Category: the clone wars

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Clone Wars is about to reach ‘Point of No Return’

Saturday morning’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the final episode in the story arc of R2-D2 and D-Squad. The droids and their tiny leader, Colonel Gascon, have gotten off of the Void planet but something is seriously wrong with their Republic cruiser. Check out Gascon and the droids discover that the ship’s crew is not what it seems in the clip above. Yup, IT’S A TRAP! Below, in the second video preview, Artoo pulls a little Well of the Souls action (and a power droid’s worst nightmare happens).

And following up on last week’s episode of ‘Missing in Action’, Dee Bradley Baker and Dave Filoni talk about the character of Gregor, the clone who forgot who he was, in an online featurette ‘Gregor’s Metamorphosis’. Filoni goes on to reflect about reaching the 100 episode milestoneTCW-513-droids

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The Clone Wars goes ‘Missing in Action’ to continue D-Squad arc

So now that we’ve talked about the big 100 episode milestone, let’s a take a peek at episode 100 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: ‘Missing in Action’. Continuing the adventures of Artoo-Detoo and his companions of D-Squad from ‘Secret Weapons’ and ‘A Sunny Day in the Void’, the crash-landed droids and their leader, the pint-sized Colonel Gascon, have reached a town on the desolate world of Abafar, and encounter Gregor, a Republic Commando with no memory of how he became missing in action. Their ultimate mission? Steal a shuttle and get back to the Republic, and if they can get this grizzled dishwasher to remember his military training, they might just have a chance. In the first trailer above, Artoo and Gascon reveal the truth to Gregor, and his full identification is revealed in the second trailer below. Or just skip to the last video for some Republic commando actionTCW-512-gregor-gascon-artoo
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Celebrate 100 episodes of The Clone Wars with a full spread of articles

star-wars-the-clone-wars-100th-episode-510x314There’s lots of buzz out there to celebrate Star Wars: The Clone Wars hitting the 100 episode milestone! Variety magazine has got a buffet of light articles on the show:

Also, Channel Guide Magazine has a good interview with Dave Filoni on reaching the big one hundred mark, whether he would go back to special edition the original Clone Wars movie, and the change from Friday night to Saturday morning. StarWars.com has a big pile of quotes from the cast and crew on the occasion.

And, if you missed it, you really should check out the five minute trailer summing up the past 4.5 seasons with some peeks at what is to come (and who is noticeably missing)!

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Disney World’s Star Wars Weekends 2013 will run from May 17th to June 9th

WeekendsStart planning your vacation time, now. Disney has announced the dates for Star Wars Weekends 2013.

Each weekend from May 17th through June 9th in Orlando, Florida, you’ll get to meet a rotating array of Star Wars guests and enjoy other Star Wars shows and events at Disney Hollywood Studios. And you can usually count on The 501st and The Rebel Legion to be making appearances, as well.

Returning as hosts will be James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan) and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka) from The Clone Wars. Both will be continuing the shows they hosted last year. And both are the perfect fit to blend Star Wars and Disney, as both have professed their love of the two franchises. (Which are now one franchise. Maybe?)

Guest announcements and schedules will probably start going out in early 2013 so you can start planning which weekend you’d like to attend.

Start stocking up on your sunscreen!

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The Clone Wars non-review: ‘Young Jedi’

I’ve been struggling with how to approach this arc, and I guess I wasn’t the only one.  When these four episodes premiered at Celebration VI, it looked as if Lucasfilm wasn’t sure what to do with them.  Maybe the Powers That Be™ thought the story skewed a bit too young, maybe they were considering it for a possible spin-off series, maybe they just didn’t know if it was any good.  Those are all guesses, I honestly have no idea.  All I know for sure is this: I won’t review this arc.  I can’t.

Here’s why.  If you haven’t seen this arc, it’d be a crime to ruin any of it for you.  This is the flat-out best work this show has ever done.  The characterizations are smart and layered, the action is breathtaking, the emotions are earned, the gags are funny, the pacing is superb, the casting is brilliant and the voicework in general is a joy to hear.  In short, each and every creative decision is terrific.  Even characters who should be tired by now feel fresh and surprising.  So instead of a review, consider this a challenge: if you don’t watch The Clone Wars, take my word for it and check out these four episodes.  I’ll burn you a DVD if you can’t find them on your own!  This show keeps managing to top its own high-standards, and this storyline really illustrates just how far the series has come.

Grade:

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Several Annie nominations for The Clone Wars, ILM, LEGO Star Wars team

The nominations for the 40th annual Annie Awards, showcasing the best in animation, were announced today, with a few nominations headed towards Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Joel Aron got a nomination for individual achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production (for the second year in a row).

Sam Witwer was nominated for voice acting for his role as Darth Maul in the season four finale ‘Revenge,’ while Keith Kellogg was a nominee for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production. The season five premiere, ‘Revival,’ was granted a nomination for Jason Tucker for Editorial in an Animated Television Production. The judges do love Maul.

Threshold Animation Studios earned an nomination for Best Animated Television Production For Children with their LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, that aired back in September. See… more love for Maul! (Don’t forget our interview with writer Michael Price!)

LegoSW_Annie_Nom

Meanwhile, two teams from ILM got nominations for Animated Effects in a Live Action Production: The crews that worked on The Avengers and Battleship. Another ILM team was a nominee for Thor’s abs and Hawkeye’s butt Character Animation in a Live Action Production for The Avengers.

Overall, Disney and Pixar picked up a handful of nominations across the board, including 3 Best Picture noms for Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, and Frankenweenie. On the TV side, DreamWorks’ Dragons: The Riders of Berk snagged a slew of nominations for its crew.

“I am very excited about this year’s slate of nominees!” ASIFA-Hollywood president, Frank Gladstone, said in a statement. “We had more submissions to choose from this year than for any prior year in Annie Award history, running the gamut from big studio features to indie films, television series to internet shows, games, shorts and, for the first time, student films, all showcasing the huge variety of venues, creativity, technical innovation, and story-telling that our art form has to offer.”

The 40th Annual Annie Awards will take place on February 2, 2013 at UCLA and are selected and presented by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood.