Introduction
th My superhero creator is Genndy Tartakovsky, born in Russia on January 17 , 1970 to Boris and Miriam Tartakovsky. Genndy moved with his family to Italy, and from there to Chicago, Illinois. He attended Lane Technical College Prep High School, where he developed an interest in animation. He went on to pursue that interest at the California Institute of the Arts. There he met animators Craig McCracken and Bob Renzetti. His time at Cal Arts set him on his career.
His first job in animation was in the country of Spain, where he worked on Batman: The Animated Series. But the decisive turning point in his career was when he was hired by the famed animation studio Hanna-Barbera, for whom Tartakovsky created his first and signature animated series, Dexter’s Laboratory, the story of a smart-alecky boy genius. Tartakovsky then served as Animation Director and Cinematographer for The Powerpuff Girls Movie, working with his good friend, the director, Craig McCracken. Nominated for several Emmy awards, The Powerpuff Girls TV series proved to be prelude to Tartakovsky’s greatest work, Samurai Jack, for which he won several Emmy and other awards.
Major Works and Influences
Samurai Jack is a story about a samurai warrior who experiences time travel in his effort to defeat the shape-shifting, demon wizard Aku, who had imprisoned Jack’s father. Like most superheroes, Jack has a secret identity, an identity so secret that we never discover his true name. Like most superheroes, Jack also has access to magic, in the form of his katana, a Japanese sword with special powers. The series is a classic allegory of good versus evil, with certain technological advances.
Among Tartakovsky’s other works, the most important and impactful have been Star Wars: Clone Wars, which put him in collaboration with George Lukas, and of course the feature film series, Hotel Transylvania, the Tartakovsky project that reached the widest audience. Finally, his most recent creation is an Adult Swim animated mini-series, Primal, which features a caveman at the dawn of evolution and his friend, a dinosaur, on the brink of extinction. Excepting Samurai Jack, Primal is, in my opinion, Tartakovsky’s greatest work to date.
There are a number of major influences on the oeuvre of Genndy Tartakovsky. First, there was Craig McCracken, who not only hired him for The Powerpuff Girls, but taught him about working in television. Classic animatiors Tex Avery and Chuck Jones influenced Tartakovsky’s highly cartoonish form of serious animation, on display most famously in the Hotel Transylvania series. Samurai Jack itself has a number of major influences. The films of Akira Kurosawa shaped Tartakovsky’s conception of the samurai and his idea of the kind of adventures this figure would have. The television series Kung Fu, starring David Carradine, gave Samurai Jack its basic premise and was used to pitch the series originally. Frank Miller influenced the character of Jack and his series, Ronin, influenced Samurai Jack’s time travel.
Impact
Genndy Tartakovsky’s work has had a strong impact on the world of animation. Dexter’s Laboratory contributed to the animation style of Star Wars: Clone Wars, prompting George Lukas to hire Tartakovsky. There have been parodies and homages to Samurai Jack on Cartoon Network: Duck Dodgers (the episode “Samurai Quack”) and certain panels of Dexter’s Laboratory, respectively. In addition, Tartakovsky has won many awards for his television series, especially for the superhero show, Samurai Jack.
References
● Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genndy_Tartakovskyhttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/284 430532686224937/ ● Reference 2: https://www.google.com/search?q=genndy+tartakovsky&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1& fir=-C9_YzDjvB4KsM%253A%252CqrKbGF8djWfi0M%252C%252Fm%252F02_4qt&vet=1 &usg=AI4_-kTTQ1Kb7JA84c8Ty-m8TuSa6ZMz2g&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwith6fW9ejpAhWw lHIEHZpsCPMQ_B0wI3oECAYQAw&biw=1704&bih=919#imgrc=-C9_YzDjvB4KsM ● Reference 3: https://television.mxdwn.com/news/continuation-of-samurai-jack-to-be-previewed-at-t he-annecy-international-animated-film-festival/ ● Reference 4: https://www.amazon.com/Genndy-Tartakovskys-Primal-Season-1/dp/B07YR6T4V3 ● Reference 5: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/284430532686224937/ ● Reference 6: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/samuraija ck/images/5/5c/Samurai_Jack.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/720/height/900?cb% 3D20130213201804&imgrefurl=https://samuraijack.fandom.com/wiki/Samurai_Jack_(c haracter)&tbnid=NTl1VaFXAfbhzM&vet=1&docid=1wiUXEaPexx_xM&w=720&h=900&q =images+of+samurai+jack&source=sh/x/im ● Reference 7: “Samurai Jack.” Cartoon Network. PediaPress GmbH, Mainz, Germany: 2013. 308-321.