PT “The Clone Wars Saved Anakin”: Why the Prequels Anakin Is More Important

So, I’m sure whether you agree or disagree, there has been this rising discourse of how The Clone Wars “saved” Anakin Skywalker. But what does that actually mean? I’ve noticed there isn’t much of a discussion on that other than he is more “likable” and fits the “hero mold” in a way that many find his slide into fascist enforcer more tragic, but the nuances of such a complex narrative and how that unfolds imo is far better explored in the films.

Now, it would be easy to argue that it doesn’t matter because “they’re the same character” in the “same continuity” but there is dissonance from TCW VA himself, Matt Lanter, that he was told to portray Anakin in a different manner than Hayden Christensen and has said in a 2020 Rebel Force Radio podcast that he doesn’t see his “version of Anakin” as the same character as Hayden and many people would agree. It’s also easy to use the pre-TCW continuity from the EU to argue how Dark Horse and Del Rey books explored the character of Anakin Skywalker in a far more interesting way (for example, showing the first time he Force Choked someone and how he tries to use that power to save a dying Jedi only to cause more suffering in the process) that is consistent to his movie portrayal. However, I will stick to the films only.

For me, the most important aspect of Anakin Skywalker is a character arc. The movies do show gradual development as the films progress from a young, optimistic, yet emotionally driven boy to a moody, angsty, powerful, yet inexperienced teenager, to a more calm, collected, heroic Jedi Knight all before the major shift into a Sith Lord. What I find baffling is that TCW show doesn’t really dive deeper into Anakin as a character from this perspective especially. To show Anakin’s progress from AOTC to ROTS would have been a no-brainer and a chance to show an already interesting implied arc in the films and dive deeper into the events and relationship with Obi-Wan that gives Anakin a chance to grow. However, TCW immediately starts off with Anakin being a charismatic/heroic Jedi and there isn’t much pre-Ahsoka material outside of AOTC itself to show Anakin’s maturity before gaining a Padawan. One could argue, Anakin is portrayed as far more heroic and in-tune with Jedi ideals in the first few seasons than he is to his much closer ROTS counterpart in the later seasons. And I don’t think the show does a good job of exploring the “how” and “why.”

The beauty of Episodes I, II, and III is the deconstruction of Darth Vader (implied heavily in ROTJ when the big bad Vader is revealed to be a wounded old man) and the power fantasy that Vader holds. But it serves as the counterpart to Luke Skywalker (a deconstruction of masculine power fantasies and male heroes) as Luke is a very compassionate, emotionally driven, and full of love and would rather negotiate than use violence if he can avoid it. It’s ironic how one of the most iconic SW posters of A New Hope shows the opposite with Luke wielding his saber with an open-shirt revealing a muscle-bound man with a six pack. And yet, it’s the exact opposite when you see the film from traditional 70s/80s male protagonists. Anakin, in many ways, shares a lot from Luke in ANH and ESB. Even the stoic and collected Luke from ROTJ is echoed heavily in the opening of ROTS with Anakin. TCW strangely plays more into the power fantasy of Darth Vader and what it means to be “masculine.” From the clothes (Anakin’s armor echoing Vader) to even more questionable choices like a more distinctly deeper voice as many believed Hayden’s voice was “annoying” and not “masculine” enough for Darth Vader.

“Anakin’s relationships are more meaningful in TCW”

TPM shows Anakin’s relationship with his mother. The first maternal relationship in Star Wars that we see and I would argue the best executed in live-action. Shmi is shown to install a lot of Anakin’s positive qualities and the relationship is vital to Anakin‘s story. The loss of his mother in AOTC is a driving motivation for his fall and this established way before 2008. His relationship with Padme is fine in TCW from what is shown, but some of his treatment towards her is questionable at times, specifically in the Clovis arc. I’ve discussed it before, so I don’t feel the need to dive into this one as much, but I’m not sure it was the writers’ intentions to have Anakin’s more traditionalized masculine qualities take such an ugly turn. And it really didn’t make the character “more likable” when it showed abusive behavior when he’s supposed to be at his most heroic point as a Jedi Knight. In contrast to the films, where the shock of Anakin/Vader attacking Padme on Mustafar is treated as a result of Anakin’s corruption and an ironic twist given his motivation throughout the film.

