Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an Emmy Award-winning American 3D CGI animated television series created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation with the division Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, Lucasfilm and CGCG Inc. The series debuted on Cartoon Network on October 3, 2008,and from August 17, 2013 to September 20, 2014, Star Wars: The Clone Wars aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series also previously aired on Toonami Jetstream in 2008.

It is set in the Star Wars universe, during the same time period as the previous 2D-animated Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series (the three-year time period between the Star Wars films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith). Each episode has a running time of 22 minutes, to fill a half-hour time slot. In 2007, Star Wars creator George Lucas stated "there will be at least 100 episodes produced [about five seasons]". Dave Filoni is the supervising director of the series. Genndy Tartakovsky, director of the first Clone Wars series, was not involved with the production, but character designer Kilian Plunkett referred to the character designs from the 2D series when designing the characters for the 3D series. There is also an online comic, depicting story-snippets between the single episodes. The series is rated TV-PG-V on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

The first trailer for the series was released on the official Star Wars website on May 8, 2007. The series was launched with an animated feature film, which was released in theaters on August 15, 2008. Season 2 ended on April 30, 2010. Season 3 premiered on September 17, 2010, with the complete second season releasing on Blu-ray Disc and DVD October 26, 2010. Season 4 premiered on September 16, 2011 with the Complete Season 3 on Blu-ray Disc and DVD released October 18, 2011. The fourth season was released for Blu-ray Disc and DVD release on October 23, 2012. Season 5 premiered on September 29, 2012 with a new time slot of 9:30 A.M. PT/ET.

In March 2013, following the Disney acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, Lucasfilm announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be "winding down". While new "story arcs" are still in development, the series has been effectively cancelled. Lucasfilm has referred to the remaining produced episodes as "bonus content", stating that further information would be forthcoming on how these episodes will be made available to the public. Several storylines from The Clone Wars have since been continued in the new Disney XD animated series Star Wars Rebels.

In January 2014, a German TV network, Super RTL, issued a press release stating that the previously unaired final episodes of the series will be broadcast as a "sixth season" by the network starting on February 15, 2014. The press release also states that each following week a block of several new episodes, covering a complete story arc, will be broadcast. The first story arc was broadcast on February 15, 2014. The sixth season episodes were made available for streaming on Netflix, along with the entirety of the series, beginning on March 7, 2014.

Plot

As the Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, the heroic Jedi Knights struggle to maintain order and restore peace. More and more systems are falling prey to the forces of the dark side as the Galactic Republic slips further and further under the sway of the Separatists and their never-ending droid army. On the front lines of the Clone Wars the Jedi Order leads the massive clone army in a valiant effort to resist the forces of the dark side.

Characters

As with the previous Clone Wars micro-series, most of the characters from the Star Wars prequel trilogy make appearances in this Clone Wars series, but most of the series is centered around the Jedi Knights (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Yoda, etc.) and their roles in the battles of the Clone Wars that take place between the prequel films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Some new characters were introduced in this series, such as Ahsoka Tano and Cad Bane.

Broadcast History

Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on October 3, 2008 at 9 PM on Cartoon Network.[3] On Cartoon Network the series was shown in a 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio, cropped from its original aspect ratio (OAR) of 2.35:1 (as seen in the UK Sky Premiere screenings). The show began airing on Adult Swim on March 14, 2009, making the series the first Cartoon Network series to simultaneously air on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Star Wars: The Clone Wars also aired from January 15, 2009 to March 26, 2009 on TNT, making it the first animated series aired on the channel in over a decade.

An August 29, 2012 news release by the producers announced that the Season 5 premiere would be broadcast September 29, 2012 with episodes continuing weekly on Saturday mornings at 9:30 AM. Also announced was that Seasons 1 & 2 would be entering syndication in September 2012. It would be broadcast for the first time outside of the Turner Broadcasting System cable networks and for the first time over-the-air in the US. A state-by-state list of local television stations and broadcast times was also released. Trifecta Entertainment and Media announced that they will be handling U.S distribution.

When The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm, they announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would be cancelled to focus on the new Star Wars sequel trilogy and the new Star Wars Rebels animated series. In January 2014, a German TV network, Super RTL, issued a press release stating that the previously unaired final episodes of the series will be broadcast as a "sixth season" by the network starting on February 15, 2014. The press release also stated that each following week a block of several new episodes, covering a complete story arc, would be broadcast. The first story arc was broadcast on February 15, 2014. The sixth season episodes were made available for streaming on Netflix, along with the entirety of the series, beginning on March 7, 2014.

United States (Cartoon Network) - October 3, 2008 - 2013 United States (TNT) - January 15, 2009 - March 26, 2009 United States (Adult Swim) - March 14, 2009; August 17, 2013 - September 20, 2014[2] Germany (Super RTL) - February 15, 2014 - 2014