Primal (TV series)

Primal (marketed as Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal) is an American animated television series created and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. It premiered on October 7, 2019 on Adult Swim.

Primal
Also known asGenndy Tartakovsky's Primal
GenreAction-adventure
Adult animation
Created byGenndy Tartakovsky
Story by
Directed byGenndy Tartakovsky
Voices ofAaron LaPlante
Composer(s)Tyler Bates
Joanne Higginbottom
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English[lower-alpha 1]
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)Shareena Carlson
Running time22 minutes
Production company(s)Cartoon Network Studios
Williams Street
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original networkAdult Swim
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Original releaseOctober 7, 2019 –
present
External links
Website

Set in a prehistoric world, the show follows a caveman (named "Spear" in the show's production notes and voiced by Aaron LaPlante), a formidable hunter at the dawn of evolution, and a female Tyrannosaurus (named "Fang" in the show's production notes) on the brink of extinction, brought together by tragedy into an unlikely partnership as they fight to survive the violent creatures that also live in their world.

The first season will consist of 10 episodes, with the second half airing in 2020.[1][2] An episode from the second half was shown during Adult Swim's April Fools' Day 2020 run. Adult Swim announced on their Twitter that the second half will come somewhere in fall 2020.[3][4]

A film adaptation of the series, titled Primal: Tales of Savagery, was submitted in the Animated Feature Film category for the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. It screened at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on November 21, 2019.[5][6]

Development

According to the show's creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, Primal was an early piece of work he scrapped because it did not click with him at the time. As he learned more and more about what drew people in to his shows, he wanted to experiment with those artistic traits, particularly the use of no dialogue and slow moments.[7][8] He also stated that the method in which he approached animated shows and films began to slow down in terms of energy after Dexter's Laboratory. By the time he began working on season 5 of Samurai Jack, it had come full circle. He said he was inspired by Conan the Barbarian and vintage pulp novels.[8][9] According to Tartakovsky, he felt that people would not take the show seriously because they were "breaking the rules" by having "a man and a dinosaur together," so he emphasized that it is a character study, a "buddies" journey about two characters who are very different but bonded by tragedy.

Main characters
  • Spear (voiced by Aaron LaPlante) – a caveman whose tragedy begins with the death of his mate and two children. This violent event is the source of his continued internal struggle to find peace, and although he overcomes his initial suicidal depression, Spear is still learning to cope with the loss. Due to this trauma, Spear is able to find a unique companionship with Fang, but unlike her, he very much wants it to be a partnership, which she is reluctant to do so at first. Eventually, Spear develops a deep bond with the tyrannosaur and is willing to make any personal sacrifice to protect her.
  • Fang – a medium-sized female Tyrannosaurus rex whose tragedy begins with the death of her children. Unlike Spear, who is still traumatized and dealing with the loss of his loved ones, Fang is able to cope through the loss of her children faster. Being a tyrannosaur, she is driven by instinct first, which can cause a lot of tension between her and Spear, but it is usually resolved with little consequence. This natural tendency does come to a head when she instinctively attempts to assert her dominance over Spear, but eventually learns that it is far healthier to work in a partnership than in a pack mentality. Nevertheless, as time goes on, her bond with Spear grows to the point where she will do anything to ensure their survival.

