"Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Why?" by Troy H. Cheek on Sep 29, 2008
I was lucky enough to be invited to a screening of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 film) a while back. It was, in a word, "okay." I mean, the computer animation was pretty darn good, though some of the character designs were too over the top for my taste. It wasn't something I would have paid to see, but luckily I didn't have to.
Had I written a review at the time (which I think was the intent of the people who invited me, but they steadfastly refused to clarify that), I would have said that the movie was rushed, yet didn't complete the story. I've always felt that movies, even those which are obviously intended to be viewed as a series, need to tell a complete story. The Clone Wars (2008 film) seemed more like a movie-length television pilot than an actual movie.
Which, I later learned, was exactly what it was intended to be. Which sucks, because at the time I was being told that this was the official Star Wars Episode 2.5 (or II.V), the first of several intermediate movies which would "bridge the gaps" and "fill in the gaps" and other things involving the word "gaps" between the various episodes. This concept isn't as crazy as it first sounds, as Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978 novel) is pretty much Episode 4.5 (or IV.V or whatever). As such a bridge, the 2008 film fails. As a pilot and introduction to an upcoming television series, I guess it did its job. I've already told my DVR to record the upcoming episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series).
Of course, that has as much to do with Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series) as anything else. I really loved that show, probably because it was created by Genndy Tartakovsky. He's (I think he's a he) also been involved with Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, and the stillborn Korgoth of Barbaria. I've also heard the name Paul Dini mentioned, though I can't track down exactly what he did (if anything). Dini, along with Bruce Timm, is who you have to thank for any decent animation based on a DC Comics superhero in the last decade or two. Regardless, I thought that the 2003 TV series was the bee's knees. The animation style was pure Genndy, yet somehow Star Wars at the same time.
The 2008 TV series is supposed to cover about the same time period as the 2003 TV series. Character designs were for the most part just converted from 2D traditional animation to 3D computer animation. Henry Gilroy, who helped Genndy create the 2003 TV series, wrote the 2008 film and, I assume, is involved in the 2008 TV series.
(I shall now take a brief rest so that my fingers can unknot. Curse you, George Lucas, for naming three different installments of your franchise so similarly! (I'm told that this is intentional as all three are considered part of Star Wars: Episode 2.5. (I don't care; it's still a pain to have to refer to them like that.)))
The 2008 TV series can't be a direct sequel to the 2003 TV series because, according to my admittedly fallible memory, the 2003 TV series ended pretty much where Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005 film) started. Actually, it ended there twice. Once at the end of season 2, then again at the end of season 3 when the series got a last minute reprieve (or season 1 and season 2, if you go by the DVD volume renumbering). I suppose what is meant by "cover about the same time period" is that the 2008 TV series will tell other stories that took place while the 2003 TV series was going on. In theory, there shouldn't be any 2008 retreads of 2003 stories, but with Lucas promising at least 100 epiosdes, I expect there to be the occasional sense of deja vu.
All of this leads back to my original question: Why?
I mean, if George Lucas wants to spend more time playing in the Star Wars sandbox, why not finish out the Trilogy of Trilogies he originally intended? Sure, it's a fairly discredited notion now, what with Lucas officially denying it and most of the corroborating evidence existing long before the advent of the Interweb, but I clearly remember Lucas being quoted in interviews somewhere around the release of the original Star Wars (1997 film) or Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980 film) that he planned a total of nine (9) films. The trilogy he was currently working on would be the middle trilogy, followed by a prequel (not commonly called that back then) trilogy, followed by a sequel trilogy. I even remember a bit of the plots mentioned at the time. The prequel trilogy would include one movie about the Clone Wars (series of battles), one about Darth Vader, and one that would fill out the background of Han Solo and Chewbacca. All I remember about the sequel trilogy is that a lot of characters would die and an aging Luke Skywalker would start a school for Jedi at the end of the final film.
Instead of producing films set in the sequel trilogy years, Lucas has farmed out that timeframe to several novelists (some more talented than others) to create mostly canon works. As I understand it, Lucas must approve the general storyline and major character developments, but the authors otherwise have free reign. Likewise, other than "created by" or "executive producer," Lucas doesn't seem to have a whole lot to do with the Clone Wars. To me, this just screams of something which I like to refer to "milking the cash cow." In other words, Lucas is out of ideas, so he's letting other people create the magic while he rakes in the licensing fees. At least, that's how it feels to me. I long ago gave up trying to buy every novel, and whole video release series have gone by unnoticed by moi.
Of course, that still won't stop me from watching every single episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series) as it airs.
