Full Series Official "The Clone Wars" Series Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

This is what I'd understood by Rob Coleman saying they had two episodes completed already. Once the 'groundwork' is down it should be relatively easy to complete an episode, shouldn't it? The only part that should really slow things down is the voicework.

Not that I'm playing down the amount of work that goes into animation of course; it just seems inevitable that with a large number of episodes and CGI techniques there'll be a degree of the 'production line' element involved.

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Well, I sure feel incredibly stupid. I multiplied 30 by 100, but instead of dividing by 60 like I should have I divided by 2, thinking about how each hour would have 2 30-minute intervals. That number is way too large and doesn't make any sense in hindsight. I just wasn't thinking at all, and am unbelievably horrible at math to begin with. Yeah...I'm really embarassed now.

 

The problem with the time, is whether the cartoon network gets it, which then you'd have to factor in commercials, or 2 will places like HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime get it. Which means no commercials and complelely free run time.

 

Doesn't necessarily change things; many episodes of The Sopranos for example (HBO) clock in at 48 minutes or so instead of the theoretical hour they're alotted.

Besides which, it's somewhat unlikely that Lucas would want to put the show on a pay-network, which would severely diminish his viewing audience. Not to mention that GL doesn't do excessive language/violence/sex to the degree that a pay-network's freedoms would be preferrable. We're most likely going to see it on Cartoon Network, Fox or FX, unless GL decides to syndicate it to various local stations (as was done with Star Trek: TNG and DS9).

Exactly. Once things like ships and characters movement-styles are in memory, this drastically decreases the time needed to animate their scenes. Voice work of course will still be handled in the traditional way, but unless there are frequent re-writes post-record, it can go very quickly, with actors recording several episodes worth of their character in one session (eg, if Yoda appears for once scene every other episiode, Frank Oz could easily do several episode-records within a typical day's session). The re-writes are what tends to slow down voice-acting/animation, as oftn happens with The Simpsons. But again, with the nature of the CGI they're using, altering lip-synchs (when dialogue changes) should be easier than traditional animation (often easy to spot when changes aren't made in lip-synching new dialogue).

Meh, i'm rambling on this stuff now, i think.

 

don't stress - an easy mistake to make!

 

Thanks malkieD2.

 

http://www.cinematical.com/category/george-lucas/

Lucas was quoted as saying, "there won't be anything on TV like it -- it'll be smart ass comedy with contemporary humor." He also said that the series would not involve what he calls "the Skywalker story."


WTH, the cartoon isn't going to be about Skywalker/Kenobi?

 

All the main Clone Wars characters will be in it - but they don't have to exclusively move along the Anakin/Obi-Wan/Padme/Palpatine storyline as much.

I'm sure we'll see much more of Yoda, Mace, Dooku, Grievous, etc.

OS Update:

[image=http://www.starwars.com/clonewars/about/news/img/20070309_bg.jpg]

LOOKS AMAZING!!!

The audiolink is basically just the audio of what Lucas said before. I'm pretty pumped for the animation though.

This looks like a very kinetic version of Yoda, if that makes sense - he looks very wise, but also like he could kick a whole lot of butt.

 

Phwooar!

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I will admit that the new photo of Yoda looks 10 times better then the previous pic. Can't wait to see other character designs.

 

That's one thing I will really like about a cartoon that takes place during the Clone Wars. We get more Dooku and Windu

 

Who's to say that they won't make this rumored second animated series between Episode 4 and 5? It is still possible...I actually think it might happen. Consider that this is already the second series of cartoons between 2 and 3 and the live action is between 3 and 4. Unless it is KOTOR, which is cool too, it will be somewhere in the OT...maybe after 6 or maybe Shadows of the empire???

 

I must agree with Mastervader - this image of Yoda looks a lot better than the previous, even though it's nearly the same thing.

Very good thought. Even though it's set during the Clone Wars and we know Yoda is 800+ years old, in his animation form he definitely looks a lot younger and able to, as you said, kick some butt. I can't wait to see an actual moving shot of the little green man though. The hobble and cane has the potential throw in a lot more depth to his overall physique.

 

With all the recent news, i'm really starting to get excited about the CW cartoons (as if i wasnt anticipating them enough already!)

Yoda is looking awesome... i cant wait to see what the rest of the characters will look like

 

I don't really understand what Lucas means by saying the animated series will be "much like the films".

Beyond the obvious, "it's Star Wars so it must be somewhat like the films", what do you think this means for the series?

 

That Yoda basically looks like a 3D-version of the Clone Wars Cartoon Yoda.

 

I think the 2d clone wars Yoda looks a lot more grumpy and crotchety. I think a previous poster was right - we'll have to wait and see what the moving Yoda's like.

 

Well, seeing as though the cartoon Yoda looked just like the movie Yoda except in cartoon form, why, I think they're on the right track!

GARTH; I think he's talking in an other-worldly sense. When you watch the Star Wars films you're in another world - I could say galaxy to be literal, actually. It's something I noticed more recently when I watched the films; you're never focused on the camera, or think about the cameraman. In "real-world" films, sometimes for effect you will have a very jittery or bumpy camera shot done via hand. You don't find those in Star Wars. It's very smooth and you're totally drawn into the world. So that would be what I think of when I hear a comment saying that its like the Star Wars films.

