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Genndy Borisovich Tartakovsky (Russian: (transliteration:Gennadij Borisovich Tartakovskij)) (January 17, 1970) is an American television animator, director and producer. His best-known creations are Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars.
[edit] BiographyGenndy Tartakovsky was born on January 17, 1970 in Moscow to Jewish parents.[1] His father, Boris, worked as a dentist[2] for government officials and a Russian hockey team.[3] His mother, Miriam, was an assistant principal at a school. He also has a brother, Alex, who is two years older and currently a computer consultant in Chicago.[3] Before coming to the United States, his family first moved to Italy, where he lived next to a German family. There, Tartakovsky says he was first drawn to art, inspired by a neighbor's daughter. Tartakovsky later commented, "I remember, I was horrible at it. For the life of me, I couldn't draw a circle." Tartakovsky's family moved to the United States when he was seven[4] due to concerns about the effect of anti-Semitism on their children's lives.[3] The family originally settled in Columbus, Ohio[5] and later moved to Chicago. He was greatly influenced by the comics he found there, his first purchase was a Super Friends issue at a 7-Eleven. Genndy began attending Chicago's Eugene Field Elementary School in the third grade. School was hard for him because he felt that everyone recognized him as a foreigner. He went on to attend Chicago's prestigious Lane Technical College Prep High School, and says he never felt he fit in until he was a sophomore there. When he was 16, his father died of a heart attack[3]. He felt that his father was very strict and was an old fashioned man, but Genndy's relationship with his father was very special to him. After the death of his father, Genndy and his family moved to government-funded housing, and he began working while still attending high school. To satisfy his ambitious family, Genndy tried to take an advertising class, because they were encouraging him to be a businessman. However, he signed up late and had little choice over his classes. He was assigned to take an animation class, and this led to his study of film at Chicago Columbia College before moving to Los Angeles to study animation at the California Institute of the Arts[5] (with his friend, Robert Renzetti[3]) and there he also met Craig McCracken. At CalArts, Tartakovsky directed and animated two student films, one of which became the basis for Dexter's Laboratory.[5] Reportedly, after two years at CalArts, Tartakovsky got a job in Spain on Batman: The Animated Series and The Critic.[2] While there, "he learned the trials of TV animation, labor intensive and cranking it out."[2] Also, while in Spain, his mother died of cancer.[3] [edit] CareerCraig McCracken acquired an art direction job at Hanna-Barbera for the show 2 Stupid Dogs[2] and recommended hiring Robert Renzetti and Genndy Tartakovsky as well. This was a major turning point in Tartakovsky's career. Hanna-Barbera let Tartakovsky, McCracken, Renzetti, and Paul Rudish work in a trailer in the parking lot of the studio, and there, Tartakovsky started creating his best known works. Dexter's Laboratory grew out of a student film with the same title that he produced while at the California Institute of the Arts. Tartakovksy also co-wrote and pencilled the 25th issue of the Dexter's Laboratory comic book series, titled "Stubble Trouble".[6] Additionally, he helped produce The Powerpuff Girls and has directed many episodes, serving as the animation director for The Powerpuff Girls Movie. All three projects were nominated repeatedly for Emmy Awards, with Samurai Jack finally winning "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)" in 2004 (the same year he would win in the category for One Hour or More for Star Wars: Clone Wars) Star Wars creator George Lucas hired Tartakovsky to direct Star Wars: Clone Wars, a successful animated microseries taking place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The series has won three Emmy awards: two for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More)" (in 2004 and 2005) and another for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation" (for background designer Justin Thompson in 2005). Tartakovsky is not involved in the follow up series, and has no plans to work on future Star Wars projects.[7] Genndy directed animation on the pilot episode of Korgoth of Barbaria in 2006. The series was initially set for a complete first season on Adult Swim, but was not continued. He also directed a series of anti-smoking ads, one for Nicorette in 2006[8] and two for Niquitin in 2008.[9] In 2009, he created a short entitled Maruined for Cartoon Network's Cartoonstitute program, which has yet to be officially aired or otherwise released. Tartakovsky has been made creative president of The Orphanage's Orphanage Animation Studios, and is currently directing their first feature, Power of the Dark Crystal. Power of the Dark Crystal is a sequel to the 1982 classic The Dark Crystal, and is expected to be released in 2011.[10] Additionally, he has been storyboarding Iron Man 2 for director Jon Favreau.[11] It was announced at Cartoon Network Upfront 2009 that a new show by Genndy, titled Sym-Bionic Titan, is early in production.[12] A Samurai Jack feature film is currently in pre-production, and is being produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and Frederator Films.[13][14][15] To date, Tartakovsky has amassed 13 Emmy nominations and three wins.[16] He has also been nominated four times for Annie Awards, winning once for Clone Wars. [edit] Filmography[edit] Director
[edit] Producer
[edit] Writer
[edit] Animation
[edit] Storyboards
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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