For Obi-Wan, it’s a bit more complicated. One could argue it shows the “good friend” line in ANH in a more forward light, but the films show a much more fascinating relationship (which unlike the OT, doesn’t need a love triangle to create tension between characters). And the movies show Anakin and Obi-Wan work together in tandem in a way that the OT didn’t for Luke and Han, mostly due to spending ESB and ROTJ away from each other. Especially by ROTS, there’s contrast to their teamwork compared to AOTC (and even then, there’s still friendly bickering when they’re chasing down Zam even if they fight over the methods of pursuit). The most obvious example is “this time we will do it together” and Anakin’s half-joke “I was about to say that” showing Anakin’s character development from the last movie. But you see a frustration that Anakin has in both AOTC and ROTS that highlights the more personal issues (Obi-Wan’s initial suspicion of the boy in TPM, a brotherly dynamic and the critical components) but also the institutional (Obi-Wan directly giving Anakin an assignment he doesn’t agree with because “The Council is asking him”) While TCW, specifically the Ahsoka on the run arc, does touch upon these institutional aspects, the personal aspects aren’t really touched upon at all. Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is static and friendly throughout with very little tension to foreshadow their falling out. And when they do with the Undercover Obi-Wan arc, it feels really manufactured. It’s the first time in the show Anakin questions the Jedi but a paramilitary sting operation during an assassination attempt isn’t really given the gravitas imo to show Anakin’s disillusionment. It makes Anakin hypocritical in his disappointment of the Jedi using the Code to avoid going too far as he tells Tarkin in Season 3 or at least unaware of the idea of “covert operations.” Anakin does have a reason to be mad in all fairness. The Jedi did exploit his emotional attachment to Obi-Wan but the resolution of the arc drops the ball on that. Anakin is more upset the “Jedi Lied” and given that the lie wasn’t really even a permanent thing or a lie that was planned to be kept from Anakin for a huge amount of time (only until the operation to capture Cad Bane was done), it makes Anakin look a bit too naive or treats the ROTS timeframe as the FIRST time Anakin has had a problem with the Order’s conduct. And that doesn’t really make his betrayal more “relatable.”’

“Anakin didn’t do anything heroic and is completely unlikable in the films”

Well, this is easy to dispute. TPM Anakin deliberately tries to help Qui-Gon by offering shelter, racing to win parts and then saves Padme and the Naboo troops by deliberately shooting Destroyer Droids. In AOTC, Anakin’s first action scene is him saving Padme, he rescues Obi-Wan from falling, saves Padme from the Nexu, and saves Obi-Wan from being executed by Dooku. ROTS has Anakin save Obi-Wan from buzz droids, refusing to leave him behind, defending R2 from Obi-Wan’s “loose wire” jokes, giving Obi-Wan credit for his role in the mission, apologizing for his arrogance (which is a pretty big character moment), and has him wanting to help the clones in the space battle and Padme when she falls out of the gunship.

All in all, the films show Anakin at his most vulnerable and are, and in the case of the EU, were, the more important part of establishing who Anakin was when he was under the pressure of the situations and circumstances surrounding him. His love and compassion were highlighted in TCW, but the show didn’t create that nor did the 2003 CW, the Del Rey novels or the Dark Horse comics. That’s a product of how the character’s most important positive trait was introduced in ROTJ and then highlighted as his greatest strength and his tragic flaw in the PT. Anakin Skywalker’s potential for further exploration isn’t a closed book by any means when dealing with such a complex character, BUT the films show a more colorful aspect in the fall of a hero and the rise of a Sith.

 

I suppose I sit somewhere in the middle of this, in that I like both the Prequels and TCW’s portrayal of Anakin’s arc and think they work decently well side by side

The PT is of course the more foundational of the two, and tells its story perfectly fine on its own, but TCW acts as a nice supplement that makes certain elements emerge more gradually. For example, Anakin’s growing distrust of the Jedi council, while explained by their initial distrust and his growing desire for power in the PT, is enhanced with specific steps along the path to his fall in TCW. It’s not essential to ‘redeeming the character arc’ or anything, but nicely enhances prior scenes to increase their dramatic payoff much like the PT did to the OT (another example would be increasing the emotional attachment to certain Jedi so that Order 66 is more effective).

As for skipping over the potentially interesting period of Anakin’s life between AOTC an his maturation (which to be fair the movies elide as well), this is more a relic of TCW’s original intent to sit alongside the Clone Wars micro series. TCW borrowed a lot of design sensibilities and elements such as Ventress and Anakin’s knighting, so that the new show wouldn’t tread on the already covered ground of the previous one.

