First Look: The Next 'Star Wars' Is Animated 'War'
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is an animated prequel to "Revenge of the Sith."
Feb. 12, 2008 — -- You had better start waiting in line now, "Star Wars" fans. A new movie is headed to theaters.
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is set to open Aug. 15, with all the familiar characters from the prequel trilogy and one big difference: The saga is computer-animated.
The feature film, chronicling the wartime adventures of a pre-Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, takes place immediately before the events in 2005's Revenge of the Sith. It serves as a kickoff for the half-hour animated TV series planned for fall on the Cartoon Network and TNT.
"I felt there were a lot more 'Star Wars' stories left to tell," creator George Lucas said in a statement. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation."
In this film, Anakin and Obi-Wan are trying to hold together the galactic republic, split apart by war between a separatist robot army and the good-guy white-armored clones. (They later become the bad-guy Stormtroopers.)
The Jedi also are aligned with a new studio. Though 20th Century Fox released the previous "Star Wars" movies, this film comes from Warner Bros., corporate sibling of Cartoon Network and TNT. Lucasfilm Animation is producing both the film and TV series and has created 30 episodes.
Among revelations in the film: Anakin has a padawan (or Jedi apprentice) named Ahsoka, says "Clone Wars" director Dave Filoni, adding a new wrinkle to established lore.
"George is our guide," Filoni says. "He's the creator of the Star Wars universe, so we couldn't have a better mentor."
