‘’I don’t come up like, ‘oh I want to make a great setting’. It’s usually an idea for a character, or an idea for a story or really an idea for a feeling that I want to communicate.’’
Bull, an ordinary and rather sweet dog, finds out he’s getting neutered tomorrow morning. He realizes he needs one last adventure with his pack—after all, it’s his final 24 hours with his balls. What could possibly happen?
Le Petit Septième, a big occasion
For those unaware, the Fantasia Festival—which kicked off on July 16—just wrapped up on August 3, 2025, marking the end of its 29th edition. The closing day was highlighted by the arrival of the legendary animator and director Genndy Tartakovsky, who came to present his latest feature film, Fixed. It was the perfect moment to reward the artist with this year’s Career Award—just like they did in a similar fashion with Danny Elfman earlier during the festival—showing just how much of a giant Tartakovsky is in his field.
Le Petit Septième had the privilege of speaking with Mister Tartakovsky for a few minutes before the screening. For me, the experience was incredibly enriching, even if it lasted only 3 minutes (just goes to show that short can still be sweet and impactful). But before diving in, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about the man behind the legend.
Omelette du Hommage
Who is Genndy Tartakovsky? First, let me say he ranks among my personal role models, right up there with Lynch, Serling, K. Dick, Asimov (and I’ll skip a few others to keep it brief). I first discovered his work when I was too young to appreciate who did what and how in animation—but the show itself, I loved, no question. Dexter’s Laboratory was one of those works that, without realizing it, left permanent marks on me over time (thank you, Monkey). A childhood memory I carry alone, yet also one I shared with my cousin.
He began his animation career working on Batman: The Animated Series; the show’s producers were impressed by his student shorts, one of which would later become Dexter’s Laboratory. From there, he had the chance to expand his internal universe outward, giving us Samurai Jack, Primal, Sym-Bionic Titan, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, not to mention his work with Lucasfilm on the first Clone Wars series (in my opinion, the only good Star Wars thing since Episode III).
On August 13, Fixed, Genndy Tartakovsky’s latest animated film, will hit Netflix (boooo, Netflix!) for all subscribers. The cast might also pique your interest, featuring names like Adam DeVine as Bull; Idris Elba as his best friend Rocco; and Kathryn Hahn as Honey, Bull’s friend and a purebred Afghan Hound. These characters definitely don’t mince words, with a much cruder vocabulary than usual for Tartakovsky—yet also maybe closer to how people actually talk in real life.
Right in the face
Fixed is a unique animated feature in the way it tackles certain, let’s say, more taboo subjects—head-on. If you thought, dear reader, that a film about a dog’s last day before getting neutered would rely on subtle innuendo… let me stop you right there. We’re talking about sex, private parts, and more sex—all wrapped in a very entertaining slapstick dynamic.
Hard to get more in-your-face than this. A shame for someone like me who isn’t particularly a fan of humor that revolves entirely around sex (don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a raunchy joke now and then just like anyone else, but not always), especially when it’s repeated and used as the main source of laughs. Still, it was a hit with fans of the genre, who laughed heartily during the screening as Bull, voiced by Adam DeVine, dips his scalpel into ice cream after electrocuting himself while… rubbing a little too hard against an electric lamp. As Kit (played by Martin Sheen) says in Badlands: “Takes all kinds.”
Maybe I’ve had enough fun with American Pie back in the day—though I was just a teenager then. That said, the animation is excellent and mostly hand-drawn (though not entirely). In any case, to completely forgo technology that can truly support the artists would’ve been an unnecessary sacrifice in the name of stylistic purism. No doubt, you can feel the hand-drawn part of the animation, and that’s paradoxically refreshing.
It’s like sex, after all—not because routine kills pleasure that we should throw out our good habits and always chase something new (see? Told you I could talk about this stuff too), at the risk of becoming repetitive by trying too hard not to be. Yet that’s exactly what good times with close friends feel like—you drop the filters and social conventions, and let yourself have a bit more fun with new and old stuff too. In that sense, Fixed hits the mark brilliantly, pushing the limits once again—maybe not by miles, but enough to be impressive.
Fixed was presented at the Fantasia Festival on August 3, 2025.
Bande-annonce
Entrevue
Samuël : Well, Hi.
Tartakovsky : Hi.
Samuël : First of all, I’m one of your biggest fans for such a long time.
Tartakovsky : Thank You.
Samuël : So, I was wondering. Well, you did shows everywhere in the world, everywhere in space and time, and I was wondering. Why today’s time and… Dogs?
Tartakovsky : Why Dogs?
Samuël : Yah.
Tartakovsky : Well, this movie started as kind of my love for my friends, my childhood friends, and they make me laugh like no one else. So, like a lot of people have friends, and so… from there I was like how can I get that dynamic to be an animation, so I can bring some of the best things that I love about my friends and their dynamics and their personality, exaggerate them, and make it an animation.
Samuël : Oh.
Tartakovsky : Right! And that was the beginning. Originally the movie was called Buds. And it would still be a dog, this around like 2008. And then, I went to Sony actually, and I pitched and they liked it. But then they go : ‘’you need a concept’’, and then right there it struck me. ‘’Well their dogs and one of them finds out it’s going to get neutered in the morning.
Samuël : Yeah and you worked with dogs in the past, like 2 Stupid Dogs I think at Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
Tartakovsky : Yeah. So everybody laughed and that was it. So, it kinda came together really organically.
Samuël : So this is from your times with your still colleagues Paul and Craig and everything?
Tartakovsky : No, not those guys. My childhood friends. From highschool.
Samuël : Oh your childhood friends not back from college?
Tartakovsky : Yah.
Samuël : It’s a nice thing. And I wanted to know about that like… Do you think, like, this is the setting that is the most useful to talk about stuff you don’t seem to talk a lot usually in your other animation.
Tartakovsky : Yeah, like usually I like some kind of fantasy I like to escape reality…
Samuël : Maybe virtue a bit too?
Tartakovsky : Maybe a little bit, but it’s more this one I wanted to be funny. And the energy, and the humour, and the animation. And really to make like an adult movie that has raunchiness, but that also has really funny animation and something a little different than what’s out there.
Samuël : A lot different.
Tartakovsky : Yeah. The story and the setting all fit you know. Because usually, I don’t come up like oh I want to make a great setting. It’s usually an idea for a character, or an idea for a story or really an idea for a feeling that I want to communicate. And this is how my projects start to all come together.
Samuël : And this feeling was about the fun you had with your friends back then?
