Tartakovsky Won’t Return for Hotel Transylvania 3: “Two Is Enough”



The Wrap reports: “Fresh off of Hotel Transylvania 2’s $48 million debut this past weekend, director Genndy Tartakovsky is thrilled that the animated film broke the record for biggest September opening.



“But while the Sony sequel’s lucrative opening almost guarantees an as-yet unannounced third installment, Tartakovsky told TheWrap that he won’t be returning to direct it.



“’Hotel Transylvania 3 is going to happen without me,’ he said. ‘Two is enough. I have a lot of other ideas, and I kind of have to express them and have them come out.’”





Does this have anything to do with the diminishing amount of control Tartakovsky had on Hotel Transylvania 2 (in comparison to the first)?

Sounds like it.



In a recent interview with Cartoon Brew, Tartakovsky admitted, “Adam [Sandler] and Robert Smigel really wanted to take control of the second film, because that’s kind of what they do. It’s an Adam Sandler project, and he’s running the show, to a degree. So Hotel Transylvania 2 was more difficult that way.

“You know, if everyone is cooking at the same time, it’s kind of hard if they’re throwing in different ingredients when I might not agree. It makes it more complex. That part was more difficult, especially for me and where I’m coming from — which is doing 20 years of television pretty much on my own. I’ve collaborated with everyone I’ve ever worked with, but it’s pretty much my decision, you know? But now it’s like I have to fight for my ideas and decisions, and as a director that’s sometimes stifling and difficult.”

So with Tartakovsky now officially off of Sony’s CG Popeye and Hotel Transylvania 3, what’s next for the animation maestro who gave us Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and the hand-drawn, hands-down AWESOMEST version of Star Wars: Clone Wars?





Can You Imagine?

Genndy Tartakovsky: “[Can You Imagine? is] a personal story for me, from when I had kids, and some of the changes I went through. The story is about this youthful couple, who are very imaginative and young-at-heart. They have a kid, and everything seems to be going well, but as life does, it sneaks up on them. Things gets serious, they lose their youth, and their connection to their kid. Everything becomes dysfunctional, so the kid runs away into his own imaginary world. So the parents have to journey into his imaginary world, reconnect as a couple, find their inner youth, and win him back.

“He’s like a 10- or 12-year-old, but it’s more like they’re going into Narnia rather than actually into his head.”

So kinda like a mix of Inside Out and Being John Malkovich? Sounds trippy!