Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal

Im up for some Ar K/Turok shenanigans.

Remember when Dexter had a cave guy in one episode of Dexter's Laboratory?

What if the cave guy in Primal will end up being that same cave guy?

I got to admit - at first it was like "ok Tartakovsky is doing a thing, but I don't care. I have school and more important stuff to worry about."

Then I watched that scene of him punching a dude in half.

Yeah, I think I will be tuning into this. There's a lot of good stuff coming out in October.

I... actually don't remember that. I remember an episode with a talking dog, and one where Dee Dee ruined Mandark's lab, and "omelette du framage," and one where Dexter got stuck in the back of the bus.

But not that.

Dang it. Now I have to rewatch that, Invader Zim, Samurai Jack...

Edited by Soble on Aug 27th 2019 at 5:15:03 AM

Evidently, Dexter's Laboratory's caveman episode is called "Old Flame".

Knowing Genndy, I am 100% sure there will be Action Film Quite Drama Scenes seasoned here and there. I love that in Samurai Jack for example where there were fight scenes and scenes of Jack walking alone with nobody around. Made it all more atmospheric. Well it isn't just him and the vast landscape and ambient winds but you get the idea.

I would love to see Cave Guy in his moments of quietness before... the killings continue.

Edited by Dhiruxide on Aug 27th 2019 at 5:55:19 PM

Yeah, that was a good episode. The poor guy is so overwhelmed by everything in Dexter's lab. He does bring back one thing though — a jump rope.

This is a TV show that I'm definitely looking forward to.

I'm 100% looking forward to this. This is the kind of show Western animation desperately needs!

This.

I created a work page for it where I added some of the tropes appearing in the trailers.

Edited by Snicka on Sep 1st 2019 at 10:25:58 AM

Seems like despite the Bloodier and Gorier approach, the show will still have some comedic moments.

I don't know why, but I'm excited for the fact that, as far as I can tell, the show will have absolutely 0 dialogue. Like, that's kind of a strange thing to be excited about, but outside of some Tom and Jerry-esque stuff, I can't think of a program that has 0 dialogue, and this certainly fits in a different niche than Tom and Jerry.

Does anyone know how many episodes will be in the first season?

The trailer says a five-night premiere, which implies to me either five episodes, or ten (two per night).

And I agree: the lack of dialogue means that all the emotions will be conveyed via the caveman's body language, giving an excellent opportunity to the animators to show their talent.

Edited by Snicka on Sep 26th 2019 at 10:49:34 AM

Even the newer, far darker Samurai Jack still had comedy elements/moments that actually were genuinely funny (e.g. Aku as his own therapist). Getting the balance right is something GT seems pretty good at, sprinkling just enough funny at just the right time to lighten the mood occasionally without killing it outright.

Yeah, plus a whole bunch of dialogue-less episodes were in the original Samurai Jack series, so this is just more of that.

A majority of Samurai Jack episodes have five minute stretches with no talking, but I don't think I've ever seen one with absolutely no talking at all. There's usually some talking at some point. One of the segments where Jack goes through the four seasons may have been completely free of talking, but I don't think they all were.

Edited by WillKeaton on Sep 27th 2019 at 7:52:32 AM

I wonder if we'll see any Brutish Cave Women.

Mime and Music-Only Cartoon, by the way, covers a lot of examples of animated works with zero dialogue. But most examples are, indeed, comedic in the vein of Tom and Jerry.

Right before its Monday premiere, Adult Swim drops Episode One (Spear and Fang) on their online website. It's 21 minutes long and unlocked (meaning non-cable subscribers can watch it too).

As long as you live in the US... (it was blocked for me.)

In this video Gennedy talks about Primal. So, the caveman is named Spear and the dinosaur is named Fang, and she's a girl. I don't expect names to ever be spoken in the show, so it's entirely possible the only times these characters are named is in promotional material and the like. On a similar note, you can see Fang protecting her babies in one shot, which honestly may be the only way to convey that this dinosaur is female without using words.

Edited by WillKeaton on Oct 7th 2019 at 10:48:12 AM

Spear's wife appears in the first episode... and she's not brutish at all, but slim with modern human-like proportions. She does have heavy brows and a flat forehead, but that's the only Neanderthal-like trait she has.

Primal airs tonight. In one interview, Tartakovsky said this is going to be a ten episode series. Looking at the TV guide, Adult Swim is airing one episode a night for five nights. I don't know when the last five episodes are going to air though.

Also, a really interesting thing to note, on the TV guide the show isn't listed as "Primal," it's listed as "Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal." How many animated programs put the name of the director before the name of the work? I can't think of a single one besides this.

Edited by WillKeaton on Oct 7th 2019 at 5:42:42 AM

Whooooo this started intense.

Goddamn that’s one expressive caveman.

Holy shit is the scenery gorgeous.

Edited by slimcoder on Oct 7th 2019 at 9:12:20 AM