''Primal'' (also known as ''Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal'' or ''Primal: Tales of Savagery'') is an American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

horror television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

created and directed by

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...

for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

's night-time programming block,

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

. It is the first combined action/

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

/ horror animated series from

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...

and

Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. ...

. ''Primal'' is set in an

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...

vision of

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, portraying extinct

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

mammals, early

hominid The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...

s, and post-metallurgy ''Homo sapiens'' all coexisting in a single time period, incorporating many elements of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, horror,

, and

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

. The first two seasons revolve around the journey of Spear (Aaron LaPlante), a

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

, and Fang (Joel Valentine), a uniquely intelligent female ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It live ...

'', both of whom lose their families tragically in the opening episode. They join forces to survive their unforgiving environment together, eventually discovering developed civilizations that they end up in conflict with. The series has no dialogue throughout its first season, before incorporating minimal dialogue in the second season with the introduction of a third character, Mira (

Laëtitia Eïdo Laëtitia Eïdo (born October 25, 1985) is a French actress, born to a French father and a Lebanese mother. She is best known as Dr. Shirin El Abed, one of the leading roles in the Israeli Netflix series '' Fauda'', and as the voice of Mira in the ...

), in line with Tartakovsky's previous work. The first 10-episode season of ''Primal'' was split into two 5-episode parts. The series premiered on Adult Swim on October 8, 2019, with the remaining episodes releasing daily that same week. The second half of the season premiered one episode on April 1, 2020, with the remaining episodes premiering weekly for the five weeks following October 4, 2020. In August 2020, the series was renewed for a 10-episode second season, which premiered July 22 and concluded September 16, 2022. In June 2023, Adult Swim renewed the series for a 10-episode third season. Following the second-season finale which concludes Spear and Fang's storyline, Tartakovsky confirmed that ''Primal'' would become an

from its forthcoming third season onward. The third season will premiere in 2026. ''Primal'' has received widespread critical acclaim, with much praise for its animation, storytelling, music, emotional depth, horror elements, and editing. The show has won three Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Juried Awards from the

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Storyboard Artist (Genndy Tartakovsky), Art Director (Scott Wills), and Character Designer (

Stephen DeStefano Stephen DeStefano (born 1966) is an American comics artist, animator and storyboard artist best known as the co-creator of 'Mazing Man and Hero Hotline with writer Bob Rozakis. Early life DeStefano was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York and atten ...

Premise

Set in an anachronistic and fantastical

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

world, the series is about the survival and bond between a

man Spear and a female ''

'' named Fang as they struggle day-to-day and battle against various carnivorous dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals and other dangerous animals, along with more advanced groups of ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

'' that also live in their world, including an

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian army and

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

-like

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

humans.

Characters

In comparison to Tartakovsky's other shows where there are multiple characters, ''Primal'' initially only features Spear and Fang in the show as they encounter different prehistoric or fantastical species and various tribes of

hominin The Hominini (hominins) form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the genus '' Gorilla'' ( gorillas) ...

s. Tartakovsky stated that although the show is a work of fantasy, the prehistoric animals, modern creatures and futuristic beasts in the show are based on real prehistoric animals, as well as some new ones created by the artists involved in the project.

Main

* Spear (voiced by Aaron LaPlante as an adult, Noah Bentley as a child) – A

whose mate and children are attacked and devoured by a pack of horned tyrannosaurs. Although he overcomes his initial urge to commit suicide, Spear is still learning to cope with the loss. Eventually, he develops a deep bond with Fang and is willing to make any personal sacrifice to protect her. (Seasons 1–2) * Fang (voiced by Joel Valentine) – A teal female ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'' whose hatchlings are killed by the alpha of the same tyrannosaur pack that killed Spear's family. Unlike Spear, who is still traumatized and dealing with the loss of his loved ones, Fang is able to cope with hers much quicker. Initially, she attempts to assert her dominance over Spear but eventually learns that it is far healthier to work in a partnership and is willing to do anything to ensure his survival. (Seasons 1–2) * Mira (voiced by

) – A virtuous

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

-speaking

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

. Enslaved, head-shaved, and branded with a

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

symbol by a

clan, Mira escapes and encounters Spear and Fang, who become her new friends and companions. She proves to be very capable with

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

ship, and

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

. (season 2; guest: season 1) *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

(voiced by Jacob Dudman) – A

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and member of the Historical Society who theorizes about the correlation between the primitive and modern man. (" The Primal Theory") *

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

(voiced by

Jeremy Crutchley Jeremy Crutchley is a South African actor. He played roles in the television series '' Salem'', '' Black Sails'', '' Leonardo'', '' Constantine'' and ''Hannibal'' and several theatre and cinema works in a career spanning for more than four decad ...

) – An English scientist and former

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

champion whose manor hosts a Historical Society of well-educated scientists. ("The Primal Theory")

Recurring

Season 1

* Spear's family – Spear's mate, son, and daughter that were eaten by a pack of horned tyrannosaurs in the first episode, but reappear through visions and flashbacks across the series. * Fang's first brood – Fang's first two hatchlings. Like Spear's family, they were eaten in the first episode, but reappear through visions and flashbacks across the series.

