Netflix To Release Genndy Tartakovsky’s Adult Cartoon Comedy ‘Fixed,’ Which Had Been Abandoned By Warner Bros. (First Look Images)

The universe is healing as other distributors pick up animated features abandoned by the inept management of Warner Bros. Discovery. A couple weeks ago, Coyote vs. Acme was rescued by Ketchup Entertainment, and this morning, Netflix has announced the acquisition of Genndy Tartakovsky’s raunchy adult comedy film Fixed.

The film was a co-production between WBD’s New Line Cinema and Sony Pictures, and was intended for theatrical release. But WB backed out of the project after it was completed, and Sony started shopping it around again. Why Sony, which had previously released the adult hit Sausage Party, didn’t take a chance itself on releasing Fixed is a big question mark, but frankly, few American studios understand animation beyond the very narrow prism of safe family entertainment.

There’s nothing safe about Fixed and big credit to Netflix for saving the day here. They’re releasing an amazingly rare entry in U.S. feature animation: a funny and cartoony 2d comedy film with hand-drawn animation by A-list animators directed by an iconic figure in contemporary animation. It would be quite ironic if the hand-drawn Fixed is the dark-horse contender that finally gets Tartakovsky recognition at the Oscars after none of the three high-profile and commercially successful Hotel Transylvania films he directed were nominated for an Academy Award. (Sidenote here, but with Sylvain Chomet’s Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol set to premiere next month at Cannes, this is turning out to be a bountiful year of hand-drawn animated films with a cartoon bent — and yes, two cartoon films in a single year being considered bountiful is a sad commentary on the state of 2d animation with a caricatured sensibility.)