STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS - EPISODE GUIDE BOOK
Written by Jason Fry
Published by DORLING KINDERSLEY
Reviewed by Scott Weller
You never truly really appreciate what you've got until its gone-we took the highly successful STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
animated series for granted, that it would run for a few more years yet- “for
as long as viewers want to see it”, I remember its creator George Lucas’s words
passed down to fans a few years back- as the storytelling started to
intriguingly make its way towards the epic events of EPISODE III. Well, with
the sad retirement of Lucas and the selling of the STAR WARS franchise to DISNEY
last year, the cancellation of the series with the completion of its fifth
season was a creative decision that truly ripped the hearts out of the shows worldwide
fans with the unexpected quickness of one of Mola Ram's hand thrusts, as millions mourned the passing
of such a high quality series, especially one that had captured the dedication
of so many younger viewers and families – surely the kind of target audience
that DISNEY’s top shows have always aimed for.
Regardless of its unexpected cancellation and
loss, though, we can at least be consoled by the fact that the series did last an impressive
five seasons and a very overall satisfying 108 episodes-a figure worthy of
much celebration, courtesy of Jason Fry’s brand spanking new, beautifully designed
EPISODE GUIDE book, from those marvels at DORLING KINDERSLEY, and which proves just the tonic
to cheer us all up and remember the many good times we’ve spent watching Anakin
and co.’s spectacular adventures, during an anxious but exciting time where we all await news on the next animated
incarnation of the saga to come, set within a different era of STAR WARS history, and expected to arrive in TV households and Blu-ray/DVD in at least two or
three years time.
Richly illustrated with hundreds of photos, the
EPISODE GUIDE is the most comprehensive guide to the series yet, and, for the
first time, presents them in the definite authorized story order chronicling
our heroic Jedi and vicious Sith – form the blockade battle over the besieged
world of Christophsis to the bombing of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Each half-hour adventure/mini-film is given an excellent spread with a terrific main
image capturing its mood, accompanied by plot synopsis, highlights on the main
characters, memorable dialogue and key scenes, plus a look at the planets, weapons
and technology. Behind the scenes we also get first US transmission dates,
production orders, some fun trivia about the way the various episodes were
scripted and made, and the in-jokes/inspirations/homages, used in them, lifted
either from other aspects of the STAR WARS saga or beyond, or from other pop
culture forms of movies, TV series and entertainment.
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| Obi-Wan fights General Grievous in Destroy Malevolence. |
Despite early criticisms from fans towards its original
feature length pilot (released in cinemas in 2008), the series that followed it
ultimately exceeded fans eventual expectations in the way it deftly merged old
and new characters from the Prequel and Classic STAR WARS universe so
effectively, and filled in the incredible blanks of fantasy history during the
tumoltuous three-year period in which the galactic civil war between Republic
and Separatists was waged.There
was also the bigger and bolder ambitions of the continuing series in its
storytelling and visual ambition- clear to see and admire as you follow the
book through. Introducing such memorable
new characters as Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, cruel baddie Savage Opress, bounty
hunter Cad Bane and comedy pirate Hondo Ohnaka, whilst providing such diverse
and epic scenarios like the epic liberation of Ryloth, to the Zillo beast
monster rampage across Coruscant, from the Mon Calamari water war epic, to the
return of Darth Maul from the grave, to the emerging threat of the Mandalorian Death Watch, THE CLONE WARS gave fans
the additional weight and drama to the Prequel Saga and its characters that we
always wanted to see-the book reminding us just how much had been accomplished
by such a talented and dedicated group of people (most notably Animation
Director Dave Filoni and Visual Effects Artist Joel Aron)- all true STAR WARS
fans like you and I, over eight years and five on-screen seasons of production
in the US and Singapore.
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| The Clone Cadets begin their training on Kamino. |
Intriguingly,
taking in the fact that the book was presumably completed four to five months
ago, there’s very definitely a sense that, unlike the fans (who had no clue that
the series was coming to a definite end), Fry and the DK designers likely had
some inkling about its ultimate destiny as being only five seasons, well enough
to prepare and end the guide with its last spread- literally the final scene of
Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Temple- a design choice that is surely no accident. The
only major disappointment with the book is that it doesn’t factor in the events
of that other CLONE WARS animated series previous shown on CARTOON NETWORK from
2003-2005, made in equally stunning 2D by Genndy Tartakovsky, and which itself
was deemed an official part of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS cannon. So popular it
inspired George Lucas and led to the series we’ve been watching now. It would
have been interesting to see how they could have factored in the continuity of
both series into the book-I’m assuming it’s absence is a deliberate choice by
LUCASFILM in wanting to maintain the overall visual continuity of the book and
this particular animated series in general. A wasted opportunity, though…
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| The Zillo Beast Strikes Back! |
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| Our heroes try to escape The Citadel. |
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| Captain Rex and his brave men face the Carnage of Krell. |
Aimed primarily at the intelligent 8 -12 year olds, there is nonetheless something for every age group of STAR WARS fan to enjoy with this title. One day I hope we also get to see a more detailed, adult book on the shows overall behind the scenes making and evolution, but this colourful and visually exciting title is a must-have that's more than worthy of the existing high caliber STAR WARS and DORLING KINDERSLEY name.
Goodbye
and thank-you, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. We will miss you…
AFICIONADO RATING. Relive the
greatest animated moments of that galaxy a long time ago, far, far
away… 4.5 out of 5
Get hold of the book here:
Dude, the clone wars animated series sucked. It was dumbed down and trivialized, truly used to increase marketing for new toys and the like. The clone wars animated series that was good was the original shorts hand drawn 2-D cartoons that were shown on Cartoon network, animated by the same creator as Samurai Jack. As soon as Lucas started becoming more involved with the concept it went straight to @$&•β! Selling the Stars Wars franchise might turn out to be the best thing, instead of Lucas further destroying his own legacy and ruining the memory of the OT. Hopefully Disney, JJ, and the like can revive Star Wars from the depths of the Prequel Trilogy (excluding episode 3 which was well done) and these terrible spin offs.
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