Genndy Tartakovsky Discusses ‘Fixed,’ His Dirty Dog Hand-Drawn Animation Coup (NEW TRAILER)

This article was written for the July-August ’25 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 351).

It takes balls to make a movie like Fixed — and Genndy Tartakovsky didn’t flinch. A gloriously raunchy R-rated comedy about a dog’s last hurrah before the big snip, Fixed is also an expertly crafted homage to the golden age of cartoons. Beneath the balls-out chaos — including one of the filthiest cinematic climaxes ever animated — lies a loving tribute to hand-drawn animation, proof that lowbrow humor and high art can absolutely share the same leash.

Marking Sony Pictures Animation’s first-ever hand-drawn feature, Fixed premiered at Annecy in June and debuts on Netflix on August 13. Directed by Tartakovsky from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Vitti — with a story by Tartakovsky, Vitti, Steve Greenberg and Rich Lufrano — the film clocks in at a brisk 86 minutes and proudly wears its R rating. Tyler Bates and Joanne Higginbottom composed the score.

Wagging the Tail

The voice cast is as stacked as it is unhinged: Adam DeVine (Righteous Gemstones, Workaholics) voices Bull, a horny rescue mutt desperate for one last romp; Idris Elba (Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory) is his best friend Rocco; and Hotel Transylvania alum Kathryn Hahn plays Bull’s love interest Honey — a purebred Afghan hound with a decidedly foul mouth. They’re joined by Fred Armisen as the dapper dachshund Fetch; Bobby Moynihan as Lucky, an anxious beagle; Beck Bennett as the snobby show dog Sterling; and River Gallo as Frankie, an intersex Doberman who works the door at an underground canine club where anything goes. Rounding out the cast are Michelle Buteau (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip) as Molasses and Aaron LaPlante (Primal, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal) as Luther.

For Tartakovsky, Fixed has been a long time coming. First conceived in 2009 as an animal road-trip comedy called Buds, the film was announced in 2018 as Sony Pictures Animation’s first R-rated project. In 2022, it was slated for theatrical release by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, only to be dropped in 2024 amid Warner Bros. Discovery’s cost-cutting measures. The distribution rights reverted to Sony, with Netflix finally picking it up earlier this year. In the meantime, Tartakovsky directed three Hotel Transylvania films for Sony and wrote the script for the fourth, with the franchise ultimately grossing more than $1 billion for the studio.

“When you find something that’s kind of unique that you haven’t seen before, you want to hang on to it for dear life.”

— Writer-director Genndy Tartakovsky

Throughout the production process, Tartakovsky refused to water down Fixed’s most outrageous set piece, describing the climactic sequence as a creative litmus test: “If whoever read it wanted that sequence out, then they didn’t fully understand what we were doing.” It was, he says, the heart of the entire concept. “There is no movie without the sequence. Not only is it comedy gold but also it’s what everything is about.”

Even Sony Pictures Animation President Kristine Belson had to be convinced. “At first, she was like, ‘Whoa, you can’t do this,’” Tartakovsky recalls. “And then we had to talk it through. She trusted me enough to let me go through the process, and of course, it’s the most memorable scene after watching the movie.”

His persistence paid off, resulting in a film that’s unapologetically raunchy. It didn’t hurt that Hahn herself pushed for even more explicit material. “She was like, ‘Make me as dirty as the boys,’” Tartakovsky says.

The director sees this creative freedom as a direct response to the broader landscape, arguing that adult animation is the only place original ideas still thrive. “Everything else is mostly IP,” he says. “The kids’ business, the six-to-11 [demographic] … that age group has disappeared, so nobody’s even really making shows for them. So, for the most part, besides my feature work, I only pitch adult shows.”

Fixed might have the bawdy energy of a late-night sketch, but it’s also a feature-length testament to what’s possible in 2D — on a budget that’s less than half of what Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania films cost. With Fixed made for roughly $30 million compared to Hotel T’s estimated $85 million price tag, it was never going to be a lavish CG affair.

At one point, the film was set to be animated in CG, but when the budget didn’t allow it Tartakovsky was quietly thrilled. “I thought for the money we were going to get, like, a TV-plus quality, not a full feature quality,” Tartakovsky admits. “But instead, we got some of the best animation I’ve seen — for me, for my sensibility.”

Because Sony Pictures Animation isn’t built for 2D production, the team brought in Renegade Animation (Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, The Mr. Men Show, Tom and Jerry) in Los Angeles and Lightstar Studios (Central Park, Wonder Pets!, Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury) in Brazil to animate the film.

With Tartakovsky’s approach, there was little left to chance. He personally tackled the storyboards, following the model of many anime directors. “There’s something about the way anime is done, where the director does the boards. And I really believe in that,” he says.

To keep a unified voice across the global team, he developed a hybrid system — starting with his own thumbnail passes, then relying on a trusted crew to flesh them out. The layouts captured roughly 70% of the acting, giving animators a clear blueprint to build on and elevate.

“It was pretty much all there in the layouts,” Tartakovsky says. “And then they could just kill the acting and the actual movement of it all.” It was an ideal setup for the roster of artists he’d been quietly tracking on Instagram for years, waiting for the right project to turn them loose. That core team of layout artists included character designer Craig Kellman (Madagascar, Trolls, Sausage Party, the Hotel Transylvania franchise), along with Joe Moshier (Penguins of Madagascar, Chicken Little, Mr. Peabody & Sherman), Stephen DeStefano (The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal) and Adam Paloian (The Cuphead Show!, Smiling Friends, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water).

The result is a film that feels at once painstakingly crafted and joyfully anarchic. Tartakovsky deliberately avoided what he calls the “extreme-ification” that’s become standard in modern kids’ animation — constant Dutch angles for fight sequences, everything dialed to 11. Instead, he and his team leaned on classic principles. “Good timing, I feel like, is very musical. It’s like composing a really good song … you need a good rhythm.” Fixed nods directly to Tex Avery and Chuck Jones with its clean staging and unvarnished setups. Even the soundtrack was locked early to establish comedic beats, with 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” baked into the animatic from Day 1.

In the Perfect Light

Of course, no Genndy Tartakovsky film would be complete without the fingerprints of his closest collaborators. Scott Wills, whose painterly sense of light and mood helped define the look of Samurai Jack and Primal, served as production designer and art director. “When he paints light, you feel it … you just kind of settle into it,” Tartakovsky says.

Michelle Murdocca, who produced the Hotel Transylvania movies, once again stood by Tartakovsky’s side, ensuring he had the creative leeway to do something this audacious. “You want a partner, not a combatant … she gets me and what my sensibility is.” Editor Mark Yeager, another Hotel T alum, brought the same editorial shorthand to Fixed, shaping Tartakovsky’s rhythm-first approach into a cohesive, breathless 86-minute romp.

Together, they pulled off something risky and raw — a film no one else would have made. In the end, that’s what kept Tartakovsky chasing Fixed all these years. “When you find something that’s kind of unique that you haven’t seen before, you want to hang on to it for dear life.”

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed premieres on Netflix on August 13.

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