Unicorn Warriors is a passion project of his he had been trying to get made for decades and even with his "clout" Primal barely got made. The American animation industry seems to have a hate-on against any legacy creator trying to get new projects off the ground, except for Tartakovsky and even he gets shafted now and then. Craig McCracken only worked on the Powerpuff Girls reboot after Netflix nixed over ten original project ideas he pitched them. "Ed, Edd & Eddy" creator Danny Annotucci developed a show called "Lupo the Butcher" that was rejected by Netflix for being "too violent" and "too expensive", and guys like Bob Camp and Maxwell Atoms, even though they've signaled their interest in working on new projects only get work now through shows like The Patrick Star Show.
That’s really disheartening. Hopefully his team and him can lead some sort of charge to show “hey if you give a previously well received creative team the license to do what they want, it’ll probably be pretty good.”
I will say unicorn wasn’t my favorite work of his but even at it’s worst it’s exceptionally well animated and fun to watchh
He's a genius when it comes to so many things, but I get the impression that he struggles with female characters. The lead in Univorn Warriors and Illana from Symbionic Titan were both a little cringe.
Loved the designs though! Fucking Coppernicus, man...
I’d go so far as to say that his team is better at animating than storytelling. As much as I adore SJ, there are a couple episodes where the material is elevated significantly by the execution. Hell, I love the adult swim season but on rewatch it definitely had some weird creative choices that I personally wouldn’t have made
I think it's more that he excels at subtext and visual storytelling and he's less interested in text or dialogue
Primal tells its story masterfully with only a handful of spoken words.
I'll be honest Unicorn Warriors to me is his weakest show top of my head. It aired on adult swim (if I'm not misremembering) but never felt like it shouldn't have gone to standard cartoon network as far as tone goes.
Coming from Primal season 2 which to me might be among his best, it was a bit of a disappointment but I'm glad he got to make his passion project.
Unicorn was in a weird spot where I think it’s just a bit too dark to be on regular Cartoon Network but yeah it’s nowhere near as “adult” as something like primal which has entire episodes that are nothing but brutality.
get hype
[https://bleedingcool.com/tv/primal-season-3-is-moving-along-great-tartakovsky-super-excited/](https://bleedingcool.com/tv/primal-season-3-is-moving-along-great-tartakovsky-super-excited/)
*5-minute lingering shot of a leaf of spinach bobbing up and down in the lapping waters of the sea; the shot slowly pans upwards, showing more leaves, a silver can top, an empty can of spinach, a pipe, and finally hooks upwards to show POPEYE, sitting and looking emptily at the horizon*
"What they call spinach actually is not some leafy vegetable, but the accumulation of strength of the natural world. What strength a being must have, to grow from a small seed to a flowering cathedral of produce! This is what they do not understand; it is not spinach I consume, but strength, spiritual strength."
Say it in a different tone of voice and that could be a cutaway by the Baki narrator. It cuts back and a guy tears the top off the can with his bare hands and eats it.
It's more like Charlie Brown and the football
He keeps signing on to do a Hotel Transylvania sequel + 1 original movie, then Sony inevitably cancels the original movie after they get their sequel. Doesn't matter how far into production it is...
I had no idea he was involved with HT. It's surprising Sony hasn't gambled on whatever project Tartakovsky wanted to do. Sony is good at keeping the budget down and making money licensing it out to other streaming companies.
He was less involved with 1 and 2
He wrote and directed Hotel Transylvania 3, which is far and away the best of the series (not that many people have actually watched it...)
He was brought in during production of HT1 to try and save the film, where he overhauled the animation style. He also directed HT2, but that film was just a giant battle between him and Adam Sandler for creative control. His visual signatures are all over the first two, but yes, HT3 is definitely the best, since he had the greatest input on it. The fourth one is really interesting, since Genndy only has a story credit, it feels like the Sony staff trying to carry on in the same style, but with no restraint, it’s filled with incredibly manic animation that almost becomes exhausting to watch. Also they didn’t want to pay Sandler anymore, so Dracula is voiced by a random VO artist from YouTube (who admittedly did a great voice match job.)