I also think it’s worth noting that Matt Lanter’s performance as Anakin does skew much closer to Hayden’s in the earlier seasons, emphasising a slightly younger character before being hardened by war and circumstance.

I used to feel there was a disconnect between the gradually darkening TCW Anakin and the more carefree Anakin in ROTS’ opening, but even that got smoothed over in TCW’s finale with him reuniting with Ahsoka just before ROTS and lifting his mood. It all fits together quite nicely for me in the end. Of course, the whole ‘TCW redeemed Anakin’ line does a disservice to both the movies and show, reducing the accomplishments of one to prop up another that requires its framework to properly operate.

 

I agree with almost everything you said. However, at the same time I can also understand why so many people think that TCW Anakin is better. A lot of people think that exclusively because TCW is longer than the Prequels themselves, and shows more

I think that many people would have been fine with Anakin's character in the movies, if only the movies lasted for more time and showed much. For example, if each of the Prequel movies lasted for three entire hours and showed more of Anakin's character, his motivations and his friendship with Obi-Wan, then I think a lot of people wouldn't complain about Anakin's character at all. I think that a lot of people doesn't actually mind Anakin's character in the movies, they just mind the fact that what's shown in the movies isn't enough, they simply wanted the movies to be longer and wanted to see more. Like, imagine if Palpatine's rescue from Revenge of the Sith lasted for an entire hour instead of just 20 minutes or so. Probably no one would question Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship at all.

For a lot of people who appreciate the Prequels for what they are, like me and you, what's shown in the Prequels themselves is enough. But for many other people it wasn't enough. Again, I don't even think it's about the story or the execution, I just think that people wanted to see more. And that's one of the reasons of why a lot of people say they would love to see extended cuts of the three Prequel movies, with all the deleted scenes put back into them.

 

I think it’s fascinating that many feel the PT needs more material to flesh out the characters but the OT just “works.” Despite even Luke’s character arc development also being off screen (especially from ESB to ROTJ) and a love triangle that causes a lot of tension between Luke and Han when they are on screen together. Also the complete lack of dialogue from Luke and Leia in Empire and, yet, no one is exactly clamoring for a show to fill the gaps.

I understand the need for more “swashbuckling” in the PT (though maybe even the OT could use more with the lack of lightsaber action from Luke throughout the trilogy), but I guess it depends on what the viewer is looking for. If people just want an uncomplicated relationship of fun battles, cool snippy one-liners, etc. I do think the first 2 Seasons especially deliver a relatively simple and fun adventure anthology stories. However I feel the show tried to be more serialized and dramatic by Season 3 onwards and I don’t think it delved as deep as it really could have, especially given the supplemental material between 2002-2007. @darkspine10 is correct that TCW was trying to connect to the 2003 CW which gave Anakin an arc (also mostly truncated in that show), but with rising ideas that TCW by itself is the only media that does Anakin Skywalker justice and how the show now sits on its own in canon without the EU, it does make me feel like a TV show COULD have used it’s longer run time and more efficient form of media for slower character pacing and I feel like the show didn’t push that far enough.

For me, the best arc of Anakin in the entire show is the Ahsoka on the run arc. It nailed Anakin in a way I’m not sure was intentional on Matt Lanter’s part but the writing was very reminiscent of the kind of complex situations the character was written in the EU and the films. Showing tougher moral decisions and balancing loyalty to the Republic and loyalty to his personal relationships. And the ending where he tells Ahsoka he understands wanting to walk away is the most vulnerable the show got with peeling back the machismo and making Anakin feel human to me. And I think it adds a more interesting element of disillusionment Anakin has with the Jedi in a way that the Obi-Wan Undercover arc failed to capture imo. It’s as close as the show got to feeling like Hayden Christensen’s characterization. I personally feel like the first 2 seasons have Anakin at his most mature and emotionally stable, but idk if I can ever see Matt Lanter’s performance as intentionally building off what Hayden established. It doesn’t seem like he himself sees that he did that. I see more the “Luke Skywalker mixed with Han Solo” impression that he was directed to have.

 

@Deliveranze Although I can't really contribute to the topic since I've never watched TCW, I agree with everything you say about Anakin's character development in the PT. As always, a pleasure to read your insightful posts.

 

TCW was fanficcy filler. It didn't save anything. And Anakin having a Padawan will forever be a terrible decision.

