The Black River
Primal (also known as Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal or Primal: Tales of Savagery) is an American adult animated action horror television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network's night-time programming block Adult Swim. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it is the first full production from the company to be developed for Adult Swim.
Primal is set in an anachronistic vision of prehistory, portraying extinct dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures of the Cenozoic era (including the Ice Age), early hominids, and post-metallurgy Homo sapiens all coexisting in a single time period, incorporating many elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, action, and adventure. The series revolves around the journey of Spear (Aaron LaPlante), a Neanderthal, and Fang, a uniquely intelligent female Tyrannosaurus rex, 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), 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 released 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, Tartakovsky stated that Primal would become an anthology series from its forthcoming third season onward. However, Tartakovsky later backtracked on this plan. The third season premiered on January 11, 2026, and follows Spear resurrected as an undead regaining his memories and coming across various dangers whilst searching for Fang. It also takes place before the epilogue of the second season's last episode.
Primal has received 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 for Storyboard Artist (Genndy Tartakovsky), Art Director (Scott Wills), and Character Designer (Stephen DeStefano).
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