It’s been just over two years since Genndy Tartakovsky revealed that he was behind a 2D animated movie titled Fixed. The movie follows a dog who has 24 hours to live his life to the fullest before he’s neutered — adult animation at its finest. In the last few years since the movie’s reveal, Tartakovsky and his team worked tirelessly to deliver the goods only for Warner Bros. to pull the carpet out from under them. Back in August, it was reported that Fixed was given the snip-snip and taken off the studio’s release calendar, making it the latest to receive such a fate. And, although Tartakovsky has certainly stayed busy, many fans are wondering if Fixed will ever wag its tail.
This past weekend, the iconic animator was be honored at SCAD’s AnimationFest with the Award of Excellence. Ahead of the momentous occasion, Tartakovsky sat down with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to discuss his lengthy career. Like so many others, Weintraub has been patiently waiting for updates about the future of Fixed, a topic that Tartakovsky was more than happy to discuss.
From the jump, the filmmaker was direct with his answer, saying, “We’re looking for a distributor. It’s not dead by any means. Sony has it, and so they’re looking for somebody to distribute it.” Delving further into the reason behind the hang-up, he went on:
“ It’s a kind of unicorn. It’s a 2D animated, rated-R film , and so they’re trying to find the right partner in a world where they don’t even make rated-R comedies, live-action, for the most part. It’s hard to find somebody to believe in this thing, but I feel like we’re getting closer and closer. So, the status is it’s not dead. It’s not shelved. It’s finding a partner to release it… [It’s] completely done. It’s the first time it’s ever happened to me where I finished something, and it’s just waiting.”
‘Fixed’s Test Screenings Have Left the Audiences In Stitches
Using descriptors like “raunchy” but at the same time adding the movie’s “got heart,” you can tell just from hearing Tartakovsky talk about Fixed that he is incredibly proud of what he and his team were able to accomplish. He told Collider:
“It has so much. It’s not only that I think it’s funny but the animation is just gorgeous. We got some of the best animators in the world to work on it, which was shocking to me. It’s shocking, it’s sometimes raunchy, it’s got heart.”
But don’t just take his word for it — the movie is ready for its big-screen debut, and it’s already received test screenings which Tartakovsky says were massive hits. He explained:
“It’s got all these elements put together, and we’ve had some screenings where people are laughing so much. It’s so nice. We’ve got five sequences that are always a home run , and that’s a lot. How many comedies have you seen where you can say you laughed so much? But it’s pushing the envelope, and I think that’s what’s holding it back.”
When It Comes to ‘Fixed’, Genny Tartakovsky Is Keeping His Head Held High
As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and Tartakovsky is approaching the hurdles facing Fixed with a glass-half-full mentality. Even though he’s faced struggles with getting his movie out there for audiences, he’s staying positive and patient. He said:
“I always think about how anything that’s ended up great always has a journey that’s not great, right? Even something like Seinfeld , where it was almost gonna get canceled, you know what I mean? Star Trek — we know the whole story with that. So, it’s just one of those things, and I hope it has a happy ending. But it’s pushing the envelope. It’s different than anything else. It’s really funny, so you just want people to see it.”
Stay tuned to Collider for our full interview with Tartakovsky as well as for future updates about Fixed. In the meantime, you can see more adult animation from Tartakovsky with Primal on Adult Swim.
via Collider