the show in chronological order on weeknights. When Dino learned of this, he said "[if] enough people watch, there may be hope for a special or two" on a Facebook post. A month into the reruns, Dino made another comment: "Got a great call from the Head of Adult Swim yesterday raving about the ratings that the Moral Orel reruns have been getting. Great job, everyone! Keep watching and the Moral Orel special will be imminent." Dino followed up on this on Halloween with a surprise appearance from Orel in the last bump of a ''WesternAnimation/MaryShelleysFrankenhole'' mini-marathon, where Orel said a new ''Moral Orel'' special would come "sometime in the near future". At its May 2012 upfront, Adult Swim confirmed Orel's return with the announcement of ''Beforel Orel'', though it has not confirmed what form (a full series or a one-off special) ''Beforel'' will take.

While the show was cut short, fans kept hope alive for a revival. After 2007, Adult Swim only played reruns of the show sporadically, but in late 2011, the network began rerunning the show in chronological order on weeknights. When Dino learned of this, he said "[if] enough people watch, there may be hope for a special or two" on a Facebook post. A month into the reruns, Dino made another comment: "Got a great call from the Head of Adult Swim yesterday raving about the ratings that the Moral Orel reruns have been getting. Great job, everyone! Keep watching and the Moral Orel special will be imminent." Dino followed up on this on Halloween with a surprise appearance from Orel in the last bump of a ''WesternAnimation/MaryShelleysFrankenhole'' mini-marathon, where Orel said a new ''Moral Orel'' special would come "sometime in the near future".

* ShoutOut: Among the weapons in Clay's weapon room are two [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun golden guns]].

While the show was cut short, fans kept hope alive for a revival. After 2007, Adult Swim only played reruns of the show sporadically, but in late 2011, the network began rerunning the show in chronological order on weeknights. When Dino learned of this, he said "[if] enough people watch, there may be hope for a special or two" on a Facebook post. A month into the reruns, Dino made another comment: "Got a great call from the Head of Adult Swim yesterday raving about the ratings that the Moral Orel reruns have been getting. Great job, everyone! Keep watching and the Moral Orel special will be imminent." Dino followed up on this on Halloween with a surprise appearance from Orel in the last bump of a ''MaryShelleysFrankenhole'' mini-marathon, where Orel said a new ''Moral Orel'' special would come "sometime in the near future".

Every member of Orel's family shows some form of dysfunction: father Clay abuses alcohol, abuses Oral (emotionally), and fails to hide his [[TransparentCloset closet]] [[GayConservative bisexuality]]; mother Bloberta cheats on Clay, often finds herself depressed, and suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder; and both parents spoil Orel's rambunctious little brother Shapey rotten. The population of Moralton (a town placed precisely in the middle of the United States) fare little better: they serve as a searing indictment of conservatism and religious fundamentalism, since most of Moralton's adults lead lives as dysfunctional as Orel's family -- if not moreso -- while putting on a show of being a Good Christian.

''Moral Orel'' does not critique Christianity, so much as it [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] religious fundamentalism. The show aims its real critique towards [[MoralGuardians authority figures]] who pay lipservice to fundamentalism as a way of preserving their authority -- especially when such people [[BrokenAesop make horrible authority figures and role models.]]

In the town of [[EverytownAmerica Moralton, Statesota]] lives the Puppington Family. Eleven-year-old Orel Puppington is a devout Protestant Christian who considers Jesus to be his role model. He always pays rapt attention in church, taking the advice of his Reverend's sermons to heart. Of course, being a young boy, he doesn't quite understand some of the topics, which leads to Orel acting on them in his own special way. Needless to say, HilarityEnsues!

...or maybe not.

Originally conceived as a satire of [[TheFifties 1950s]] and [[TheSixties 1960s]] era sitcoms, designed to resemble an AffectionateParody of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' (not ''DaveyAndGoliath'', despite the art style), ''MoralOrel'' ultimately evolved into one of the darkest pieces of western animation in years. Orel's entire family is dysfunctional: an abusive, alcoholic, [[TransparentCloset closet]] [[GayConservative bisexual]] father (Clay); an adulterous, depressed, obsessive-compulsive mother (Bloberta); and a little brother who has been spoiled rotten (Shapey). The population of Moralton (a town which is placed precisely in the middle of the United States) are little better, acting as a searing indictment of conservatism and religious fundamentalism; most of the adults are leading lives just as dysfunctional as those of the Puppington family (if not moreso), all while putting on a show of being a Good Christian.

