For a while now, animation has served as the primary source of inspiration for the “Star Wars” universe. The fact that live-action programmes developed by Lucasfilm for Disney+ have drawn inspiration from those shows brings this fact into greater relief. The animated anthology “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” extends that relationship by giving the chance to explore the backstories of minor but well-known lightsaber-wielding characters.
The fact that this most recent addition to the mythology is the work of producer Dave Filoni, who handled “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” before applying his creative mind to all things “Star Wars” to “The Mandalorian” and other live-action productions, is not particularly surprising.
Five of the six shorts were written by Filoni, and they are divided between Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano (again voiced by Ashley Eckstein), who will soon have her own live-action spinoff (played in the movies by Christopher Lee, and voiced by Corey Burton).
The episodes jump about in time, with the exception of a brief appearance of a baby Ahsoka (just in time for holiday gift-giving, kids), in an episode that depicts her home planet and its warrior spirit. There are more details on Dooku, his decision to join the evil side and leave the Jedi Order, as well as information about Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid).
The anthology structure offers the chance to jump in at several turning points dispersed throughout the “Star Wars” timeline. Each of the six episodes, which crisply range in length from 10 to 17 minutes, skillfully adds new information to our knowledge of “Star Wars” mythology by incorporating significant incidents and facts that shaped these people. Some of the developments involving Ahsoka, her relationship to Anakin Skywalker, and the events after the Clone Wars are perhaps of particular interest to fans.
For a while now, animation has served as the primary source of inspiration for the “Star Wars” universe. The fact that live-action programmes developed by Lucasfilm for Disney+ have drawn inspiration from those shows brings this fact into greater relief. The animated anthology “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” extends that relationship by giving the chance to explore the backstories of minor but well-known lightsaber-wielding characters.
The fact that this most recent addition to the mythology is the work of producer Dave Filoni, who handled “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” before applying his creative mind to all things “Star Wars” to “The Mandalorian” and other live-action productions, is not particularly surprising.
Five of the six shorts were written by Filoni, and they are divided between Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano (again voiced by Ashley Eckstein), who will soon have her own live-action spinoff (played in the movies by Christopher Lee, and voiced by Corey Burton).
The episodes jump about in time, with the exception of a brief appearance of a baby Ahsoka (just in time for holiday gift-giving, kids), in an episode that depicts her home planet and its warrior spirit. There are more details on Dooku, his decision to join the evil side and leave the Jedi Order, as well as information about Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid).
The anthology structure offers the chance to jump in at several turning points dispersed throughout the “Star Wars” timeline. Each of the six episodes, which crisply range in length from 10 to 17 minutes, skillfully adds new information to our knowledge of “Star Wars” mythology by incorporating significant incidents and facts that shaped these people. Some of the developments involving Ahsoka, her relationship to Anakin Skywalker, and the events after the Clone Wars are perhaps of particular interest to fans.
In this way, Filoni and team have created inside this animation bundle essentially a shortened version of what Lucasfilm did with “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” painstakingly wrapping these beautiful small stories around the main movies. As shown in the “Star Wars: Visions” anime shorts that debuted last year, animation has also evolved into a platform for more creativity.
Given that Lucasfilm has been very careful in terms of igniting fresh sparks, the criticism levelled at these projects is that they serve as a sort of super-service for the “Star Wars” fans, rekindling old fires and comfortably drowning them in the past.
While generally valid, it is rather unrelated to the current issue. Because if you’re going to do something that’s mockingly referred to as “fan service” in “Star Wars,” then by all means, do it this well and slickly.
Disney+ will debut “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” on October 26.