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. It is set in the fictional Star Wars galaxy, during the same time period as the previous 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars series (the three-year time period between the films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: 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 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, 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 canceled. 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.
On August 17, 2013, Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series previously aired on Toonami Jetstream, the online Toonami streaming site.
Thirteen episodes composing a new sixth season were made available in the U.S. for streaming on Netflix, along with the entirety of the series, beginning March 7, 2014. A project known as The Clone Wars Legacy adapted unproduced story arcs into other formats, such as comics and novels. The series was revived for a seventh and final season of 12 new episodes, which premiered on Disney+ on February 21, 2020.
Star Wars Rebels, released during the hiatus between the sixth and seventh seasons of The Clone Wars, continues the character arcs of several characters introduced in The Clone Wars after the events of the series, including Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano, and Maul. Star Wars: The Bad Batch, a spin-off sequel series centering on the titular batch of clones introduced in the seventh season, was announced on July 13, 2020; it will be set in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War.
Plot
Star Wars: The Clone Wars follows the Republic’s clone army in their struggle against Count Dooku’s Separatist forces, and features fan-favorite characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and Darth Maul.
Characters
Most of the characters from Star Wars Episodes 1-3 make appearances in the series, but most of the series is centered around the Jedi Knights and Separatist characters such as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, etc. Some new characters were introduced such as Ahsoka Tano, Cad Bane, and many more.
Heroes
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Anakin Skywalker
- Ahsoka Tano
- Mace Windu
- Yoda
- Kit Fisto
- Nahdar Vebb
- Ki-Adi-Mundi
- Eeth Koth
- Adi Gallia
Villains
- Count Dooku
- Asajj Ventress
- General Grievous
- Mar Tuuk
- Wat Tambor
- Lott Dodd
- Nute Gunray
- Osi Sobeck
- Riff Tamson
Episodes
- Main article: Star Wars: The Clone Wars/Episodes
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 108 episode American 3D CGI animated television series created by Lucasfilm Animation, Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, and CGCG Inc. After viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on a big screen, the production team decided to weave the first few planned episodes together to form a theatrical release. Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, and Samuel L. Jackson reprised their roles as Count Dooku, C-3PO, and Mace Windu, respectively, from the live action films.
Seasons one through four consists of 22 episodes and season five contains 20 episodes. George Lucas has said he would like to make at least 100 episodes, regardless of the ratings, a quest he has fulfilled. A repeat of season one aired in "decoded" episode format. Each installment contained unobtrusive text windows giving supplemental information about the characters and events playing out on screen.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on October 3, 2008 at 9 PM on Cartoon Network. The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network is 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. This show was the first animation aired on that channel in over a decade.
It was announced was that Seasons 1 & 2 would be entering syndication in September 2012. It broadcasted for the first time outside of the Turner Broadcasting System cable networks and for the first time over-the-air in the USA. A state-by-state list of local television stations and broadcast times was also released. Trifecta Entertainment and Media handled distribution, though this was unsuccessful as it aired during the graveyard hours.