**Animated Clone Wars Series Theater Release and Date Confirmed!**

I read that but we'll see how it pans out. I will be very surprised if this series with 22 30 minute episodes over multiple seasons, doesn't conflict with anything in some way, especially the GT shorts.

If they do in fact try not to overlap with anything done by the shorts, then the the series will be confined to the period after Anakin's knighting until before anything to do with the Coresaunt attack, and of course not touching any areas done by the shorts. Does anyone else find that to be kind of limiting for this apparently epic series?
If they are trying to work with the shorts, I'm really curious of exactly how and where this big series will take place in the CW timeline in relation with the shorts.

 

Allow me to expand on my concerns/frustrations:

1) First, the Anakin-has-a-Padawan thing doesn't sit well with me, as discussed before. It has a lot to do with Ani being my favorite character, but it also strikes me as the Gungan in the coal mine, so to speak. The character has no place in canon as yet, and the series is happening at a very crowded time in canon history. Basically, they are sticking in a character that one would expect some rather clear mentions of to have been made of before (problem 1), likely redshirting the character as a result of having to fit the character in (problem 2), and the placement of that character, in light of Anakin's other issues at the time, absent all timing and so forth, doesn't make that much sense in the in-canon context even if the character is slipped cleanly into canon (problem 3).
2) Second, there's the 'animation thing'. This is vaguely related to the 'vision thing', which I think Lucas is lacking these days. Basically, the series already has a mark against it for being animated...I've got Vol. 2 of the Clone Wars (never bought Vol. 1). I don't mind the series, but I don't like the animation style. Two years on, the style's still got a ways to grow on me. But...I'm not particularly a fan of the animated stuff seen thus far.
3) Finally, there's the fact that I think the series will be of suspect quality. The animation style didn't do much for me when I first saw the trailer, the fact that it's animated was not its biggest draw from the get-go, but in the end, I think there is good reason that the quality will be suspect. I'll agree that we needed an "Episode 2.5" to bridge an information gap that I rather think was unavoidable in the circumstances (After Ep. 1, you essentially needed three episodes; Ep. 3 is fine, but Ep. 2 was trying to handle way too much, and the quality suffered as a result), but Lucas really hasn't handled that gap very well. Anakin having a padawan is, in my mind, the latest and worst of a string of problems, but:
A) That's my opinion, affected by my 'certain point of view' on this, and
B) It's not like I don't see other problems, likely and already existing.

Basically, this can be a great movie. It really can. But if it causes a fit with pre-existing canon, and in a way that isn't writing out a horribly disagreeable situation (example: Jedi Prince), then there are issues to begin with, and at that point, the talent involved should be directed elsewhere.

One of the problems at the root of this is that Lucas went and covered this timeframe. So did a number of novels. And now he's going back. He has to put something 'new' into a new production, and I think that quality, at least as far as maintaining some degree of consistency, is already clearly suffering for it.

Disclaimer: I didn't get into Star Wars until 2005, so I wasn't around to complain about the mess between Ep. 1 and the other pre-existing EU stuff.

 

Your canon argument is so thin it's almost transparent.

If you don't like the idea of the character, that's fine, but don't make the argument that she doesn't "fit" in canon, because any new character ever created in the films or EU didn't have a "place" in the GFFA prior to their existence.

With respect to animation, I have the definite feeling this is not only going to be a different ballpark from the Tartakovsky shorts, it's a different game altogether. Anyone who's seen the trailer in hi-def on a big screen has been very impressed.

Lucas has always been a visual director, and let's not forget he planned to stay hands-off this project in the beginning, before he was blown away and excited by what they could accomplish.

 

I disagree. It's one thing to go through once, and populate a timeframe. It's even reasonable to add on the sides to that timeframe (as has been done on occasions before). However, adding a character that, in my opinion, doesn't line up with what we've been told thus far (it isn't as blatant a contradiction as some of the fun we've had in the past [i.e. shifting the date of the Clone Wars], but it's still bad).

Basically, let me ask a question: If Anakin had a Padawan, why has there been no mention of it in the 'contemporary' canon thus far? (FWIW, I'd consider canon that's 'contemporary' to this to be anything timed from shortly before Episode 2 until a year or two after Episode 3) This issue comes up especially strongly in relation to things in the era surrounding Episode 3 (i.e. Labyrinth of Evil, Episode III [in all its forms], etc.). This doesn't mean the character didn't exist, but the lack of any mention prior to the present suggests that the character is inserted late (not necessarily a fatal flaw), wasn't planned for, and considering that usually a character in this position is not a 'minor' character, at least with relation to the master in the master/padawan relationship, and especially in the short term. While it's possible that the character will be inserted smoothly, I find the likelihood of that to be relatively small, considering the constrained timeframe (I seem to recall that Anakin was granted full knighthood only six months prior to the Battle of Coruscant). Granted, the Clone Wars timeframe isn't as heavily populated as the immediate pre- and post-Yavin and post-Endor timeframes, but fitting this in strikes me as both a tight fit and something that is difficult, at best, to explain both the existence of and the lack of any later mentions of.

