Director

I'm a true fan of animation, and it's my livelihood.

I didn't want 'Hotel Transylvania' to be the nail in the coffin for cartoony animation. Because if the movie failed, I could see people blaming that aspect of it. I was really nervous about that.

In feature animation, cartoony or exaggerated animation is almost taboo. There is this precedent that if you do that kind of stuff people won't like it or it will be too zany.

I didn't want 'Hotel Transylvania' to be the nail in the coffin for cartoony animation. Because if the movie failed, I could see people blaming that aspect of it. I was really nervous about that.

Jim Gaffigan is someone I've always been a fan of.

I don't like to be part of the cattle. I like to just do my own thing.

The computer tends to equalize everything, all the movies are slowly blending together, the way they look.

I'm not a violent person at all, and I don't want to show violence for violent's sake.

I'm not sure comics sustain mortgage, and the house, and three kids.

I've always been in love with samurais, that kind of classic idea about a hero who has a sword with an intense skill and is very stoic and doesn't talk much.

'Samurai' is not an animated show like you would normally watch on TV. We tell the stories from a different perspective - backward, very nonlinear. It treats it more seriously as an art form.

The magic of 'Jack' is that it's unique, there's not a lot of stuff like it.

I used to work until two in the morning every night, then still get up at six. Now, I have to help my daughter with her homework, spend time with my wife.

One of the things I hate about TV for kids is that it conescends to them.

I had done it all in my career. I always felt, as a kid, that that's what a director needed to be. Hitchcock could do anything in my mind. He's the director. That person has to be the best actor, the best designer, the best cinematographer. Then I came to realize that isn't the case. You just need to surround yourself with the best.

I love the way the long scenes feel - one of the characteristics of '70s filmmaking is that you don't cut around a lot; you let things play out. I did that on 'Samurai Jack,' and it carried over into 'Clone Wars.'

Making a feature like 'Hotel 3' or 'Hotel 2' is kind of fun and jokey. It doesn't take itself too seriously. You could do whatever you want, basically.

Storytelling has changed. Shows like 'Adventure Time' have taken storytelling in a different direction.

Jack' came from... I had the same dream since I was 10, about the world being destroyed and run by mutants. I'd find a samurai sword, pick up the girl I had a crush on, and we'd go through the land, surviving. That was the initial spark to 'Samurai Jack.'

I love 'Jack' as one of my creations and would never want to change it from what it was supposed to be. There was no reason to reinvent.