NYCC 2020: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal Panel Recap

 

 

2020 New York Comic-Con (NYCC) looks much different from last year. The digital socially distance-friendly version has featured some amazing panels for fans to watch free of charge from home. While many other shows have had to do something similar, NYCC has shown them up by delivering a true con experience despite the limitations.

Though NYCC 2020 has featured a plethora of great panels and announcements, one of the most exciting on the docket was a look at Adult Swim’s Primal.  

Primal is the latest creation of uber-talented Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory). The series follows a caveman and his dinosaur friend in their struggle to survive a world looking to eat them whole. The adult animation is completely unique from anything that you have seen before as it is absent of any dialogue, yet completely character-driven.

Just as the show itself delivers something unique, so to would be this special NYCC Primal panel.

To begin with, any fan of animation and its development should spend some time listening to Tartakovsky discuss the art. The legendary creator always carries a unique perspective and can inspire anyone to do what they love and with passion.

For this panel, Tartakovsky delivered something unique from all the other features available during NYCC. 

Where most of them are pushed with a level of merchandising and advertising, Tartakovsky shares the development of the art form.

Through the 45-minute panel, fans are rewarded with screenshots from the original character designs, to the storyboarding, all the way to the final product.

Additionally, Tartakovsky walks us through the origins of the series, which was originally planned as a comic book, to how it became the masterpiece it is today.

Attending the panel are some of the creative geniuses that help to develop the show. Artistic designers like Scott Willis and Stephen Destefano share how the final look came to be and the effort to make it stand apart. 

Much credit is given to Christian Schellewald for his impressive backgrounds and how they utilize his unique stylings. And head writer Darrick Backman discusses the difficulty of writing such an emotionally driven show without depending on dialogue.

Further, music composers Joanne Higginbottom and Tyler Bates attend the panel to share how they captured the organic feel of the show. While the sound designer Joel Valentine gives fans a little insight into capturing all the unique sounds and voices to the animals that bring the show alive.

It is rare to find a show with this calibre of talent behind it. And this panel does well to showcase the collaborative effort to bring a voiceless story about a caveman into our hearts and homes.

The NYCC panel concludes with some insight into the show’s future. With it already announced that a second 10-episode season of Primal is in the works, Tartakovsky promises that it will be a step-up from the first season. He went as far as to say that the things that will happen will likely “shock” fans.

Finally, as a special treat, the final moments of the discussion feature a sneak peek at an upcoming episode of Primal. And it looks like it will be a mindblower.

Primal season one part two is currently airing Sunday nights on Adult Swim.

The entire NYCC Primal panel is available to watch for free on the official NYCC YouTube channel. And for anyone who has been captured by the magic of this show, this is one panel that is worth a watch.