Season 2

* The Chieftain (voiced by

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore ( , , born June 13, 1967) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk, Volstagg, and Beast in various Marvel media and ...

) – The chieftain of the Viking tribe responsible for abducting Mira's people. He soon seeks revenge on Spear and Fang for decimating his tribe. Following his son Eldar's death, the Chieftain is transformed into a monstrous fiery juggernaut by the demonic entity in order to kill Spear and Fang in exchange for Eldar's soul. * Eldar (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) – The Chieftain's eldest son. He joins his father on their quest for revenge against Spear and Fang for their tribe's destruction. * Demonic Entity – The unidentified lord of the fiery Underworld who makes a deal with the Chieftain to have him kill Spear and Fang and bring him their souls in exchange for Eldar's soul. According to

, the entity is not necessarily a direct reference to any mythological being. * Ima (voiced by Amina Koroma) – A tyrannical and ruthless Egyptian queen who resides in a large city-ship, the ''Colossaeus'', filled with her warriors and slaves that she uses to raid and loot other kingdoms. * Kamau (voiced by Imari Williams) – A Bantu man who, while naturally peaceful, is also immensely strong. He and many of his fellow

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

tribesmen were enslaved by Ima. It is revealed that Ima is holding his daughter Amal hostage, which serves as leverage to force him to obey her. * Red – A male Tyrannosaurus whom Fang encounters, eventually becoming her new friend. However, during his fight with Spear, Red was accidentally killed by Fang, who was trying to stop the two from fighting each other. Later, it was revealed that Red mated with her when she laid a second set of eggs after losing her old ones. * Amal (voiced by

Hillary Hawkins Hillary Hawkins is an American actress. She introduced shows such as '' Dora the Explorer'', ''Bob the Builder'', and '' Little Bill'' on TV everyday as Robyn, Host of the Nick Jr. block. She also was a Host for Radio Disney. Career Early role ...

) – Kamau's daughter. * Fang's second brood – Fang's second set of hatchlings that were born after she mated with Red. While one was killed before hatching during a fight with the Egyptians, the other two live to adulthood.

Production

Conception and development

According to Tartakovsky, ''Primal'' was an early piece of work he scrapped because it did not click with him at the time. As he learned more and more about what drew people into his shows, he wanted to experiment with those artistic traits, particularly the use of no dialogue and slow moments. He also stated that the method in which he approached animated projects began to slow down in terms of energy, and by the time he finished working on '' Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation'' (2018), it had come full circle. He said he was inspired by

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

and vintage pulp novels, as well as films such as '' The Revenant''. Tartakovsky felt that people would not take the show seriously because they were "breaking the rules" by having "a man and a dinosaur together," so he emphasized that it is a character study, a "buddies" journey about two characters who are very different but bonded by tragedy. The first season consists of 10 episodes. On August 31, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which consists of 10 episodes. On June 16, 2023, the series was renewed for a third season, which will consist of 10 episodes. The third season will premiere in 2026.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2019–20)

Season 2 (2022)

Broadcast

The first season premiered on October 8, 2019, with episodes from the first half of the season airing daily from the premiere date. An episode from the second half was shown during Adult Swim's

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...

2020 run. Adult Swim announced on their

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that the second half would start airing on October 4, 2020. The first season of ''Primal'' was broadcast during Thanksgiving weekend on Adult Swim's

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...

programming block for the first time on November 29, 2020. The marathon commemorated the launch of the series on the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

streaming service. The first season began a second run on the normal schedule of the Toonami block beginning on May 15, 2022. The second season encored on the block on July 24, 2022. As of May 2023, the second season has been repeating numerous times on the block. The encore rerun left the block in June 2023.

Home media

The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 1, 2021, by

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

. It was later released in France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The second season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 25, 2023.

Reception

Critical response

Initial reception for ''Primal'' was highly positive; much praise was given to the art and animation, the use of storytelling with no dialogue, and the balancing of the show's interpretation of violence and beauty. In a review from '' IndieWire'', Steve Greene wrote "''Primal'' is a piece of elemental storytelling that finds some real emotional depth without either of its protagonists uttering a single word of dialogue", ultimately giving the series an "A−". On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the first season has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 23 critics, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Epic in every sense, ''Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal'' is a stunning feat of visual storytelling." The second season has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 15 critics, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The site's critical consensus states: "''Primal'' evolves into a more serialized tale while losing none of its beautiful savagery in a second season that exemplifies Genndy Tartakovsky's knack for storytelling economy." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the first season of the series has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 5 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim", and the second season has a weighted average score of 97 out of 100 based on 4 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

Future

After the second-season finale " Echoes of Eternity" aired on September 16, 2022,

confirmed that while Spear and Fang's story was officially concluded, he was formulating a third season for the series with a focus on new characters, intending for ''Primal'' to become an

, inspired by the stand-alone second-season episode " The Primal Theory". Tartakovsky said that he intends to develop the third season after completing his work on ''

Fixed Fixed may refer to: * ''Fixed'' (EP), EP by Nine Inch Nails * ''Fixed'' (film), an upcoming animated film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky * Fixed (typeface), a collection of monospace bitmap fonts that is distributed with the X Window System * Fi ...

'', and season 3 was officially announced in June 2023.

Notes

References

External links