Quotes from Genndy Tartakovsky

Jazz flute's funny. And I'm a big Latin music fan, Tito Puente, Tina Cruz, all that stuff.

Well I grew up following most of the major titles like 'Fantastic Four,' 'Spider-Man,' 'Avengers,' etc. But I had also a lot of love for the smaller titles like 'Master of Kung Fu,' 'Black Panther,' 'The Defenders,' 'Inhumans,' and of course Power-Man and Iron Fist.'

I love 'Jack' as one of my creations and would never want to change it from what it was supposed to be. There was no reason to reinvent.

I used to work until two in the morning every night, then still get up at six. Now, I have to help my daughter with her homework, spend time with my wife.

The last thing you want to do is blend in. You want to stand out, and hopefully in a good way.

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.

In 2-D, the way you draw defines you, but in CG the computer takes away your identity.

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?'

You know, I loved 'Toy Story.' It's a great movie, but it has some pretty serious drama.

Everything that I've ever made in my life is from my instinct.

One night I was sick and I watched the old black and white 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers.' And it freaked me out.

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.

Akira Kurosawa, David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock were the main inspirations for 'Samurai Jack,' along with a lot of '70s cinema.

To me, the best of 'Jack' is when we have a very good, but small idea, executed to the nines.

The magic of 'Jack' is that it's unique, there's not a lot of stuff like it.

I love the way the long scenes feel - one of the characteristics of '70s filmmaking is that you don't cut around a lot; you let things play out. I did that on 'Samurai Jack,' and it carried over into 'Clone Wars.'

Jim Gaffigan is someone I've always been a fan of.

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.

'Samurai' is not an animated show like you would normally watch on TV. We tell the stories from a different perspective - backward, very nonlinear. It treats it more seriously as an art form.

Definitely that was a big part of my childhood: wanting to fit. As an immigrant, you talk funny, you look funny, you smell funny. I wanted to do nothing but fit in and talk English and sit with everybody else.

I remember seeing my first Disney film when I was 13 or 14. It was 'Jungle Book,' and I remember really falling in love with it.

Doing simple flip books, I used to get such a kick out of it, just drawings and nothing else.

Stories are important, but I'm really into characters, and if you can give birth to a good one, that's true success.

The thing about any character is that you want to be sincere.