When thinking about what defines a “passion project,” the first thing that comes to mind might be something defiantly strange, personal, or uncommercial. It’s an artist believing so strongly in their vision that they’re willing to chase it for as long as necessary, similar to Francis Ford Coppola’sMegalopolis,maybe, or Terry Gilliam’sThe Man Who Killed Don Quixote.A raunchy animated comedy about horny dogs might not seem to fit the description.
But surprisingly, that’s exactly the case withFixed,Netflix’s recent release, currently enjoying a spot in the top 10 since its debut on August 13. DirectorGenndy Tartakovskyhas been trying to get his movie about a dog and his pals enjoying one final night of freedom before being neutered for over 15 years, never giving up on his ludicrous dream. While the final product might not be an all-time classic, it’s hard not to respect the dedication that made it happen.
The Unlikely Origins of Netflix’s ‘Fixed’
Tartakovsky is nothing short of a legend in the animation world, having createdDexter’s Laboratoryfor Cartoon Network,along withSamurai Jack,Primal,and the short-livedSym-Bionic Titan.He brought a great deal of artistry to the world of cartoons, telling complex, mature stories that still hold up years later. So it was somewhat surprising when he took over directing duties on the CGI feature filmHotel Transylvaniaand its two sequels, movies that felt very different from his acclaimed hand-drawn work.
Of course, Tartakovsky’s always had a goofy streak, even in his most serious projects, and his skill with animated slapstick helped make theTransylvaniaseries into a big hit for Sony Pictures Animation. It was actually the pitch forFixedback in 2009 that put him on Sony’s radar in the first place. The project got a little way down the road before being scrapped. Still, Tartakovsky kept trying as theTransylvaniafranchise became a massive success, earning him a little more confidence from the studio. Eventually, after several rounds of executive switch-ups, he finally got a green light from Sony in 2019.
The project went through many different iterations over the years, at one point even switching to a 3D animated style before eventually going back to 2D. It almost got canned again when parent company Warner Bros. Discovery canceled it, alongside other lost movies likeBatgirlandCoyote vs. Acmethat remain lost to this day (thoughCoyotemanaged to get saved). Sony shopped it around again, and Netflix eventually picked it up, allowing the project to finally see the light of day.
The Passion Behind ‘Fixed’ Is Undeniable
After so many years of dedication to the idea,Fixedmust be an absolute masterpiece, right? Well, not exactly. At the end of the day, the movie is exactly what it appears to be: a raunchy dog comedy. It’s a lovingly made, expressively animated film, but it remains a raunchy dog comedy nonetheless. It’s often quite funny, and even more often, very gross. But regardless of how viewers might feel about it, it’s the rare movie that feels like it was made without compromising the original vision.
Tartakovsky stuck to his guns, not wanting to make a movie that didn’t live up to his standards, even if some compromises might have helped it get made sooner. Many filmmakers would probably have toned things down or cut certain scenes out to appease the powers that be, but Tartakovsky believed in vision, as absurd as it is. In an article fromThe Hollywood Reporter,a couple of months before its release, he talked about how executives wanted to cut one particularly controversial scene towards the end, but he refused, believing the scene to be the “heart and soul of the film.”
At a time when it feels like most movies are made by committee, carefully calibrated to be as broadly appealing as possible, ridiculous personal visions like Tartakovsky’s are even more important.Fixedmight not look like a typical passion project, but it very much is one, its director holding onto the idea and biding his time to ensure he could make it the way he wanted to. That’s something to be commended, whether the result seems to justify the wait or not.
Animation always requires a great deal of passion, with many projects taking years to finish under the best of circumstances, and that holds true whether it’s a sprawling epiclike a Miyazaki filmor a movie where dogs visit a dog strip club. It’s evident that a lot of care and passion went into every frame ofFixed,with even its grossest gags lovingly animated.Fixedis a very dumb movie made by very skilled artists, and that’s exactly what it set out to be. Honestly, the movie business could use a little bit more of that.Fixedis streaming onNetflix.