 

I don't think anyone can seriously question that PT Anakin is more important than TCW Anakin, although - for me - he is also a lot better. I can't really delve deep into TCW Anakin because I have never seen the show. I gave it a try, two or three times, but I could barely manage to finish an episode. It just didn't stick with me and that was - compounded by the fact that I am just not an animation guy - also due to the characters.

PT Anakin is a fantastic achievement right on his own. He starts out as a young and - given his upbringing as a slave - fairly carefree boy who lives with his mother on a desert world. He only gets defensive when Padmé calls him a slave, because he doesn't like to be held back and that part of him is really his ultmate undoing. He promises to free all the slaves and this broken promise will be the root for all of his misery. Jumping right into AOTC, Anakin is still a pretty carefree young man who tests his limits, probably in ways Obi-Wan is not comfortable with. I mean, Anakin puts Padmé at risk at the beginning of the movie because he is so confident in himself and carefree enough to put Padmé's safety at stake. That will drastically shift, although the Speeder Chase comes first. I really love Anakin in the Speeder Chase as it shows his fun side just as much as it hightlights his arrogance, but it definitely presents him as skilled. I like Anakin and Obi-Wan's relatioship in this sequence as well because there is some tension, but there is easily as much affection. At the same time, Anakin is already burdened by the dreams of his mother, which make him much more complex as a character and losing her will change him significantly. He not only broke his promise, but by being held back by the Jedi, he lost her. He failed and he promises to never fail again, which can already be noticed near the end of the movie when is Anakin is adamant that the ship stops chasing Dooku and instead returns to make sure Padmé is safe. That's the same guy that willingly put her at risk at the beginning of the film. The loss of his mother truly changed him. That leads into ROTS, when Anakin is clearly pretty optimistic and carefree again, although just as much matured through three years of war. Anakin, right at the beginning of ROTS, is a fun and strong character who is pretty much a more matured and older version of who he was at the beginning of AOTC, however freed of being Obi-Wan's student and acting as equals. It's only once he begins dreaming again that makes him imbalanced and succeptible to the dark side again.

What I want to make clear is that the PT clearly shows all aspects of and about Anakin and is also extremely consistent in characterizing him. His fun side and his skills just as much as his arrogance and his anxienty. Whatever TCM might have done with the character and I feel no desire to find that out, it wasn't needed. PT Anakin works wonderful on his own and is, therefore, much more important than any cartoon version added on years later.

 

I too am a huge fan of TCW, while also seeing the character study that is Anakin's in the PT satisfactorily self-contained enough. And as a side note, yes, at the same time I feel Lantner's Anakin strays too far from Hayden's for me. I understand why they went in the direction they did, and it's great if people like it, but I find myself mind-editing Hayden's voice and personality during his lines . Anyways, I love that the series adds a lot of interesting stories, adventures and lore to Anakin's life, and to the galaxy and the Republic as a whole. I like that the show gave Lucas a chance to expand on the things he felt were important in augmenting the big picture, as it were. Having Ahsoka as Anakin's Padawan, for one.

Of everything, I think the most important, poignant moment to come from the series, the justification, or even raison d'etre of the whole series, as far as Anakin, is his dialogue with The Son as his mother in the Mortis arc, which I see as the heart of all of his inner struggles, the why of his refusal to overcome his clingings, which provides a key insight to the whole picture.

Those, along with Yoda's speech on remaining with the Clone Army, are the big three for me. Honorable mentions are Obi-Wan's conversation with Anakin about Satine and Padmé, Ahsoka's future vision of Aurra Sing, Padmé's fight against deregulation/more Clones, Mina Bonteri, some of the Dooku/Kaminoans/Pykes/Sifo-Dyas stuff, Yoda's speech to his three Clone troopers, the Midichlorian/Living/Cosmic Force stuff, and the times we see the Clones' point of view.


The Son as Shmi: Tell me, where is your pain? So that I might take it away.

Anakin: I was too late to save you. I failed as a Jedi, and I failed you.

Shmi: How so?

Anakin: I tasted only vengeance when I slaughtered so many to avenge your death.

Shmi: It is time you realized that your guilt does not define you, you define your guilt.

Anakin: The only love I feel in my heart, is haunted by what would happen should I let go.

Shmi: Then it is not love, it is a prison.

 

Here's the thing: The PT has a much larger scope than the OT. As I've said before, the OT is really efficient in it's world building and that allows the audience the chance to get to really know our main characters intimately. This isn't the case with the PT.