 

I'm curious as to how they'll handle General Grievous in the new series.

Will he be the intimidating, nearly unstoppable force as portrayed in the original Clone Wars series (and the rest of the EU as I understand it), or will he be the mustache-twirling, cowardly villain as portrayed in RoTS?

While the actual, behind-the-scenes reasoning seems to be due to a late change of heart on GL's part, the vast differences between the two depictions were fairly easily explained away by Grievous' injury at Windu's hand having weakened him considerably.

But now with the new Clone Wars CGI series, will this be treated this as an opportunity to 'get it right' and bring the character more in line with his movie counterpoint, or will they stick to the original animated version?

I hope they bring the fearsome Grievous back and redeem him -- he makes for a worthy and terrifying adversary -- although I fear they will go in the other direction. Any thoughts?

 

Here is a little bit of spoiler info about the show and the first episode, so beware! The source is Entertainment Geekly


Spy Report From Lucasfilm.
Want to hear what visitors are being told at the Presidio? SPOILERS after the jump.

Indiana Jones IV

Apparently the powers that be are pretty ashamed of Temple of Doom, because they stressed that this film will follow the tone and spirit of the first and third movies very closely.

Indy will have a young Padawan, as reported here on EG, and Lucasfilm is hoping that this character will be able to carry two or three more movies after this one.

The story will take place in the 1950s and even though the Russians were not directly named as villains, the cold war was mentioned. As always, the plot would revolve around finding a paranormal artifact.

There is no official title for the film, or at least that fact is not in the Lucas marketing droids' databanks yet.

CGI Clone Wars TV Show

The first episode of this takes place between Episode 2 and 3, and focusses on good guys Anakin and Obi-Wan, and bad guys Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress. Anakin also has a young Padawan, a red Twilek girl. The plot of the first episode revolved around the Jedi trying to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son from Separatist forces.

Reaction to the show was not entirely positive. Vehicles and clone troopers were rendered somewhat realistically, but other characters have sort of a Supermarionation feel to them. The general sentiment was that you can get away with this when rendering alien characters, but not humans. For some unexplainable reason, R2-D2 looks like claymation.

This show was apparently animated in Lucasfilm's new Singapore facility.

There is apparently a disconnect between Lucas and his minions. Lucas proclaimed that this CGI Clone Wars show has a definite dark tone, a sentiment the marketing droids did not share.

This show is intended to be aired weekly on primetime network television, and it will be aimed at 12 year olds. There will be another animated show aimed at 6 year olds, and a live action show aimed at 16 year olds. Don't kid yourself, you thirtysomething geeks, you'll be watching all three.

 

Wow... thank you, Mastervader!

Damn.... and the worst part is, it's true.

Some thoughts:

-red Twi'leck girl

Is this Asoka? If so, she might be a Togruta, since Lucas said she was what Shaak Ti was.

-Anakin also has a young Padawan

Interesting... I like it. Nothing's ever said he didn't have a Padawan. But this would place the show over halfway into the wars, if Anakin was a knight. Although this could just be a misconception by whoever viewed the show.

-The plot of the first episode revolved around the Jedi trying to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son from Separatist forces.

Verrrry interesting. We know from Galactic Battlegrounds that Jabba was on the Republic's side, so that's perfectly in the realms of canon. But uh... did Jabba ever have a son? I can name off about 15 Hutts from the top of my head but I can't think of a single source Jabba's children were ever menetioned in. Weird.

 

I thought George said that we were not going to have to see too much more of Anakin - am I imagining that? - I was under the impression that this series would focus on others involved in the clone wars.

And about the target audiences - is anyone ever shooting for only one target audience - to limit yourself to "six year olds" for one show, "twelve year olds" for another, and "sixteen year olds"for another seems like a terrible marketing strategy. I really want this to work, but this spy report doesn't seem to hopeful. - I mean any show that is a sucess on Television focuses on a WIDE audience range.

 

I think the report means that Anakin and Obi-Wan will be focused on in the first episode. Probably to set things up, and for marketing purposes.

It is weird that they are saying things like this, but it means little. George said he made the OT for 13 year olds, and its appealing to people of all ages. I'm not going to take this remark too seriously.

 

I'm much more concerned about the mixed-to-negative reviews of the animation style.

EDIT: There's also this below from his comments, obviously take it with a grain of salt, he sounds like a "Lucas raped my childhood" guy.

The criteria ?good? and ?does not suck? are very low on the Lucasdroid army?s list of concerns. It?s all about product. The Star Wars TV shows in particular were presented as vehicles for merchandising opportunities, citing characters, vehicles, and situations that are positioned perfectly for merchandisers.

There was even talk of how they can make even more money from the starwars.com site, as if they?re not pulling in enough from subscriptions. New and innovative banner ads were shown off, one featuring Axe body spray. Star Wars fans aren?t well-known for hygiene, so I think they?re barking up the wrong tree.