A Zen Interlude to Appreciate Genndy Tartakovsky

Genndy Tartakovsky is responsible for some of the most cinematic and stylised animation created in the last 20 years. As this blog is a curated catalogue of my own personal tastes, I’m not going to cover his entire body of work as a complete retrospective. Rather I’m going to cherry pick and look at the stuff I really like, as I find it particularly inspiring.

Samurai Jack

Tartakovsky’s second original series Samurai Jack was a highly stylised tale of a time displaced samurai warrior fighting the embodiment of evil, a shape shifting monster called Aku set against the backdrop of a far flung dark future.

The series was a perfectly constructed mixture of the 70’s TV classic Kung Fu, classic 60’s cartoons, the cinematic works Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, Frank Miller’s seminal Ronin and epic 300 graphic novels and that’s just scratching the surface.

Over the course of 4 seasons, with a final 5th season coming to life after a 13 year hiatus we followed Jack’s plight to get back to the past by defeating Aku, masterfully voiced by veteran Japanese actor Mako. The stories were action packed, featured minimal dialogue, had moments of great comedy with just the right amount of drama, all the while a larger story was being told.

It was a hyper-stylised journey in effective story telling, combining action and stunning visuals. The following is a brief featurette about the life and career of Tartakovsky up to the creation of Samurai Jack.

The Clone Wars

While producing the Samurai Jack series for Cartoon Network, Tartakovsky was approached by Lucasfilm top produce a series of bridging cartoons that linked the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith while showing events from the actual ‘Clone Wars’. Thus the visual stylings of Samurai Jack were slightly tweaked and the Clone Wars cartoon was born. The series showed Jedi in action, introduced characters such as Asaj Ventris and General Greivous. The cartoons are loaded with little details showing Tartakovsky’s true colours as a Star Wars fan and are genuinely entertaining. The visual styling, character design and aesthetic directly influenced the later produced ongoing Clone Wars 3D series.

The legacy of the 2003 Clone Wars is strong with the force.

Sym-Bionic Titan

Giant Robots fighting giant monsters in a John Hughes styled high school drama with an intergalactic civil war as a backdrop. What more could you ask for?

This series was smart, compelling and visually stimulating. It also combined 2D and 3D animation to an artful level of balance. If you’re a fan of Guillermo del Toro’s Mecha vs Kaiju epic Pacific Rim you’ll find yourself right at home with this cartoon. The scale of the monster battles is pushed to an extreme and the kaiju designs are evocative of the Japanese classic Ultraman that must have contributed a healthy dose of creative influence.

Here’s a brief kaiju battle sequence that really encapsulates the vibe of the show. Note the comedic beats along with the action.

It’s currently available on streaming but fair warning, Cartoon Network cancelled the show before it was concluded, so you will be left hanging. There is a chance it might be rescued due to fan interest as Samurai Jack was.

Primal

Primal is Tartakovsky’s latest offering, screening on Adult Swim, it’s brutal and compelling story telling. Visually it’s stunning and without dialogue it’s one of the best examples of visual story telling around. The initial series starts of relatively grounded but delves into more fantastic territory, featuring magic, zombie dinosaurs and bat people. Definitely worth a watch.

The tale of a cave men and his dinosaur.