And here's our replacement for Clone Wars. Coming to Disney XD in fall 2014. Bridges the gap between Eps 3 and 4. Looks...very cool. Conceptually.
Bit more detail:
Originally Posted by Entertainment Weekly:
Star Wars Rebels, a one-hour animated pilot already in production at Lucasfilm, is scheduled to premiere in Fall 2014 on the Disney Channel before the new brand leaps to Disney XD for the ongoing series, according to Lucasfilm sources.
The series will mine material from the 19 years that follow Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and precede the Episode IV: A New Hope. In other words, using the life of the Skywalker twins as a measure, the series will be active in the story years that come after their separation as newborns and before their (unwitting) reunion on the prison level of the Death Star.
No word on whether the show will feature Darth Vader (who would be in the Empire’s power consolidation years and earning his reputation) or even pull in a character like Han Solo, the smuggler and cynic who becomes an unlikely freedom fighter when he opts to stand with his friends against cosmic odds. The title of the show is vaguely phrased in a way that any rebel — even a Boba Fett or Ahsoka Tano might qualify as a title character merely by walking an outsider’s path.
The series has three executive producers: Dave Filoni, the point man on The Clone Wars animated series that launched in 2008; screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, who has a flair for tonal rewiring and energizing familiar brands with new edge (e.g.: X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes); and Greg Weisman, whose credits include well-regarded work on Young Justice and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Originally Posted by : How will this look or feel different from Clone Wars?
It will look quite different. The intention of what I’ve seen so afar, and we’re pretty far down the line, the intention is for it to feel quite different from Clone Wars. The place we went back to as to a visual template was Ralph McQuarrie, who was one of the original concept artists for the original Star Wars films. His art is softer, a little more figurative, more of a feel of being drawn, less computer generated. The first few movies had a bit of a hand-made quality. We wanted the show to have that. There’s also in the archives where [creator George] Lucas keeps all the original art and props, there’s tons of art that’s McQuarrie’s musing on the Star Wars universe that was never used in the films. There’s places where we’ve quite literally taken world-creation or vehicles or creatures from his original art that was never used in the films and made that part of show.
That’s fantastic. What about story-telling differences? How dark can you go on Disney XD?
We haven’t talked in those terms. But the world we’re creating is an Imperial world. You’re seeing the impact of the Empire, of stormtroopers around the galaxy, abusing and oppressing people. Thematically and politically, it goes to some dark places. But for the tone of the show we took our cues from the original movies, which had fun and adventure and swashbuckling with emotion and grounded human characters. We took all our cues from the original films. Obviously there are slight tonal differences between New Hope, Empire and Jedi. But I think the closest intended voice of the show is A New Hope. So there are places where we get into darker backstories, there are places we see how cruel and malevolent the Empire can be, but for the most part it’s a fun and character-driven story. Again taking our cues from the original films, it’s less maybe political than the prequels and more personal. It starts with a few character introductions that will precede the show. I wrote the first two episodes, they’re like a one-hour story across two episodes where we introduce the main characters in the show.
Is Darth Vader and the Emperor in the show? And if so is any possibility of the original voice talent being used?
I don’t think I’m allowed to answer that. I can say that wherever possible we would want to use the original talent.
So what else about the new show Rebels that you think fans would be particularly interested to know that you would feel comfortable discussing at this juncture.
The reason I wanted to do this. I really felt like there was an opportunity to tell an untold story. I’m a fan of The Clone Wars and aspects of the prequels, but really the original movies were the reason I wanted to get into movies. I always loved origin stories and the origin of an entire organization, I don’t think we’ve seen that before, and we’ve approached it in a real-world way. If I told the story of the American Revolution, I wouldn’t want to start with the most famous battle I’d want to start when it was just four guys in a room, the earliest spark of that seems dramatic and cool. That’s a big part of the fun of it, the little back-room dealings, the first time you see it’s possible to stand up to the Empire.
Joking aside, I tired of the Clone Wars and gave up after watching like half a season's worth maybe - just seemed too soft and not a very exciting show?
Btw, how the hell are you not going to have Vader when it's dealing with between III & IV??????
I'd think that's a major draw... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth:
Can't wait that long...
Joking aside, I tired of the Clone Wars and gave up after watching like half a season's worth maybe - just seemed too soft and not a very exciting show?
Btw, how the hell are you not going to have Vader when it's dealing with between III & IV??????
I'd think that's a major draw...
I've never seen a episode. When I mentioned it to my teenage son, he was pretty "meh" about it. He said, "It's definitely made for kids."
Kinda dampened my enthusiasm for checking it out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KcMizzou:
I've never seen a episode. When I mentioned it to my teenage son, he was pretty "meh" about it. He said, "It's definitely made for kids."
Kinda dampened my enthusiasm for checking it out.
By and large your son is right. Some episodes it was very apparent they were for kids, but there are storylines that actually get kind of dark. There are some pretty cool battle moments throughout, especially the space battles.
It is worth a watch if you've got nothing else going on. I saw on here or somewhere that some people that worked with the DC animated show Young Justice were on board with this. That makes me happy; YJ was a fantastic show that was cancelled way before its time. [Reply]