how
retained a
considerable fan-base despite initial scepticism and cancellation.
‘Well, well, what have we
here?’ - An introduction:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a CGI
animated space-fantasy television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation. The
animation was created by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Lucasfilm Animation (a studio
founded in 2003 specifically for the Clone
Wars project) using Autodesk software and was designed to emulate a meld of
Asian anime and state-of-the-art 3D animation developed by Pixar and
Dreamworks.
The majority of
the series was supervised by director Dave Filoni and executive produced by
original Star Wars creator George
Lucas. The series was designed to fill the narrative gap between two of Lucas’ Star Wars prequels; Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, a gap which had already been
covered by a TV micro-series (under the almost identical title Star Wars: Clone Wars)in 2003 by Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky.
Lucas’ reasons for re-booting the story remain unknown, even to Tartakovsky
himself (see appendix 1, figure 1). Though the show was primarily targeted for
childrens’ television it also had to take into consideration those who enjoyed
the pre-existing six films, while introducing a whole new generation to the Star Wars story through a Saturday
morning serial (something Lucas himself has often cited as his inspiration for
the original film). The series was first announced by Lucas at April 2005’s
Star Was Celebration III (a fan convention) and confirmed by Lucasfilm employee
Steve Sansweet at Comic-Con the following July.
On May 8 2007,
the first teaser poster (see figure 2) and trailer for the series was released
on the official Star Wars website and
initial response was mixed, with some simply happy with the continuation of the
Star Wars story, while many others
were sceptical of the 3D animation style and the choice of time-setting (see
figure 3) The period setting was a problem for some because it takes place between
two of the episodes in the film series which received lukewarm to negative
response from critics and fans alike, and because it had already been
extensively explored in the aforementioned micro-series, comics and books (see
figure 4).
‘I have a bad feeling about this’ - The Theatrical Release:
In February
2008, it was announced by Lucasfilm that the TV series would debut with a
feature-length episode (comprised of a four-episode story arc) in cinemas
worldwide. While fan response was mostly positive, a few were anxious with
regards to the media and critical responses given the less than favourable
response to the prequel trilogy (see figure 5).
The
theatrical release of Star Wars: The
Clone Wars took place on August 15th 2008 to mostly negative
critical response, holding a mere 18% on reviews site Rotten Tomatoes⁷ and 5.7
out of 10 on IMDB⁸. BBC’s Mark Kermode claimed ‘it’s incoherent and all over
the place and the animation is poor’⁹, whilst Roger Ebert (a long-time champion
of all six Star Wars movies)
questioned ‘Has it come to this? Has the magical impact of Star Wars been reduced to the level of a Saturday morning
cartoon?’¹⁰. Star Wars based podcast
‘The ForceCast’¹¹ had mixed views, with host Jason Swank claiming ‘It’s…I don’t
know if this is a bad thing, but it’s different’, while contributor Jimmy Mac
said ‘I just saw it as a sneak peek of the TV show’. In answer to the critical
response, Mac claimed it ‘has been…unfairly comparing it to the original
films’.
‘A disturbance in the Force’ - The Television Series:
The
first season of The Clone Wars began
on October 3rd, 2008 and garnered more positive reviews from fans
and critics alike than the film. The former praised the development of lesser-known
characters from the prequel films such as the formerly faceless clone troopers,
while the latter was impressed with the series’ dedication to finding new
things to explore in an era of Star Wars
that was despised by, perhaps not a majority, but a vocal selection of audiences.
Multimedia review site IGN rated the series 7.7¹², writer Eric Goldman stating
‘this is a show still going through growing pains…but can really deliver when
firing on all cylinders’. However some criticism remained, ranging from the usual angry forum
posts to extravagant parodies such as the animated short ‘How George Lucas
Stole the Clone Wars!’¹³
Between 2009 and
2012, the second, third and fourth seasons of the series received increased
critical acclaim (see figure 6), the previously cited Eric Goldman becoming
increasingly enamoured with the series, reviews of whole seasons quickly
becoming weekly dissections of individual episodes, the satisfactory six or
seven out of 10 reviews rapidly becoming eights and nines. Fan appreciation was
also on the rise, particularly towards the development of the animation (small
details like new rendering techniques and moving hair) and of the central
characters; Anakin Skywalker, whose portrayal in the prequels had been
less-than well-received by many, and his student Ahsoka Tano, a new character
introduced by the show, who was subject to most of the scepticism during the
initial stages of release. From the lukewarm reaction of the theatrical
release, the fan following of the series grew and grew, to the extent that some
trailers and clips of the show were shown exclusively to those who attended the
‘Star Wars Celebration’ events in the U.S.A and Europe. In a video recorded
from the main stage at ‘Celebration VI’, the assembled audience can be heard
screaming, cheering and applauding as the trailer for season five is shown for
the first time¹⁶, a far cry from the initial worry and suspicion of 2008.
