Adult Swim Orders 'Primal' Animated Series From Creator Of 'Samurai Jack'
Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator behind acclaimed Cartoon Network shows like Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, is returning to his old stomping grounds — with a bit of an upgrade. Adult Swim, the adult-targeted TV block on Cartoon Network that aired the final season of Samurai Jack, has picked up Tartakovsky's latest project: an animated series called Primal. The half-hour animated TV series that will mark Tartatovsky's return to the small screen after the director helmed Sony's Hotel Transylvania series to box office success. Read more about the Primal TV series below.Deadline broke the news that Adult Swim has ordered Primal, a half-hour animated series following a caveman and a dinosaur's unlikely friendship, for premiere this fall. Here is the logline for the series per Deadline:
Primal features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.
We don't know much about this series, but judging by the first still from Primal, it looks like Tartakovsky is delivering once again on his gorgeous, lyrical animation that he perfected in Samurai Jack. Everything from the warm colors to the bold, black lines are absolutely stunning. And if the rest of the series in any way matches that animation, then Primal could be another critical darling for Tartakovsky.
Tartakovsky first achieved critical acclaim with Samurai Jack, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2001 and was praised for its mature storytelling and its stylish animation. It was so mature that in 2017, its fifth and final season aired on Adult Swim. Tartakovsky has also directed the original Star Wars: Clone War series, but he hasn't worked in TV since helping develop the Steven Universe pilot in 2013. He's instead been occupied by Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania series, which have collectively raked in over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. While not much could be said about Hotel Transylvania's visual or creative strides, it allowed Tartakovsky a blank check for him to develop his own passion projects, the first of which seems to be Primal. Tartakovsky's success with Sony has also earned him two original projects with the animation studio: an R-rated comedy called Fixed, and an action-adventure entitled Black Knight.
For my part, I can't wait to see Tartakovsky make his venerated return to TV with another ambitious, visually stunning series.