Episodes
No.TitleWritten and storyboarded byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Spear and Fang"Genndy TartakovskyOctober 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)[lower-alpha 4]0.538[10]
A caveman, Spear, returns from spear-fishing to find his wife, son and daughter devoured by a trio of red horned Tyrannosaurus. Distraught, he contemplates suicide before resolving to take revenge. While fishing, he sees the silhouette of a dinosaur and, thinking it to be one of the red horned Tyrannosaurus that killed his family, silently pursues it into a thicket. He comes face to face with the grayish-blue hornless Tyrannosaurus, Fang, with two offspring hiding behind her. The sight of the young dinosaurs causes Spear to back down, just as they are attacked by the red horned Tyrannosaurus pack. Though Spear helps Fang kill the trio, their gargantuan alpha arrives and consumes Fang's babies while Fang watches helplessly. Spear and Fang slay the alpha, but Fang is left distraught over the loss of her children. Spear leaves Fang and walks off alone, but is later approached by Fang, and the two decide to travel together.
2"River of Snakes"Genndy TartakovskyOctober 8, 2019 (2019-10-08)0.661[11]
While hunting wild boars, Fang consistently bogarts any food she and Spear come across, causing Spear to grow increasingly agitated at her. Eventually Spear snaps and attacks Fang, losing his spear in the process, but their fight is interrupted when they wander into a den of large snakes. A flash flood rushes them and the snakes into a swampy river ruled by a Titanoboa. Fang kills the Titanoboa, but despite working together to stay afloat, the two fall down a waterfall, causing Spear to hit his head on the way down. Fang pulls Spear from the water, and as Spear comes to, Fang fetches Spear's lost spearhead. They reconcile and continue their journey together, now hunting food as a team.
3"A Cold Death"David KrentzOctober 9, 2019 (2019-10-09)0.573[12]
In the harshness of primordial winter, an elder woolly mammoth is separated from its herd, and is subsequently attacked and killed by Spear and Fang. As it dies, Spear seems to have some compassion for the prey creature. He harvests as much meat from the mammoth as he can, using one of its tusks to pull a makeshift sled. When the killed woolly mammoth's herd comes across their desecrated elder, which is already being scavenged by saber-toothed canids, they follow the sled's tracks and attack Spear and Fang. The pair valiantly try to fight off the angered mammoths, but they are quickly overwhelmed by their power and numbers. Ultimately, Spear is buried beneath a pile of rocks and Fang is on the verge of being crushed to death. In a final act of desperation, Spear bellows and successfully gets the attention of the herd. Spear defends himself with the killed elder woolly mammoth's tusk, and notices that the woolly mammoths stop their attack upon seeing it. He returns the tusk to the herd, who leave in peace and bring it to their mammoth graveyard to mourn.
4"Terror Under the Blood Moon"Don Shank and Genndy TartakovskyOctober 10, 2019 (2019-10-10)0.557[13]
After Spear and Fang evade a pack of dromaeosaurs in the savannah, they experience a red lunar eclipse. They encounter a tribe of cavepeople who are attacked by gigantic red bats. They attempt to fight the bats off, but Spear is carried away by one, his spear being left behind with the cavemen. Fang pursues the bats to a tall stone pillar which she finds impossible to climb. Seeing the bats emerging from the top, she plays dead and allows them to carry her to a cave at the peak. While searching for Spear, Fang discovers the nest of a massive spider that the bats share their food with. Fang frees Spear, who helps her kill the spider. As the bats return, Spear and Fang use the spider's webbing to safely descend the pillar. Spear retrieves his spear from the cavemen as he and Fang flee from the bats. They lead the bats into the tall grass, where the gigantic bats and the dromaeosaurs attack one another while Spear and Fang safely escape towards the rising sun.
5"Rage of the Ape-Men"Bryan Andrews and Genndy TartakovskyOctober 11, 2019 (2019-10-11)0.654[14]
Spear and Fang reach a seemingly peaceful oasis and relax before they are captured by a vicious tribe of ape-men. The ape-men hold a brutal tournament to the death, with one of the ape-men eventually coming out on top. After the champion drinks a drop of an enhancement serum, which mutates and enrages him, Fang is lowered into the arena for him to fight. Helplessly watching as Fang is beaten to neardeath, Spear breaks free from his bindings and drinks the rest of the serum, causing him to transform into a hulking monster. After killing the ape-man champion, Spear proceeds to massacre the other ape-men in the arena overnight. When Spear eventually returns to normal under a mountain of ape-man bodies, he runs to Fang's side as she lies unmoving.
6"Plague of Madness"David KrentzApril 1, 2020 (2020-04-01)0.539[15]
A nesting herd of Argentinosaurus is decimated when one of its members is infected with a flesh-eating, rabies-like virus from a bite by a diseased Parasaurolophus, turning it murderous and violent. Spear and Fang stumble across the dead herd at the devastated nesting grounds and become the crazed sauropod's next target. Running for their lives, the duo trick the behemoth over a cliff and into a narrow ravine before finally escaping with their lives by making a mad dash across a lava field. The sauropod's own massive weight makes it fall into the magma and is incinerated as Spear and Fang observe its final agonizing moments.

Reception

Initial reception for Primal was highly positive; much praise was given to the art and animation, the use of storytelling with no dialogue, and the balancing of the show's interpretation of violence and beauty. In a review from IndieWire, Steve Greene wrote "Primal is a piece of elemental storytelling that finds some real emotional depth without either of its protagonists uttering a single word of dialogue", ultimately giving the series an "A-".[16] On Rotten Tomatoes the show has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 18 critics. The site's critical consensus states: "Epic in every sense, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal is a stunning feat of visual storytelling".[17]

Notes
  1. The series has no spoken dialogue
  2. Miller, Pelphrey and Sorcher are executive producers for Cartoon Network Studios
  3. Lazzo and Crofford are executive producers for Williams Street
  4. This episode was first released online on October 4, 2019.

References
  1. Wallis, Adam (October 4, 2019). "Introducing 'Primal,' the latest gory animated series from Genndy Tartakovsky". GlobalNews.ca. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. Eddy, Cheryl. "Genndy Tartakovsky Explains How He Created Primal's Ferocious Fantasy World". io9.gizmodo. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  3. Valentine, Evan (April 2, 2020). "When Will Primal Return With A New Episode On Adult Swim?". ComicBook. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  4. Baron, Reuben (April 1, 2020). "A Surprise April Fools Primal Is Scarily Relevant". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  5. Radulovic, Petrana (October 16, 2019). "A movie version of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal is apparently up for the Oscar". Polygon.
  6. "Genndy Tartakovsky's 'Primal' L.A. Screening, Q&A and Reception". Animation World Network. November 19, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  7. Genndy Tartakovsky's 'Primal' has gritty dinosaurs, no dialogue, retrieved 2019-10-18
  8. Eddy, Cheryl (July 24, 2019). "We Got a First Look at Genndy Tartakovsky's Beautiful and Brutal Primal". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  9. Primal - First Look With Genndy Tartakovsky | SYFY WIRE, retrieved 2019-10-18
  10. Rejent, Joseph (October 8, 2019). "Monday cable ratings: NFL keeps ahead of 'WWE RAW'".
  11. Rejent, Joseph (October 9, 2019). "Tuesday cable ratings: MLB leads, 'Teen Mom' stays steady".
  12. Rejent, Joseph (October 10, 2019). "Wednesday cable ratings: Nationals vs. Dodgers tops all, 'American Horror Story: 1984' holds".
  13. "Thursday cable ratings: MLB continues to lead, 'Jersey Shore: Family Vacation' rises". October 11, 2019.
  14. Rejent, Joseph (October 14, 2019). "Friday cable ratings: Nationals vs. Cardinals soars, 'Gold Rush' returns low".
  15. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.31.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com.
  16. Greene, Steve (October 7, 2019). "'Primal' Review: Genndy Tartakovsky's Fantastic Prehistoric Saga Finds Beauty in Brutality".
  17. "Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
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