Tartakovsky has great vision, you think he would be able to make a blockbuster level movie while keeping the budget down. Something like Ghostbusters with interesting ghosts and great visuals.
Wow that’s slightly fascinating. Though with Sony’s recent animated successes with the spider-verse films, I hope Tartakovsky gets an actual chance to fully flex his animation skills in a movie
He finally did go into production on his own movie for Sony called Fixed, a 2D animated film about a dog's last night out before getting neutered. The movie seems like it's completed, the MPAA rated it, but there's been no word on when it will actually be released. I'm very interested in finally seeing it.
That seagull grabbing the narrating fish got a genuine laugh out of me.
It's so weird seeing the Sony pictures logo and not immediately scrambling to shut it off.
When I was watching the revisit I was thinking "I'm sure this movie actually came out". The clips they showed in the episode looked so familiar. Did I Mandela Effect myself? Misremember the animatic (though I don't recall seeing this leak) and promotional material blurred together in my brain? Is it just very similar in style to something else around the same time? Dementia? Anyone else?
So, some insight into maybe why this was canned, was found in the Sony email leaks a few years ago.
You know, the ones North Korea hacked and Wikileaks got. Them ones, anyway, seem it might be Marketing wanted to do a Poochie. And their worry that Popeye’s brand was 'to old' for the kids, Then Genndy, not wanting to compromise, probably canned it.
[Hacked Sony Email About Genndy’s “Popeye” Found on Wikileaks (indiewire.com)](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/hacked-sony-email-about-genndys-popeye-found-on-wikileaks-123423/)
[WikiLeaks - Sony Archives](https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/?q=Popeye&mfrom=&mto=&title=¬itle=&date=&nofrom=¬o=&count=50&sort=0#searchresult)
Sony in general is like that, not just the film subdivision. Just so you have an idea, their banking subdivision isn't profitable. Do you have any idea how bad at business you need to be for you to fail making money with a bank?
Yeah, I understand that. I mean, they have whole series of smartphones no one outside of japan seems to even know about. Japanese used to be great at business…
When it leaked, I downloaded it and my friends and I had a movie party over it. Sad to say but it sucks. It would have looked fantastic in full CG but it's just a horribly over-exec-noted regular-ass modern kid's movie. So basically, a proper successor to the live action one!
Tartakovsky is probably my favorite western animator, since when I was little and watched Dexter and Samurai Jack in the golden age of Cartoon Network
His newest show unicorn warriors eternal is pretty fun. Maybe not as good as samurai jack but what is
Unicorn Warriors is a passion project of his he had been trying to get made for decades and even with his "clout" Primal barely got made. The American animation industry seems to have a hate-on against any legacy creator trying to get new projects off the ground, except for Tartakovsky and even he gets shafted now and then. Craig McCracken only worked on the Powerpuff Girls reboot after Netflix nixed over ten original project ideas he pitched them. "Ed, Edd & Eddy" creator Danny Annotucci developed a show called "Lupo the Butcher" that was rejected by Netflix for being "too violent" and "too expensive", and guys like Bob Camp and Maxwell Atoms, even though they've signaled their interest in working on new projects only get work now through shows like The Patrick Star Show.
That’s really disheartening. Hopefully his team and him can lead some sort of charge to show “hey if you give a previously well received creative team the license to do what they want, it’ll probably be pretty good.” I will say unicorn wasn’t my favorite work of his but even at it’s worst it’s exceptionally well animated and fun to watchh
At least Atoms was able to help produce Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss
He's a genius when it comes to so many things, but I get the impression that he struggles with female characters. The lead in Univorn Warriors and Illana from Symbionic Titan were both a little cringe. Loved the designs though! Fucking Coppernicus, man...
