Picture: Netflix
On more than one occasion, it’s looked as though Fixed would never see the light of day. “Sometimes nothing happens fast,” Tartakovsky said to the 1000+ audience at Annecy Film Festival, but it’s finally happened. Fixed is made. It has a distributor and a release date, and has just had its world premiere.
When on stage for its world premiere, Tartakovsky didn’t have too much to say and preferred to let the movie speak for itself. And it did with a very loud and engaged audience. Laughs were plentiful throughout the entire film, accompanied by audible gasps at various points.
Later that day, he would appear again during the Next on Netflix Animation presentation, where Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 and In Your Dreams would take most of the spotlight. Tartakovsky reflected on being there for the world premiere screening, saying, “We had the most incredible, probably one of the best screenings I’ve ever had, to sit with, you know, a thousand people or so, and watch a rated R, original, hand-drawn, animated feature. I was really thinking, I wish I could be in the audience, and that I didn’t make it. Because I would have loved to see it like that for fresh.”
Tartakovsky opened the Next on Netflix Animation presentation with a message for aspiring creators, especially the students in the audience: persistence is everything. “Sometimes nothing happens fast,” he said. “You have to stick to it and keep pushing if you really believe in something.” That belief is what fueled the 17-year journey behind Fixed, a project he never gave up on despite the odds.
Despite being finished two years ago, Fixed struggled to find a distributor. As recently as October 2024, Tartakovsky felt the project was dead in the water. “Nobody wanted to buy it,” he said. “You start to feel sad… like the animation gods hate me now.”
“In January [2025], all of a sudden, we get a phone call,” he recalled. Netflix had come on board. “It was such a happy New Year gift.”
At the premiere, Tartakovsky took a moment to acknowledge key individuals who helped revive and realize his long-dormant adult animated feature. First, he credited Kristine Belson at Sony Animation for giving Fixed a second chance. “She had to take it out of the garbage pail,” he admitted, noting that she read the script, loved it, and reignited the development process. He then praised John Derderian at Netflix for seeing the film’s potential and pushing it through internally. “He championed it through Netflix,” Tartakovsky said, also adding, “he believed in it.”
Speaking about the origins of the film, the creator said, “And the story is based on me and my friends, I mean we all have balls, but it’s based on my friends, we all grew up each other, we all grew up together, we make each other laugh like any front group and two of my friends are here to help me kind of write the story with Steve and Rich.”
Alongside the world premiere, the embargo lifted for reviews, and they range from mixed to positive. In our own 3-star review, published this morning, we concluded:
“Admirable 2D animation with Chuck Jones-inspired artistry; quality voice work, especially from the likes of Idris Elba (Rocco), Kathryn Hahn (Honey), & Beck Bennett (Sterling); occasional insight & genuinely funny execution. There just isn’t enough of the good stuff to overcome the cringiness and persistent question of why it exists at all.”
What were my opinions of the film? Mostly in line with Andrew’s honesty. It was a little one-note at times, but honestly, the humor kept the audience engaged the most, with most characters being fleshed out enough to make them memorable. It’s crude, at times completely nasty, and there are one or two shocking deaths that had the entire theater hall gasp. I’ve seen a few make the case that it’s a tragedy that this film isn’t hitting theaters and while it’s true watching this in a crowd made it more enjoyable, it’s a bloody hard film to sell.
Speaking of selling the film, I hope Netflix leans in on clips of this. As we’ve seen over and over again, TikTok drives viewership, and typically, the more outrageous or hookworthy the clip, the more likely someone is to transition from a short clip to the full version. Some of the clips from this movie that could be mined are so outrageous, I’d be truly shocked if it doesn’t go mega viral.
Fixed Film Premiere at Annecy Film Festival – Picture: What’s on Netflix
Are you looking forward to watching Fixed on Netflix on August 13th, 2025? Let us know in the comments.
