In the spirit of continuing to expose my daughter to new shows, we took a stab in the direction that most would not tread. Genndy Tartakovsky is one of the revolutionary animation directors of the aughts and turned the page for the animation industry. I have have been a fan of his work since Powerpuff Girls, in which he directed a few episodes. He finally went out on his own with Dexter's Laboratory, and then went on to do Samurai Jack. He is most famous for the Clone Wars microseries commissioned by George Lucas which served as a transitory work for Star Wars Episodes II and III. He has not worked with the current Clone Wars Series, nor does he have any plans to work with Lucasarts anytime in the near future. Currently, he is developing a feature length production for Samurai Jack.
Please note this does contain spoilers to the episodes content.
What better way to introduce this brilliant director to my daughter than with one of the more unusual episodes of the series. This is a little bit of an understatement, because all episodes of Samurai Jack stand apart from each other. In this one particularly, it features a character which my wife and I channel when we get frustrated. There is no explanation regarding most characters, and most are only seen for one episode, with a few exceptions such as the Scotsman. In this episode, Jack accidentally bumps a misanthropic wizard with an incredibly short temper. Although Jack apologizes for his error in genuine humility, the wizard flies into a rage and transforms Jack into a rooster, although he is referred to as a chicken, clucks like a chicken, and even the episode is titled "Chicken Jack."
It's hard to say just what the inspiration behind this episode was, but the bulk of the show has Jack competing in robot pit fighting. It could be referred to as cock fighting, but Jack is the only bird we ever see. As the episode progresses, it is hard to know how the continuity of the series is going to carry forward, because it seems that Jack is doomed to a life as a prize fighting bird, imprisoned by an irresponsible master. But just when almost all hope is lost, and Jack starts to accept his lot, the tables turn. The fat, rude, and slovenly man who found Jack is dressed to the nines ready to take Jack to a main event fight, when he bumps into the irascible wizard. POOF! Jack is back and the fight manager is now a chicken. It is one of the biggest WTF (What The Fruitcake) moments in the series.
Although Rini was a little scared by all the fighting that occurs during the pit fighting, she did enjoy the ludicrous plot and over the top characters. She especially thought the fact that Jack was a chicken was particularly funny.
Nonetheless, I'm quite sure that Rini will have to watch the episode a few more times before she fully understands why my wife and I shout, "ALWAYS!" in order to lighten the mood when we're hot under the collar.
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