www.cbr.com/star-wars-clone-wars-panel-sdcc-2018/SDCC: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Panel Brings Memories — and a Big Surprise
Fans received a welcome surprise on Thursday at Comic-Con International in San Diego during the 10th-anniversary panel for Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The beloved animated series will at long last receive a proper conclusion with 12 new episodes, destined for Disney’s upcoming streaming service.
Airing from 2008 to 2013, The Clone Wars defined an era of the Star Wars saga, recounting events that unfolded in the three years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The series ended prematurely, leaving creator Dave Filoni to pick up dangling threads — most notably, the fate of the beloved character Ahsoka Tano — in its animated successor, Star Wars Rebels. With Thursday’s announcement, teased with the hashtag #CloneWarsSaved, the franchise faithful will finally will finally get what they’ve wanted for the past five years.
Filoni was joined for the Comic-Con panel by series producer Athena Portillo, voice actors Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano) and Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), and series composer Kevin Kiner.
The panel began appropriately, with the audience getting a rare look at the first trailer ever shown for The Clone Wars. “It was hard to find at Lucasfilm,” Filoni said. “We had to go through, I couldn’t tell you how many drives to find that thing.”
But of course, Filoni had more than an old trailer to bring to the anniversary celebration. As the panelists reminisced, Filoni’s sketches and concept art were displayed for the audience, showing how some characters and storylines originally looked before tempered by the realities of television animation.
A key figure in keeping Filoni’s ambitions in check was Portillo, who was working on another series before Filoni convinced her to join him on the Dark Side. “Your license plate said ‘Jedi96,'” Filoni recalled. “So I Palpatined you away. We needed your help. There was no doubt we needed you.”
Some of the concept art revealed Filoni’s thoughts during early production, which included a set of characters strikingly familiar to the cast of Star Wars Rebels. Filoni initially assumed that film characters like Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi would be off-limits, but instead George Lucas intended the show to expand upon their big-screen adventures.
Lucas himself would work with the writers to develop an entire season’s worth of scripts in a matter of weeks. “It was really fun,” Filoni said. “And I think it was fun for him to be teaching Star Wars to us every day.”
Naturally, in order to tell the further adventures of Anakin Skywalker, the series needed to find the right actor to give him voice. Lanter wasn’t the original actor, but when he was brought in, his interactions with the rest of the cast helped him to secure the role.
“I had you come in with Ashley and Cat [Catherine Taber], and I was really paying attention to what happened when he walked into the room,” said Filoni, who was looking for somebody to embody Anakin’s friendly demeanor. “Matt, when he walked in, he’s just that likable a person.”
Creating a show that expands on the Star Wars universe without undermining its core concepts was central to every aspect of the design philosophy, including the music. Composer Kevin Kiner described the challenge of adapting the classical influences of John Williams’ original score to the new situations the show offered. “It’s a time when I really get to stretch,” he said.
The cast and crew had nothing but kind words for each other, embarrassing Filoni with compliments as he hid under his signature hat.
“There’s so many people that contributed on Clone Wars in so many ways,” he said. “They all deserve to be here talking about what they did.”
One actor who received special recognition was the late Ian Abercrombie, who voiced the devious Chancellor Palpatine until his death in 2012. Remembered as a gentleman who loved to tell stories to the cast and crew, Abercrombie was also respected for the effort he put into portraying the dual nature of the Sith Lord.
“He put so much thought into it,” Filoni said. “He would have it thought all through when he wanted to show shades of being Sidious and when he wanted to pull back.”
Although The Clone Wars was largely without a central protagonist, it could be said that Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s Jedi padawan, was the breakout character. Eckstein reflected on how playing the role changed her life, saying, “Literally, within a week, I had fan mail from around the world. And then the bad is that people hated Ahsoka at first!”
That Ahsoka’s early appearances didn’t endear her to audiences was a source of frustration for Eckstein, who knew that the character would grow into something different but couldn’t tell anybody.
“We were always a season ahead and I knew where Ahsoka was going, so I asked friends for patience,” she said. “I think she turned out OK, right?” Cheers from the audience confirmed Eckstein’s statement as the panel recalled the emotional conclusion of her time with the series.
“I recorded these episodes and I felt like my heart was beating out of my chest because I was really saying goodbye to these guys for a little while,” Eckstein said.
After an hour of reminiscing about the series, the presentation concluded a video that many may has assumed was a tribute to the canceled series, but was instead a teaser containing new footage. By the end, the implication was clear: Star Wars: The Clone Wars isn’t finished after all.
“So, we’re back,” a nonchalant Filoni said after the cheers subsided. “I wasn’t sure if we could ever do it again,” he continued, “but I think the good will that you guys have had to believe in the show has had an effect on the crew and they are so intense about making this thing for you.”