For some reason, the PT can feel oddly detached with it's characters in many ways. I suspect, that it feels that way because there is a lot of other stuff that the films focus on due to it's scope and the sheer amount going on.

Also, Lucas has much more of a documentary directorial style so we don't really get character's points of views other when they straight up say what they are feeling...which happens a lot.

Bottom line: I feel like TCW has the luxury time and uses the opportunity to tell a variety of stories that showcase multi faceted characteristics, relationships, and nuances of Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan that the films don't.

 

I found TCW/Rebels Anakin anathema to Prequel Anakin until Wrong Jedi Arch, where we see Vader rise in him more consistently & realistically with continuity over his possessiveness and desire to protect Ahsoka. Ahsoka leaving the Jedi helps solidify that The Jedi could be misguided, which Palpatine will build on in ROTS. Other than that, TCW Anakin is a bore, he is a perfect paladin like Kenobi save for Mortis which gets relegated to a fever dream like the mural of his fate in The Microseries. I prefer Anakin having no clue he’ll become “More Machine Than Man, Twisted and Evil,” that is what makes him tragic. Having visions you’ll become a dark lord might make you reconsider choices, like “maybe these dreams of Padme dying,” are not trustworthy?
Its ironic, my favorite Legends character, Ulic Qel Droma, who is like Anakin in many ways, falls because dark lords like Freedon Nadd and Marko Ragnos anoint him and tell him he shall become one of the great lords of the Sith which helps him fall, I love that! But with Anakin I hate it! I don’t want him to know he will become Lord Vader, because his tragedy is not seeing how he’s playing into the devil (Palpatine)’s hand.

 

I'd argue he has less nuance and multi faceted characteristics than the movies.

 

I have not watched much of TCW so my opinion is here is mostly about the films.
The PT has more going on yes, the plot is more complicated and has more moving parts.
But to me, if you have a more complicated story then the writer needs to spend more time mapping out the various beats and development. I am not sure that Lucas always did this, some stuff seems to come from nowhere, other stuff gets dropped without any further mention. The Sifo-Dyas plot is an example of the latter.

The PT also has more stuff happing off-screen than the OT. Anakin goes from nine to twenty and is played a different actor. Imagine if that happened in the OT? That we had Mark as Luke in ANH and then a 15 year jump and then Luke is played by a different actor in the next film.

Because of this, some character stuff happens off-screen. Anakin and Obi-Wans friendship, that development happens between films. In TPM they have met, not much else. In AotC they are supposed to be friends.

I also think that AotC and RotS even more so, feels rushed. A lot of stuff has to happen.
But to me, that is partly due to TPM not being able to start some of it.
Lucas wanted a young Anakin in TPM. Fine but as a result, the romance with Padme could not really start. The friendship with Obi-Wan could have started but with Qui-Gon taking much of Obi-Wans role, that did not happen. Dooku and the seps could have been introduced in TPM and the next film have the situation getting worse.

In closing, I think that the OT made better use of their time and them being three films than the PT did.

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor

 

@Samuel Vimes

I agree completely. I love the prequels, but I don't feel like we really get to organically see the characters bond/become friends as much as the OT, or even the ST.

 

You know, this is simply not true, at least not compared to other Star Wars films. This is just what people come up with who don't "get" the characters and has been popularized as a common "critique" of the PT for no substantial reason. Getting a character is not meant as an insult, by the way, t's just that some characters speak more to our own sensibilities than others.

I'm not gonna start talking about the ST since there's nothing to it in my eyes, but the OT doesn't really show any "becoming friends". It talks about and pretends them being friends, but that's it. @Deliveranze pointed this out pretty well. There is certainly companionship to be seen in ANH, but that's not friendship. I mean, just look at ESB and Han being about to let his "friends" down at the most dangerous time. What kind of a friend does that? That is no friendship.

The thing is: The characters in the OT, as we all know, are more easily accessible and more instantly relatable. They are good guys, mostly heroic or cool, at least. We, as an audience, want to have them as friends and interpret them as friends, even though the storytelling doesn't stongly support this. The characters in the PT, by contrast, are that of a crumbling society. They are good at heart, but either corrupted internally or living in a corrupted social environment. There is a certain feeling of detachment, a sense of apathy that is uneasily reminiscent of modern Western societies. That sense of "I can't make a difference", "Politicians do whatever benefits them best", "They don't care about the common good" is felt throughout the PT and its characters. Those are not the kind of people we seek as friends, but those are probably the kind of persons that look into our eyes as everyday's acquaintances. That's makes the PT work on a whole different level and what makes these movies complex and endlessly fastinating until today, for me at least.

