tcw: bonus content – Page 4

April 30, 2013May 3, 2013

One of the remaining Clone Wars arcs features Plo Koon, mystery of Sifo-Dyas

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.

April 12, 2013May 3, 2013

Saving The Clone Wars

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.

March 24, 2013May 3, 2013

Report: Clone Wars ‘bonus content’ to be two arcs

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.

Which makes me wonder what reaction they were watching, because it seemed pretty outraged to me: Yesterday’s #SaveTheCloneWars protest drew over 7,000 tweets in 24 hours.

March 20, 2013May 3, 2013

Reports: Lucasfilm Animation layoffs forthcoming

tcw-obi

There have been multiple reports that layoffs are on the way for Lucasfilm Animation in the wake of the cancellation of The Clone Wars.

If this does pan out, it’s not particularly surprising: Our own Stooge predicted the end of Lucasfilm Animation last week. Alas, as sad as it is, it only makes sense that Disney would eliminate a department that’s redundant to their own extensive resources. Our pal Bryan at Big Shiny Robot has a level-headed examination of the yet-unconfirmed moves:

But renewed calls to panic in this case aren’t justified. This seems wholly consistent with the plan we were upset about a week ago. What’s being done to The Clone Wars is unfair, both to the fans and the artists who create the show, and it will never hurt to voice your support, but being upset at a cat for eating a mouse (or in this case a giant mouse eating a television show) is to deny the nature of the thing.

That said, the letter-writing campaign that’s being pushed is far from useless: If you enjoyed The Clone Wars then, yes, make your voice heard. It may be too late to turn back the clock for Clone Wars, but it might make a difference for the remaining episodes, or show that there’s enough interest to sustain another show.

But it’s also time to sit down, take a deep breath, and make sure you’re presenting your case in a calm and rational manner. Panic only breeds more panic, and that’s not the kind of statement that’s going to make a good impression on the higher-ups at Disney – or anyone else.

UPDATE: The good news is, Bryan got word from Lucasfilm that the ‘bonus content’ that was promised – and deeply doubted – “will absolutely be made available to fans.”

March 14, 2013May 3, 2013

Roundup: Reacting to Lucasfilm Animation’s new direction and The Clone Wars ending

Monday’s announcement that Lucasfilm was taking its animation division in a new direction, focusing on exploring a new series while bringing a graceful end for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a hard stop for Detours, brought out a lot of mixed feelings from fans. Many, like Stooge and me, were sad and angry to see The Clone Wars get shut down at its peak. I’ve rounded up reactions from the voice cast of the show, as well as from bloggers and entertainment reporters.

Continue reading “Roundup: Reacting to Lucasfilm Animation’s new direction and The Clone Wars ending”

March 12, 2013May 3, 2013

Disturbance in the Force: Reacting to the end of The Clone Wars

Yesterday’s announcement that Lucasfilm Animation will be wrapping up The Clone Wars with some bonus content but not a full sixth season, while preparing for a new series was not a big surprise, but it was still a sad piece of news for me and other fans of the show.

Stooge and I are both big fans and have a lot of thoughts and feelings about The Clone Wars and its winding down. So I asked Stooge to share his opinion and I’m tacking on my own reaction to this all, using Stooge’s points as a start. Continue reading “Disturbance in the Force: Reacting to the end of The Clone Wars“

March 11, 2013May 3, 2013

Confirmed: Lucasfilm Animation to ‘wind down’ The Clone Wars, postpone Detours, planning new series

StarWars.com has confirmed yesterday’s report, more or less. Lucasfilm Animation is going to “pursue a new direction in animated programming.” This is intriguing:

We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come.

As for The Clone Wars, they’re going to “wind down the series,” and continue production on “new Clone Wars story arcs.” So sounds like we haven’t seen the last of the series, even as it’s ending.

Looking at the announcement closely, they don’t call the “wind down” season six, but instead call it “bonus content” which means that probably we may not see the entire season’s worth of episodes, but simply several story arcs that are either the best material or the ones already furthest in the pipeline.

In the announcement, there’s a video with Dave Filoni discussing the future of the show, saying “the best is yet to come”, and brings out a long video clip of an upcoming story arc that focuses on clone programming, Order 66, and the return of the spidery Admiral Trench.

As for Detours:

Detours was conceived and produced before we decided to move forward with the new Star Wars trilogy, and in the wake of that decision, Lucasfilm has reconsidered whether launching an animated comedy prior to the launch of Episode VII makes sense. As a result, we’ve decided to postpone the release of Detours until a later date.

Well, not going to cry over that one, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see whatever’s been completed pop up as specials somewhere.