Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)

Production

At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III

Star Wars Celebration

Star Wars Celebration is a fan gathering to celebrate the release of a Star Wars franchise movie. It all began in 1999, when Lucasfilm held the Star Wars Celebration in Denver, Colorado to celebrate the upcoming release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace...

, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production

Pre-production

Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...

had begun on the series, according to Steve Sansweet

Steve Sansweet

Stephen J. Sansweet is the Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm and the author of sixteen books, fourteen of them about Star Wars. He is also the owner of the world's largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia...

, head of Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....

fan relations. Sansweet referred to the series as "the next generation of the Star Wars saga, a cutting edge 30-minute, 3-D computer-animation series based on the Clone Wars that take place between Episode II

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...

... and Episode III

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....

." Sansweet described the look of the new series as "a melding of Asian anime with unique 3-D animation styling." Primary production will take place at the Lucasfilm Animation

Lucasfilm Animation

Lucasfilm Animation is an animation studio founded in 2003. In 2008 it was officially launched after the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars...

facility in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

.

According to another statement by Sansweet, "Lucasfilm Animation will be hiring a total of about 300 digital artists and others in both California and Singapore

Singapore

locations to produce not only the series, but animated feature films in the years ahead." He said about the series, "to get the series underway, Lucasfilm Animation has hired key production and creative talent to lead the development of its first animation project." Sansweet has said that "a large component of the future of Star Wars and Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm

is CGI animation."

Lucasfilm Ltd. and Lucasfilm Animation used Autodesk

Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...

software to animate both the film and the series. The Maya

Maya (software)

Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...

3D modeling program was used to create the highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures. Animators also reviewed designs from the original 2003 Clone Wars series

Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)

Star Wars: Clone Wars is an Annie Award-winning American animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. The series chronicles the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems under Count Dooku.Chronologically, the series...

when creating the animation style for the film and the new series.

Anthony Daniels

Anthony Daniels

Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:...

, who portrayed C-3PO

C-3PO

C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...

in all six films as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special, Star Wars: Droids

Star Wars: Droids

Star Wars: Droids, also known as Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO, was an animated television series that featured the exploits of R2-D2 and C-3PO, the droids who have appeared in all six Star Wars films...

and Star Wars: Clone Wars, confirmed in June 2006 that he had been contracted for the series.

In a video interview with Rob Coleman from Imagina 2007 divulged that there were 15 episodes in production, one episode was complete, he was going to direct 5 of the first 22 episodes, reaction from licensees was very positive, and that final assembly of shows is done at Skywalker Ranch

Skywalker Ranch

Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a...

.

At Lucas' March 3, 2007 appearance at the 2007 William S. Paley Television Festival, Lucas revealed the series is episodic, and as such will not focus on Anakin Skywalker's story; with episodes dedicated to clone troopers and other characters. Lucas revealed further information in a fan interview, a new character named Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka "Snips" Tano is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe and is the primary protagonist in the 2008 animated film: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the following series. When the series began she was depicted as a 14-year-old Togruta female...

, over 100 episodes and a possible appearance by Boba Fett

Boba Fett

Boba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....

. In an interview in the September 24, 2007 issue of TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

, Lucas confirmed that 39 episodes of the series have been completed.

On April 8, 2007, Ain't It Cool News

Ain't It Cool News

Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...

reported that musician Eric Rigler

Eric Rigler

Eric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle. He plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks. He has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time"...

had recorded music for the series. Rigler disclosed that each planet in the Star Wars galaxy would have its own theme music, based on Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n music

Music of Bulgaria

The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with Bulgaria like classical, folk, popular music, etc. Bulgarian music is part of the Balkan tradition, which stretches across Southeastern Europe, and has its own distinctive sound...

and played on Uilleann pipes

Uilleann pipes

The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...

.

Stuart Snyder, who oversees Cartoon Network and other Turner Broadcasting System

Turner Broadcasting System

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...

cable networks, said he became interested in the new Clone Wars series immediately upon starting the job in May 2007. Snyder flew out to San Francisco, California to screen several episodes, and told Lucas the only place he wanted to see the show was on Cartoon Network.

Along with weekly airings of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network, rebroadcasts started airing briefly on TNT, February 14, 2009. With this, it was the first time animation aired on that channel in over a decade.

Broadcast

The Clone Wars premiered on October 3, 2008 at 9 p.m. on the Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network

. It has been programmed by Stuart Snyder to create an action/adventure

Adventure (genre)

The adventure genre, in the context of a narrative, is typically applied to works in which the protagonist or other major characters are consistently placed in dangerous situations...

block of shows on Friday night in an attempt to rejuvenate Cartoon Network. Snyder expressed confidence that the shows would help boost ratings: "You catch me at a time where I have a smile on my face because of our internal results". "I can say there's a little bit of bragging on the third quarter for us." The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network is shown in a 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio, cropped from its original aspect ratio (OAR) of 2.35:1 (as seen in the UK Sky Premiere screenings). The show began airing on Adult Swim

Adult Swim

Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

as of March 14, 2009, making the series the first Cartoon Network series to simultaneously air on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. On January 15, 2009, the show was broadcast on TNT, but on March 26, 2009, the show was taken off from the channel due to low viewership.

From Season 1 to Season 2, the viewers in the US were roughly around 2.75 – 3 million. In Season 3, however, they have been around 1.5 - 2 million with the episode "Citadel Rescue" being the least viewed at 1.55 million viewers.

Reception

Despite the negative response to its movie counterpart

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 CGI animated science fiction/action film that takes place within the Star Wars saga, leading into the TV series of the same name. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series...

