Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes animation to Jedis
On August 15th 2008, Star Wars will return to the big screen in the form of an animated movie titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Star Wars fans are probably both excited and worried. In 1999, Star Wars made a long awaited return to the big screen in the form of The Phantom Menace, a truly uninspiring and saga-spoiling movie that didn't do justice to the 70's and 80's masterpieces.
Following The Phantom Menace, sequels Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith only managed to create further unrest in Star Wars' galactic-fanbase. Still, Lucas isn't to be deterred and with one of the most epic storylines to work with, Lucasfilm is at it again.
The next outing for the lucrative franchise will take an entirely different approach. This time around, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which I like to refer to as Star Wars Episode 2.7251, will be made entirely using 3D computer animation.
I like the idea of an animated approach mind you, the awkward on-screen moments between Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) in Episodes II and III have done enough to put me off Star Wars acting and script for a while.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be set between Episodes II and III and will tell the tale of Anakin and Obi Wan's effort to restore peace to the republic, notably just before all hell breaks lose and nearly everyone dies in Episode III.
The computer animated movie, once originally thought to be just for TV, will in fact now make its way to US theatres via Warner Bros, as opposed to Twentieth Century Fox who carried the other six movies. It hasn't yet been confirmed if Star Wars: The Clone Wars will appear on cinema screens outside of the US but unless George wants protests from legions of fans, we suggest Lucasfilm release the movie globally.
If you'd like to see what Anakin Skywalker looks like in a computer animated world, here's the first image from the movie courtesy of USA Today:
The little guy on the left of Anakin is Ahsoka, a Jedi padawan who rather strangely didn't appear in the Episode II or Episode III movies, must have been taking a long vacation on Dantooine I guess.
In a statement regarding the animated movie, George Lucas said: "I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell. I was eager to start telling some of them through animation."
Following the debut of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on August 15th, a computer animated TV series going by the same name will kick off on Cartoon Network.
Despite being hugely disappointed by Episodes 1-3, the Star Wars fan inside me can't wait to see more Jedi action and I'm optimistic about this animated adventure.
