“They wanted a lot of story twists, more dialogue, maybe a sidekick or two,” he said.
He cited the many ways in which potential studio backers wanted him to update the show’s largely wordless, expressionistic storytelling quality for a new set of expectations. “It’s not like I had to pay my mortgage because of it.” “I didn’t need to make it into a movie,” Tartakovsky said. While series grossed over $800 million worldwide to date, “Samurai Jack” remained on the back burner. He went straight into production on Cartoon Network’s microseries “Star Wars: Clone Wars,” short episodes that tied into the “Star Wars” universe and kept the story going leading up to “Episode III.” After that, he launched the one-season show “Symbionic Titan” on Cartoon Network and, most significantly, directed the blockbuster animated features “Hotel Transylvania” and its sequel for Sony. Tartakovsky has no regrets about waiting so long. “I should be doing more of my own things,” he said. In the process, it has led Tartakovsky to a new outlook on his career that may inform his next steps. (The full series hits DVD and Bluray this week, following a one-night-only theatrical release of its feature-length pilot.) The show, which ended abruptly with the fourth season finale, has now reached a very satisfying conclusion. While “Samurai Jack” wasn’t a ratings blockbuster on its initial run, the show gradually found a fan base on DVD, paving the way for Tartakovsky to complete the show’s narrative arc with a fifth season produced for Adult Swim earlier this year, 13 years after the previous season. Tartakovsky knew exactly how he wanted to tell his story of the titular samurai, who’s thrown into a far-off dystopian future by the demonic Aku and forced to fight his way back to the past.