 

1. I love the prequels. I get the characters.
2. Characters in the PT often tell how they they are feeling through exposition of dialogue waaaaay more than they do in the OT and ST. This is not a critique on my part, it is simply a fact. Do we need to go over examples?

If you want to ignore part of the Star Wars saga, series, mythos, canon...fine. It's your call.

This is eye rolling bull crap. We don't see Han, Luke, and Leia become friends? In ANH, Han Solo's entire arc is centered around the bonds of selflessness, sacrifice, and friendship. These characters continuously display compassion for each other. We literally see how and when Han, Luke, and Leia bond and become friends in that movie several times overl


These friendships only deepen as the trilogy continues. Again, do we need more examples?

You are right. Companionship is typically suggesting something deeper than friendship. The dictionary definition suggests a component of love/romance.

You mean Han Solo who sacrifices himself to save his friend Luke from certain frozen death on Hoth?


You mean Han Solo who stays behind, during the Imperial assault, to make sure Princess Leia is safe (and in turn) has Darth Vader on his tail the entire film?


You mean Han Solo who is essentially sacrificed because he and Leia are Luke Skywalker's friends?

The characters are instantly relatable because they are well written. Though the characters are in other worldly settings, they seem like us and/or people we know. We identify with them. The storytelling is centered around these characters, and more importantly their friendship with each other. It's a HUGE theme in the OT that is clearly onscreen in each of the OT films.

It doesn't matter what society the characters are living in. The OT character live in a worse society (it's nearly dystopian) than the PT characters. They are still more accessible and relatable.

The reason the PT characters aren't as relatable is because they aren't as well written. If your argument is that we aren't supposed to relate to these characters, then that's huge condemnation of the PT films. I think we are supposed to relate to some of the PT leads, ....otherwise...what's the point? Where is our in as an audience? You are telling me we are not supposed to empathize/identify/care about Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme? Surely George Lucas wanted us to relate to these characters....

 

@jaimestarr

Well said!
Too add a little to what you said.
About Han. Him leaving could be seen as a bit selfish but also not. Consider, Han has a bounty on his head and one bounty hunter evidently came close. If another were to find Han, they would also find the rebels. That bounty hunter could then sell that info to the empire and that would be bad for the rebels.
So Han is in some way a security risk. And he removes himself to settle things with Jabba but he would then also draw any bounty hunters to himself and away from the rebels. Plus, once he has paid Jabba, what would stop him from coming back?

Abou the writing in the PT, as you said, it has some or "Telling and not showing." Characters say that they are friends but do not show it.
As for the characters, part of my issues are to do with the writing but also the acting in some cases.
Some of the actors struggled with Lucas dialogue and did not get good enough direction and were not as experienced as actors to manage it themselves.
Ex I think Hayden does better work in RotS than in AotC and by then he was more experienced and could do a better job with some of the dialogue.

Lastly, the OT characters are up against way worse odds and have much less of a support network. And yet they try to fight.
You do have characters that are more resigned and thinks it pointless to struggle. Owen is an example of that. Lando is one for a while until he has enough of Vader altering the deal and realizes that he has to fight.

Bye for now.
The Guarding Dark

 

I don't think the less relatability of the PT characters is due to the way the characters are written, but simply to the acting. For example, I live in Italy, and the Italian dubbing is much more dynamic than the original acting. It's less flat, and as a result the characters seem more human. In fact, I have never had any problem empathizing with the PT characters, precisely because the Italian dubbing is more dynamic and human, and therefore it conveys different sensations than the original acting, to the point that many of the lines that are considered cringe in the English-speaking world sound perfectly natural in the Italian dubbing. I understand why George Lucas chose a flatter, less emphatic type of acting, but it affected the films in the long run. Still, I think the PT is great, and Anakin's arc didn't need TCW at all to work.

 

It took me awhile to watch TCW- years after it was released because I'm not a cartoon person. When I did begin, I had to make myself sit through it at least once because I disagree with Anakin having a padawan and Matt Lanter's voice is an issue for me. The more episodes I watched the more I felt like this was a completely different version of Anakin and doesn't line up with the films for me. There was an emotional detachment in the cartoon character because Lanter's performance doesn't have the same vulnerability as Hayden's. TCW Anakin feels like he almost has no heart. It's like watching ANH Han Solo cosplay as Anakin.

