Recently, I had the absolutely pleasure of speaking with living animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky about his new Adult Swim series, Primal. The animated adventure arrives on Adult Swim next Monday in a five-night epic event that takes viewers back to the distant past to reveal a kill-or-be-killed prehistoric adventure story. We'll have our review of the series (or at least the first four episodes) up on tomorrow's new episode of our animation podcast, Saturday Mourning Cartoons, which also includes the full audio of our interview with Tartakovsky.
However, I wanted to tease out a bit about Sony's Hotel Transylvania 4. Tartakovsky has been in the director's chair for all three hit animated films so far, but news has been rather quiet about the fourth installment of the franchise. For a time, it looked like he wouldn't return for Hotel Transylvania 3 either, but a compelling story revolving around a cruise ship was enough to draw him back for one last batty adventure. Not so this time, it seems.
Here's what Tartakovsky had to say about Hotel Transylvania 4 and his future at Sony Pictures Animation:
Do you have any updates on Sony's Hotel Transylvania 4 that you could talk about?
Tartakovsky: Nope. They're in the writing process and I'm not directing it. So we hired a director and everything. And so it's moving slowly forward.
Fair enough. And my last question for you today, what is up next for you other than waiting to unleash Primal on all the viewers out there?
Tartakovsky: Well, we're actually still finishing up episodes. And so that's still going to be a continuous process. And I have my two movies that are getting a little bit more speed at a Sony Pictures Animation. So that's kind of the plate right now.
Though I didn't get a chance to follow up on those movies, if his previously announced pictures with Sony Pictures Animation remain status quo, then we have a little bit to go on. One is Fixed, an R-rated comedy, while the other is the adventure movie Black Knight. During the Annecy International Animation Film Festival earlier this year, Tartakovsky spoke a bit about the pair of projects; Variety captured that info.
When you learn that Fixed follows "an average dog who learns that he is going to get neutered the next morning," the title makes a lot more sense. "It’s really funny and heartwarming, it’s not all about balls, we’re trying to make it a character comedy,” Tartakovsky said.
Regarding Black Knight, he said, “If you take any action movie you’ve ever loved and you add ninjas,” you get ‘Black Knight.'" The epic follows "a highly skilled and loyal knight who, after failing to protect his king, must transform himself into the Black Knight to save the kingdom."
Stay turned for more on Tartakovsky's projects, including Primal premiering on Adult Swim next week. And keep an eye out for our full interview in audio form on tomorrow's episode of the Saturday Mourning Cartoon podcast.