Disney Strikes Back - Cancellation:
On
October 31st, 2012, it was announced that mass media corporation The
Walt Disney Company had bought out Lucasfilm and its subsidiaries for over four
billion dollars¹⁷, and was taking control of the rights to the Star Wars franchise. Aside from the
production of a seventh film in the live action series, there was no visible
impact on other Star Wars projects
until January 2013, when the 3D re-releases of the pre-existing films was
postponed¹⁸. Then, on March 11th, a week after the conclusion of season 5 (the most
praised of the series so far) Lucasfilm announced its plans to ‘wind down’¹⁹
production of upcoming episodes. This prompted everything from disappointment
to outrage from fans, and within three days, a ‘Save The Clone Wars’²⁰ campaign
began across the internet, with people all over the world sending voice
messages, letters and e-mails to Disney, begging them to renew the show or
finish production on the last remaining episodes. The podcast Rebel Force Radio²¹
(a reinvention of the aforementioned Forcecast) became a key part of the
campaign, and host Jason Swank expressed fears that Disney was attempting to
sweep the entire prequel-era ‘under the rug’ by cancelling the show and the
re-releases of Episode II and III in 3D. Co-host Jimmy Mac also
claimed that ‘this has nothing to do with satisfying the fan-base because
there’s not going to be a fitting conclusion…they’re just serving up the
leftovers now’. The final hour of the show was entirely left open to voice
messages from listeners who wanted their feelings known to the Disney Company,
all of which were compiled and sent by Rebel Force Radio to the corporation.
Though
much attention was raised across the internet, Disney continued with their
plans to cancel the show, and it wasn’t until February 24th 2014
that the fate of the remaining episodes was revealed: thirteen completed
episodes of the sixth season were available through a TV subscription service,
Netflix, in the US and Canada, following an official trailer uploaded to
YouTube two weeks prior to release²². The fan response across the comment
section was unmistakeable: from the milder ’13 episodes for a season is not
enough’, to the much angrier ‘Why the HELL would they cancel it…was it worth
it?’ it was clear that audiences of the show were unhappy.
The main reasons for fan
resentment – judging by the comments on the YouTube trailer, Netflix review
page, the Clone Wars Facebook page²³
and the comments from the Rebel Force Radio special report – seem to be as
follows:
·
No connection between the end of the series and Episode III: though the seventh and
eighth series were in pre-production, many pleaded for Lucasfilm to finish the
final stories that would link the end of the show to the following live-action
film.
·
No satisfactory conclusion to some of the character
arcs developed within the show – particularly those of Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex
and Darth Maul.
·
The attitude towards viewers of the show: it
took a whole year for fans to receive any pay-off, while Disney and Lucasfilm
Animation threw all their efforts into creating an entirely new animated show
called Star Wars: Rebels²⁴.
Each of these
reasons bizarrely correlates and contradicts the very problems that some had
from the series’ inception and over the course of its development: The 2003 Clone Wars micro-series ended with a
storyline that deliberately connected to the events preceding Episode III, and many did not feel that
another version was needed until the 2008 series entered its last days. The
character of Ahsoka Tano faced most of the scrutiny and backlash during the
initial stages of the series, while Captain Rex was similarly rejected due to
his resemblance to a key character in the 2002 Clone Wars comic books who was concurrently deemed no longer part
of the canon to allow Rex’s development. The resurrection of Darth Maul (one of
the few critically praised characters from Star
Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace) in early 2012 also raised controversy
considering the fact that he was cut in
half in his theatrical debut, and some were convinced that his return was a
cash-grab by Lucasfilm for his marketability or a lack of creativity on
director Dave Filoni’s part. Those fans who were unhappy at the decision to set
an animated show in the prequel era should have found the announcement of the Star Wars: Rebels TV a welcome surprise
and fulfilment of their wishes, a sign that Lucasfilm had finally heard their
pleas, but the response to images and clips from the Disney series prompted greater scepticism
and outrage than The Clone Wars had
ever faced (see figure 7).
So how did the
cancellation of The Clone Wars draw
out such anger from audiences? How did a show that spent its’ first few years
in the spotlight come under so much criticism from reviewers and audiences,
only to be acclaimed and defended when abruptly brought to an end? Taking into account
the critical panning the theatrical release received to the suspicion and annoyance
over the time-setting, character design and general disinterest of Star Wars fans, the cancellation of the
show should have raised little more than a few disappointed remarks on a wasted
opportunity by Lucasfilm at best, and celebration among critics at worst.
