Genndy Tartakovsky on Why He Really Created ‘Samurai Jack’

Compared to Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls, Genndy Tartakovsky‘s beloved animated series Samurai Jack is sleeker and far more quiet and it turns out that is no coincidence.

As reported by Indiewire, Tartakovsky’s introduction to the upcoming, one-night only cinematic re-release of Samurai Jack‘s first three episodes as an extended movie explains where the idea for Jack. Tartakovsky explained not only did he want to do something that was not only visually and artistically different, but he wanted to get away from writing so much dialogue as well.

​

Tartakovsky explained that one of the biggest reasons he made Samurai Jack different than his previously works was that he was simply burned out, both by doing comedy and all of the dialogue.

“Going from Dexter to Powerpuff, there was a lot of dialogue, there was a lot of… you know, we did action, of course, but I was getting burned out on the words, and both shows had this big, thick black outline,” Tartakovsky said. “So, I was thinking about what’s next for me, what I wanted to do and comedy is really difficult.”

​

He also explained that the action in both Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls lead him to give an action show a try. That he had previously complained about animated action shows was motivation as well.

“And all the action we did in Dexter’s and Powerpuff was very successful, and I felt like we had a god knack of it,” Tartakovsky said. “I decided that maybe the next thing I do is to do an action show. I would complain about all other animated shows, and so I decided that maybe I gotta walk the walk. I had this idea and I pitched it as ‘It’s a samurai, who gets transplanted into the future, he walks around and fights robots with his sword, and there’s not a lot of dialogue and it’s super stylized,’ and then we went for it.”

Going for it paid off. Samurai Jack completed its five-season run with a bittersweet series finale on May 20, 2017. A remastered version of The Premiere Movie comprised of the first three episodes will hit theaters for one night only on October 16th with Fathom Events prior to the release of Samurai Jack: The Complete Series on Blu-ray and Digital HD on October 17th.

——-

Want to win a killer Kingsman: The Golden Circle prize pack? 2 lucky winners will get the chance to win some epic Kingsman gear by clicking here or the image above! Also click here to find out when Kingsman: The Golden Circle is playing near you and pre-order your tickets for your local Regal Cinema!