Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
With The Clone Wars now more or less complete, Lucasfilm’s Leland Chee yesterday tweeted the chronological order of the series:
216 116 T 301 303 101-115 117-121 201-203 217-219 204-214 220-222 305-307 302 304 308 122 309-311 215 312-322 S4 502-513 501 514-520 601-613
(‘T’ is the debut movie.) He followed up with just the Maul arc: “314 421 422 501 514 515 516.”
UPDATE: There’s now a version of this on StarWars.com that won’t give anyone horrible math class flashbacks.
With ‘The Lost Missions’ out in the world, Dave Filoni thanks fans of The Clone Wars on StarWars.com this afternoon.
While we weren’t able to tell every story in the Clone Wars era, there is plenty to look forward to. Every day there are amazing new Star Wars stories being developed here at Lucasfilm. I guess my intention here is to encourage you all to dream, to imagine, not just what these stories might have been, but what the possibilities are for other new stories which have never been told before. And maybe the person who tells those stories will be you. I hope you have enjoyed what was, and what yet might be, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
He shares a wealth of sketches from the show’s last story conference, and even gives a small spoiler.
Dave Filoni tells Entertainment Weekly that the last arc of The Clone Wars is George Lucas’ “last statement about Yoda and The Force and how things fit together” and “absolutely must-watch story content.”
We tried several seasons to tell a Yoda arc, but the problem is he’d come in and be able to solve a problem in five minutes. In the end, George finally decided to tell a big story about The Force and the balance of The Force and what it means when some people appear after they die and some don’t. Fans have long wondered about that. This goes a long way to explaining that issue. These are things that were the backbone of his Jedi ideas. How can a Star Wars fan not get excited by that?
Filoni also touches on Order 66 and what the future may hold for the untold Clone Wars stories. Be warned, there is another small spoiler in the interview, so it may be best to read this only after you watch the final arc.
The 13 ‘Lost Missions’ episodes are streaming on Netflix now, along with the show’s first 5 seasons and debut movie.
It may have gotten lost in the flood of Adam Driver news yesterday, but Amy Ratcliffe wrote about the Rebels reveals, toys and being a woman in fandom for The Mary Sue.
On Monday, Lucasfilm released a trailer for “The Lost Missions” of The Clone Wars, coming to Netflix on March 7, along with all the previous seasons. < These thirteen episodes of bonus content bring together a mix of story arcs that would have been part of a sixth season of the show. Combining with what has been revealed previously, I’ve selected two dozen frames from the trailer, and try to figure out what they might teasing, including a translation of the file in Aurabesh. Continue reading “Clone Wars: Analyzing the Lost Missions trailer”
While we’ve focused on the female character introductions and (lack of) toys so far, Mia Moretti at Eleven-ThirtyEight takes on the issue of character races and representation – and the fandom reactions to it.
The importance of diversity is something that Bria and Nanci at Tosche Station wrote up not so long ago, while Brian took on some of the common arguments against it. While we’re a while from seeing if Rebels can deliver diversity beyond the main cast, it’s interesting to note that these discussions weren’t happening as openly even as far back as The Clone Wars debut.
As for the issue of female action figures, Amy Ratcliffe has some numbers.
Newsarama’s Lucas Siegel has the first interview with one of the Rebels crew: Vetern voice actress Vanessa Marshall, who plays the ship’s pilot, Hera. I think it’s safe to say she’s into it:
…When I got the call for Star Wars Rebels, that I booked Hera, I hyperventilated, fell to the ground, I think I was sobbing, and my agent then asked if she should call an ambulance. (laughs) Truly, of all the roles I’ve ever played, this is by far the most epic. I look forward to the long-term implications of interacting in the Star Wars universe. It’s really, really thrilling.
She also has a few things to say on our latest issue:
You know, it’s interesting – I would say from a marketing standpoint, I know how it serves them to target an audience, whether it’s male or female. I do know there are a ton more female sci-fi fans – there always have been, but perhaps now they have a greater visibility, so I predict that some of that stuff will change.
I will say that in a greater sense, I’m not so sure that there’s a stigma for the people who are buying those toys. In a real way, I think that George Lucas kind of destroyed the stigmas as far as gender is concerned, and raised the bar for future filmmakers. The fact there are female Jedi straightway levels the playing field. There are so many alien races that gender is sort of the least of the issues (laughs).
You look at Princess Leia, and Mon Mothma, Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress – even to go to the games and EU [Expanded Universe – the Star Wars stories that are told in novels, comics, and video games], Jan Ors or even Mara Jade – the women in the Star Wars Universe just kick butt, in a way that transcends gender. And each in their own way.
I’ll say, even the female characters in Rebels each have their unique strengths – it’s another reason I’m so excited to be a part of this show. Just to get into Hera a bit again, she’s strong-willed, but she’s also nurturing. She really knows how to bring out the best in her team. She leads with humility. Her agility and physical skills are admirable; she can pull just the right punch at just the right moment and get the job done, and that’s how she delivers. Her very personal reasons for rebelling against the empire, I think, are things viewers are going to delight in uncovering each season.
Anyway, believe it or not, that’s only a tiny bit of the interview, so head over to Newsarama and read the whole thing.
And today Entertainment Weekly brings us the final member of the Rebels core cast. Hera, the green Twi’lek voiced by Vanessa Marshall, is described by Dave Filoni as “kind of the heart of the group, keeps everyone together when they would otherwise fall apart.”
We saw Sabine’s official reveal this morning, and although we’re still waiting for Hera’s, Hasbro confirmed with Newsarama’s Lucas Siegel that action figures of both Rebels ladies are coming, and will be unveiled at SDCC.
There’s been some blowback to the concerns over the lack of women showed in the first wave of Hasbro Rebels toys. But together with the ‘for boys’ nature of Disney XD and the apparent ‘ladies last’ spacing of the character reveals, it’s really felt like the female characters – and thus female fans – are there as an afterthought. (Is it really still not a given that women and girls like action?)
Yes, we know ‘this is how it is.’ Yes, we know that ‘it’s all here to sell toys.’ Yes, we know that’s ‘what advertisers want.’ And that’s exactly why we’re fighting so hard over this. This is our first major rollout since Disney took the wheel, and this is an uphill battle.
Continue reading “Hasbro will make figures for Rebels’ Hera and Sabine, but then what?”
The Hollywood Reporter has our first official reveal of Sabine, the ‘pink Mando’ we first saw at Toy Fair. She’s voiced by Tiya Sircar – the first Rebels voice not to be named in THR’s early report. In addition to knowing quite a bit about weapons and explosives, Sabine is also a graffiti artist.