‘Let go of your hate’ - What changed:
The change in
fan attitudes towards the series appears to have taken place sometime around
the airing of the third season, in early 2011. This was a period of the show
when the animation was given a slight makeover to the extent that the second
half of season three was given a trailer all to itself ²⁵, as were the new
character models of the three main characters; Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka²⁶. The
design of the former two was chosen in order to bring the characters in line
with their live-action appearance in Episode
III, whilst Ahsoka was made to look slightly older and more mature, to give
the impression that her character had developed physically as well as mentally
over the course of the series. Ahsoka’s voice actress, Ashely Eckstein, also
made an effort to make the character less obnoxious and curious, but more
resourceful and battle-hardened to show the effect that the war has had on her.
While the
character design may have had a part in winning over fans of the prequels (in
that the main characters now looked more recognisable), that would do little to
persuade original trilogy
purists who wanted more ‘classic Star Wars’ moments that the show was
worth their time. But other aspects of the show began to find favour with those
disgruntled viewers in a variety of ways.
For one, the
animation itself, which had been previously criticised for its very ‘solid’ aesthetic
– with the characters looking like puppets or unmoving statues – still retained
its individual style, but new elements had been added to improve the overall
effect: the hair of certain characters now swayed in the wind, and the movement
of their mouths had been improved to better match the audio. Explosions were
now more vibrant, and the planets now featured much more vibrant landscapes:
the copy-pasted interiors of starships, run-of-the-mill space battles and
stories which took place in previously seen locations (either from the movie or
Episode II and III) that pervaded over much of the first two seasons (see appendix
2, figure 1) were replaced with forests, volcanoes, and unique locations such
as Mortis (a planet constantly in flux between night and day – see figure 2) or
The Citadel (a prison situated on a planet cut in half – see figure 3). Whilst
season one and two introduced a mere seven new locations over forty-four
episodes, the latter half of season three alone introduced six. This constant
introduction to new environments helped regain that feeling of discovering
something new that the original trilogy carried with it, unlike the prequels or
earlier episodes in the series, which spent a lot of time revisiting old
locations.
The storylines
took a darker turn; covering issues of morality, slavery and loyalty in the
final episodes of season three and a four-episode arc of season four, which was
essentially a Clone Wars re-telling
of Apocalypse Now featuring more
graphic violence than the show had previously depicted. These episodes were
also unafraid to show that the world isn’t always split into good guys and bad
guys, which took a lot of faith for something as simple as a Friday
night/Saturday morning children’s TV show to tackle. Something else notable
about the story arcs is that seasons one and two had been mostly based around
large scale ground or space battles, and while the location may have changed,
the basic structure remained the same: there’s a problem, there’s a big battle,
the ‘good guys’ manage to win somehow, and the ‘bad guys’ run away. By the time
season three ended, the stories or story arcs were all unique, and seemed to have
direct correlations with the live-action Star
Wars films: for example, the Citadel episodes focused on a prison break
(rescuing the princess in Episode IV),
the Apocalypse Now-type arc was about
trying to decide between the lesser of two evils (Anakin’s choice in Episode III) and the Mortis arc had a
central conflict between a father and a son (the climax of Episode V). This emphasis on memorable elements from the original
trilogy (and to an extent Episode III,
the more respected of the prequels among audiences) helped the show recoup the
viewers it had lost purely by existing in the same era as the prequel films,
featuring locations and characters they simply weren’t interested in.
‘Yes, yes; to Obi-Wan you listen!’ - Hearing from the fans:
Even
if these assumptions are correct, the fans themselves are the best place to
find out what actually changed. Aside from the previously identified Force.net
forums and podcasts, the Star Wars
threads on popular social media website Reddit³⁰ are an immensely popular place
for users to share opinions around the films and the TV series. When asked in a
survey what changed for them (see appendix 1, figure 7), the majority of
answers seemed to indicate that the darker tone of the later seasons was an
attraction for them, with one user even stating ‘It seemed as if the show began
to be geared more towards adults and less toward children.’, which is
interesting considering that at its heart, The
Clone Wars is a children’s television show. Another summarised that ‘season
three wasn’t completed before the show started, and they started to take viewer
feedback into account as they continued’, which would go some way to explaining
why the later seasons were responsible for the shift in fan opinion.
Where
the characters are concerned, a few said that they ‘could barely watch her
[Ahsoka] in the beginning’, though they were ready admit ‘[Ahsoka] took over by
the end’ and ‘I really fell for Ahsoka’. Many users even admit they ‘cried when
I watched her last episode’. Considering how
much the original trilogy purists were
won over by elements that seemed familiar to them, a similar number was
praising the development of characters introduced in the theatrical release,
particularly the clone troopers. ‘By season 4, I was blown away by the
character development and knew the Clone Troopers’ names instantly after seeing
them’, comments one fan, while another states ‘my favourite character has
always been Captain Rex’. Though they all share the same face and the same
voice, individual clones became key characters in the series and were given
whole story arcs to themselves, such as Fives, a clone first introduced in the
first season as a minor character who eventually had his own four-episode story
in the ‘Lost Missions’ content.
