Meet Rebels’ resident astromech, Chopper

I don’t know why all this Star Wars TV stuff is coming out of Germany lately, but here you have it: Dave Filoni and crew introducing a grumpy new astromech droid from Rebels, Chopper.

Chopper

Meanwhile, there’s also some toy-based hints we might see Vader on Rebels. Yeah, it was more or less inevitable, but I admit I am a bit surprised that it may happen early enough to be in the first round of toys.

UPDATE: Chopper is now on StarWars.com, with a first look at (of course,) the Hasbro version.

Chopper action figure.

Filoni weighs in on Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir

Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (crop)

On his Facebook today, The Clone Wars’ supervising director Dave Filoni weighs in on how the storyline that’s becoming the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic would have fit into the show:

The story of Darth Maul had become an important one for the series and it was only fitting that we chose him for a comic adaptation. The comics will be based on four finished scripts that were written for Season 6 . These scripts came out of one of our story conferences with George Lucas. As they moved through the production pipeline, they became finalized scripts with a great deal of the actual design work completed. The designs you will see, the plot lines, and character development in these comic books are all coming directly from the TV production. I turned over all of the art to Dark Horse so they could create an accurate representation of what we were planning for the show.

He also hints that the ending of this storyline might not necessarily mean the end of Maul.

Filoni talks Clone Wars bonus episodes and more

TCW-cast-with-Emmy-Filoni

In the final part of an interview with StarWars.com on The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni shared details about wrapping up the series, giving some hints about the bonus material, and having George Lucas as a mentor in creating Star Wars. He discusses concluding season five with Ahsoka’s storyline, and his sense of guardianship over characters from the series. When asked about the bonus material (which were episodes in production for a sixth season), he mentions:

When you look at level of importance to wrap things up for fans, I think that two story arcs that fans will get to see are really, really important for the overall Clone Wars story. So I’m very glad that fans will get to see them in their completed form.

It’s not like all of the bonus material that comes out was planned on really answering things for fans. It’s more, “This is where we were headed,” and the Yoda story arc [announced on Twitter] definitely gives a sense of closure. One of the story arcs, which is very short, is not essential to the overall story but it is a nice final showcase for one of the prequel characters.

Building on Filoni’s comments about the two story arcs, Pablo Hidalgo clarified via Twitter the bonus content is more than just these two arcs.

In the interview, Filoni also discussed moving onto Rebels and being the public face of Star Wars storytelling, reiterating about the new show: “I know some fans just see Rebels as an extension of Clone Wars, but it’s not. It’s an entirely different thing with a different feeling and a different vibe.”

Roundup: Filoni talks Maul, Savage, Ahsoka and The Clone Wars S5

TCW: The Wrong JediCartoons. StarWars.com has continues their Dave Filoni interview. It focuses on The Clone Wars S5. (Part 1 dropped a few weeks ago.)

One year on. Here are a few more flashbacks to the big announcement last year: I spent that evening talking it over the buyout/Episode VII announcement with Tosche Station’s Bryan and Nanci. (Please don’t tell me if I said anything dumb.) And here’s the special edition tweet roundup.

Retro. Alas, the lawyers caught up with the Star Wars blooper reel, but check out these two other great behind-the-scenes pics that (I suspect) originate from the enhanced Making of eBooks: A different angle on Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford during the medal ceremony and Mark Hamill gets meditative (or just bored) during the filming of Return of the Jedi.

Also on Tumblr. Artist Jeff Bennett improves the sentimental schlock of Thomas Kincade by adding Star Wars; The Stooge tackles the top ten soon-to-be-confirmed Star Wars rumors and a great pair of homemade Artoo and Threepio costumes.

Roundup: Clone Wars, Rebels, rumors and Threepio, oh my!

FiloniCartoons. Dave Filoni chats with both IGN and StarWars.com about Star Wars cartoons past and present. Mostly The Clone Wars, of course, given the new releases.

Dueling rumors. Jedi News’ Jedi Master SQL says that with John Williams only contracted for movies, J.J. Abrams himself may compose the Rebels theme. But Making Star Wars says it will be Williams doing the theme – and something for at least one other TV show. All-righty then. UPDATE: Michael Giacchino also in the mix?

Podcasting. On that note, Full of Sith’s latest Rumor Control is out, and I’m proud to have joined regulars Bryan Young and Bobby Roberts to chat Rebels (we taped this just hours after the NYCC reveals) and the latest Episode VII news and rumors.

Alumni. Anthony Daniels teased fans about C-3PO appearing in Episode VII, per Business Insider Australia, while Disney themselves teased that the droids would “presumably” return at D23 Expo Japan. Confirmation? Not really, but it’s probably a fairly safe assumption to make.

Filoni: Remaining Clone Wars coming in “early 2014”

TCW S5: The Gathering

Dave Filoni posted on Facebook this evening that they’ve wrapped production on the remaining episodes of The Clone Wars, and that fans can expect to see them in “early 2014.” His full post:

Star Wars fans – I have some exciting news! We have wrapped production on all of the remaining Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes, and while that might be sad news in one way, it’s good news in another. It means you will finally get to see them. When, exactly, is a detail I cannot yet share. I can confirm that in early 2014 you will be watching the final episodes of The Clone Wars, including one of Master Yoda’s most challenging missions. So, get ready. We’ve got Clone Wars and Rebels coming at you in 2014. Animated Star Wars is alive and well. Trust in the Force my friends.
– Dave

Pablo Hidalgo said at the D23 Expo in August that Lucasfilm was “thinking out of the box” about distribution of the so-called “bonus context.” There’s been a rumor about Apple TV being a possible factor, but nothing has been announced.

James picks his favorite Celebration Europe moments

Go home, Greedo, you're drunk!

Here’s some of the highlights of Star Wars Celebration Europe for me. I worked the convention as part of the crew at the Celebration stage in the Grugahalle, which was a giant concert hall next door to the main convention halls, so most of my memories involve being at the Celebration stage, but really it’s all about the people that one encounters at a Star Wars convention – we’re all here because of one thing: we love Star Wars!

Continue reading “James picks his favorite Celebration Europe moments”

4 things we learned at Celebration Europe

GL, KK and JJ. (Lucasfilm)

Another year, another Celebration… And now we can rest. For a few weeks, anyway. For those of you who weren’t in Germany, who didn’t wake up before dawn to catch news out of Germany, or who maybe just had other stuff to do this weekend, here are the headlines.

“Real locations and special FX”
Kathleen Kennedy inferred that we’ll be seeing more of a mix of effects – not just the digital stuff, which is pretty much inevitable, but also some more traditional model-based effects and such as well. HitFix’s Drew McWeeny addresses this – and the staggering pressure that Episode VII has to live up to:

I love that much of what I’ve been hearing seems to match what Kennedy is saying. I’ve heard that Lawrence Kasdan is considered by everyone else in the process a pretty great resource, and a really lovely collaborator. And I’ve heard that ILM is building a lot of actual models for this film, that they plan to shoot the models and digitally composite on a much larger scale than the last trilogy. It’s an aesthetic choice, evidently, and I find it very exciting to imagine big ILM model units working to build out the world.

Kennedy knows the gig, she’s clearly taken the time to understand what’s going on with fandom – and I don’t think she’s the only one. This is, as McWeeny said, a fragmented fandom. There are a lot of voices, and the stakes for this movie, for the whole franchise, are high. Will they manage to please everyone? Probably not: There are fans who will love or hate Episode VII no matter what. But I think it’s a good sign that they’re willing to try, and that shows in what little they’re willing to tell us so far. What’s behind closed doors? Hopefully something even better.

John Williams
John WilliamsOf course this was the big ticket news out of the con, and while I understand being disappointed that we didn’t get more, it’s still rather reassuring to have Williams back on board.

There’s been some confusion about whether he’s back for just one movie – the official site says just Episode VII, but apparently onstage, Kennedy said he was coming back for all three. And maybe that’s the plan, but just not on paper yet. In any case, it’s good news.

Rebels
rebels logoWe may not have the whole enchilada yet, but Dave Filoni did give fans enough to sate their appetites, it seems. He made it clear that the style is very much based on Ralph McQuarrie, that the stories will be told in order and showed off some concept art… One of which may be Alderaan.

And the Wookiee Gunner points out that we’ve actually been seeing new ship The Ghost all along! Tricky, tricky.

Celebration VII
And we have our next convention! In all honesty, I welcome the gap: We could all use a little time and space to save, as much as Lucasfilm will need the time to prepare. Let’s not forget, the Celebrations started as a way to get fans excited about the new movies… And think how much they’ll have to show us a month or so before the thing even comes out!

The venue change isn’t much of a surprise… But I really doubt we’ve seen the last of Orlando. After all, Disney does have two theme parks.

Anaheim Convention CenterAlas, Celebration announcements always bring a round of disappointment: We all want it close to us, but there are a lot of people to please and no matter where the thing is, some folks aren’t going to be able to come. The convention center may not be as cavernous, the plane tickets may not be as cheap, etc. It’s sad but there’s no pleasing everyone, ever. We all just have to deal, one way or another, and wait to see how the experts surprise us.

But still, I’m hopeful about California and very happy with the return to the original pre-movie schedule. Hell, I might even go to the theme park for once. Might.

And remember, news hounds: Patience. They’re not going to give us everything at once. They’re going to dribble it out slowly, they’re going to deny things, the rumors will keep flying. (All this has happened before… All this will happen again.) It’s our lot to wait it out and see what emerges.

Sunday roundup: Looking forward to 2015 and Celebration VII at Celebration Europe

@starwars: A most impressive gathering of @501stLegion members at #StarWarsCelebration! As one Celebration ends, another is announced… Celebration VII (which may not be the official name, but we’re going to call it that, damnit!) is set for Anaheim, California in April 2015. Star Wars Celebration Anaheim (the official name, apparently?) will be held at the Disneyland-adjacent Anaheim Convention Center from April 16-19, reverting us back to schedules of the original Celebrations. Does this guarantee us a May release date for Episode VII? Let’s hope so. Tickets will be on sale August 7th.

What else went on in Essen today? Well, Mark Hamill spoke, and while it didn’t make the official recap, apparently he did do a voice on The Clone Wars – a Darth. But he’s also open to voicing a villain on Rebels.

Speaking of… Here’s Dave Filoni and Warwick Davis.

Other panels today included ‘The Fett-Tastic Four’ (with surprise Temeura Morrison!) and the Jabba’s Palace reunion and, of course, the closing ceremonies.

This isn’t the end of coverage – we expect the usual flood of nightly additions as folks wind down, plus more as people return home and get a chance to think, upload pictures and etc – so check back!