I watching this Disney documentary, and I'm not Disney, but I was thinking about Mickey Mouse and he became an icon. Walt moved onto other things but he made him exist. I was thinking, 'Wow, is 'Samurai Jack' my 'Mickey Mouse?' Am I stupid to stop working on it?'
I've done a lot of dance sequences because I like them; I like to animate dancing because it's fun and visual.
There's a lot of comic book inspiration and stuff I do that people probably won't recognize. I grew up in the '70s, so there's a lot of little things, like 'Three's Company' and 'Gilligan's Island.' Those shows were the foundation of my comedy in a way.
Through the years, I've developed a style or a language that I like, even when it applies to action. All my action principles are very similar to my cartoony principles, because all the poses want to be really strong.
The one amazing thing about 'Jack' is that I did it in 2001, you know, and it still survived. There's something about it that's connected with people.
Animation is my love, but I think there's definitely room in live-action. I mean, 'Iron Man 2' was fun, and I got to see that world.
I grew up in the '70s, early '80s as a kid, and when we first immigrated to this country I went to a 7-Eleven and for the first time in my life I saw... back in the day they had this little spinning comic book rack, and there were comic books and I was basically drawn to them.
The one amazing thing about 'Jack' is that I did it in 2001, you know, and it still survived. There's something about it that's connected with people.
There are so many sitcoms, especially in animation, that we've almost forgotten what animation was about - movement and visuals.
There are so many sitcoms, especially in animation, that we've almost forgotten what animation was about - movement and visuals.
Stories are important, but I'm really into characters, and if you can give birth to a good one, that's true success.
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.
I feel like animation's stagnant. There's not much that's trying to push the artform, and so, for me, I'm way too critical about it.
We use music, cinematic storytelling and very stylized backgrounds to create mood and atmosphere as 'Samurai Jack' travels an exotic landscape. The environment is a major character in each show.