I wasn't a fan of the style Tartakovsky used, but I'm not realy a fan of this, either. It's a matter of taste, and it just doesn't fit my tastes. Consider it to be a matter of preferring 'traditional' animation.

He's quite good at the visual effects. He's decent on storyline, usually (he tends to be good), if not so great on scriptwriting (Jar Jar comes to mind) nor always the best on casting. And of course, the latter two can make for some messy stuff (love scenes come to mind).

 

I think he was referring to the fact that Lucas regularly botches up the existing continuity, and therefore he has to go back and fix the mistake. Usually in light of lots of angry fans.

Ultimately, I think his decisions are best examined in the context of business, not continuity. That's an observation, not a criticism; if I didn't like Star Wars so much, it would border on praise. Lucas is a good businessman. He's not good at maintaining continuity, but he's at least decent at patching things over after the fact.

 

People are complaining about Asoka not being mentioned in Ep 3, but when would they have? There was no conversation that would have led itself to the characters talking to him about his apprentice. Of course, those people would also complain if George decided to shoe horn a reference to her in a future version of Ep 3.

 

Agreed.

 

I understand it's a relatively major development that was never previously mentioned, but I guess since it's not directly contradicting anything that came before, it doesn't really bother me.

But I've never been a huge stickler for continuity....look at human history, there's continuity problems all over the place, because each event gets told in a different way, depending on one's point of view.

 

I hope the movie will have more minor characters hwon and have bigger roles. Cmon Plo Koon speaking line!

 

I'm pretty sure the movie is focusing on the major Jedi characters like Obi-Wan, Anakin, etc., but I've heard we will get to see tv episodes focused on minor Jedi characters though.

 

Before episode I we never heard of Qui-Gon Jinn. Best thing about Episode I.

Before episode II we never knew R2-D2 could fly. That was fine.

Yoda's Kybuck is never mentioned in the films--doesn't detract from GT's "Clone Wars" (for the people who like it).

We never knew Chewbacca was tight with Yoda.

In five years, there will be no controversy here.

 

I hope they get the real voice actors to do the voices. Sam and Hayden said they wanted to be involved. I have a bad feeling it might already be too late to bring them on board.

 

^^ I too hope that they'll return as their respective voices. Even though they do have voices for those actors already as seen in the trailer, it wouldn't take too long to do some voice overs. Seeing as we're a little less than 6 months away from the premiere, there is still plenty of time to record a their voices.

 

Agreed. I'd love Hayden and Sam to reprise their roles.

And regarding Jason and Pete on the Forcecast saying "so would you say to the actors who've already recorded the lines 'sorry, your work's on the floor because we've managed to get Hayden/Sam'?"
...yeah that's life I'm afraid. I wouldn't normally be that harsh to qualified actors who have already recorded their parts, but in fairness, Hayden and Sam have both expressed an active interest in recording the parts. And like the guys said, who's going to argue the toss with Sam?

 

There's a trailer for the mvoie??

 

Yeah, Here's the trailer from Celebration IV.

 

I thought that was a trailer for the series/season 1 as a whole and not the movie.

 

Exactly! I'll wait wait to see what happens when the actual content hit the screens, then make an intelligent view point. With all due respect!

 

Are you sure it is the first 3 or 4 episodes strung together? I've heard conflicting reports. For example, this blog entry on sfgate says the tv series will start where the movie leaves off: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/day?blogid=24&year=2008&month=02&day=12

This article seems to not support the idea the movie is just the first few episodes strung together: http://www.variety.com/VR1117980757.html

A relevant quotation from it: "The "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" movie is expected to run around 100 minutes and pick up between episode II and III. Anakin Skywalker is not yet Darth Vader. The story will then continue in 30-minute smallscreen installments."

 

I'm thinking that the debut movie will be 3 or 4 episodes strung together that picks up immediately where Episode II left off (or close thereabouts). I think the show will the air on television where the movie left off.

 

If it is going to be 3 or 4 episodes strung together I don't see it reaching the 100 minute mark like the variety article mentions. Of course nothing is set in stone yet though. Maybe, the content within the movie was originally going to be divided up into episodes, but now that they are going with a theatrical release they probably just decided they would start the series where the movie left off. Lucas or someone who works at Lucasfilm should really clear this up.

 

Well if it's going to be 4 episodes, each 22 minutes long then that would be just shy of an hour and a half. But, I also have a feeling that they had been planning this from the beginning which is to say that they may have designed it as a movie and not multiple episodes, per say.

 

I guess 4 episodes is close enough since that would be 88 minutes, which is just shy of an hour and a half like you said. The article didn't say it was going to be 100 minutes for sure, so 88 minutes seems to be close enough, but who knows how long it is actually going to be for sure? I know what you mean. They probably made the "episodes" as a self-contained story because they knew there was a distinct possibility it would be a theatrical release and if there was no theatrical release then they would have been able to air them when the show is set to premiere in the Fall.