Special Report: A Look At "Clone Wars"
By Jeff OttoThursday, August 14th 2008 6:48am
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080814g.php
An all new Star Wars adventure hits screens this week in animated form. Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place in-between episodes II and III and serves as the pilot for the new 100-episode animated series. In fact, the Clone Wars movie was initially slated to debut on television but Lucas and director Dave Filoni felt the feature was simply too spectacular not to debut on the big screen.
Dark Horizons got the unique opportunity to fly up to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in Marin County just outside of San Francisco recently and talk to the iconic George Lucas in the flesh. There was also a chance for a brief tour of the facilities as well as the Lucasfilm and Lucasarts offices in the Presidio. All were lined with George's impressive collection of classic movie posters as well as life size statues of Boba Fett and Darth Vader. Outside of both facilities, a Yoda statues welcome visitors.
The first question starts the interview off on an amusing note. What do the characters of the Star Wars universe do for fun? Lucas laughs before responding: "They like pod races, they like gambling, they like card games. They go out and shoot at wamp rats in the canyons. There is an entertainment industry, but you won't find that out until we get to the live action show in a few years."
The characters of Clone Wars have a very stylized look to them. We asked Lucas why this choice was made rather that giving the characters a more realistic look. "Photo-realistic is what live action movies are," Lucas said. "Animation is an art. You either like photo-realistic art and you hang that in the Museum of Modern Art or you like something that tries to find the truth behind the realism. Animation is all about design, style. I've been making photo real movies all my life."
Setting the series in the Clone War period between Episodes II and III was an obvious choice for Lucas, who saw the time period as one of the great unexplored areas of the film series. "On Revenge of the Sith, I lamented the fact that I had to jump over the Clone Wars because it had nothing to do with Anakin Skywalker. He's just another player. It's too bad because it's like World War II, it's a huge canvas there to be [explored]. So we decided we would do a little five-minute animation series for Cartoon Network. That sort of got me into thinking we could do a regular TV show. I got to fill in a blank and go around in a universe that is a little bit more lighthearted."
As it moved along, Lucas decided the best way to launch the series would be the same way all the other Star Wars movies debuted -- in the theater. "When the first few shots came back, I looked at them and said, 'This is fantastic. This is better than I ever imagined it could be, so I said 'Why don't we make a feature? Why don't we just make a feature that introduces Ahsoka, one of our main new characters.'"
"I wanted to develop a character that would help Anakin settle down," Lucas says of Ahsoka. "At the end of Episode II he's kind of a wild child and he and Obi-Wan aren't getting along. So the idea was to see how they become friends, how they become partners, how they become a team. One of the ways to do that is that when you become a teacher you have to become more responsible. What I wanted to do was take Anakin and force him into this [thinking] 'Now I have to teach somebody, now I have to be more responsible.' It was that juxtaposition. I happen to have a couple daughters, so I have a lot of experience with that particular situation."
The other new character in Clone Wars, the evil Asajj Ventress, draws her origins from the early planning of Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Director Dave Filoni discusses the wicked new character: "Ventress was a character that was actually developed for early concept art of Attack of the Clones. There was this idea that the Sith Apprentice after Darth Maul would be a girl. That got abandoned eventually in favor of Count Dooku but the concept art existed. The comics books and novels on the Clone Wars that were done before had utilized that new character. When it came time to develop the series, we [realized] that was a big fan favorite, so let's draw her out."
The show will have the chance to showcase the Star Wars universe in a way fans haven't seen before, with characters living their daily lives. "This is more episodic," says Lucas. "It's more like Indiana Jones actually. You have themes and things. This is bigger. We get to go more places. The fun part about animation especially is that we're allowed to go and do stories about clones. We get to know them and find out what they do for recreation and find out what Jabba the Hut's family is all about and do all kinds of things that don't have anything to do with the main character."
Only a few of the original actors from the features (Anthony Daniels, Christopher Lee and Samuel L. Jackson) reprise their roles for the new movie. Why didn't others return as well such as Ewan McGregor or Natalie Portman? "When we started the project it was initially a television series," Lucas said. "We needed to be able to work at a pace that was pretty rapid. It was hard to get all the actors that would be off on a set. You need people available every week. You can't really afford multi-million dollar actors to do a television series. Those guys make more during their coffee break."
