The biggest problem, as
relatives, friends, co-workers…people I randomly pass on the street…will tell
you is- I can’t stop talking and/or writing about Star Wars.
My daughter wanted to
see the other films with me again.
That’s my girl!
This happily removed the
idea to fill my obsession by rewatching the movies every night while I
exercise. Luckily I stumbled upon recent
Star Wars Cartoons that are acting as an excellent filler of that time. My
daughter wants to see them as well, which could have caused a similar issue as
her wanting to see the films. However, since I have only seen these stories
once, as opposed to annually since I was in grammar school, multiple viewings
are less of a burden.
And to be honest, if I
didn’t find these shows, watching the films twice in a short period of time
wouldn’t be a burden either.
It’s amazing I haven’t
seen either of the two newest Star Wars series given three key points:
1) It’s a total of seven
and a half seasons (and counting) of expertly crafted cartoons that have
captured the flavor of the characters and settings of this universe.
2) It’s Star Wars.
3) It’s me!
I believe it was my past
experiences with ink and paint club versions of a Galaxy Far, Far Away that
kept me from noticing these new ones.
The first animated Star
Wars came as part of one of the earliest Expanded Universe pieces on November
17, 1978. In fact, discounting Splinter of the Mind’s Eye it was the
ONLY bit of Expanded Universe in existence. While it’s commonly held that the
cartoon in that infamous Star Wars Holiday
Special was the “best part” due to the introduction of Boba Fett, one must
remember what that “bestness” was being compared to.
Unless Harrison Ford
shares some genetic connection with The Tick, those characters were severely
off model. In fact, the whole notion of
that section being the worthwhile part of the special should give all the
younger fans a clue how cool the unknown factor made Boba Fett before we saw
him as a chortling and eventually sad, lonely child.
Again, relativity needs
to be taken into account. Their mid-eighties competition (after the awesomeness earlier in the decade of stuff like Thundarr faded) was mind bogglingly inane inventions like Turbo Teen: the adventures of a were-sports-car who transformed
based on temperature.
The Star Wars
shows were cute and well produced, but clearly aimed at a younger demographic
than us first generation fans.
Despite the Expanded
Universe expanding into every possible medium (comics, novels, radio, computer
games, card games, underwear…etc.) the cartoon front stayed silent until well
into the prequel era.
Because that film hadn’t
been released, the show was prevented from any major reveals.
Because each episode was
only three to five minutes in length, ramping up to a whopping fifteen in the
third season, it didn’t grab my complex narrative loving attention.
Amazingly, while I
usually have the attention span of a …what was I saying?
Anyway, I have a great
deal more patience for well woven world building and tale spinning than I do
for reality.
When I heard they were
returning to this period in 2008, it also didn’t catch my interest. This is why I’m playing vast amounts of catch
up now in this masterfully well crafted and entertaining series.
YAY NETFLIX!
Attack
of the Clones gave us
the beginning of a galaxy spanning war, featuring battles involving Jedi that
didn’t understand group military tactics and a hint of massive scale Clone
versus Droid conflicts.
Revenge
of the Sith gave us
the final moments of that war, when the meshing of Jedi powers and clone combat
skills was shattered by Order 66.
Both films gave us a
peek at a large number of Jedi, none of which were on screen long enough to do
more than look kinda cool, and prove they needed those Troopers to train them
in small unit operations if they were going to survive on battlefields.
The
Clone Wars series
filled the in between time with a large pile of awesome. It was overflowing with Jedi at the height of
their powers commanding genetically designed for combat clone troopers against
an ever widening away of battle droids. Each group received an entourage of ships,
vehicles and weapons that were frosting on the blue milkshake.
The creative minds
behind this show realized the massive opportunities such a diverse background
gave them. Troops were shown using
clever and effective combined arms strategies in both space and land
battles. Each Jedi displayed varied
approaches to lightsaber wielding, group combat and diplomacy as fitting their
personality and experience.
The villains were equally well executed. Count Dooku works far better as a behind the scenes commander that maintains his dueling skills than an acrobatic flip monkey. Amazing voice work there as well. So amazing that when the brought Christopher Lee in to re-dub Dooku's lines when they switched the opening from a TV pilot to a theatrical release, he heard what had already been recorded and asked, "Why do you need me?" Asajj Ventress plays the role of his Dark Side assassin as befitting a Count who wouldn't always sully his own hands. Lastly, the idea of General Grevious being a competent coward plays more clearly over multiple appearances, and also adds weight to Obi Wan's final confrontation with him due to their past meetings.
The writers used the full extent of available settings and story types to weave stories over the giant canvas at their disposal. (Or should that be “giant loom?” I think I dropped my metaphor.)
Though somewhat stylized
(albeit far less than in the previous show of the same name) the art beautifully
showcased the vast array of different planetary terrains and outer space
environments only hinted at in the films.
As for stories
themselves, they ran the gamut of original and referential ideas, proving yet
again that Science Fiction is a setting, not a genre.
In the second season
alone there was:
A Hitchockian tale of
suspense and intrigue hinting at past forbidden romance.
A submarine analogy
An homage to the Seven Samurai
A TV detective type
murder mystery
A gunfighter becomes a
farmer western
A hostage drama
A Kaiju film
Full scale, multiple
front and tiered battles.
And interpersonal
conflicts about honor, bonding, responsibility and destiny.
More on the new Shows
Next Week!
Always leave em wanting
you to shut the heck up about Star Wars already…
Er…
I mean, Always leave em
wanting more!
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