Home Entertainment Genndy Tartakovsky gives an update on the SAMURAI JACK feature film

Genndy Tartakovsky gives an update on the SAMURAI JACK feature film

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He’s been entertaining our kids (well, actually mostly, us) for years, and he probably also taught most of you how to say “Cheese omelet” in French, and now Genndy Tartakovsky will finally be getting his big screen dues with Hotel Transylvania.

But there’s another of the Russian-born animator’s highly popular creations that has been talked about making the cinematic transition for ages, but for some strange reason just hasn’t happened yet. Now Tartakovsky finally sheds some light on exactly what is the hold up with Samurai Jack: The Movie

While speaking to Collider about Hotel Transylvania, Tartakovsky provided this bit of info about the long delayed project:

“It’s still around. Every year, somebody new picks it up who tries to push it through. I feel like, with Jack, it’s a funny curse. People like it for A, B and C, but as soon as they want to make it, they say, “Well, we can’t do A, B and C.” But, those are the key ingredients that make it successful. Once somebody comes along and just says, “I want to make it for what it is,” then it will get made. But right now, every time we try to run it up the flagpole, it never sticks.”

All of this comes off as a big surprise, seeing as Samurai Jack is not exactly the most complex concept. It’s a simple, but immensely fun tale of Asian flavoured badassery with it’s most challenging aspect being a very distinct visual aesthetic. But surely a CGI rendered (but still kept true to the 2D stylings) animated film should be a no-brainer here? It already has an established audience and would more than likely kill at the box-office. So what’s with the back and forth?

While Hotel Transylvania does seem to be lacking that trademark Tartakovsky touch, if it does well at the box office it will hopefully put an end to all this dilly-dallying and finally allow the man to put his own unfettered vision on the screen.

Hotel Transylvania opens on September 28th.

Last Updated: July 3, 2012

6 Comments

  1. Hugh Lashbrooke

    July 3, 2012 at 15:25

    If I remember correctly, the opening scene for the first Kung Fu Panda movie was styled just like an episode of Jack. Got me super amped cos I thought the whole movie would be in that style and was mildly disappointed when it wasn’t…

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      July 3, 2012 at 15:48

      You’re right, I had forgotten about that. I would certainly pay to watch a full length Samurai Jack film done like that.

      Reply

  2. Noelle Adams

    July 3, 2012 at 16:22

    I would be there opening night for a Samurai Jack movie, live-action or otherwise. Absolutely adore it. 
    Tartakovsky’s animated intro for Paul Bettany’s Priest was also a thing of beauty:

    Reply

  3. James Francis

    July 4, 2012 at 10:05

    I think it’s complex enough – the show touched on a lot of themes that were mature for the intended audience. Also, Jack and Aku have have several major showdowns – one episode (where Aku fights in human form) even parodied this. So the movie (which should close the story with the defeat of Aku) will have to go well beyond what they have already done.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      July 4, 2012 at 10:21

      Thematically, yes, it does touch on some mature stuff, but from a purely logistical and technical viewpoint, there’s not much holding this back.

      Reply

      • James Francis

        July 4, 2012 at 12:37

        Can you honestly say that? Don’t let the simplistic animation fool you – Samurai Jack is pretty cutting edge in many technical aspects. If they were to bring it into the enhanced style seen with Kung Fu Panda’s opening, it will just become trickier. There might also be disagreements over the script – bringing something that played in 20 minute chunks to a young audience and delivering 90 minutes that will appeal to the show’s broader fan base is anything but simple.

        Reply

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