"To be very honest with you, I don't really think I need to hire a big movie star to publisize my movie. If you like it, that's fine. I don't need Angelina Jolie here. That's what it comes down to in the end. They have two days in the studio and then they have like two weeks doing press. They are mainly paid for the press stuff."
For years, Lucas has been quoted as saying that he hopes to one day return to the smaller, art house fair of his origins. One journalist brought this up, stating that it would seem Lucas could do just about anything he wants at this point in his career. "I don't have time," Lucas said after a pause. "Again, opportunities present themselves. I wanted to do the TV series. I've got about maybe 15 projects sitting here and I have to say, 'Well which one works now? It makes sense for me to do these TV things so I'm doing some television. This is one of them."
The long-awaited fourth Indiana Jones movie was met with mixed reactions earlier this summer, but considering it still made a bundle of money, will there be another? "That's one of those things," Lucas said in trademark vague fashion. "It's on the shelf there, one of 50 projects and if I can come up with a story -- it's very hard to come up with a story for that thing. It's really impossible. It has to be real, it has to be something that actually happens and it has to be something people know about. It's a really difficult research project. They're researching now and last time it took us 14 years."
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I've got my tickets for the 1:50 showing. My 5-year-old is coming with me and a friend, her first SW movie in the theater.
Hey guys I just got home from watching Clone Wars.
How did I like it? It's freaking awesome. I won't comment much just for not spoiling anyone, but it blew my mind.
I admit I wasn't expecting much, but here is a small list of what I liked:
- Character design
- Asajj Ventress
- The story
- Asajj Ventress
- Art concept/direction
- Action
- Asajj Ventress
- The music is outstanding
Oh did I mention I liked Asajj Ventress?
I will post soon my detailed comments when more people see it.
Sufice it to say it's freaking awesome.
wow, I've got to go see this!
I went to see it yesterday before I went to work. All I can say is, it was awesome! I'm coming to see it again tomorrow with my grandson.
Saw it yesterday and enjoyed it a lot! Great action, good story, fun new characters. Loved the music, the effects, the look. I'll chat about it more on the podcast tomorrow but for me this is a must see for "Star Wars" fans in theaters.
I just got back from seeing it for the second time. I saw it yesterday with my buddy who is a huge SW fan, like me, and with my 5-year-old daughter. Today, I brought my three nephews, ages 9, 7 and 5. They thought it was the best SW film ever. I couldn't bring myself to agree with them, but I did really enjoy it.
I actually enjoyed it more the second time. The animation was great. The padawan didn't bother me at all. The baby, which I had feared would be awful, wasn't an issue. Fight scenes were awesome. The voice actors were good.
I've been reading on another board that Ziro the Hutt is offensive to some people because he's blatantly stereotypically gay. I must be stupid, then, because I never gave a thought to his sexuality. A Hutt's sexuality? Not something I'd want to think about.
I agree on the voice actors too. They all did great and some of them were really dead on in sounding like the original actors. All in all a really fun film!
What's curious about Ziro being "gay" is that in the novelization of "The Clone Wars" the Hutts are a-sexual and have one offspring per lifetime. This seems to fly in the face of SW cannon as I recall seeing a female Hutt in Ep1 at the podrace!
Did everyone notice R2-KT, the pink astromech droid? I thought that was cool of Lucasfilm to include it.
From IMDB:
When Ahsoka is addressing the clones in the hanger bay a pink droid is standing next to R2-D2. This droid's name is R2-KT and was included as a way to honor the work of the 501st Legion (an international group of Star Wars costumers who perform countless hours of volunteer work for many charities). The droid was created in the memory of Katie Johnson (daughter of the 501st Legion's founder Albin Johnson) who died of cancer at the young age of 7. Some of the costumer's built a pink R2 (dubbed R2-KT) for Katie to provide her comfort in the last days of her life. This was to reflect the scene in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) when R2-D2 watches over Padme while she slept at night.
Quote from: Bryancd on August 16, 2008, 03:13:09 PM
What's curious about Ziro being "gay" is that in the novelization of "The Clone Wars" the Hutts are a-sexual and have one offspring per lifetime. This seems to fly in the face of SW cannon as I recall seeing a female Hutt in Ep1 at the podrace!
Movie are canon.... Books are not.
As far as Zero, in the film he just talks a bit like Truman Capote and his appearance is a bit feminine. It's really not a big deal.
Quote from: pickard on August 16, 2008, 02:58:21 PM
I just got back from seeing it for the second time. I saw it yesterday with my buddy who is a huge SW fan, like me, and with my 5-year-old daughter. Today, I brought my three nephews, ages 9, 7 and 5. They thought it was the best SW film ever. I couldn't bring myself to agree with them, but I did really enjoy it.
I actually enjoyed it more the second time. The animation was great. The padawan didn't bother me at all. The baby, which I had feared would be awful, wasn't an issue. Fight scenes were awesome. The voice actors were good.
I've been reading on another board that Ziro the Hutt is offensive to some people because he's blatantly stereotypically gay. I must be stupid, then, because I never gave a thought to his sexuality. A Hutt's sexuality? Not something I'd want to think about.
Really ? It sounded more like an accent - he grew up in New Orleans.
Oh - and of course. Samuel Jackson was in yet ANOTHER movie. I don't know what hollywood will do when he's gone. :D
About Ziro, that's exactly what I thought.
"This Hutt thing is going to backfire at Lucas".
We all know he loves to play with sterotypes so it's no surprised Ziro is all metrosexual.
I believe Hutts have girls and boys but have no idea how they reproduce.
The baby Hutt was odd, but not an issue.
Quote from: Rico on August 16, 2008, 08:02:54 PM
Quote from: Bryancd on August 16, 2008, 03:13:09 PM
What's curious about Ziro being "gay" is that in the novelization of "The Clone Wars" the Hutts are a-sexual and have one offspring per lifetime. This seems to fly in the face of SW cannon as I recall seeing a female Hutt in Ep1 at the podrace!
Movie are canon.... Books are not.
That's what mean, it's curious the author does this and in some detail. And this is the official film adaptation, so it's not EU, it's from LucasFilm's own screenplay.
There isn't anything specific in the films that contradicts that the Hutt's are asexual.
I mean gender neutral. Remember in Ep1 when Jabba's up in his sky box, there is what looks like a lady Hutt behind him. Just though it was interesting.
I read somewhere (one of the earlier EU books) that all huts are both male and female. In the books, they cycle through both masculine and feminine phases. While in the feminine phase, they are able to produce little huts.
This might explain why the hut at the podrace looked like a lady-hut. S/he was in hir feminine phase, I guess.
Quote from: wraith1701 on August 17, 2008, 07:46:38 PM
I read somewhere (one of the earlier EU books) that all huts are both male and female. In the books, they cycle through both masculine and feminine phases. While in the feminine phase, they are able to produce little huts.
This might explain why the hut at the podrace looked like a lady-hut. S/he was in hir feminine phase, I guess.
Yep, AC Crispin's Han Solo novels touched on this. I think The Hutt Gambit was the one that focused on it the most. I LOVE those novels. :)
I thought the movie was good. It only took a few minutes to get past the animation, and then I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the series, does anyone know what network it's going to be on?
Cartoon Network then repeat on TNT later in the week.
Thanks Kenny!
And of course you'll be able to get the show on the torrents like 30 minutes after airing on Cartoon Network. heh
I saw the Clone Wars on Saturday, and was doing fine until Ziro the Hutt showed up. WTF
I saw the Clone Wars last night, and I thought it was a lot of fun. Lots of Kids at the theatre, so it is good to see. Thought the action sequences were a lot of fun, really liked when they focused on the clones like Captain Rexx and gave him some personality. Never really picked up on Ziro the Hutt likes others are mentioning, just thought he was a painted up Hutt, did not think anything more then that.
The animation was cool, took me a few minutes to get used to it, though If they did some more work on the faces, that would be good in my opinion.
The story was alright, though I did find the Jabba's son was a bit to much for me at times. I also hope through the series, Ahsoka/Anakin relationship to be more of a Master/Padawan relationship then what it is right now, but that is just me :) .
Will have to read the novelization as well, and see how it differs.
