Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV series)

Star Wars: Clone Wars, set to debut in fall 2007, will be a 3-D continuation of the 2003 series Star Wars: Clone Wars. Currently, thirteen episodes are confirmed to be released. Each episode will run around thirty minutes.

The show will continue telling the stories which began in the original Clone Wars series, which Lucas refers to as the "pilot series." It is set, just like the 2-D version, during the 3-year time period in which the Clone Wars took place, between the events of Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. It is likely to focus on more of the stories and battles between the Republic, led by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by Count Dooku, except in a 3-D format.

Crew

 * George Lucas .... Creator and creative guide/Characters and story
 * Catherine Winder .... Executive Producer
 * Henry Gilroy .... Executive producer/storywriter
 * Rob Coleman .... character animation supervisor

At the press conference for the Revenge of the Sith DVD, Frank Oz confirmed that he is involved with the series, and will be voicing Yoda. Anthony Daniels confirmed that he has been contacted by Lucasfilm in regards to working on the show, and on the August 28 update of his site confirmed he had finished recording his scenes. Matthew Wood will be voicing General Grievous. Many of the actors from the original series are likely to return, with more actors doing the voices of new characters which are likely to be introduced.

Release
Originally rumored to be released sometime in 2006, the as-yet-unreleased 3-D series, along with the Star Wars Live-Action TV series, will keep Star Wars prominent in popular culture, as well as provide fans with a determinedly canonical output (a form of fanservice). The Clone Wars 3D Animated Series will be released in Fall 2007 and the Live Action TV Series will be released in 2007 or 2008. At April 2005's Celebration III, Lucas stated that, "you know we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network, we probably won't start that project for another year." It is known that the 3-D animated shows will be released before the Live-Action series, which would air later due to marketing purposes. Whether or not the show is to be produced by 2-D series creator, Gendy Tartakovsky, Nelvana Ltd (producer of Droids and Ewoks), or another animation company is yet to be revealed.

Characters

 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Yoda
 * Count Dooku
 * Palpatine
 * General Grievous
 * Asajj Ventress
 * C-3PO

Comic-Con 2005
At Comic-Con 2005, several announcements were made on the work on the series. As of July 15, 2005, preproduction has begun on the series, according to head of Lucasfilm fan relations, Steve Sansweet. Sansweet refers to the series as: "the next generation of the Star Wars saga, a cutting edge 30-minute, 3-D computer-animation series based on the Clone Wars that take place between Episode II ... and Episode III." Sansweet described the look of the new series as, "a melding of Asian anime with unique 3-D animation styling." According to another statement by Sansweet, "Over the next several years, Lucasfilm Animation will be hiring a total of about 300 digital artists and others in both California and Singapore locations to produce not only the series, but animated feature films in the years ahead." He says about the series, that, "To get the series underway, Lucasfilm Animation has hired key production and creative talent to lead the development of its first animation project." Steve Sansweet has said that "A large component of the future of Star Wars and Lucasfilm is digital animation." Gail Currey, who's the Vice President and General Manager of Lucasfilm Animation has stated that the early episodic treatments for the series are absolutely amazing, and that she can't wait to share this treat with Star Wars fans."

On July 12th, 2005, Steve Sansweet announced at Comic Con that preproduction had begun on a yet unnamed Star Wars animated series.

The series will be realized as a 3-D computer animation project created by the new Lucasfilm Animation division in their Singapore and California locations. Sansweet described the style as "a melding of Asian anime with unique 3-D animation styling." Each episode will be 30-minutes long and follow an arcing, serial storyline to cover the period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Key creative staff will include Catherine Winder as Executive Producer, Chris Kubsch as Singapore Head, Dave Filoni and Henry Gilroy, who will work alongside 300 digital artists to create the series.

Steve Sansweet interview
On February 15th, 2006, Steve Sansweet revealed in an interview that:


 * 1) On release dates and production: We're doing it in two phases. The first is Star Wars animation, which is CG 3-dimensional animation, like a Toy Story, that takes place during the period of the Clone Wars that takes place between Episodes 2 and 3. And that we're setting for Fall of 2007. Preproduction is underway, we're doing animation test, people are working on initial scripts. So we're well under way on that. And George is very much taking hand and is very much part of the whole process. I know some people thought maybe he would just say, "hey, go do it," but George is Star Wars and he's always gonna be very closely involved in this.
 * 2) On villains: I think it's possible that we're going to see villains that we already know, like Grievous. I think it's way to early to speculate what's going to happen in the TV show. I think George has an idea of what he wants to do, where he wants to go with it, what kinds of characters he wants in it, but that's something...he's working on the animation right now...that he'll explore later.
 * 3) On music: Of course we used John Williams music in The Clone Wars, the cartoons on Cartoon Network. I don't know if any specific decision on that has been made.Link to Source

Comic-Con 2006
On July 21st, 2006, at Comic-Con, Sansweet confirmed that the show was already in production, and that footage will be shown at Celebration IV.

The series will be set late during the Clone Wars after Anakin Skywalker has achieved the rank of Jedi Knight. Sansweet explains: "We've been spending the last couple of years building from scratch two new state-of-the-art digital animation companies, one at Skywalker Ranch and one in Singapore," explained Sansweet. "The scripts for the first batch of shows have been completed, and Animation is hard at work on the first episodes." George Lucas is serving as creator and creative guide and Rob Coleman is supervising the character animation. Many familiar faces are slated to return, including Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Count Dooku, Palpatine, General Grievous and Asajj Ventress.

Dark Horse
According to Randy Stradley, editor and author of Dark Horse Comics, he has met with Lucas Animation to discuss integrating the show with the Clone Wars comics; according to him, "I expect fans to be pleasantly surprised."