Starwars.com a-new-direction-for-lucasfilm-animation.html


On the future of Clone Wars, Detours and Filoni (having a fangasm) with a frighteningly terrific exclusive clip from season 6. Go here now:

The first paragraph of the article is especially titillating. Yes, titillating.

Also, according to the article, the new episodes referenced by Filoni are considered "bonus content." They're officially done with Cartoon Network.

I read that as "We're done with this shit, don't ever expect to see it again..."

This was the best compromise for the series.

It's going to go up as a web series I'm sure, and that's fine with me. I imagine we get another 3-4 story arcs that will lay the foundation for Order 66 and hopefully tie up some loose ends.

CHECK THAT: I forgot people like money for a second - what was I thinking! I'm more sure they will be released as movies to be purchased.

I'm also pleased to see that Detours is being put on indefinite hold. I have great respect for Robot Chicken and Seth Green, but that show looked stupid as hell.

I'm excited to see what's next for Filoni (I've got a feeling he's going to lead efforts on a show that takes place between Episode VI and VII) as he's really proven to be a more than competent Star Wars storyteller.

I think it would be cool if they continued the animation style from Clone Wars on the new show they have planned, but I'm sure they'll change it up.

I have no intention of watching that useless piece of shit.

Maybe this is what will become of the Live Action Series. Make it an animated show instead. I would be fine with that.

I'd rather have something based on GL-approved material, like the LA series, rather than something completely new.

As for the cancellation: what the hell? The series is profitable. They have Disney's back, so it's not about lack of people for another project. At least they could have let them write story arcs to tie up the series, instead of, out of the blue, cancelling it.

P.S: I also am dissapointed with the lack of Detours. I was looking forward to it. Why can't they just air the series on Disney XD?

Yup. I'm sure they will want to do something with the 50+ scripts that Rick McC once mentioned in regards to the LA series. They will eventually get to something completely new, but I'm dying for a post-Ep.III / pre-Ep.IV show. A post-Ep.VI show would be cool too, at some point.

Clone Wars had to end sometime. Watching this season, I got the sense that it was beginning to get closer to the events of Ep.III. So I'd rather this particular cycle end while it's still going good.

Re: Detours - Maybe they want Star Wars to be taken more seriously for now, leading up to Ep.VII? Even though it is Star Wars, they still have to maintain the "brand" in some way that doesn't piss on their next big thing.

So do I. But that doesn't make it 'ok' to to just ignore their episode/season plans and cancel the series. They will release what they have done until now, but are those the episodes enough to tie all the loose ends? I'm talking about Mandalore, Mother Talzin, Maul, Ventress, Rex, Ahsoka, etc...

I think the Ahsoka and Ventress storylines are all wrapped up. One left the Jedi Order to become an anonymous citizen and the other left the Sith Order to become a bounty hunter.

True, but Filoni gave hints that they will be back.

There's going to be a ton of loose ends with this cancellation. The "bonus content" we're going to see are just the episodes that were already finished or with minimal amount of work to be done. Ahsoka and Ventress' arcs were most certainly not done, and along with Rex, Telzin, Maul and others.

They were already working on Season 7 and even preliminary work on Season 8 when cancellation came, so expect not a lot of closure. We even know that GL sat down with the writing team last year and they plotted out an ending to the series, which we'll never get to see now.

Well, it sounds like we’ll see some type of ending. It just won’t be a full proper one. For the kids’ sake and for posterity, I hope that the series ends on television somehow. If it gets picked up as a web show on Netflix or the OS, it would be an inappropriately inglorious sendoff for a series that started in multiplexes and opened up Star Wars cannon in a ways that no one would have guessed.

All in all, this move may increase the chance that Ahsoka, Asajj, Maul, Cad Bane, Mother Talzin, and/or Mandalore appears in a standalone or ST film.

Regarding the clip, I’m wondering if Admiral Trench’s cameo signifies a steady call back to fan favorite characters in the final season (a la Lost)? Also, if the clones have order 66 encoded within their brains why wouldn’t Dooku use this to his advantage during individual battles with Republic?


Disney is pushing episode 7 and the standalone films. They are probably using artists and hardware from the show for these films. Hopefully, the one silver lining is that none of the talented folks involved with the show will go without Star Wars work for some time.

The episodes or "bonus content" they're putting out is what they have completed or very close to completing. Remember that they work around 1 1/2 years ahead of what we were seeing aired, so we're not getting an ending, just the episodes from what would have been Season 6.

Word is the core crew is sticking around for a couple of months to finish up and then many are packing up and leaving Lucasfilm.

