{"id":63471,"date":"2025-08-12T21:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63471\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:18:11","slug":"genndy-tartakovskys-17-year-fixed-journey-and-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63471\/","title":{"rendered":"Genndy Tartakovsky\u2019s 17-Year ‘Fixed’ Journey, And What’s Next"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Fixed screened in front of a packed house at Annecy earlier this summer, Genndy Tartakovsky knew he was rolling the dice, but that he was playing with house money. Few filmmakers seem quite as at home at the French festival.<\/p>\n

But this time, Tartakovsky wasn\u2019t there with Dexter\u2019s Laboratory,\u00a0Samurai Jack, Primal, or even Hotel Transylvania. This time, he was screening a 2D, R-rated, unapologetically raunchy hand-drawn comedy, the kind of project studios don\u2019t just hesitate to make, but almost never greenlight.<\/p>\n

And yet, the Annecy audience, heavy on animation students, professionals, and seasoned festival-goers, didn\u2019t just laugh. They exploded.<\/p>\n

\"Fixed,<\/a>Genndy Tartakovsky in Annecy \u2013 Credit: Sony Pictures Animation<\/p>\n

\u201cI literally felt like I had the audience in my hands,\u201d Tartakovsky recently told Cartoon Brew. \u201cI was thinking: \u2018You\u2019re going to be quiet here. You\u2019re going to giggle here. You\u2019re going to laugh here. You\u2019re going to be in shock here.\u2019 It felt like it all landed, and I did a good job. And I don\u2019t get that feeling a lot. So it was a very unique experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the film\u2019s August 13 Netflix release, Tartakovsky spoke to us about staying stubborn, leaning into an R rating, and what he\u2019d do if he were getting into the industry today.<\/p>\n

Seventeen Years in the Making<\/p>\n

The film, a co-production with Sony Pictures Animation and New Line, follows Bull, a fast-talking mutt who learns he\u2019s being neutered in the morning and sets out on a last, wild night with his neighborhood crew to win the heart of show dog Honey. It\u2019s equal parts Lady and the Tramp and The Hangover, filtered through Tartakovsky\u2019s signature eye for caricatured, hand-drawn animation.<\/p>\n

The project gestated for nearly two decades. Tartakovsky first conceived it as a tribute to the kind of humor he shared with a group of friends from high school. \u201cThey\u2019ll know exactly who\u2019s who,\u201d the director laughed, discussing his inspiration.<\/p>\n

\"Fixed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it was based on my friends, I felt a responsibility to see it through,\u201d he added. \u201cThen, I wanted other people to see it come to life. I\u2019m very stubborn when it comes to some things\u2026 and at this moment in my life, this was what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, it took the industry some time to catch up to exactly what it was that Tartakovsky wanted to do. \u201cA lot of the time, unfortunately, I\u2019m a bit ahead of the industry. Unicorn [Warriors Eternal] took 20 years to make. This took 17. The hardest thing is getting a green light on something original and unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going All-In on the R Rating<\/p>\n

For Tartakovsky, the decision to make Fixed a full-on rated R feature wasn\u2019t about shock for shock\u2019s sake, but about committing to the premise.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy pure sensibility is probably softer,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut if you\u2019re doing R-rated, you need to push all the way. Still tastefully, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything distasteful here, but fully committed. I didn\u2019t want the criticism of \u2018It\u2019s R-rated, but only a little.\u2019 This is hard R, in the best way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The familiar warmth of 2D design makes the first minutes disarming, giving off an Oliver and Company vibe. But the humor hits fast, and some viewers may take a moment to adjust. \u201cOnce they settle in, there\u2019s a whole movie there,\u201d Tartakovsky said.<\/p>\n

Assembling a Dream Team of Animators<\/p>\n

Industry veterans will note that Fixed\u2019s animation team reads like a who\u2019s who of top-flight 2D talent. Tartakovsky had been keeping a personal list of animators for years, ready to pounce when the right project came along.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a list of 12, got 10,\u201d he said. \u201cSome passed because of the subject matter, but those who came aboard brought more than I imagined. I expected TV-plus quality. What I got was legit, top-tier feature animation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fixed<\/a><\/p>\n

Layouts were handled by Tartakovsky, Craig Kellman, Joe Moshier, Adam Polonian, and Stephen DeStefano, ensuring the design DNA stayed consistent. The animators could then pour their energy into performance and timing rather than wrestling with unclear boards.<\/p>\n

The results sparked a kind of friendly arms race. \u201cOne animator would see another\u2019s scene and want to top it,\u201d Tartakovsky said. \u201cEspecially the younger ones \u2014 the quality just kept climbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timing Is Everything<\/p>\n

Tartakovsky says that after a career built making animated series, his experience on Sony\u2019s family-friendly Hotel Transylvania film franchise, where he directed the first three features, sharpened his instincts for theatrical comedy, where test screenings can make or break a gag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn TV, you wonder if you should leave time for a laugh, but what if they\u2019re not laughing?\u201d he said. \u201cIn features, you sit with an audience, see what works, and adjust. I love the process of fixing a joke that didn\u2019t land, restaging it, retiming it, and then hearing the room roar.\u201d<\/p>\n

If He Had to Do It Over, And What\u2019s Next<\/p>\n

For all its filth and frenzy, Fixed might also be a bellwether. Tartakovsky sees recent independent success stories as signs that creators now have more ways to break into the industry and keep their creative control.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were 21 now, I\u2019d get a job to pay the bills and make my own content at night until something clicks,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing\u2019s guaranteed, but if you\u2019ve got the drive, you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Fixed connects with audiences, Tartakovsky is open to more R-rated work, comedy or otherwise. \u201cI have an adult dramatic animated action piece I\u2019d love to do,\u201d he teased. \u201cIf this opens the right doors, I\u2019m stepping through.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whether it\u2019s generation-defining kids content (Dexter\u2019s Laboratory) prehistoric brutality (Primal), cosmic fantasy (Unicorn: Warriors Eternal), or dogs on a debauched bender, one constant remains: \u201cThe fun part is doing something different. Not sitting back. Pushing. That\u2019s the only way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Fixed screened in front of a packed house at Annecy earlier this summer, Genndy Tartakovsky knew he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344],"class_list":["post-63471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}