Genndy Tartakovsky says all animators are not good enough with their work like him. In a recent interview, Tartakovsky gave a few pointers on why animators end up coming nowhere near him in their animated projects. Coming from the Unicorn: Warriors Eternal creator, who has explored the field for nearly three decades, these pointers make for a great lesson in animation.
After working uncredited on 45 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series from 1992 to 1993, Tartakovsky went on to make a name for himself in the animation industry. He worked on creating several iconic animated TV series for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, including Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: Clone Wars.
Genndy Tartakovsky Explains Why No One Does Animation Like Him
When it comes to animation, Genndy Tartakovsky is a genius who delivers exactly what his audiences want. For that skill to come by, Tartakovsky kept learning from his numerous mistakes over the years in the animation industry. During an interview with Polygon during the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Tartakovsky gave us a peek behind the veils of his success in the industry.
Answering the question about why nobody does animation like him in the industry, Tartakovsky shared that he had the analytical skill to dissect what he watched. He would then realize what made it good in the first place. He followed the exact process for Star Wars: Clone Wars, where he watched George Lucas‘ Star Wars and tried to emulate the same feeling for his audiences through the animated series. He shared with Polygon:
“They’re not good enough [laughs]. Directing is something that I’ve been learning through my whole career and making a lot of mistakes and watching something and realizing what makes it good and trying to dissect it. Especially like when we were doing Clone Wars. We had to ask ourselves, what is that feeling that we’re trying to communicate? We were trying to give you the same feeling as we did when we were younger. So directing is that thing, is trying to communicate a feeling.”
Tartakovsky also gained experience from working in live-action films. He created the storyboard for the action sequences in Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man 2. He revealed that many a time, filmmakers in animation don’t come from live-action backgrounds and lack sufficient storytelling skills. However, his projects like Primal took enough time to flesh out a great story.
He shared that having great support from a network like Adult Swim also helped him a lot. He revealed that he established the relationship over the years, from his days at Cartoon Network. While many creatives enter into constant tussles with their network over watering down their content, things were different for Tartakovsky due to the trust between him and Adult Swim.
He also revealed that after working for years on several projects, he had the conviction to sell his ideas to the network. Tartakovsky added that it was one of the crucial aspects of this job.
Genndy Tartakovsky Explained How He Pitched A Violent Show Like Primal To Adult Swim
Following up on his points about building trust with the network and selling ideas with conviction, Tartakovsky explained how he sold Primal to Adult Swim. Firstly, Tartakovsky pitched the idea of Primal to none other than Mike Lazzo, the former VP of Adult Swim, who also happened to greenlit Dexter. Tartakovsky, therefore, had the whole trust factor in his favor.
For selling the idea, Genndy Tartakovsky told Polygon that he used visuals to convince Lazzo. He storyboarded the first episode and pitched it. He could easily sail through the pitch due to his conviction in the violent and unique idea of Primal. He shared:
“I did it with visuals. My boss, Mike Lazzo, who I’ve known since Dexter, he’s the one who greenlit Dexter. So we’ve had that whole relationship of trust and building together, right? I didn’t just tell him. I storyboarded the first episode and I pitched it. I can beatbox my way through the pitch.”
Primal received critical acclaim for both its first and second seasons. A third season is currently in development at Adult Swim. The animated series is now available for streaming on Max.