Just like the 3D re-releases and Star Wars 1313, the Clone Wars is just the next casualty on Disney's "All Focus on Episode VII" mandate.

Wow, that YouTube video was cool.

What about "As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming?"

I assumed that meant the core bunch of Clone Wars crew would be involved somehow in this "new direction." I guess we shall have to wait and see...

Which makes no sense.

My ultimate wish regarding this line...

"As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming?"

...is something set between Ep. 3-4.

Key words: "We are exploring". This new series is years away, if it even gets the go ahead, so it doesn't need a full crew of editors, animators, riggers, concept artists, scriptwriters, etc. That's a lot of people on payroll with nothing to do. And that's assuming this new series is in 3D animation like TCW. Disney would likely want something cheaper to produce.



I would like that as well, but it's highly unlikely. It's set in a new time period, and considering the wish to focus on the ST, I expect it to be set between ROTJ and Episode VII.

I'm not going to lie. I'm pretty disappointed in Disney's treatment of the Lucasfilm property so far. Outside of the Episode VII, VIII, IX announcements, they've only managed to cancel things I had a genuine interest in consuming.

I understand the want to focus on the films, but not at the expense of everything else, especially something as groundbreaking and successful as the Clone Wars. One would think Disney would be into innovative and challenging animation. I guess not.

What is worse, these actions smack of a desire to cater to OT-exclusive fans. Or, more specifically, prequel-hating fans. Although I believe they make up a very small subsect of the fan community they are also among the most vocal. And I feel that Disney-owned Lucasfilm is in no small way making decisions that would improve their standing with this group. And this is the real shame. Because, like it or not, the prequel films and the Clone Wars introduced Star Wars to the next generation of paying customers.

I am part of the generation that grew up almost exclusively on the prequel films. Yes, even the special editions were not enough to sway me from the other genres of the mid-nineties the way that these films did. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the OT. There is no doubt in my mind that Episode IV and V are my favorites of the saga. However I had to start somewhere.

And now I'm just getting my children into Star Wars. Their inlet of choice? The Clone Wars. Just at the time when I'm coming into a sizeable disposable income, and a desire to spend it on children with a desire to have it, Disney takes it all away. I think that it would be shortsighted for this company to assume that the momentum created over the last decade will be enough to carry it to the next trilogy. The GL-owned Lucasfilm did enough to earn my customer loyalty. Disney-owned Lucasfilm has not.

Yes, I will probably be among to first in line to see the midnight premier of the next film. And I will probably enjoy as much as I did watching Episode I, II, and III. But after seeing what Disney was willing to give up to make these films, my expectations are now higher. Much, much higher.

TL version: Clone Wars fan pissed, feels that "this deal is getting worse all the time".

I think the idea is to push a 'clean slate.' This is exactly what Star Wars needs, it's been too mediocre for too long. Even the toys don't sell any more. There are some things apparently to be missed along the way (1313, IV V and VI in theaters) but it's a smart move to create demand for new content. Episode VII is where it's all at now.

Agreed. And if Star Wars has such an huge and active fanbase, it's thanks to the prequels.



Since when?



They do. A lot. In fact, Star Wars merchandising strenght nowadays (with no movie in theaters to help) was one of the major factors Disney told to its shareholders about the acquisition being a good deal.

Disney's big push is for the sequel episodes set in the SW universe "future." The Clone Wars relates to the prequels, which are a thing of the past. As such, there's no sexy cross-marketing with the Clone Wars series.

I agree that the new show will tie into Episode 7. However, I disagree on your production time-frame. If Disney wants synergy with a new film out in 2015, they need to get cracking on the stories and animation now.

As a whole, I would love to hear Lucas' reaction to the cancellation. Does he have a feeling similar to the ones he had when Warner Brothers re-cut THX 1138 and Universal re-cut American Graffiti? Or, has he accepted this move as a necessary casualty because it helps ensure that Star Wars will be a living franchise "forever?"

They may have sold the shareholders on this, but anyone that has looked at the shelves, or Hasbro's Quarterly reports (it is a public company after all) will note that star wars isn't even in their top 5 any more for sales. In fact, it's fallen so far, that the Toyfair press release didn't even mention the 3 3/4" line or any changes to it. Is there any reason why 3 waves were cancelled last year, and half the run for next year is gone? I'm sorry, but I have to disagree greatly with this.

well said man, agree 100%

A portion of Hasbro's 2012 Star Wars problems was due to Star Wars fatigue. However, an overwhelming majority of the problem was due to mismanagement on their part. They exceedingly overproduced TPM figures in the Vintage line (at the expense of the other waves) and stocked the regular line were cheap repackaged figures that neither collectors nor kids wanted. Over a year later, I'm still noticing stores restocking with TPM Vintage figures.

