"Samurai Jack" (2001) TV series 2001-2004

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Creator:

Genndy Tartakovsky

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

10 August 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In the future evil takes many forms, and our only hope is one man from the past.

Plot:

A samurai sent through time fights to return home and save the world.

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Samurai Warrior | Martial Arts | Katana Sword | Made For Cable TV

Awards:

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 7 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Phil LaMarr	...	Samurai Jack / ... (48 episodes, 2001-2004)
Mako	...	Aku / ... (23 episodes, 2001-2004)

Runtime:

25 min (52 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Denmark:7 | Sweden:7 | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | USA:TV-Y7

Company:

Cartoon Network

Trivia:

Tartakovsky has acknowledged taking some of his inspiration from the Frank Miller graphic novel Ronin, including the premise of a master-less samurai warrior thrown into a dystopic future ahead of our present.

Quotes:

Aku: Oh, put that thing away, Samurai. We all know what's going to happen. You'll swing your sword, I'll fly away, and probably say something like, "I'll be back, Samurai!" And then I'll flutter over the horizon and we probably won't see each for... about a week. And then we'll do the same thing again.
Jack: Your word play will not trick me, villain!
[he attacks Aku]
Aku: I'll be back, Samurai - you'll see! Bwah-ha-ha-ha.
[flutters over the horizon then reappears]
Aku: See what I mean?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kung Fu Panda (2008)

The best thing to ever come out of Cartoon Network

-One of the many reasons why the show works for me is the silence factor because you hardly hear a long winded conversation from any of the characters. I think Aku is probably the only one that you can count on having a lot of dialog in the show where as Jack is a silent warrior trying his best to get back home. Everything is shown to you and done with facial expression rather than waste your time with characters making silly statements. The absence of music in a lot of the episodes also helps make it great because whiles the brief musical moments we get are great a bulk of the show relies on the natural sounds around us to sell the humor and the danger of Jack's current predicament. Jack himself is voiced by former "MAD TV" funny man Phil Lamar and he whiles he doesn't have the most lines the little he says is enough to make one sit up right and pay attention. The evil Aku is voiced by Mako and he is one voice you will never forget because he narrates the show's opening and usually has the most lines in the show.

-The animation style is that of great art with its simple fashion that relies more on making a great looking anime that fits the tone of the world rather than making all the moves of the characters super realistic. It is done by the same guys behind "Powerpuff Girls" so expect to see a lot of bug eyed people and flat environments. Giving the animation a cinematic feel and helping the show feel like a little movie than a cartoon show is the camera angles which switches sides depending on what were suppose to be looking at. If were looking at a great space of land then we go super, super wide with more than half of the screen being cut off to ensure that you pay attention to what you're suppose to be looking at and when danger is abound we go to a closed box angle that makes you pay very close attention to the characters facial expression and what could possibly be behind them.

-Most shows have a weak episode that you brush off as not being one of their best but I never had that problem with this show since every episode was a solid as a rock. You'd think the concept about a man trying to get home would run out of ideas after three episodes but this show just kept bringing the greatness and never for a moment lost its edge. Of all the great episodes of this classic my personal favorite ones are probably the episode in which Jack has to climb a very tall mountain in order to get to this next destination but before he does he gets into a fight one of Aku's boys which leaves him exhausted but through all that Jack still manages to get the courage to climb to the top only to find that there is more to climb. That pretty much captures the whole essence of the show and what Jack has to suffer through because just when he thinks he's overcome one obstacle there's another in his way but he never gives up or complains instead he just keeps on trucking.

-Another one of my personal favorites is the one where Jack has to fight three ancient Egyptian creatures whiles trying to stay warm. After all is said done with that episode Jack just quietly goes back to trying to start a fire so he can stay warm again and through out that whole time there isn't loud glorious music when he's done nor does do we have dramatic camera angles of Jack celebrating but instead he just goes back to doing what he was doing before which is one of the reasons this show is so bleepin' awesome. The one with the Irish man that starts off as one of Jack's toughest opponent and ends being one of his best friends in the whole series is also a great one. The show never forgets about the guy because in later episodes he comes back and we even get to meet his less than lovely wife.

-Usually great stories and entertainment of this caliber are reserved for Mature Japan anime but somehow this show captured all the greatness of "Bebop" and other great amines and made it kid friendly. There is a lot of action in each episode but they are done with cartoonish style that whiles looking cool as hell still manages to be not so extreme. Gendy Tartokosky *if I spelled that right* is a great example of why type casting is wrong because if you look at the stuff he's done in the past like "Dexter's Lab" and "Powerpuff" you'll dismiss him as someone that only did childish shows but he completely takes a different approach with this as he did with the "Clone Wars" series. Where as "Clone Wars" was more like taking on someone else's project this one this one is all 100% original and hopefully someday we'll get a live action version of "Samurai Jack". I have a "friend" who thinks he could do something special with the story.

-It's hard for me to find anyone that doesn't like amazing show but I guess someone out there will manage to find something to hate about it.

highest of recommendations