On TV 25 Years Ago, Cartoon Network’s Darkest Series Premiered With an Iconic Feature-Length Episode

Cartoon Network was the king of animation in the 1990s and 2000s, being home to some of the most beloved and iconic shows of all time. These shows were known for being zany, lighthearted, and colorful, even if they were a bit edgier than what you could find on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. However, no show on Cartoon Network stretched its rating more than this series that premiered 25 years ago today and would eventually go on to become the network’s darkest show.

Genndy Tartakovsky was one of the most influential forces in the early days of Cartoon Network, with him kicking off his time at the network by creating Dexter’s Laboratory in 1996. During that show’s run, he also served as a director on the first three seasons of The Powerpuff Girls, meaning that he had a major hand in two of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows. However, after working on both of these for a few years, Tartakovsky decided to take a big swing by releasing one of Cartoon Network’s most experimental shows ever.

Samurai Jack Premiered 25 Years Ago Today With A TV Movie

Inspired by the television series Kung Fu and his desire to do something wildly different from Dexter’s Laboratory, Tartakovsky pitched Samurai Jack to Cartoon Network as an action-heavy sci-fi series with almost no dialogue. He and Cartoon Network both knew it was risky and more cinematic than anything they had done before. Nevertheless, it was greenlit for 26 episodes, leading to the birth of one of the greatest animated shows ever.

Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie premiered on August 10, 2001, kicking off the story of the titular hero from the past with a three-part, feature length episode. This movie lays out the premise of the show and the origin of Jack, something that would be reiterated in the theme song for each later episode. After the shapeshifting demon Aku is released by a solar eclipse, he wreaks terror on a young Jack’s kingdom. Jack spends years training to become a samurai, but when he challenges Aku, the demon opens a portal and sends him to the future. Trapped in a dystopian world run by Aku, Jack decides to help the aliens terrorized by the demon until he can figure out a way to get back to the past.

Samurai Jack originally ran for four seasons and a total of 52 episodes, with the first finale releasing on September 25, 2004. Cartoon Network and Tartakovsky decided that the show would conclude open-ended, as the showrunner didn’t want to rush the end of the story for the final episode. Throughout the years, there were different proposed ways to conclude the story of Samurai Jack, including another animated film that never materialized. On top of that, Cartoon Network and New Line Cinema were developing a live-action Samurai Jack film directed by Brett Ratner in the early 2000s, although this was eventually cancelled.

Throughout its run, Samurai Jack was constantly getting awards and was critically acclaimed. The series is often considered to be one of Cartoon Network’s best shows ever, making its untimely ending a tragic one. Luckily, a conclusion would come just over a decade later.

Samurai Jack’s Final Season Is Still The Perfect Way To Revive A Kids’ Cartoon Years Later

Samurai Jack season 5 premiered on March 11, 2017, this time on Adult Swim. The new season is set 50 years after season 4, with a jaded Jack having lost his sword and his drive to get home, as the last time portal was destroyed. Season 5 is much darker than what came before, with the show featuring human blood and other things that wouldn’t be appropriate for Cartoon Network. The season also features a cohesive story, moving away from the episodic structure of previous seasons as the show reaches its end.

Samurai Jack season 5 was the perfect way to bring back the show, and it is a blueprint for how revivals of other kids’ shows that are aimed at the original fans should go about it. Samurai Jack‘s revival is more mature, but it isn’t edgy for the sake of being edgy. Instead, it simply aged itself up with its audience, but it still wouldn’t be inappropriate for older kids to watch it. It gave Samurai Jack fans everything they wanted out of a final season, wrapping up the original show perfectly.