The show lasted for four seasons and went off the air in September 2004. It was a kid’s cartoon that challenged every convention to deliver a show that was cinematic and could appeal to anyone. We both liked Asian action films so we gave it a try, and we were hooked instantly. I got introduced to the show at Comic-Con and picked up a cool poster for my young son. You never knew what he was going to do and every episode seemed to deliver brand new characters for a standalone adventure. Tartakovsky kept the frame in constant dynamic play, so the animation might fill the whole frame then shift to a letterboxed frame for a Sergio Leone-style landscape or split in three like comic book panels to emphasize the details of some action. But there was so much craft and care put into the composition of every frame and so much creative innovation. It had a deceptive simplicity because the animation was very two-dimensional and angular. There could be whole episodes with barely a word spoken and it was riveting. The show had a bold visual style that reveled in both intoxicating action and meditative moments of stillness. The series followed Jack, a samurai flung into the future by an evil demon and on a quest to travel back in time to defeat his nemesis, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, Aku. Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Samurai Jack” premiered in 2001 on Cartoon Network. But Jack is back this Saturday, March 11, to launch a long-awaited season five on Adult Swim.
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