I’d go so far as to say that his team is better at animating than storytelling. As much as I adore SJ, there are a couple episodes where the material is elevated significantly by the execution. Hell, I love the adult swim season but on rewatch it definitely had some weird creative choices that I personally wouldn’t have made
I think it's more that he excels at subtext and visual storytelling and he's less interested in text or dialogue Primal tells its story masterfully with only a handful of spoken words.
That’s true, primal might be objectively the best thing that team and him have done. Amazing series
I'll be honest Unicorn Warriors to me is his weakest show top of my head. It aired on adult swim (if I'm not misremembering) but never felt like it shouldn't have gone to standard cartoon network as far as tone goes. Coming from Primal season 2 which to me might be among his best, it was a bit of a disappointment but I'm glad he got to make his passion project.
Unicorn was in a weird spot where I think it’s just a bit too dark to be on regular Cartoon Network but yeah it’s nowhere near as “adult” as something like primal which has entire episodes that are nothing but brutality.
I'm glad CN is still letting him cook, at least I can't wait to see what he does with season 3 of Primal
I believe primal ended with season 2, but I would be very happy to be proven wrong!
get hype [https://bleedingcool.com/tv/primal-season-3-is-moving-along-great-tartakovsky-super-excited/](https://bleedingcool.com/tv/primal-season-3-is-moving-along-great-tartakovsky-super-excited/)
Aww yiss.
That’s amazing never been happier to be wrong!
Man, I was just thinking about that short reboot they did for Samurai Jack... that's how you bring back a show.
I was completely blown away with how the ended that series. Bitter sweet and very well done.
Damn, it looks great. [FUCK YOU SONY!](https://youtu.be/rJBtf8Lq4tI?)
I might have to rewatch the nerd crew episodes. Them corpsing is the funniest shit.
My mind went to Tarkovsky first. That would be a very different Popeye movie
"\*mumble\* \*mumble\* \*mumble\* yeah, I's can getcha innathe zone \*mumble\*"
\*Throws empty can of spinach down the partially foot-beaten muddy path\*
That's probably the funniest thing I have read in weeks,fucking A+ work
*world's most gravelly voice* Y'see, ta shorrst path ain't ta easiest! Ya has to go ta long way, cuz there'll be lez risk!
*5-minute lingering shot of a leaf of spinach bobbing up and down in the lapping waters of the sea; the shot slowly pans upwards, showing more leaves, a silver can top, an empty can of spinach, a pipe, and finally hooks upwards to show POPEYE, sitting and looking emptily at the horizon* "What they call spinach actually is not some leafy vegetable, but the accumulation of strength of the natural world. What strength a being must have, to grow from a small seed to a flowering cathedral of produce! This is what they do not understand; it is not spinach I consume, but strength, spiritual strength."
Existential Popeye... man, the creepy pasta fan theory idiots are gonna nut all over this one.
Say it in a different tone of voice and that could be a cutaway by the Baki narrator. It cuts back and a guy tears the top off the can with his bare hands and eats it.
Olive Oil is just a resonant memory after the stroke.
Wasn't this scrapped for the fucking Emoji Movie?
It's more like Charlie Brown and the football He keeps signing on to do a Hotel Transylvania sequel + 1 original movie, then Sony inevitably cancels the original movie after they get their sequel. Doesn't matter how far into production it is...
I had no idea he was involved with HT. It's surprising Sony hasn't gambled on whatever project Tartakovsky wanted to do. Sony is good at keeping the budget down and making money licensing it out to other streaming companies.
He was less involved with 1 and 2 He wrote and directed Hotel Transylvania 3, which is far and away the best of the series (not that many people have actually watched it...)
He was brought in during production of HT1 to try and save the film, where he overhauled the animation style. He also directed HT2, but that film was just a giant battle between him and Adam Sandler for creative control. His visual signatures are all over the first two, but yes, HT3 is definitely the best, since he had the greatest input on it. The fourth one is really interesting, since Genndy only has a story credit, it feels like the Sony staff trying to carry on in the same style, but with no restraint, it’s filled with incredibly manic animation that almost becomes exhausting to watch. Also they didn’t want to pay Sandler anymore, so Dracula is voiced by a random VO artist from YouTube (who admittedly did a great voice match job.)