I have no issues at all with the films introducing us to a good hearted 9 year slave boy who was willing to help others. His relationship with his mother is endearing so much so that it's heartwrenching to watch him leave her, to watch her let him go not knowing if she will ever see him again. I can immediately empathize with that. To this day I watch the film and it makes me tear up. I felt the pain of the character having nightmares about his mother dying. Understood the devastation and rage at finding her beaten to within an inch of her life. I understood how he felt that he failed. I understood why visions of Padme dying would be a breaking point for him after Shmi. All of the insecurity and fear that rear their ugly heads at different times to combine with anger were relatable to me. One of my favorite scenes is in AOTC watching every single one of those emotions cross Anakin's face as his mother dies in his arms. Hayden nailed them all in a way that made me feel like I was moving through each one with him. All of this just enriched the ending of the Kenobi series for me because Hayden's line delivery, physicality, the visible struggle and emotion even in heavy prosthetics was powerful and felt very in line with his PT performance.

Do I think the direction given to HC in the PT could have helped? Yes but I didn't have any problems caring about/empathizing with Anakin as shown in the films. (And before this comes up, that does not mean I condone his actions.) Cartoon Anakin just does nothing better, for me, than what the films already give.

Do I think the PT may have benefitted from more action sequences with OWK an AS and banter like the cartoon? Yes, depending on what they would have been and for how long but overall I agree with @Deliveranze assessment.

 

I could never get too into TCW because Anakin’s voice actor was a huge downgrade.

Certainly didn’t to see anything saved, though. The PT features the most interesting character arcs/relationships.

 

Of course, the film story is more "important" — this is where Anakin falls to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. This is where the saga story happens, the story with a beginning, middle and an end. Did someone ever argue that? George himself said as much, many times. The Clone Wars is meant to be a footnote in the saga of Anakin Skywalker. But it is still the same character, both depictions are meant to complement each other to create a fuller picture:

The focus of the movies was pretty much exclusively on Anakin's descend to the Dark Side and what led him to that decision. We saw merely glimpses of Anakin as a heroic Jedi Knight in the movies, and if to some it was enough — sure, more power to you. It was there. The movies told a complete story, they did what they were designed to do in the first place: tell the story of Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader, the fall of the Jedi and the Republic. Of course, the movies can exist without any additional material, they were designed to be standalone. But in the animated series, Lucas heavily expanded and added to what was merely hinted or shown briefly in the movies. We never got to see Anakin in the position of a leader in the movies — and the Jedi were military leaders, generals — because the war was simply skipped over. We also never got to see Anakin in the position of a mentor — something that greatly expanded his character, in my opinion. So these are the things that the series created, and there is nothing wrong with giving it credit.

I really don't get the need to put down one or the other, I never got the idea that the two were "competing," especially when both were deliberately created that way by George Lucas — you know, the guy who created Star Wars, the PT, and the character of Anakin Skywalker, obviously. The movies, of course, stand on their own. TCW is a footnote that gives a fuller picture, gives additional context and may enhance your enjoyment of the story. One complements the other. Anakin in both is the same character, needless to say, because a character is defined not by the style of the work, and I would argue not even that much by the actor. Sure, an actor usually brings a part of themselves to the performance, but a character is primarily defined by specific traits and characterization, a story that makes them who they are. One work can portray a character in an operatic, classical play style, while the other can be done in a style of old-fashioned Saturday matinee war serial. Everyone can have their preferences, for sure, one can enjoy some more than the other, but to say that one version is "lesser" or "wrong" is incorrect. Both do what they were designed to do for the sake of their respective stories, both complement each other. And that's all there is to it.

 

I think that plot is resolved in at the end of AOTC in showing that Palpatine and Dooku are behind it.

I don't think that applies. Luke was what I call the main character of ANH. I think Anakin wasn't the main character of TPM. I think Padme moreso is. I think a lot of events between the movies aren't needed for who the character is in that movie.

 

I very much agree with this. I'm not a fan of Matt Lanter. Lucas once said about casting Hayden in the role that he didn't want to cast a funny guy and try to make him act dark. He also nailed the casting with the 2D Clone Wars Anakin, Mat Lucas. He sounded like Hayden and had the right kind of youthful, slightly grating sound to his voice. With Lanter, he cast the funny guy, and I never fully bought his darker moments. He's too casual and out going most of the time. I think he lacks the gravitas that Anakin is supposed to embody.