It must be noted, however, that this show is not a critique of Christianity; it's actually a {{deconstruction}} of religious fundamentalism, and the real critique is of [[MoralGuardians authorities]] who pay lipservice to fundamentalism as a way of preserving their authority -- especially when they're actually [[BrokenAesop terrible people with no business being in charge of anything.]]

As stated above, the show began as an affectionate (and adult-oriented) quasi-parody of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' until series creator Dino Stamatopoulos (aka [[{{Community}} Starburns]]) began to move the focus away from Orel midway through the first season, shifting the tone towards exploring the dark underbelly of the seemingly happy-go-lucky townspeople of Moralton. This culminated in the Season Two finale "Nature", [[spoiler:where Orel -- on a hunting trip with Clay -- is ''shot in the leg'' by his dad, losing his innocence for good thanks to Clay's drunken cruelty.]]

The network higher-ups loved the two-parter, and bigwig Mike Lazzo asked Dino to make the show's third season as dark as humanly possible. Stamatopoulos complied, but Lazzo and Adult Swim instantly regretted ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor getting exactly what they asked for]]''; after a screening of what is easily the darkest episode of the show's run -- "Alone" -- the series was cancelled and Season Three was cut down to thirteen episodes, which forced several key arcs to be abandoned. (Dino did provide a sliver of hope admist the despair, however, with a happy ending for Orel.)

While the show was cut short, hope is not lost for a revival. After 2007, Adult Swim only played reruns of the show sporadically, but in late 2011, the network began rerunning the show in chronological order on weeknights; when this came to light, Dino commented on Facebook that "[if] enough people watch, there may be hope for a special or two". A month into the reruns, Dino made another comment: "Got a great call from the Head of Adult Swim yesterday raving about the ratings that the Moral Orel reruns have been getting. Great job, everyone! Keep watching and the Moral Orel special will be imminent." That was followed up on Halloween by a surprise appearance from Orel in the last bump of a ''MaryShelleysFrankenhole'' mini-marathon, where he confirmed that a ''Moral Orel'' special is coming "sometime in the near future".

----

Originally conceived as a satire of '50s and '60s era sitcoms, designed to resemble an AffectionateParody of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' (not ''DaveyAndGoliath'', despite the art style), ''MoralOrel'' ultimately evolved into one of the darkest pieces of western animation in years. Orel's entire family is dysfunctional: an abusive, alcoholic, [[TransparentCloset closet]] [[GayConservative bisexual]] father (Clay); an adulterous, depressed, obsessive-compulsive mother (Bloberta); and a little brother who has been spoiled rotten (Shapey). The population of Moralton (a town which is placed precisely in the middle of the United States) are little better, acting as a searing indictment of conservatism and religious fundamentalism; most of the adults are leading lives just as dysfunctional as those of the Puppington family (if not moreso), all while putting on a show of being a Good Christian.

* {{BookEnds}}: The Christmas special was aired as the pilot due to a scheduling mix-up; the series' finale is also a Christmas episode (and has a few callbacks to the former, such as the carol "If the Lord Were Alive Today"). [[spoiler:Also, the show's opening credits all end with Orel waving up at God/the viewer. The final shot of the series includes [[DistantFinale Orel's baby daughter]] waving up as the camera pans out. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming D'awwwwwwwww]]]].

* {{Bookends}}: The Christmas special was aired as the pilot due to a scheduling mix-up; the series' finale is also a Christmas episode (and has a few callbacks to the former, such as the carol "If the Lord Were Alive Today"). [[spoiler:Also, the show's opening credits all end with Orel waving up at God/the viewer. The final shot of the series includes [[DistantFinale Orel's baby daughter]] waving up as the camera pans out. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming D'awwwwwwwww]]]].

* BadFuture: At some point in the future, Moralton will encompass all of the United States and will be the only landmass on the planet. ''Damn''.
** [[XanatosGambit Which is exactly how the fundies want it]].

* IAmNotShazam: The episode synopses on adultswim.com repeatedly refer to Orel as "Moral".

* HoYay: Daniel and Clay. That is all.

* FreudWasRight: "Nesting" reveals that Clay has a lot of... interesting womb-related fantasies.

* AGodAmI / DrunkWithPower: Orel, upon hearing that God is in him (as well as everyone and everything else), starts acting this way, going so far as to pull the plug on a dying woman; granted the woman was asking for it, but still...it's one of the few times Orel actually outright acts like a jerk.

-->''"How long does it actually take for love to fade?"''

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