OK, I just saw "The Clone Wars" last night and I am so mad, I had to start a whole new thread to vent. I have been reading the reviews, which have been universally awful. I have been reading various forums which have been more moderate but still a lot of luke warm to negative responses from the fans. I have listened to TheForceCast crew discuss the movie and even they had some reservations. All I have to say is WHAT?! :confused
I LOVED THIS MOVIE. Let me begin by saying that my enjoyment of Clone Wars was greatly enhanced by reading the novelization first. It's a great read and really fills in the story so that when watching the movie, what might appear abrupt or a new plot development out of left field, is easily understood. Now, that's not a good excuse for the film's execution and I can see where if you have not read the book, some of the elements seem rushed into play. I thought the script was tight, the characterizations and acting were terrific, the music was terrific, and I am very OK with the animation style. All of these issue's have been criticized by many fan's but they all seemed perfectly executed to me.
I even liked the battledroids and some of their goofy humor and was convinced going into to movie that I would hate them as I did often in the prequals. I actually laughed out loud at a few of their exploits. So George Lucas insisted that Ziro the Hutt sound like Trumann Capote, so what? It's a little silly but the character still comes across as nefarious (he receives much more time in the book) and slimy even if he is a big queen, like an evil Nathan Lane from "The Birdcage"! The guys over on the ForceCast made an good comment which i very much agree with. This movie made me like Anakin for the first time. I want to like him and respect him as that will make his downfall all the more poignant in EP3. Asoka is a great foil for him and I really enjoyed their chemistry. Obi-wan was the coolest cat as always and Ventress rocks the house.
I hope Star Wars fan's support this project by watching the series. From this kind of start, I think we are all in for a real treat.
Bryan, I agree completely. I haven't read the novelization as of yet but I enjoyed it. The 'Skyguy' thing got me the first time but it wasn't said very often. I thought the music was fitting and very cool.
The series will be very fun.
I actually liked her little nicknames, I found it endearing.
I guess I found it a bit too familiar for a master/student relationship.
That's a good point.
As I said on the podcast, I really liked it too. I just don't know what people expect anymore. It seems you just can't really please them. Sometimes I think people can't just sit back and enjoy something for what it is. As you guys know I try to focus on the good and for me this movie was a lot of fun. And I agree Bryan, Anakin and Asoka worked well together. I hope they focus on that a lot in the series. The music was a nice change of pace too. So again, I just think people have some odd expectations sometimes and should just relax and enjoy the ride.
I guess when it comes to Star Wars and Trek, the expectation has become very unrealistic. People are trying to recapture a feeling they had 20 or 30 years ago and that's where all the hate comes from. it's hard to look at something through the eyes and with the mind of a 12 year old.
I knew people were going to react strongly to the Clone Wars, since it's such a departure from what people expect out of a Star Wars movie. Also, no matter how good the new Trek is going to be, there's going to be just as much backlash. Why? Because it isn't 1969 and you're not huddled around your 12" black and white TV watching Kirk fight the Gorn for the first time.
Yep - well put. And since I have been very close to this stuff and fandom most of my life I understand it very well. But I just wonder when these people will wake up and realize it isn't 1967 or 1977 anymore?
There's another criticism I keep hearing that I disagree with. For me, this movie felt like Star Wars, just as much as the prequels and in a few cases, even more so.
I enjoyed this film! After the first few minutes, the unique animation style was easy to accept.. in fact, the CGI made the battle scenes look incredible! The storyline felt very faithful to the 'feel' of Star Wars. Makes me look forward to the start of the series. It will be a treat to get a closer look at the Star Wars universe on a weekly basis.
Some of my favorite scenes were, surprisingly, NOT the battle scenes- they were the scenes aboard the Republic Cruisers. I enjoyed getting a good look at the officers, crew, and command centers of what will eventually evolve into Imperial Star Destroyers.
And just think; with a weekly series, (plus the coming live-action series), the Star Wars universe is going to get even more rich and developed. Good stuff!
Yes! I too loved the stuff on the ships....felt very SW to me!
I haven't seen the movie yet. I'm kind of waiting until it hits the dollar theater before I bring the kids. I thought I read somewhere that the movie was the 1st 3 episodes of the tv show? Is that true? At the tv premier in Oct will they be showing what was in the movie or something new?
I FINALLY GOT TO SEE THIS MOVIE... AND I LOVED IT!!!!
It was everything I expected... I was looking forward to the new cartoon and this was a very cool sneak preview of it.. can't wait till October.
It really was AESOME. I loved it, too Kenny. :)
Clone Wars movie is released on DVD today... gotta pick that one up.