Yesterday in the mail, I got a form letter from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy as a response to my letter expressing my support for releasing as much bonus content for The Clone Wars as they could. Basically, it restated their position to wind down the show, and hinted at the new animated series.
Nothing really new revealed, but it seems that their position to end the show is solid. The letter had no real mention of the ‘bonus content’ but does mention that it is more than just Dave Filoni working on the new series: “many members of his Clone Wars team” is also in the letter.
Despite being cancelled, Star Wars: The Clone Wars has earned seven Emmy nominations for daytime entertainment. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences released the list of daytime Emmy nominations today, and The Clone Wars picked up nominations in several categories, giving Cartoon Network 7 out of its 11 nominations:
Outstanding Special Class Animated Program for George Lucas, Executive Producer; Cary Silver, Producer; and Athena Portillo, Line Producer (alongside Dan Vs. and The Legend of Korra)
Three nominations for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program: Jim Cummings (for voicing Hondo Ohnaka), David Tennant (for voicing Huyang), and Sam Witwer (for voicing Darth Maul) – taking up half the nominations in this category!
Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program for Supervising Director Dave Filoni and Directors Kyle Dunlevy, Brian Kalin O’Connell, Steward Lee, & Bosco Ng (against Dan Vs., The Legend of Korra, The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness
Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for Composer Kevin Kiner
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Animation for David Acord, Re-Recording Mixer & Cameron Davis, Dialogue Recordist
Just putting it all into perspective: The top nominated show was The Young and the Restless with 23 nominations, and Sesame Street picked up 17 nominations, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show earned 10. But when compared to other animated shows, The Clone Wars is tied at the top with Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness with seven each. And a shout out to Cash Cab for its two nominations – woohoo!
Let’s hope that The Clone Wars takes home some Emmy gold in June, when the winners are announced.
Because of course it does. USA Today has the scoop – and a clip:
One of the arcs stars Jedi Master Plo Koon (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), who finds a lost lightsaber while on a mission on a sandstorm-laden planet with a platoon of clone troopers. It’s the beginning of a mystery, and one that will make the Jedi question their role in the Clone Wars and the universe itself, according to [Supervising director Dave] Filoni.
“The Jedi have been fighting a war with an army that was commissioned by one of their own, Jedi Master Syfo-Dias,” he says. “But who was Syfo-Dias, and what happened to him? The dark lord of the Sith has woven an intricate web to ensnare the Jedi, but it is not full-proof and sometimes a small clue, and a bit of chance, can lead to the unraveling of the best-laid plans.”
Filoni also discusses why Ahsoka did what she did in the finale, and his advice for J.J. Abrams. Still no word on where any of the ‘bonus content’ will air, though.
As a fan and supporter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I’ve been watching the momentum of the Save the Clone Wars movement. I’ve written my letters to Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy. I sent a few tweets for the twitter bomb led by Star Wars Underworld. I’ve told pretty much everyone I know connected with Star Wars or Lucasfilm how much I’ve enjoyed the show, how great I think the show is, and how I want it to continue. One of my reasons for the Team Hondo shenanigans was to drum up support for the characters of the show in a forum that Lucasfilm and fans alike would be watching.
Right now Save The Clone Wars is still pushing for Disney to magically hit the undo button, and un-cancel the show, bring back all the staff that was laid off and give us another season, and they point to how Kim Possible was given another season due to fan activism. I’d love for that to happen, but I think we need to be a little more pragmatic. My friend Bryan Young over at Big Shiny Robot points out that the smarter option may be to push for as much of ‘bonus material’ as possible – whatever that was made or in the pipeline for season six as we can get, which will hopefully be more than the two story arcs that was the rumor reported from TheForce.Net. I agree with him – we can’t get the show back on the air, but we can strive for as much of that season six content that was done/nearly done as possible.
Having a weekly twitter bomb? Maybe good for getting the word out, but I think there are more effective methods to reach Disney and Lucasfilm. Youtube video tributes? Meh. Letter campaigns are a stronger way to give the message – so long as everyone is on the same point. But really what would work – time to take a page from the playbook of some successful save-my-tv-show campaigns: express our love for The Clone Wars with our money. Here’s a few things that another fandom that I’ve belonged in has done to help keep flyin’:
Raise money to buy ad space that Disney will see. Let’s put a full page ad in Variety or some other industry periodical on a day that everyone will see it. Have a full press release and media contact ready to back up the ad. Yes, that means being organized, but it also will show “Hey, we’re organized”
Organize charity screenings to show that people still want to see The Clone Wars. While the original film that kicked off the series was a little rough compared to the quality of the later seasons, it’s a film that can be requested for showings. Like the Browncoats’ “Cant Stop the Serenity” showings for Equality Now, if we put The Clone Wars on the big screen in theaters across the country on the same day, and get people to show up and pay to see it, the studios will notice.
