Star Wars Animation and Live Action Series: I'm Not a Fan of Dave Filoni But I'm Coming Around

The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 9,
Old Friends Not Forgotten.

From the outside looking in Dave Filoni seems to be the keeper of the Star Wars Universe, outside of the feature films - though his influence is definitely heading that way as well.

If you're not aware Filoni has been mostly the creative vision, and driving force behind Star Wars animation since he co-developed The Clone Wars Animated series with George Lucas, long before Disney bought the Star Wars franchise.

Other animated Star Wars series he's been key to include; The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Resistance, and Star Wars: Forces of Destiny.

Ever since he was invited to help develop Jon Favreau's live action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett, characters from Filoni's animated shows have been crossing into live action. So much so that Filoni has written and directed entire episodes featuring his animated cross-over characters. The entire third season of The Mandalorian could have been called 'The Book of Bo-Katan Kryze' - a Mandalorian character played by Katee Sackhoff in both animation and live action.

It is because Filioni has had so much input into the live action shows - noting that the upcoming (as I write this) live action series, Ahsoka, is being viewed as a continuation of Star Wars: Rebels - that I decided to go back and watch all of the animated shows.

While I had previously watched all of The Clone Wars up to season five, that was pretty much where I parted ways with Star Wars animation. I didn't like the show as much as I would've hoped because it was set between the second and third prequel films - still two of my most least liked films of the Star Wars Saga.

This time I didn't go back and watch each series in chronological order. I decided to give The Bad Batch another go after initially watching the first episode when released and not really getting into it. I then watched the last two seasons of The Clone Wars (Season 7 is the best of all of these shows and I'd strongly suggest watching that before The Bad Batch - which is a spin off from Season 7). Next I went to Rebels, and finally Resistance.

Note that I had already watched all of Forces of Destiny but that show is more of a fun aside than essential viewing since the episodes are so short.

Dave Filoni - 2010
Image: Wikipedia.org

Watching all of Filoni's animated shows, he definitely has a formula of four or five archetype characters he throws together. Usually the smart one, the wise experienced hero, the goof ball, the muscle, and a droid (because it's Star Wars). Sometimes he mixes up the combinations but you can see them if you squint.

The shows themselves are often difficult to get into at the start because the characters are new. They tend to potter around in their corner of the universe, as we get to know them, before they start to bump into bigger themes and characters of the Star Wars universe overall. That's usually when the shows become interesting.

I was most reminded of this most, watching Star Wars: Resistance, which had to overcome a new animation style from the previous series, as well as a time jump into the rise of The First Order period (which I liked once that became more part of the story, because the main character really is the 'Mr Bean' of spies and is just awful).

My viewing of the Filoni-verse (as it is often referred to) was helped greatly by watching it projected large on a wall using a mini digital projector. Somehow watching cartoons on a big screen is way more engaging than regular TV or a mobile device.

Overall, I wouldn't call myself a fan of Dave Filoni's Star Wars. I particularly don't like that his animated shows have kind of hijacked the live action shows. After seeing Andor, while I was frustrated that so many episodes early on seemed to drag, that series matured into a story that was really worth going through the frustration. I'd like more of that. Filoni's Star Wars kind of pales by comparison.

That said, Filoni's Star Wars isn't bad by any means. I'm definitely coming around. I just hope he doesn't become the only game in town and we continue to get other creative voices adding their vision into the Star Wars universe too. Filoni is great for the more mainstream, action based, stories that keeps a majority of fans engaged. However, every once in a while, we need an Andor to remind us there's more to Star Wars than light sabers and space battles.

Comments

TV Series Review: Skeleton Crew (2024) (Disney+) No Spoilers

I f you saw the trailer for Skeleton Crew and decided the show looked too much like Star Wars for little kids, and didn't watch, you missed out on a real treat. While I will say this show was definitely targeted at bringing in younger fans to the Star Wars universe, it is very much more like family viewing than kids only TV. Not to mention, characters are literally gunned down or murdered on this show, but without the really graphic violence you might see on a more adult orientated show. It's actually no more kid only orientated than the first series of Stranger Things (2016), or even the original Star Wars (1977) movie. In fact the whole show is a not so subtle homage to original Star Wars (1977), Treasure Island (1950), and eighties movies like The Goonies (1985), ET (1982), Explorers (1985) and others. The plot is very straight forward. A group of children, living in the Star Wars equivalent of the suburbs, find an aband...

I'm Confused About Why People Prefer to Say Discombobulated?

D iscombobulated. Is a word that I think someone rediscovered about three or four years ago (maybe more because the pandemic years have thrown out my sense of time) and now I hear it a lot. It's not a new word by any means, but when I started hearing multiple celebrities using it in everyday sentences, I actively had to look up what it meant. Define it with as many synonyms as you like but essentially it's just another word meaning 'confused'. Seinfeld Quotes: Quotes.net The words are pretty much interchangeable. He was discombobulated by too many choices. He was confused by too many choices. My confusion is the length of the word. It's unnecessarily long with too many syllables. There are many other words that mean confused, and therefore also mean discombobulated. Most of them are shorter and easier to say. So why not just say 'confused'? Perhaps discombobulated sounds more intelligent, maybe? Hawaii Five-0 Quotes: Quotes.net I've noticed it gets us...

