Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
As predicted, The Clone Wars season 5 DVD and Blu-rays and a full-series box set were announced at Celebration Europe today. The S5 sets will have all 20 episodes, plus two as director’s cuts. Suggested retail is $59.97 for Blu-ray and $49.98 for DVD.
The complete S1-5 box set, dubbed a ‘Collector’s Edition,’ has a suggested retail of $149.99 for Blu-ray and $119.98 for DVD.
Both sets will be out October 15.
And for further details from the panel at Celebration, head to Star Wars Underworld.
Fans at Celebration Europe will have the chance to see a special directors cut of the Darth Maul arc from season five of The Clone Wars, Reed annouced today. There’ll be Friday and Saturday screenings of the recut arc, which features the episodes “Revival,” “Eminence,” “Shades of Reason,” and “The Lawless.”
There will also be a ‘Secrets of Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ panel with Dave Filoni held Friday on Pablo Hidalgo’s Behind-The-Scenes Stage.
The Clone Wars brought home the gold at the Daytime Emmys, presented over this past weekend, taking home two awards: Outstanding Special Class Animated Program, and Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for David Tennant as the voice of Huyang, the droid who mentors Jedi younglings in constructing lightsabers.
At the main Daytime Emmy presentation on Sunday, Carrie Fisher presented the Animated Program award to George Lucas, Dave Filoni, Cary Silver and Athena Portillo for the Animated Program win. Fisher did slip in reference to dropping acid, while George had his own slip of the tongue.
David Tennant’s award was given out on Friday at the Creative Arts presentation and Dave Filoni remarked on Tennant’s tenure on Doctor Who as a reason to cast him as the droid: “I absolutely loved what David Tenant was doing on Doctor Who. There was such a quizzical nature to his character, a sense of whimsy, but he could still get very powerful emotion out of the character — a lot of intensity, a lot of anger — just an incredible display of range.”
After switching to Saturday mornings for its final season, The Clone Wars was eligible for Daytime Emmys and earned seven nominations after the show’s cancellation.
Earlier this week we saw the announcement of a new animated series, Star Wars Rebels. With Dave Filoni on board, joined by Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Young Justice) and spin-off screenwriter Simon Kinberg and a new look based on the art of Ralph McQuarrie? Exciting times.
Here are my thoughts on why it’s a good thing:
Continue reading “3 things to think about with Star Wars Rebels”
Well, here’s your new animated series: Star Wars: Rebels, set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope just as heavily speculated. It’s helmed by Dave Filoni, Greg Weisman and Simon Kinberg and will be coming in Fall 2014.
The action-filled series is set between the events of Episode III and IV — an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen. Star Wars Rebels takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape. Details about the show are a closely guarded secret at this point.
The show will debut with an hour-long special on the Disney Channel before moving to Disney XD for the duration.
Fans will get a first look at the show at Celebration Europe.
In this very short video clip posted by @StarWars, Dave Filoni shows off a vintage TIE fighter toy. It’s for research! We do know he’s been playing with TIEs lately..
Yakface offers up a theory:
@starwars Hmmm… What if the new @dave_filoni animated series was based of off the vintage toy sculpts/molds #headexplodes
— Yakface.com (@yak_face) May 15, 2013
Well, it’s better than Thunderbirds, anyway!
Other than that he’s simply drawing TIE fighters, that is?
It’s hard to believe that I have worked at Lucasfilm almost eight years, and this is the first time I have ever gotten to draw a TIE fighter.
Just doodling, or a hint at this nebulous new show?
EDIT: Filoni also released a different sketch of a TIE on Twitter:
Note that this TIE (though incomplete) has its wing struts at a slightly different angle (which, if using the regular hexagonal wing shape, would have the wing panels touch the ground at a point rather than a bottom edge). Did he realize his goof on the original TIE design and stop with the sketch… or is this a new TIE design?
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.
In a Rebel Force Radio interview that will go live tomorrow, Dave Filoni says he’s still with Lucasfilm Animation and touches on the next Star Wars series. IGN’s Eric Goldman has the report:
“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.
It’s brief, but TVLine has a report from the Disney Channel upfront yesterday:
Disney Channels Worldwide boss Gary Marsh also said the company is “working closely with LucasFilm, Kathleen Kennedy and director Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) to explore new Star Wars content for our platforms,” to be detailed later this year.
It does echo the announcement from the other day, but any port in a storm. (via)
What would you like to see Filoni and company explore? Head beneath the cut for a poll!
Continue reading “Dave Filoni “exploring new Star Wars content” for Disney?”