I would agree with that, if not for the lukewarm reception of the "Black" line. Then again, they really didn't do a good job selecting figures that weren't over produced already. Seriously, how many Sandtroopers do we need?


JW and Max,
Something to consider, as part of taking over the properties, Disney will remove competing contracts...why feed an opposing company. Unfortunately, like with clone wars, they can't just "transfer" the property without incurring a gross amount of cost/penalty. it's simply far cheaper to go in a different/unique direction.

I definitely think there's some of this, but I think more practically it's a question of resources and finaces. If we use PIXAR as a basis for comparison, they could not support a television show and crank out features annually or every other year because they just wouldn't have the bandwidth to do it and maintain their standard of quality.



You're absolutely right but clearly they're confident in what they have, otherwise they wouldn't shut down a critically acclaimed (albeit not commercially explosive) TV series.



Are you out of your mind? You can't be older than 18 if you actually believe this to be true.



Since the prequels became the butt of jokes for most of the consuming public over the last 13 years. Whether you believe it to be true or not, the Star Wars prequels (with perhaps the exception of Episode III) are considered to be the most disappointing movies ever made. Welcome to reality.



Where do you get your information? Hasbro has slashed their SW-related product lines over the years because of performance. It's one thing to make stuff up, it's another to make it up when there are facts available to anyone that knows how to use the internet.

What? Do you really believe that without the prequels, there would be such a big and active fanbase nowadays? Please... And what does my age (which is older than 18, just to clarify) has to do with anything? Or those who don't share your point of view are classified as young kids? Very mature indeed.

"most of the consuming public"? Do you have a source for that claim? Your opinion is not a fact. It's not me who's living away from it. The press conference I mentioned, of course. As seen by your reply, I can only say: right back at you.

According to this item, it seems that on today's Disney Channel upfronts they announced that Filoni will be working on the new animated series (at the very end):



TVLine

At least they are keeping Filoni in.

I'm starting to wonder if Filoni and crew will be doing a new animated series to bridge the gap between ROTJ and Ep. 7. Would be the perfect lead-in/hype vehicle for Ep. 7 and would seem consistent with Disney's approach of focusing everything to the future.

I just want to see Filoni and his people continue to be associated with the Star Wars property. They have earned the right to continue making a living telling stories set in my favorite fictional universe.

Yeeeeah, but....don't know if you're old enough, CoGro, but I was there during the years after RotJ and before the SEs. That was a pretty SW-free time. Sad to say, and possibly it had to do with the lack of a meaningful internet, but the OT simply did not carry the torch the way that everything PT has carried it. May not care for a great deal of the PT, but he's right, it's kept interest alive, not the OT.

I also think you may be off in your estimation of the bandwidth required to keep producing an animated series and ramp up to E7 at the same time. It's two totally different businesses involved, LFL/ILM on E7 and LucasAnimation on any series, and the two don't actually intersect in any real way. The animation company was sepecifcally set up NOT to interfere with ILM's ability to produce feature work, so I don't think there's any real conflict there.

Here's a thought for you to chew on - E3-4 is an unexplored period on film, the assets the team would likely need are already largely developed and there's an existing production pipeline in place. There's also probably a year worth of unaired CW (if you spread it out via special event movies) to buy the team a year to get season 1 of the new show ready for air. Which only leaves the fact that there's no story developed for this period...except, oh wait, yes there is. There's a pile of scripts which are apaprently too expensive to produce live action sitting in Marin waiting for a greenlight. Boom - CW takes us up to RotS in the remaining material, then Filoni and crew continue on with a 'new' show immediately after the film. Me likey.

my 2 cents while the days are passing... as for the 2 main options regarding next show, I first thought too that they would go for post-rotj to open the ST era.... but I now think a dark times one is way more probable, here is why:

- as they have shortened the plans for TCW, maybe that can involve certain compromise. I mean that in this case the bonus we'll be getting are to wrap up the main Clone Wars specific plots (Rex, order 66, rots transition, most likely Maul, perhaps Talzin etc..) and just give open directions for characters like Ahsoka, Ventress, Hondo, Bane, Boba etc...