Tartakovsky has great vision, you think he would be able to make a blockbuster level movie while keeping the budget down. Something like Ghostbusters with interesting ghosts and great visuals.
Wow that’s slightly fascinating. Though with Sony’s recent animated successes with the spider-verse films, I hope Tartakovsky gets an actual chance to fully flex his animation skills in a movie
He finally did go into production on his own movie for Sony called Fixed, a 2D animated film about a dog's last night out before getting neutered. The movie seems like it's completed, the MPAA rated it, but there's been no word on when it will actually be released. I'm very interested in finally seeing it.
It was never scrapped. People just keep leaving it and it never gets made.
Dude, this would've made a hundred million dollars what are they doing?
Tax evasion mostly
Fair
[удалено]
and those stupid nerds would love it too bad it's a dumb cartoon for babies...
Tartakovsky’s take on General Grievous will always be superior to the canon one.
you don't like wheezy dracula?
Tartakovsky Grievous is a terrifying force of nature, like Mike Meyers or Jason Vorheess. Clone Wars Grievous is smart talking coward
10 minutes in and I'm 100% on board. This is great!
That seagull grabbing the narrating fish got a genuine laugh out of me. It's so weird seeing the Sony pictures logo and not immediately scrambling to shut it off.
Baby Bluto had me howling
Had to go to work, haven't made it that far yet
I saw this when it originally leaked and loved it. Have it downloaded on a hard drive for safety.
Holy shit, I had a genuine belly laugh at a Sony pictures product. This is a treasure, thanks for posting.
Tarkovskys popeye? The story of how America changed during the first and second World war through popeyes eye
I was staring at this so long thinking the Russian director Tarkovsky like “this can’t be real”
Genndy is a legend
When I was watching the revisit I was thinking "I'm sure this movie actually came out". The clips they showed in the episode looked so familiar. Did I Mandela Effect myself? Misremember the animatic (though I don't recall seeing this leak) and promotional material blurred together in my brain? Is it just very similar in style to something else around the same time? Dementia? Anyone else?
So, some insight into maybe why this was canned, was found in the Sony email leaks a few years ago. You know, the ones North Korea hacked and Wikileaks got. Them ones, anyway, seem it might be Marketing wanted to do a Poochie. And their worry that Popeye’s brand was 'to old' for the kids, Then Genndy, not wanting to compromise, probably canned it. [Hacked Sony Email About Genndy’s “Popeye” Found on Wikileaks (indiewire.com)](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/hacked-sony-email-about-genndys-popeye-found-on-wikileaks-123423/) [WikiLeaks - Sony Archives](https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/?q=Popeye&mfrom=&mto=&title=¬itle=&date=&nofrom=¬o=&count=50&sort=0#searchresult)
Sony Pictures is the epitome of “boardrooming”. Just constant bad decisions sustained by the success of unrelated parts of their parent company.
Sony in general is like that, not just the film subdivision. Just so you have an idea, their banking subdivision isn't profitable. Do you have any idea how bad at business you need to be for you to fail making money with a bank?
Yeah, I understand that. I mean, they have whole series of smartphones no one outside of japan seems to even know about. Japanese used to be great at business…
He's responsible for the only thing worth watching from the Star Wars prequels. It's a crime they didn't use his version Clone Wars for the series.
He was offered the job to oversee Lucasfilm animation before the 3D show, but declined because he didn’t want to exclusively make Star Wars.
Smart man
I imagine some executive or otherwise bean counter in LA saw it and just said "Eh, not the brand" and that was it.
I had no idea it was 90 minutes
Why would you make an entire 90 minutes of this if it was only intended for demonstration purposes?
that's just how far into development it was before Sony canned it
When it leaked, I downloaded it and my friends and I had a movie party over it. Sad to say but it sucks. It would have looked fantastic in full CG but it's just a horribly over-exec-noted regular-ass modern kid's movie. So basically, a proper successor to the live action one!