The Visual World of Samurai Jack

Samurai Jack was one of my favorite shows and this article from Animation Obsessive goes in depth, as to what made it so special (and so avant-garde).

That was a core inspiration for his original Samurai Jack (2001–2004). “There are so many sitcoms, especially in animation, that we’ve almost forgotten what animation was about — movement and visuals,” he told the press after the show debuted. The Samurai Jack crew aimed to “tell the stories visually… tell a very simple story visually.”2 Talking was kept to a minimum. Instead, Samurai Jack would need enough richness and variety in its look and movement (and its filmmaking) to keep people gripped without words.

The very limited talking made it so that you had to pay attention during every single second. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a show, before or after, were that has been the case.

Samurai Jack never reached that level. It was popular, though. And that, according to the cynical view, shouldn’t have been possible. Even with its robots and samurai and demons and zombies, Samurai Jack didn’t really fit with the mass culture of its time.

Time for a rewatch.