That way they could maybe even produce already written arcs, just transpose them in this different era as those characters evolutions doesn't need to be tied to the clone wars. This way they have many characters models and v-o actors ready, ships locations design still usable as it's not far in the timeline, and as mentioned even scripts ready/adaptable... not to mention use underworld stuff that were planned for the live action series that seems less likely to happen (and I think that would be cool, especially as the underworld was fantastic in the last episodes)

In this case they could save some of their so dear money and time with the team more ready, for a quicker transition just to rebrand enough so they have their own star wars show they can pretend to have launched.

+ very important, they could have Vader as part of it (and poster boy) all over their marketing, which I think they would like... Chewie and such as well

- Regarding episode 7: lot more work + I guess they wanna keep some mystery for when the movie comes + doesn't count that much I guess but still, they have way more EU to screw up post-rotj than dark times, that would piss the precious -only OT- fans off they obviously want to seduce back.


-also: Stephen Stanton posted on his Facebook page, pics saying "back in the old clone wars studio" and mentioned in comments "for the pilot of a new show", he is with Nika Futterman on a pic. That doesn't mean done deal but sure seem like a dark times follow up, at least that makes sense.


if that turns up like this, well I would be satisfied as I really love TCW and its approach ...... of course I'm not yet ready to bet on this, because Disney hasn't really inspire me any trust since the acquisition

Time will tell






A thousand times YES, I love this whole team and actually I must even confess that, as much as I'm looking forward to episode 7 and all movies, at the moment I feel much more interested in what's coming in this animation fashion, because I haven't ceased to be amazed how this format, handled so brilliantly, fits Star Wars storytelling perfectly

oh you summed it all up before me!

Why didn't I think of that; it makes a lot of sense. In this manner, they could satisfy Clone Wars and OT fans. Plus, they could also wrap up the Force Unleashed story if they wanted.

Hah! I think we got in at almost the exact same time. Yeah, eerie how similar our reads are on this whole thing. Great minds and all that

Shouldn't we say Great nerds geek alike in that case? :p



I indeed thought of the possibility of getting Starkiller into this too, obviously for Witwer, though I don't really know the precise storyline of all this and thus how it could be tied... guess I'll read this on wookieepedia now

Starkiller could clue Ahsoka to the Anakin = Vader connection. They can compare notes on their training. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Kota shows up during the Clone Wars Order 66 arc.)

I think best title for this series would be “Star Wars: Empire.” To me, “Star Wars: The Dark Times” doesn't flow as well as “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” or “Star Wars: Empire.”

hey!!! I thought this would make a good title as well today!!

us users on these boards must be force connected

I've been hoping for a Galactic Civil War-era animated show. Post-Ep. 3 stuff could be interesting, but a full-blown Civil War series would be great. Star Wars: Civil War. It could even pick up on some of the hanging character arcs (not that there's that many, tbh).

Either way, there's so many CG assets made during 7-8 years of production on TCW, there's too much to throw away. If Disney wants to save money and make a show before Ep. VII releases, they'd do well to continue using the CW-crew and CG style.

Hoping this new animated series will be presented in a "realistic style", and not stylized as The Clone Wars was.
Kind of like what we've seen in the Star Wars: 1313 cut-scene/promos, or The Old Republic cinematic trailer.

I wouldn't be surprised if the new animated show is in 2D, as it would be cheaper and they would be able to get it out the door faster. Both the animated Marvel shows debuting this year are in 2D.

That is if this even happens, remember they're just "exploring" it, it's not in preproduction.

It won't. It would not only be cost-prohibitive, but it would become outdated pretty fast. I hope they keep the stylized look of TCW. At least one can associate that with Star Wars animation.

Me too. I've really come to love this style. It's like Ralph McQuarrie's old concept art in motion.

Yeah, gotta say I absolutely LOATHED the look of the show in the run up to the first season, and for the film, but it absolutely grew on me by the time we got to the Malevolence arc. Holy crap has it really been over 5 years since then?!

Took me a long while to get used to the stylized look.
As the series progressed, certain character model upgrades did help, but unfortunately nothing was done to stop making Dooku's design look completely stupid.
Too overdone!

I think it's time to move into new territory - a new look all together.

I think the infamous image below may substantiate the look of the new show. Plus, on the Official Site, I remember a concept art sketch of Admiral Ackbar in his OT uniform with the preview for “The Wrong Jedi.” The sketch is now absent from the slides.



Regarding a 2-D show, I think the dynamic fan made anime-style clip below gives a reference for how that show might look.



Regardless of the visual style, an imperial setting would provide for more edgy subject matters. After all, there will be more humans shooting at humans and less human versus droids battles.

Overall, it would interesting to contrast the life of a Storm Trooper with the training and brotherhood of the Clones.

Now that is just about the gayest piece of shit I've seen in a long time... a long time...