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Posted by Liam on November 12, 2021 at 09:50 AM CST
Hey there, Rebelscum fans! This week on the site we’re looking at the concluding moments of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in which Ashoka and Rex finally factor into the events of Revenge of the Sith. Make sure to learn why these episodes took so long to complete by reading our “Expand Your Mind” article first, then stop back in to look at the many articles and videos we’ll be releasing throughout the week.
Star Wars has always had a strong foundation in animation. The animated segment of The Star Wars Holiday Special is the only redeemable part of the disastrous television project, and its producer Nelvana animation also debuted the cartoon shows Ewoks and Droids in the 1980s. Genndy Tartakovsky’s groundbreaking Star Wars: Clone Wars series launched Star Wars animation into the future in 2003, laying the groundwork for Filoni’s series.
Rebels, Resistance, Visions, and The Bad Batch all followed in the wake of Filoni’s success with The Clone Wars, and you can guarantee that we’ll be getting more animated projects from Disney+ in the future. Here is some fun “Force Facts” trivia about the history of Star Wars in animation.
The animated “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee” segment is the only part of The Star Wars Holiday Special to ever get an official release. George Lucas famously said he wished he could track down every illegal copy and smash it.
Anthony Daniels has voiced C-3PO in nearly every Star Wars project, but it's not his only iconic animated role. Daniels voiced Legolas in the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings.
LEGO Star Wars products first began appearing in 1999 to coincide with The Phantom Menace, and since then we’ve seen many animated LEGO short films. The first was the Episode III tie-in short, “Revenge of the Brick.”
George Lucas cited the 1960s series Thunderbirds as one of his primary influences on The Clone Wars when he first previewed the series. Thunderbirds and World War II-centric adventures have long been a part of Star Wars history.
Star Wars was a large part of Robot Chicken thanks to the iconic “The Emperor’s Phone Call” sketch about Palpatine’s immediate reaction to the destruction of the Death Star. The three spinoff Star Wars Robot Chicken specials can be viewed on HBO Max.
Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Seinreich got George Lucas himself to appear in a sketch, and Lucas later tasked them with creating the cartoon series Star Wars Detours, announced in 2012 at Star Wars Celebration.
Despite 39 episodes being completed, Detours has never been officially released. While one singular episode leaked earlier this year, Seth Green has stated that there are currently no plans to distribute the series on Disney+.
Some of the storylines of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story were originally intended for Rebels. At one point a crossover where Orson Krennic appeared was in the works, but Filoni opted to keep the focus on the Ghost crew.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was finally redeemed in 2020 thanks to the folks at LEGO. Disney+’s The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special followed Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and the other sequel trilogy heroes in a reimagining of the Life Day that finally did the Wookiee holiday justice.
The Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated film may have underperformed, but it won’t be the last official Star Wars animated movie. In their latest Investors’ Day Confrence, Disney revealed that an animated Star Wars: A Droid Story is in the works.
What do you think, Rebelscum fans? Do you have a favorite animated Star Wars moment or series? What style of animation do you prefer? Let us know in the forums, and as always, may the Force be with you!
