Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV series)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 3D CGI animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. Set to debut in Fall of 2008, it will be an expansion and continuation of the similarly-named 2003 television series Star Wars: Clone Wars. At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, George 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". Neither Genndy Tartakovsky (director of the original Clone Wars series) or Nelvana Ltd. (producer of all pre-Clone Wars animation) will be involved with the production.

The series, which will have a tone similar to A New Hope, will continue telling the stories which began in the original Star Wars: Clone Wars series, which Lucas refers to as the "pilot series". Like the original series, it is set during the three-year time period in which the Clone Wars occur&mdash;between the events of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The series is said to span the entire Clone Wars time period. . It will deal with the conflicts between the Galactic Republic, led by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by Count Dooku and General Grievous. The series, which is being produced in high-definition, will have a 22-minute runtime like that of the previous animated series Star Wars: Droids and Star Wars: Ewoks. Based on the trailer, it appears that the series is being produced in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio&mdash;the aspect ratio at which the majority of modern feature films are shot.

Episodes
The series was created in an anthology format, with each episode being stand-alone. Each episode also has an opening narration and moral to the story.

Season I
Twenty-six episodes are currently in production, which will comprise the first season. Each episode will last around twenty-two minutes. In February of 2007, Anthony Daniels revealed on his website that the eleventh episode was titled "Destroy Malevolence". However, the information was removed shortly thereafter.

Voice cast

 * Anthony Daniels&mdash;C-3PO
 * Frank Oz&mdash;Yoda
 * Matthew Wood&mdash;General Grievous
 * Mat Lucas&mdash;Anakin Skywalker
 * Grey DeLisle&mdash;Asajj Ventress

Anthony Daniels confirmed that he had 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.

Crew


Directors:
 * Brian O'Connell
 * Dave Bullock (multiple episodes)
 * Rob Coleman (multiple episodes)
 * Dave Filoni (supervising)
 * George Samilski (one episode)

Writers:
 * Kevin Campbell&mdash;writer
 * Henry Gilroy&mdash;writer
 * George Krstic&mdash;writer
 * George Lucas&mdash;characters and universe/creator and creative guide
 * Scott Murphy&mdash;writer (2007)
 * Randy Stradley&mdash;co-wrote one episode

Producers:
 * George Lucas&mdash;executive producer
 * Sarah Wall&mdash;associate producer
 * Catherine Winder&mdash;executive producer

Film editor:
 * Jason Tucker

Production management :
 * Trisha Brunner&mdash;post-production supervisor (2008)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
 * Justin Ridge&mdash;assistant director

Art department:
 * Steward Lee&mdash;storyboard artist
 * Justin Ridge&mdash;storyboard artist

Sound department:
 * David Acord&mdash;sound designer (2008)
 * Sean England&mdash;foley recordist (2008)

Visual effects:
 * Jon Childress Farmer&mdash;modeler (2008)
 * Ryan Heuett&mdash;lead layout artist
 * Shawn Lovette&mdash;layout artist
 * Greg Maguire&mdash;research & development supervisor (2007)
 * Gregory Rizzi&mdash;pre-visualization artist
 * Daniel Zizmor&mdash;pre-visualization/effects artist

Animation department:
 * Chris Kubch&mdash;Head of Lucasfilm Animation's Singapore location
 * Rob Coleman&mdash;Animation director/character animation supervisor
 * Mark Gelfuso&mdash;layout artist
 * Kilian Plunkett
 * 300 other digital artists

Editorial department: Other crew:
 * Jules Beesley&mdash;assistant editor
 * Laura Sevier&mdash;rights and clearances

Catherine Winder and Dave Filoni held a presentation on the series at Celebration IV on Sunday May 27, 2007 in the Celebration Theater (Room 408AB). Winder and Filoni explained the origins of the series and the production process during the last two years. The first trailer for the series was simultaneously released at this event and on StarWars.com. Prior to the release of the trailer, the site had posted a banner promising a "surprise" to be posted on the site on May 27th.

Characters

 * Padmé Amidala
 * Asoka
 * C-3PO
 * Dooku
 * Boba Fett
 * Kit Fisto
 * Grievous
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Plo Koon
 * Palpatine
 * R2-D2
 * R4-P17
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Shaak Ti
 * Mace Windu
 * Yoda

Droid models

 * 3PO-series protocol droid
 * B1 battle droid
 * Droid marine
 * B2 super battle droid
 * Droideka
 * DSD1 dwarf spider droid
 * IG-100 MagnaGuard
 * OOM command battle droid
 * R2-series astromech droid
 * R4-series astromech droid

Events

 * Clone Wars

Locations

 * Coruscant
 * Chancellor's office

Organizations and titles

 * Advanced Recon Commando
 * Clone trooper
 * Confederacy of Independent Systems
 * Galactic Republic
 * Grand Army of the Republic
 * Jedi Order
 * Order of the Sith Lords
 * Supreme Chancellor

Sapient species

 * Human
 * Kaleesh
 * Kel Dor
 * Korun (human)
 * Nautolan
 * Rattataki
 * Togruta
 * Unknown tridactyl species

Vehicles and vessels

 * Acclamator-class assault ship
 * AT-TE
 * Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor
 * Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor
 * Flitknot speeder
 * LAAT
 * STAP
 * V-19 Torrent starfighter
 * Venator-class Star Destroyer
 * Vulture droid

Weapons and technology

 * Blaster
 * Electrostaff
 * Hologram
 * Lightsaber
 * Phase I clone trooper armor
 * Phase II clone trooper armor
 * Shield

Miscellanea

 * Force Choke
 * Force Jump
 * Force Pull

Development and production


George Lucas first announced his idea for Star Wars: The Clone Wars in April of 2005 at Celebration III. He credited the success of the original Clone Wars series, Star Wars: Clone Wars (which he refers to as the "pilot" series), for the project's genesis.