So
although it was previously assumed that the shift in fan attitudes was to do
with call-backs to the original live-action Star
Wars films, it seems more apparent from the discussions between said fans
that what sealed the deal for them was the character development, either of
newly established players in the series, or the pre-existing prequel characters
such as Anakin or Obi-Wan (see figure 7, section 3). But how have these selling
points helped the show retain such a considerable fan-base even after
cancellation? Though it is clear that some elements of the series had struck a
chord with the audience and encouraged them to watch it despite individual
concerns and the critical backlash, what was it that kept the spark of interest
alight once the show ended?
The Power of the Force – The lasting impact:
At
a basic level, the reason for continued resonance of the series among fans is
that fact that the characters they grew to love as the series progressed have
stayed with them: the series was cancelled just when audiences had grown used
to the new characters and begun to enjoy watching them develop. Time with these
characters had been cut short and as such the audience felt more attached to
them once the show had gone. The smallest glance at fan forums, websites and
YouTube reveals a wealth of stories, theories, art and videos inspired by the
characters of the series that the audiences came to love. An entire section of
YouTube became home to a community who created LEGO stop-motion movies (ranging
from thirty second shorts to twenty minute epics) set within the Clone Wars timeline, whilst the digital
art website Deviantart was flooded with fan art depicting new and pre-existing Clone Wars stories. Even minor
characters or those who actually died during the progression of the series’
such as clone trooper Echo have emerged as fan favourites (see appendix 3,
figure 1). Even when the new series Rebels
was announced, fans created art that placed key Clone Wars characters such as Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi into
the art style and time period of the upcoming show (see figure 2) before even a
single episode was released. Barely a day goes by on the Star Wars sub-reddit without a user querying what happened to
characters like Ahsoka, Rex or Darth Maul (whose story was only half resolved
by an official comic book in the months following the cancellation³³) after
their final episodes had aired. Because those characters didn’t appear in the
next instalment of the saga (Episode III),
audiences were left to speculate or generate theories based on small snippets
of information in an official video from Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni released in
September 2014³⁴. The final stories of the series will be released in the
coming months in novel and comic book form, but after that, the Clone Wars era has finally come to an
end. It seems clear that those who expressed so much dismay and upset over the
end of the series are doing so because it marks the end of an era in the Star Wars universe: the era of the
prequel trilogy is finally over, with the television audience now satisfied by Rebels, the comic book readers by the
new stories coming from Marvel, and all of the above soon to be sated by the
release of Star Wars Episode VII: The
Force Awakens.
To
summarise, then: though lambasted and criticised from its earliest stages for
its less than inventive animation, alignment with the prequel trilogy and
disliked characters, Star Wars: The Clone
Wars managed to create a swift turnaround in audience attitudes. During the
height of its third season, the makers of the show made great strides to
enhance the lacklustre animation, take a darker tone, and tell stories that
harkened back to the much-loved Star Wars
live-action films. The further development of key
characters (even those who faced so much of the initial resentment) was the
turning point for many sceptics, and left behind an enormous community whose
appreciation for the series (expressed through forum posts, homemade films and
a wealth of art) was built to last even through the cancellation. For them, the
show is not just another Saturday morning kid’s serial, but a much-loved set of
stories, characters and locations that have been welcomed into the larger Star Wars canon.
Appendices
Appendix
1:
Figure 1: An excerpt from an interview
Genndy Tartakosky gave to The Huffington Post¹
Figure 2: The first teaser poster for
the series²
Figure 3: Initial fan reactions to the
first poster and teaser from TheForce.net forums³
Figure 4: A timeline of the Star Wars novels, seventeen of which
take place in the Clone Wars era⁴
⁶ Figure 5:
Remaining worry over the general response to the theatrical announcement
Figure 6: Even the lowest-rated
episodes of 2011/12’s Season 4 reached a 7 out of 10 approval rating on various
sites from critics, audiences and fans alike.¹⁴ ¹⁵
1.
2.
3.
Figure 7: Fan responses to a survey on
r/starwars asking for their opinions on the series both initially, by the end,
and what changed for them.
Appendix 2:
Figure 1: The planet Christophsis, a
re-used environment from the theatrical release that appeared in several
stories over seasons one and two²⁷
Figure 2: The planet Mortis,
constantly in flux between the dark and the light²⁸
Figure 3: The Citadel, a prison set on
an unstable volcanic planet²⁹
Appendix 3:
Figure 1: A fan-made design of clone
trooper Echo, a minor character who met his end in season three of the series³¹
Figure 2: A piece of fan art depicting
Ahsoka and Obi-Wan as they might appear in the new animated show Star Wars: Rebels³²
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