Yes. You know, after doing Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, I really wanted to challenge myself, and I really wanted to do something more cinematic, something on a bigger scale… I wanted to see if I could execute it for television.

I mean, Star Wars kind of has to be cinematic because that's the source of it... But Samurai Jack, I wanted it to have like a classic feel. You know like a Kurosawa film, or David Lean, or Sergio Leone; and I wanted that kind of real, classic, almost seventies-style feel to it.

Is there an aspect of visual design that you are most proud of from either of these series'? Such as perhaps the set design or the fight coordination?

I think that for Samurai Jack, I mean the fights are always great, but really, the visual look of it I am always very proud of because everybody did such a great job while putting together that look.

And then, the physicality of animation for both, the TV schedule and budget is phenomenal. If you go and compare them to any other show, ours stands above, because our fights are fluid, the timing is very strong, and you do see everything, but you also feel it. And even in the live action movies, you don't have as much choreography as we do…

So, you know, it's definitely a huge accomplishment. And you know, for a normal TV show you might have maybe five or six or eight poses, but our fight sequences have thirty to forty poses that we have to do. And it's a huge amount of work, but it pays off because you feel the fights a lot more than just "eight poses."

As a director, do you have any particular goals in mind as production begins on a series?

To finish on time [laughs], and to really say something different. You know, I try not to repeat myself, but to present ideas in a more unique way, and in a personal way. You know, all of the great directors have a very strong point of view; from Hitchcock to Sergio Leone to David Lean, you know, all of those guys. They have their directing style, and only a great director has a style that comes through, because only he or she is able to communicate that style through their self.

And so, that's kind of always my goal is to, you know, one day make it feel like a Genndy Tartakovsky film. Like, "Oh, Genndy directed this." And it's a really complicated thing to do… especially in a watered down production schedule of television.

SAMURAI JACK and STAR WARS: CLONE WARS both appeal to all audiences, but still retain aspects of being dramas that are more serious. Do you have any desire to work on a slightly more "adult" project?

Hmmm, I kind of do and I kind of don't, I dunno. I'm not really into a lot of adult stuff right now, because it's more "gross out humor" or "shock humor."

So, right now no, but if I were able to do something "adult" without having to rely on, you know, bad jokes and stuff… then I'd definitely consider it. You know, something more sophisticated.

Right.  So, are there any new projects that you are working on that you can discuss? Is there anything else that you want to add?

Nope.  

Well, I'm just trying to get some movies going… to see if I can get into the theatrical world of feature animation.