At Comic-Con 2005, Steve Sansweet confirmed that preproduction had begun on the series. He described the look of the new series as "a melding of Asian anime with unique 3-D animation styling." Lucasfilm Animation Vice President and General Manager Gail Currey had a positive reaction to the early episodic treatments for the series. Many digital artists and other production and creative talent were hired from California and Singapore to work on the series. It will be realized as a 3-D computer animation project created by the new Lucasfilm Animation division in their Singapore and California locations. 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. On February 15th, 2006, Steve Sansweet revealed in an interview that preproduction was underway; that Lucas Animation were working on animation tests and initial scripts, and that Lucas plays a large part in the entire process. Catherine Winder later revealed at Celebration IV that Lucas is mostly focused on the story, and that Lucas and Winder both work on the scripts with the writers. In terms of story and cinematography, the series is not being directed as an animated series, but more along the lines of a live action series.

At Comic-Con 2006, Sansweet again confirmed that the show was in production, and that footage would be shown at Celebration IV. He revealed that the series will be set late during the Clone Wars after Anakin Skywalker has achieved the rank of Jedi Knight. "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.

"Dave', I've got 'til midnight. Let's play."

- George Lucas On January 31, 2007, Rob Coleman was a guest at Imagina 2007. He revealed that George Lucas is heavily involved in every step of the production, from script to final completion. There was no rotoscoping involved in any of the images from the series. However, ILM did use motion capture. Script, character design and art direction done at ILM, the animation and rendering is done in Singapore. The final assembly of each episode is done at Skywalker Ranch. As of August 31, Lucas involvement has resulted in rewrites of most of the scripts, as Lucas insisted on more character development. Lucas is also known to push the boundaries, insisting that the show should not be based in one location (like Star Trek, Babylon 5 or Battlestar Galactica, all of which are typically ship-based), but as many as possible so as to make the story as interesting as possible to the viewer.

At George Lucas' March 3 appearance at the 2007 William S. Paley Television Festival, Lucas revealed that the series is episodic, so it won't focus on the Skywalker story. Specifics mentioned were that there are "episodes with nothing but Clone Troopers" and an "episode just about Kit Fisto". He also revealed that there is still no television network set for the series. On the red carpet at the same event, Lucas revealed further information in a fan interview ; There will be a new Togruta Padawan character named Asoka. According to Lucas "There’s a new character called Asoka, who’s a young girl, padawan learner. It’s her first assignment, she’s very young…She’s a little Shaak Ti." He also stated that there will be over 100 episodes, and an appearance by Boba Fett is possible.

Music
According to musician Eric Rigler, he has been brought in to record Bulgarian-like music for the series. This includes a musical theme for each planet. However, no official statement has been made on Rigler's involvement with the music. So far, the only official word on the music for the series comes from Steve Sansweet: "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.

Continuity
Continuity with the other Expanded Universe works is being taken very seriously by the series' creators, with Dave Filoni being well-versed in the Expanded Universe. However, Lucas has the right to make slight adjustments for the sake of the story. Additionally, he is consulted directly when dealing with the major characters. According to a November 2006 internet post by 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.



At his Celebration IV presentations, Filoni showed a series of slides showing several character sculpture designs for the series&mdash;stating that they will share some of the stylization of the original Clone Wars series, but will also have some of the realistic look of the films. However, some elements of the series will differ slightly from what has been previously established in continuity. Several changes have been made from the original Clone Wars series; General Grievous will have a cough apparently prior to the Second Battle of Coruscant, and the Jedi fighting styles will be more like the films, and not like some of the exaggerated Jedi abilities portrayed in the original series. Additionally, a duel involving Anakin Skywalker and Count Dooku may retcon the meaning of the two characters' verbal interactions in Revenge of the Sith.

Marketing and release
Although the series was first announced in April of 2005, Lucasfilm revealed little information about it until Toy Fair 2007, during which fans were given their first look at the series' 3D animated Yoda. In a regular update to StarWars.com a few weeks before 2007's Celebration IV, fans were informed of a presentation by executive producer Catherine Winder and supervising director Dave Filoni at Celebration IV. At the event on May 27, 2007, Winder and Filoni screened the first trailer for the series to the attendents to the event. StarWars.com posted the video not long after. Copies of the first official poster for the show were given away to all who attended the presentations. The two also held similar presentations at Celebration Europe in July 2007.

According to series co-director Rob Coleman, some licensees have viewed footage from the series and had a very positive reaction. According to Sue Rostoni, a publishing program based on the series is possible, but as of June 2007, has not yet been discussed. Additionally, LucasArts announced they are working on a handheld video game based on the series. The system(s) it will appear on is unknown at this point.