Genndy Tartakovsky

Genndy Tartakovsky is a renowned animator and filmmaker, well-known for his distinctive, stylized  visual storytelling. His works, which range from Samurai Jack to Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) and the Hotel Transylvania series, are distinguished by their dynamic, yet simple designs, fluid action scenes, and potent atmosphere. This blog will examine Tartakovsky’s unique  style of drawing, emphasizing how it changed over the course of his many projects and how his 2D style was adapted into 3D animation, especially with Hotel Transylvania.

Tartakovsky’s dedication to powerful, straightforward shapes and a focus on silhouette is one of the most noticeable parts of his design concept. He uses crisp lines, simple backgrounds, and details that highlight the characters and actions which is evident in his early works, such as Samurai Jack. This simplicity serves as a narrative device in addition to being an aesthetic decision, as he enables the audience to concentrate on the important elements, such as a character’s emotion, a pivotal story point, or a thrilling action scene, by eliminating extraneous elements.

The visual language of Samurai Jack is frequently minimalist and highly stylized, using geometric shapes and flat colours to make a world both epic and ageless while remaining uncomplicated. The action scenes, which frequently resemble martial arts sequences, are allowed a lot of space and make use of negative space just as much as the characters or objects in the frame. This helps to expresses action and emotion without confusing the audience with details.

Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)

Tartakovsky’s work on Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) is arguably one of the most well-known instances of his distinct artistic style. Infusing his trademark flamboyant, stylized art style with the action and gravity of the Star Wars universe. Clone Wars’ departure from the more realistic designs of past Star Wars media is the first notable aspect of the film. Tartakovsky gives well-known characters and settings new life by using exaggerated proportions, geometric shapes, and minimalist design concepts. For instance, the clone troopers are simplified into sleek, blocky shapes, whereas Anakin Skywalker is depicted with a sharper, angular style. This helps to make the scenes look more fast-paced and intense, along with more fluidity and expression too.

Translating 2D to 3D/ Hotel Transylvania

Tartakovsky started using 3D animation as the industry started to change and his career developed, most notably for the Hotel Transylvania series of movies. Bold, expressive characters with exaggerated forms and simplified characteristics are Tartakovsky’s trademark, even though 3D animation frequently tends towards more realistic designs as popularized by Disney throughout the 2010’s. His ability to maintain the core of his old style while making use of the special advantages of the new medium is what makes this transition from 2D to 3D so successful. The highly stylized, characters of Hotel Transylvania’s animation are one of its distinguishing features. For example, Dracula’s tall, slim body, pointy features like his chin and nose, and enormous head resemble the exaggerated proportions found in his 2D work. The same sense of speed and energy that was plentiful in his previous animated shows is still captured in these designs too.

To preserve the spirit of Tartakovsky’s 2D approach, the animators used exaggerated physicality when converting these concepts into 3D. The expressiveness and fluidity of the characters’ movements in Hotel Transylvania are similar to the exaggerated stances found in conventional animation. Dracula’s movements, for instance, are purposefully exaggerated when he runs, with his limbs and facial expressions stretched to highlight the movement. This is similar to how Samurai Jack and other characters in his 2D works appear to move purposefully through the environment.

Using what I have found during this research I will attempt to create a character that uses the unique shapes and simplicity that the characters exude in his previous works while still making sure to give the character some expressive personality traits that will hopefully translate in my final product.

 

References

Hotel Transylvania/2D to 3D: https://characterdesignreferences.com/art-of-animation-8/art-of-hotel-transylvania