Stardate 20010917.2108 (On Screen): Genndy Tartakovsky is in my opinion our generation's answer to Chuck Jones, and higher praise I cannot bestow on a cartoonist. He was born in Russia about 1970 and his parents defected and came to the US when he was a kid. He fell in love with cartoons and decided he wanted to be an animator. He finally got his chance when he was given the opportunity by Hanna Barbera to helm a series he created,
Dexter's Laboratory. I fell in love with the series as soon as I saw one episode on the Cartoon Network; it is absolute brilliance. Tartakovsky never lets little things like logic or continuity stand in the way of telling a good story or making a good joke, and all through the series he is playing with the medium. In the book "Chuck Redux", Chuck Jones describes the process by which he and Mike Maltese created the rules for the legendary
Roadrunner series. There was a long list of rules which were quite restrictive, and Jones refers to this as a "discipline", an artificial set of limitations an artist imposes on himself to see what he can do within those rules. As we all know the result was comic genius. Throughout the Dexter series, you occasionally run into a cartoon where suddenly at some point, Tartakovsky adopts a discipline for no other reason than to see what would happen. One story reaches a certain point after which the only dialog consists of characters speaking each other's names in various ways. In another, he has all the characters speak as rapidly and as often and in as great of length as possible, just to see how much dialog he can pack into one cartoon. And he never,
never lets logic stand in the way of telling a good joke. There are also numerous pop-references and in-jokes; all things which were hallmarks of the classic Warner Brother's cartoons. And the voice casting was inspired; Christine Cavenaugh's performance as Dexter simply cannot be topped. (If you can detach yourself from the cartoon and think of her doing the voice, it becomes apparent she was having an absolute blast. The sheer zest she puts into the role is part of what makes it work.)
His second series is charming but perhaps not quite as good; the Powerpuff Girls. Easily the most brilliant creation in the series is the villain Mojo-Jojo, but I don't think the series was as well conceived and it didn't permit the creative opportunities that Dexter did.
Now production of that series has ended and Tartakovsky has done something completely new and completely different. The first two series' were comedies; this one is not. Samurai Jack is brilliant; it airs on Cartoon Network on Mondays and you should all seek it out if you possibly can do so. It is drama, not comedy, and it is a serial. I have now watched the first two episodes of the series, and Tartakovsky has topped himself. In ancient Japan, a great Samurai uses a magic katana to defeat a shape-changing sorcerer named Aku, but Aku comes back and captures him. His son is carried away by the boy's mother, who gives him to a sea captain. He spends his youth moving from one culture to another studying the martial arts each has to offer, becoming an expert at each. Once he masters them all, as an adult, he returns to Japan and finds his mother, who gives him the katana. Seeking out Aku, he defeats him in single combat but just as he is about to administer the coup de grace, Aku casts a spell and moves him through time into the far future. Not knowing where he is or what kind of place he is, he falls in with a group of talking canines who appeal to him for help. Aku has ruled the Earth for the duration and discovers that he has appeared, and now they will engage in conflict. I cannot imagine where this series will go; so far every minute of both episodes has been a surprise (and a delight). The animation is spare and stylized, and the voice acting again is brilliant. The great actor Mako was cast to do the voice of Aku, the villain. This has to be seen to be believed. Seek it out, you won't be sorry. It's a classic; I sense a Hugo coming. (The series is repeated on Sunday nights; if you haven't already been watching then you've missed your opportunity to see the first episode this time but you can still see the second one next weekend and it contains a brief recap of the first episode.) (discussion in progress)