Video sales. The big kicker that perhaps helped Universal decide to turn a cancelled Fox show into a feature film was they noticed how well the DVD sales of that one-season show was doing. If you’re a fan of the show and can afford it, put your money where your mouth is. Own every season of the show on DVD or Blu-ray. Buy it for your friends. Buy it for every kid you’re stuck having to get a gift for. Buy copies to donate to your local library or send to the troops. Buy a second copy for yourself to loan to friends and family. And when season five comes out this fall on DVD and Blu-ray, let’s knock it out of the park, and keep it on the top ten bestseller list of Amazon and whatnot. It does get a little weird, since guess who is the distributor of the home video versions? Warner Brothers. So by buying the video releases, you’re showing Disney how much you’ll give money to one of their competitors for a product that Disney could sell to you, if only they continued making it. And if the ‘bonus content’ becomes available for separate purchase, buy it to show demand for more of it.
Keep those letters going and find new fans and convince them to write.
Meanwhile, Season 5 of The Clone Wars has started airing in the United Kingdom. One of our readers pointed out that Cartoon Network UK just recently started broadcasting season five, and it seems to be playing nearly every day at 10:30 AM and 6:30 PM. While they’ve already started the season, they do seem to be re-playing episodes. Catch the start of season five ‘Revival’ on Sunday at 10:30 AM.
The events of the past month have made it clear that Star Wars is undergoing a major shift, and it’s made a lot of fans question the Disney sale. And those words – the “Disney sale” – are part of the problem. The sale is over and done with. What we’re going through now is more jarring, and a lot more ambitious. We’re going through a Star Wars reboot.
“At this point, I am involved in some early production discussions and exploration of what we’ll be doing with Star Wars animation in the future, which is really exciting for me and I have some friendly faces around me, of course, that are helping me on the project. So it’s a transition time, as I’ve said before, and I think it will lead to an exciting time and hopefully I’ll see things grow again.”
So no details, and clearly very early days yet, but at least it’s some further confirmation that a second show could eventually come into fruition.
Meanwhile, LucasArts, ILM and Lucasfilm Animation aren’t alone in suffering layoffs: Looks like Disney itself is facing a massive reorganization, according to Variety.
With the light side vote in today’s StarWars.com This Is Madness game a choice between Chewbacca and Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein has hit the campaign trail to rally fans of Snips and The Clone Wars to stay in the game, and advance a character from The Clone Wars to the next round. Last weekend at WonderCon, she got some key endorsements, even from the original Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew. Plus she and her coach & husband David have made a second video, with some special guests to show why voting Ahsoka is the way to go!
We’ve already told you, via Team Hondo, to vote Ahsoka. So go do it, already. Or vote again.
This week, fandom launched an effort to #SaveTheCloneWars, Star Destroyers appeared in a cunning disguise of clouds and farmboy grammar was considered. Also, what is that pocket on the back of Han’s vest? Wookieepedians, I summon you! Until then…
TheForce.Net’s Eric Geller says that The Clone Wars’‘bonus content’ will be two story arcs from what would have been the show’s sixth season. What they won’t be? Bounty hunters:
Among the story arcs that will not emerge in this post-cancellation era is one that dealt with Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters who have menaced the heroes for several seasons. This story arc, which my source tells me was almost done, would have shown us the fates of Cad Bane and Aurra Sing.
It’s also being heavily implied that Lucasfilm Animation layoffs – or notifications thereof – went down on Friday.
Eric also had two takes on Lucasfilm Animation’s reaction to the fan reaction. (Which has since been… removed?) One was “shocked” by “tepid fan reaction;” The other “recognized the outpouring” of support.
It’s worth noting that these two accounts can be reconciled. I’m sure that everyone at Lucasfilm Animation, both current and former staffers, appreciates what support they’ve seen. The question is how much more support those staffers were expecting to see.
Yesterday in the mail, I got a form letter from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy as a response to my letter expressing my support for releasing as much bonus content for The Clone Wars as they could. Basically, it restated their position to wind down the show, and hinted at the new animated series. 
As a fan and supporter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I’ve been watching the momentum of the Save the Clone Wars movement. I’ve written my letters to Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy. I sent a few tweets for the 
In a 
