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In the original “Star Wars” films, the Clone War was alluded to many times, but never really shown; it was mentioned in passing during 1977’s “A New Hope,” began at the end of 2002’s “Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” and came to an end in 2005’s “Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith.” Instead, this galactic civil war was chronicled in comic books, video games, novels and, most notable, two animated miniseries made by “Samurai Jack” creator Genndy Tartakovsky.
Now George Lucas is returning to this epic conflict with another toon, a CGI-animated series that follows Obi-Wan, Anakin and other familiar and new characters from the sizeable "Star Wars" universe. But unlike the films, especially 1991’s “Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” the show is short on political intrigue and long on action. Whether there’s a larger story at work—save for Ahsoka’s ongoing internship—or if anything will impact the larger “Star Wars” fiction the way the recent “Force Unleashed” video game does, we’ll have to see, but even if it just ends up being a bunch of war stories, it will be worth it.
Who’s that? Some of the voices will be familiar to fans of the live action films, most notably Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Matthew Wood (General Grevious) and R2-D2 (R2-D2owitz). Still others will be recognized from their work in the related “Clone Wars” movie, including Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). The rest of the cast, however, consists of voiceover vets, such as Dee Bradley Baker (various Clone Troopers), who’s the voice of Klaus on “American Dad,” and Terrence “T.C.” Carson (Mace Windu), the voice of Kratos in the “God of War” games.
The buzz: The idea of a weekly “Star Wars” show is already catnip to the fanboys and fangirls, of which there are many; that it’s also a cartoon just puts an intriguing spin on it. Plus, for animation-heads, it’s the first good action cartoon since “The Batman” that isn’t from Japan (though it does have a bit of the anime influence).
The “ooh” factor: With the major story already told in the films, this animated series can concentrate on shorter, action-packed tales of war from one of the more engaging (and untapped) eras of this universe’s history.
The “eh” factor: The cool reception—both critically and box office-ly—of the movie isn’t going to bode well for this show. But then, neither is the fan feeling that the animation isn’t as good as it was in the original “Clone Wars” cartoons.
The verdict: While anyone who gave up on this saga after “Episode I” or who never converted to Jedism shouldn’t bother, Force-ful fans—a.k.a. those of us who buy the comics and spent Labor Day weekend playing the “Force Unleashed” game nonstop—will happily enlist.
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” premieres Friday, October 3, at 9pm/8c on Cartoon Network.
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