Genndy Tartakovsky is the man behind Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the very popular Hotel Transylvania film franchise. Now, he returns to Adult Swim on Cartoon Network for a brand new project.

I had the chance to attend the presentation of his latest animated series, Primal, back in July at San Diego Comic-Con. Tartakovsky walked out and asked how many of the fan-filled audience members liked “Jack”, “Dexter”, “Clone Wars” and “Sym-Bionic Titan” (which he co-created). He then said Primal is the best of those four shows put together, but it’s also “so unique.”

Tartakovsky then told to the crowd, “10 episodes. No dialogue.” There were some gasps (including one from yours truly). And then, he unveiled the first episode of Primal.

The 22-minute inaugural story blends themes of love, loss and family with some intense, striking violence. This a TV-14-V rated program that is too violent for children to watch. Tartakovsky is clearly going after a mature audience with a story about a male hunter-gatherer during the age of the dinosaurs.

When Tartakovsky walked back on stage after the episode, he let everyone know that “Where it goes from here is crazier… it’s emotional, there’s horror and it’s super actiony.” The man-animal relationship will be explored throughout “Primal”. Originally, the man was a little kid, but as the story began to grow, so did its main character.

The animation has “vibrant colors” that remind Tartakovsky of the ’70s. What he’s always told his team is that they shouldn’t strive for “green grass or blue sky”, but rather “something specific in nature”. Those details are evident, both with the visuals, background noises and music.

Tartakovsky admitted that “TV is frustrating because of budgets”, but it’d been a smooth, collaborative process with France’s Studio La Cachette. And Adult Swim has greatly supported him and the show. After doing the initial storyboard, he went in for a pitch and got approved to bring Primal to life.

I could tell Tartakovsky was genuine when he stated that being with Adult Swim, especially on this show, has been “The best work experience I’ve ever had.”

The first five episodes of Primal air over five nights beginning this Monday, October 7th, at 12amET (so technically, Tuesday morning) on Adult Swim.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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