New "Star Wars" film reveals spectacle of fabled "Clone Wars"
In 2005, "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith" brought the live-action, cinematic Star Wars Saga to a close. But creator George Lucas and the storytellers at Lucasfilm Animation had more stories to tell about the "galaxy far, far away." Now, a new chapter of the enduring saga will be told – and seen like never before – in Warner Bros. and Lucasfilm Animation's new CG-animated feature film event, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."
On-screen, the expansive, galaxy-changing Clone Wars was only fleetingly glimpsed in "Revenge of the Sith" and at the end of "Episode II Attack of the Clones." But its importance to the Star Wars galaxy is enormous – causing the Republic to become an Empire, leading to the "period of civil war" famously mentioned at the opening of "Episode IV A New Hope."
Since its first reference in a passing remark by Luke Skywalker to Obi-Wan Kenobi more than 30 years ago in the very first Star Wars movie, the subject has ignited the imaginations of moviegoers. "For years and years, people have wondered what the Clone Wars were," says "Clone Wars" director Dave Filoni. "The live-action movies were really centered on the Skywalker family, and we've never gotten to see the full breadth of the conflict."
Now, with the new animated feature, audiences will at last experience the galaxy-changing conflict, which simultaneously expands the scope of Star Wars beyond anything that had been seen in the previous films, and also introduces new characters, new drama and new adventure.
The backdrop of the "Clone Wars," Filoni says, offers a chance to tell the tale of a struggle that turned a Republic into an Empire and paved the way for a civil war that ultimately resulted in freedom for the galaxy. "We may be dealing with a small window of time, but the scope of war – particularly a galactic war – is pretty expansive," he says. "There's a lot going on – heroes, villains, intrigue, adventure. It's all part of the story we know, but it's always been in the background. Until now."
"A war, by nature, is a patchwork of untold stories," says Star Wars creator George Lucas. "What's fascinating to me is that there are people motivating these far-reaching events, and that those individuals are so often overshadowed by the big picture, by the events themselves. We know what happens to the galaxy, but we don't know exactly how it all came to pass. These are the stories behind the story."
With an entirely new story and characters that grows in significant ways, Filoni says "The Clone Wars" holds true to the films that came before it, while bringing a new sense of adventure and excitement to the Star Wars galaxy. "There's one thing we knew we had to deliver above all else – a Star Wars movie," Filoni says. "The characters are distinctly stylized, while their environments come to life in a nearly photo-realistic way, very much creating the kind of immersive worlds people expect to see in a Star Wars movie."
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