The soft sounds of nature are suddenly cut with a roaring bellow as a dinosaur charges across a vivd watercolor jungle to fight a furious caveman to the death. Animation guru Genndy Tartakovsky has been a master at crafting emotionally gripping scenes without words for years and Primal is the ultimate expression of his style. Tartakovsky has managed to create interesting characters and riveting action in a show entirely without dialogue. Primal follows a caveman and a Tyrannosaur as they survive together in the harsh landscape of prehistoric Earth. Though unnamed in the show, the script refers to them as Spear and Fang respectively. The first episode of this limited series sets up the relationship between the pair and introduces us to the naked brutality of the world they live in. This is Tartakovsky’s bloodiest work by far but the violence is instrumental in creating the narrative. The show is called Primal after all. This show is definitely not for kids and the violence was brief but startling in its savagery.
Those familiar with Tartakovsky’s previous projects like Sym-Bionic Titan will see a lot of similarities from the ultra close-ups and long lingering shots that are surprisingly impactful in their simplicity. The blocky animation style that is often used in his work is combined with backgrounds full of color to make each scene unique and striking. The artists make good use of the style by using hard edges and thick lines on all their models. Tartakovsky has always eschewed realism in favor of a truly cartoon look which especially helps here by accenting the primitive nature of the setting. Tartakovsky’s previous shows have all shared pieces of his particular style but Primal‘s aesthetic is that style distilled to its essence. The beauty is in the melding of basic form and complex thought. He isn’t afraid to play with perspective and uses it to great advantage when creating his many eye-catching shots featuring towering cliffs and deep jungle valleys.
As with Tartakovsky’s more personal projects like Samurai Jack, sound plays a primary role in the crafting of the story and generating emotion. To make up for the lack of dialogue, Primal uses nonstop sound as the real driver of the story while the Foley work is A+ from top to bottom. It’s would almost be best to watch with headphones in order to fully appreciate the quality of the sound design. From the chirruping of bugs in the jungle to the pained howls of a heartbroken caveman, every sound has a purpose and makes the visuals hit that much harder. A surprisingly powerful element of the show’s incredible sound came from the joint soundtrack work done by Joanne Higginbottom and Tyler Bates. Deep throbbing drums are frequently used to underscore the show’s tension and add to the primitive vibe.
Primal will air on October 7th at midnight on Adult Swim but is available to watch early on adultswim.com. The show is slated to run for five episodes which will air over five consecutive nights starting on the 7th and each episode will only be about 22 minutes long. Click on the links below to watch the trailer on Youtube or check out the first episode early on adultswim.com.
Genndy’s Tartakovsky’s Primal – Trailer
Primal Episode 1 – Spear and Fang
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