, Star Wars: The Clone Wars has received generally favorable reviews from critics according to the aggregate review site Metacritic. On July 11, 2008, television critics were shown a completed episode of the series. The Hollywood Reporters Live Feed blog called the footage "likely the most photo-realistic animated TV series ever produced." On August 31, 2008, a sneak peek of the new series was shown on Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network

. IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

named it the 89th best animated series. They specifically praised the episodes "Rookies", "Cloak of Darkness", and "Lair of Grievous" saying that their storylines stood out as some of the best in the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Star Wars Expanded Universe

The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...

. The series received a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic, a review compiler.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars became most-watched series premiere in Cartoon Network history. The series averaged 3 million total viewers in its debut, according to Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...

. Cartoon Network said the Star Wars spin off ranked as the number one channel among all major animated networks in the time slot among total viewers (the largest in the demographic for any premiere telecast of an original Cartoon series).

On July 23, 2010 at the San Diego Comic-Con; Craig Glenday, editor of the Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

presented Star Wars: The Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni, CG supervisor Joel Aron and lead designer Kilian Plunkett a certificate proclaiming the cartoon series "the highest rated sci-fi animation currently on television".

Feature film

After viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on a big screen, the production team decided to weave the first few planned episodes together to form a theatrical release

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

. Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...

and Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

reprised their roles as Count Dooku

Count Dooku

Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. Dooku is one of the main antagonists of both Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the events of the Clone Wars and is a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Count Dooku plays a substantial role...

and Mace Windu

Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, most famously portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films. However, Windu has also been voiced by other actors in assorted video game and animated projects....

, respectively, from the live action films.

TV series

Each season consists of 22 episodes. George Lucas has said he would like to make at least 100 episodes, regardless of the ratings. Episode 100 would be in the middle of Season 5, so the series is likely to go up to 110+ episodes, whether the ratings continue to be good or not.
A repeat of series one aired in "decoded" episode format. Each installment contained unobtrusive text windows giving supplemental information about the characters and events playing out on screen.

Season	Episodes	First air date	Last air date
Season 1	22	October 3, 2008	March 22, 2009
Season 2	22	October 2, 2009	April 30, 2010
Season 3	22	September 17, 2010	April 1, 2011
Season 4	22	September 16, 2011	Spring 2012

Home media releases

DVD/Blu-ray name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
A Galaxy Divided (DVD only)	March 24, 2009	March 24, 2009	July 1, 2009
Clone Commandos (DVD only)	September 15, 2009	September 15, 2009	September 23, 2009
Season 1 (DVD & Blu-ray)	November 3, 2009	November 16, 2009	November 18, 2009
Season 2 (DVD & Blu-ray)	October 26, 2010	November 15, 2010	November 10, 2010
Season 3 (DVD & Blu-ray)	October 18, 2011	October 17, 2011	October 19, 2011

A Galaxy Divided was an early DVD release of the series which included the first four episodes ("Ambush, "Rising Malevolence", "Shadow of Malevolence", "Destroy Malevolence"), and Clone Commandos is another, which includes episode five "Rookies" as well as episodes 19 through 21 ("Storm over Ryloth", "Innocents of Ryloth" and "Liberty on Ryloth").

Video games

Five video games have been released, which are based on the style and character designs of the series.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels released on November 11, 2008 for Nintendo Wii.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance released on November 11, 2008 for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes DS released on October 9, 2009 for Nintendo DS.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes released on October 9, 2009 for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

, PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

, Wii, PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

, and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

.
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a 2011 Lego game for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC and Nintendo 3DS consoles based on The Clone Wars animated series, developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts and TT Games, released in March 2011 and is...

released in March 2011 by TT Games
TT Games
TT Games group is a British video game developer and publisher. It is made up of three divisions, Traveller's Tales, TT Fusion and publisher TT Games Publishing...

for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC and Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...

, and further stylizes the characters as part of the Lego Star Wars
Lego Star Wars
Lego Star Wars is a Lego theme that incorporates the Star Wars saga. The first Lego Star Wars, released in 1999, included model 7140, the first Lego X-Wing. Star Wars was the first intellectual property to be licensed in Lego Group history . The first few sets based on the original trilogy were...

theme.
Clone Wars Adventures
Clone Wars Adventures
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is a comic book series, part of the fictional Star Wars galaxy.It is aimed towards a younger audience than the Star Wars: Clone Wars comic book series...

launched in October 2010 online.

International release

Network	Country
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States.... only	Latin America Cartoon Network (Latin America) Cartoon Network Latin America and Brazil is a cable television channel and is an edition of the Time Warner-owned Cartoon Network for the Latin American region and the Caribbean... Southeast Asia Cartoon Network (Southeast Asia) Cartoon Network is a cable and satellite television channel created by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner which primarily shows animated programming.Programming is broadcast in dual-language audio in English language, Chinese language, Thai language, and Malay language with Vietnamese... Pakistan and other countries Cartoon Network (Pakistan) Cartoon Network Pakistan is a cable and satellite television channel created by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner which primarily shows animated programming. The channel officially launched on April 2, 2004. Cartoon Network Pakistan follows Pakistan Standard Time for its programming... Europe Cartoon Network (EMEA) Cartoon Network Europe, Middle East and Africa is available mainly in English Language but there are more. Cartoon Network EMEA is received in Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Kosovo, Lesotho, Macedonia, Malawi, the Middle East, Montenegro, Mozambique, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,...
Local TV networks only	Latin America Southeast Asia Europe
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States.... and local TV networks	Latin America Southeast Asia Europe

External links

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