 

George Lucas, Dave Filoni and the fans who agree with their vision can say that Anakin is the same character all they want, but he doesn't look like the same character to me, no matter what they say. He doesn't have the same vulnerability, he doesn't have the same behavior, he doesn't have the same kind of reaction to bad things, he doesn't speak the same way, he's not enoughly awkward, nor emotional. In summary, he's not Anakin. TCW Anakin should have been a mix between AOTC Anakin and Anakin from the beginning of ROTS. He should have become more and more mature as the series go on, instead of starting as a fully mature adult already. It's not believable at all. Instead of a mix between AOTC Anakin and ROTS Anakin, we got a mix between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. That's not the same character from the movies, no matter what George says. Like @Deliveranze said, the Clone Wars Multimedia Project from the EU did it better. In the Multimedia Project, Anakin is exactly the mix between AOTC Anakin and ROTS Anakin he always should have been during the course of the Clone Wars,
Also, the fact that George says something doesn't mean it's true. George is the same guy who at some point said that Vader was always supposed to be Luke's father. We all know that's not true.

 

Well, you can think whatever you want. The fact of the matter is: there is your perception and objective reality. And, at the end of the day, I trust the man who had created the character in the first place to know that character more, than interpretations of the fans.

He does, when the story demands it.





And many more examples in the series that you can look up yourself.

Because the series puts the character in a different context that we'd never seen before in the movies. We'd never seen him as a General, we'd never seen him as a mentor. Of course, he will act in a way that we hadn't seen before. That is natural. The character was put in a different environment and the story affects him in a different way. But he is still fundamentally the same character that is defined by his story, past decisions that influence his future decisions, and specific character traits that make him who he is.

He does, though. What is his reaction to bad things? Outburst and, in critical situations, violence. He pretty much does have the same reaction to bad things, because he is the same character.

He is all those things, when the story requires it. See above. He has no reason to be awkward. He was awkward in Attack of the Clones, because he hadn't seen Padme for 10 years, which is why he was awkward. He was now a married man, a General and a mentor. He was at a different point in his life. And he was not awkward at all in Revenge of the Sith.

Yeah, I am pretty sure he is. Anakin is defined by the story and decisions he'd made in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Anakin is defined by his inability to let go, his inability to deal with his attachments — that will fundamentally lead to his downfall. Anakin is defined by his ambition. Anakin is defined by his unorthodoxy. He is defined by his courage and bravery. He is defined by loyalty to his friends. I am fairly certain that he is Anakin.

There is no point in retreading Attack of the Clones all over again, when that part of his story was done in that movie. He is a different man than before. He married, he faced Dooku, he was now a Jedi Knight, a General and a mentor. He is fundamentally at a different point of his life.

Yeah, he is. See above.

What EU? EU was a bunch of disjointed works with different vision across many different mediums, that in no way was consistent neither with each other, nor with the source material. You have Star Wars: Republic Anakin, who is John Ostrander's edgelord character #235, who was flanderized into his "my mom died" mode throughout the entire run, even though in Attack of the Clones, he was not edgy and was smiling and laughing and had a time of his life with Padme after his mother had already died. Or we have novels Anakin, such as Labyrinth of Evil or Revenge of the Sith novelization Anakin, who was really not that different from TCW Anakin.

What is it that you are trying to prove with this? The story evolves over time. So what? I also don't recall George ever saying that "Vader was always supposed to be Luke's father." It is well documented that he wasn't. In the Rinzler books specifically, who interviewed Lucas and worked for Lucasfilm, and documented the making of all the Lucas' movies. If you make such claims, you'd better provide some proof. But, regardless, that is irrelevant to the entire point at hand.

 

I'm a fan of and have huge respect for Lucas and his work, but I think he compromised his artistic vision with TCW to appease some of the critics of the PT. Too much of it felt like a reaction to those criticisms, and thus it feels out of joint with the films. It's sad that the micro-series feels much closer to the prequels, even though Lucas had less direct involvement with its creation. It was actually made in the interim between AotC and RotS, and Tartakovsky and co. really stayed true to the tone, characterizations and themes of the PT. Really the only moment I felt Lanter's Anakin match that of Christensen's was the topmost video in the post above. And the issue wasn't just the voice, it was the style of dialogue. In that scene, they clearly went for the sort of flowery dialogue characteristic of the prequels. The rest of the series didn't match that style.