TV Series Review: Creature Commandos (2024) No Spoilers

O fficially, Creature Commandos is the first show of James Gunn's kind of reboot of the DCU. Technically though, it starts with James Gunn's, The Suicide Squad , and includes his series, Peacemaker , as the events of both are either referenced or felt within the show. Potentially that means Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn in the DCU, but I'd be surprised if she would even want another crack at it, let alone that James didn't recast the role. However that's a whole other rabbit hole for a character that may not appear again for at least a few more years. Creature Commandos is Suicide Squad but with monsters, and no real threat of Suicide - well, having your head blown off if you stray from the mission at least. Though I don't recall that being a thing in Gunn's Suicide Squad movie since the team was renamed 'Task Force X'? Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) somehow still has a job, but is no longer allowed to use humans on her team, so she assembles a team of...

TV Series Review: The Penguin (2024) No Spoilers

W hile we wait for an eternity (well an eternity in movie fan years anyway) for The Batman Part 2 , sequel to Matt Reeves acclaimed, The Batman (2022), we have, what is essentially a direct sequel with The Penguin , a limited. eight episode, TV Series set within a week or two of the end of the first film. Unfortunately it's a direct sequel to Colin Farrell's Penguin rather than Robert Pattinson's, Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fortunately that's the only real disappointment I have with this series. Right from the first episode The Penguin establishes itself as a show for grown ups who enjoy actual character development, that hooks you in, is thought provoking, and raises questions that you expect will be answered as the story unfolds. After the events of The Batman, there is something of a power vacuum left in Gotham's crime world that Oswald 'Oz' Cobb a.k.a. The Penguin, sets out to fill using his experience, quick thinking, and his ability to hustle his way into...

Real Flying Car Prototypes That Look Like What the Movies Promised - Ace VTOL GT Slipstream, Alef Model A, and the Bellwether Flying Cars

Ace eVTOL GT Slipstream Flying Car. I've been a little obsessed with flying cars of late and I thought I was done with the subject for now but then Google News put flying car company, Ace Vtol , based out of Perth, Western Australia in front of me. How could I not take a look? The GT Slipstream's next-generation Arc Reaction Engines. Images: Ace Vtol website. Especially when their flying car, the Ace eVTOL GT Slipstream , kind of looks like a regular car (in terms of size and shape) and has engines that look like they're straight out of a sci-fi movie. Even more surprising is you can actually pre-order one of these vehicles . Ace Vtol has done a USD$250 million deal with Palm Beach, FL based Aeroauto , the leading retailer of eVTOL vehicles in the United States to sell the craft to future owners. The GT Slipstream is described on Ace Vtol's website as follows: The aircraft, named the GT Slipstream, is a two-seater flying “muscle” car that will reach spee...

Introducing Resident Dragon: The Trials and Tribulations of Living in a Shared House with a Dragon in the Suburbs

Resident Dragon Cast: TET, Red the Dragon Cool Froyd the Cat, and Grrr Dog. Buy Prints of finished toons . L ast year (2024), for my birthday in May, my sister bought me a quality, metal bodied, ball point pen (black ink). As someone who likes to sketch with ball point pens, and with a big concern that these last few years I really wasn't drawing as much as someone who considers themselves to be an artist should, I decided to put the pen to good use. In June of the same year I bought two A5 sketchbooks and spent as much time as I needed to fill a page with ball point pen 'doodles', each morning after breakfast. I'm predominantly a cartoonist who's always drawn from imagination, so filling a page in a sketch book is not a challenge. I just draw a line, or a circle, or whatever and see what emerges. Filling Sketch Books Just to Draw More Filling an A5 sketchbook page would take me about 20-25 minutes. I drew all kinds of random things, occasionally using the time to...

The Path to Becoming a Successful Visual Artist Selling Work for Thousands, or Even Millions of Dollars

I'm calling this, 'Stand Up Comedian'. Image by Leonardo.ai and TET. I consider myself to be a successful working artist. I use the term 'working' quite loosely but basically what I mean is I work for myself, I earn money from my art or knowledge, and most of my time I can create art that interests me. I've never been motivated to be a 'career' artist. By that I mean, an artist whose work is displayed in all the top galleries, and that the super rich buy as more of an investment for wealth, than a love of art. Which is not to say these investors don't love art but when you're buying a single artwork for thousands, or even millions, of dollars, you're generally looking for a return on that investment too. That said, I'm not opposed to artists who want that kind of recognition. Certainly, if you're prepared to do the work, in countries like Australia, you can earn a nice passive income off the secondary market. Which means each time yo...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog