Reports: Are The Clone Wars over for good?

UPDATE: Apparently so.

The Clone Wars Season Five logoJedi News is reporting that ‘several sources’ have told them that the Star Wars animated series is at an end. Big Shiny Robot has heard much the same, and believes an official announcement is imminent.

The Clone Wars’ fate under Disney has been uncertain for some time now: Cartoon Network only had the rights to air it through season 5, and many expected – or hoped – that it would move to the Disney XD channel.

Disney has its annual upfront presentation of its networks’ programming for the 2013-2014 season on March 12, so this will be the right time for some news – either The Clone Wars will be on its list, or it won’t. If it isn’t on the Disney lineup, then hopefully we’ll have some announcement of what the future does hold for the show. While being popular, the show is fairly expensive to produce, and without George Lucas championing the show like a billionaire who does whatever he wants with his own money, it could be that the show’s budget (despite raising the bar on animation for a weekly TV series) could be working against renewal in the post-George era.

It’s not yet known what will happen to the completed episodes of what would be the sixth season: Jedi News believes a direct-to-DVD/Blu-Ray release of some sort is possible. Other sources indicate that an online distribution method such as through iTunes might be a possibility. With each production season creating a few more episodes than get aired in the broadcast season, and pushing into the next season for airing, there’s at least one story arcs that should be ready to go: The Clovis story arc originally slated for season five. We know that a lot of voice work has been recorded for season six, but knowing that it takes about a year for an episode to be produced from story to ready to air, it is not known how many season six stories made it out of the pipeline.

If this rumor proves true, a Clone Wars cancellation would be the second piece of major fallout from the acquisition. The 3D rereleases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were ‘postponed’ in January. Also in the “no news is bad news” department, Star Wars Detours hasn’t been on the radar at all, with its Facebook page last being updated in November.

Still, with 5 seasons and more than 100 episodes, you can’t argue that The Clone Wars hasn’t had a good run.

Roundup: Wrapping up the Maul/Death Watch story on The Clone Wars

TCW-516-The Lawless-DarthMaul06

With ‘The Lawless’ airing last Saturday, the story arc of Darth Maul’s ambitions to become a major player in the galaxy have come to an end. Naturally, with many of the big developments that came out of this story, most notably the deaths of Pre Vizsla, Duchess Satine, and Savage Opress, and Maul being spared by Sidious, there’s a lot to talk about with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Here’s a rundown of some of the buzz on Darth Maul / Death Watch storyline: Continue reading “Roundup: Wrapping up the Maul/Death Watch story on The Clone Wars

Cartoon Network announces LEGO Star Wars specials… but nothing on The Clone Wars

LEGO Star Wars The Yoda ChroniclesCartoon Network has put out their lineup for the 2013-2014 season, using a multi-city road tour for the next few weeks to promote their new and returning shows. Most notably, they are hyping three quarterly specials for LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles, and saying nothing about the return of The Clone Wars. Does this mean that The Clone Wars is leaving Cartoon Network for the fall? Or just that it is still in negotiation (ie, they can’t announce anything yet)? They list their returning shows, and the adventures of Skyguy and Snips aren’t on it.

But here’s the description of The Yoda Chronicles:

LEGO Star Wars returns in epic style with THE YODA CHRONICLES, a thrilling, funny and action-packed new LEGO Star Wars story told in three animated TV specials! Set in the “Prequel” Star Wars timeline, THE YODA CHRONICLES stars the one and only Yoda—the Jedi Master who has seen it all, done it all, and taught generations of Jedi Knights—in an all-new adventure. With the help of a fresh class of Padawans, Yoda leads the Jedi in a desperate fight to stop Darth Sidious and his minions from creating a new super-weapon that could crush the Republic and win the war for the forces of Evil.

Some of those news articles are claiming that the Yoda Chronicles are set in the original trilogy timeframe – I think this definitively says “prequel era” with such keywords as Republic.

Back to The Clone Wars: Is this the end of the show, or will Disney XD (or another Disney channel) be picking it up? We know that they have been working on season six, and perhaps a network change has prevented them from talking about it much officially.

And also coming back: The Powerpuff Girls in a new special!

EDIT: While the list of returning shows (and new shows like Teen Titans Go! and Total Drama All Stars) is primarily for their prime-time lineup on weeknights, there is also the lack of their DC Nation block of cartoons (Green Lantern, Young Justice, etc.), which follows The Clone Wars on Saturday mornings. Is the Saturday morning crowd just not big enough to mention in their release? However, other shows which have been aired on Saturdays are listed in their returning shows: Beyblade: Metal Fury and Pokemon: Black and White – are they being bumped up to primetime, or are they anchoring the Saturday morning timeslot. What does this also mean for the DC Nation shows? Just like Clone Wars, are they not important enough to list, still in negotiation, or not coming back? It seems that most comic books sites are calling Green Lantern and Young Justice as cancelled.

Roundup: Does the Disney buyout mean The Clone Wars is headed for a new channel?

The Clone Wars. The Hollywood Reporter’s sources confirm that the cartoon will likely be making the move to Disney XD. Cartoon Network, which is owned by Turner/Time Warner, has the rights only up through current season. DisneyXD airs action-oriented shows and currently has a block dedicated to Marvel cartoons.

Episode 7 rumors. First Showing has a source denying the 1952 rumor, while Skywalking author Dale Pollock tells The Wrap that 7, 8 and 9 were the “most exciting stories.” And though there have been some rumblings from some hopeful to see Steven Spielberg finally take on a full Star Wars film, Spielberg fan Paul Bullock lays out some reasons why this is unlikely.

Ladies! Slate’s Alyssa Rosenberg on how women can save the Star Wars franchise. Like I said earlier, I would love a female protagonist heading this thing! It doesn’t even have to be someone we already know.

Reaction. Entertainment Weekly nabbed some big name Hollywood talent on how they feel about more Star Wars. Knights Archive has a nice collection of comments from Lucasfilm folks, authors, actors and other notables. MTV talked to TFN’s Eric Geller and Big Shiny Robot’s Bryan Young, while ABC News asked Devi Laskar, artist Tom Hodges, and yours truly. And our friends over the pond at Jedi News are talking to the U.K. media! But you don’t have to go to the news sites: Thoughts from fans like Michael Heilemann and Amy Ratcliffe. As for Expanded Universe fans, here are more thoughts from Tosche Station’s Brian, Knight Archive’s Ryan, and Fangirl’s Tricia Barr.

Speculation! Lists! People just can’t stop writing them. The Hollywood Reporter finds 15 potential writers, Slashfilm has 10 filmmakers to direct (and 5 who shouldn’t,) and Big Shiny Robot has yet more possible directors. Taking a different track, Screenrant has pros and cons of the deal, while Hitfix has some things to watch.

And now for something completely different… You know it’s not real news until crazy folks at NMA weigh in with a video. For something more serious, check out Empire’s infographic of who has what franchises.