Genndy Tartakovsky's Next Movie Will Be Disney Meets Looney Tunes (But Definitely Not For Kids)
One of the most respected and admired figures within the animation world for the last 30 years has been Genndy Tartakovsky. Throughout the years, he created "Dexter's Laboratory," "Samurai Jack," and most recently "Primal," as well as being a key creative force behind "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Star Wars: Clone Wars." On television screens, he has dominated the cartoon landscape and amassed a legion of super fans awaiting whatever he does next. On the big screen, however, he has not been given nearly as much room to shine.
As a director, he has helmed the first three "Hotel Transylvania" movies. Those films do have their fans and have found ways to push computer animation into innovative ways that evoke the style of classic hand-drawn cartooning, but they have not been nearly as respected as his TV work. Chances are strong that if you think about the "Hotel Transylvania" movies, the first thing that comes to mind is Adam Sandler and his crew of comics and not Tartakovsky. He has had plenty of passion projects for the big screen throughout his career, but none of them have truly materialized. That is ... until now.
Next year sees the release of "Fixed," which is set to be an R-rated, 2D animated tale about a dog with 24 hours to spare before he gets neutered. In fact, this is the project that got him within the walls of Sony Animation, and I am sure there were multiple instances of, "Yes, we'll let you make this dog movie, but first, can you make a 'Hotel Transylvania?'" Well, it only took over a decade, but it is finally coming to fruition.
A raunchy comedy with a heart
Sony first dipped its toe into R-rated animation back in 2016 with "Sausage Party," the brainchild of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jonah Hill. That film was a hit, making over $140 million worldwide on a $19 million budget, but the prospect of making animation that isn't aimed directly toward children and families has long been a hurdle every single studio basically never wants to jump. It helps when you can market people like Rogen and Hill, which is probably why that film got the green light and "Fixed" remained in limbo for years.
Another obstacle in the way is "Fixed" not being a 3D animated film, which are the only things getting made in Hollywood right now. Speaking to IndieWire, Tartakovsky talks about the vibe, like mixing Tex Avery and Wolfgang Reitherman with profanity, he is going for:
"The animation gods blessed me with the premise ... In its own self, it's a unicorn, this project. It's got raunchy comedy, we're doing all the layouts here so it's very hand-crafted. It's got heart, it's got real character humor and not filled with one liners. And the dogs act like canines and not humans ... [I]t's like we're following the 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' rules, but it's got swearing and these R-rated things."
That sounds appealing to a lot of the people reading this, but it doesn't sound that appealing to movie studios. Sony didn't even give the picture the go-ahead until New Line Cinema stepped in to help with the funding. Nobody wants to be held responsible if this thing tanks. Well, with season 2 of "Primal" premiering, "Fixed" coming next year, and the show "Unicorn: Warriors Eternal" on the way, a lot of people are putting their money on Genndy.