Source: Star Wars Official Website | Posted By: Dan Geer
Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in October last year and announced that Star Wars: Episodes VII-IX would be produced, fans of Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars have been wondering for quite some time now what the fate of the show would be. At first, people thought that maybe the show would continue on a Disney network, but after the recent announcement that the 3D re-releases of Star Wars: Episodes II & III would be postponed in order to focus all efforts on the new live-action Star Wars films, we then suspected that Disney/Lucasfilm would see fit to end The Clone Wars after it ended its fifth season since their focus obviously lies somewhere else.
As it turns out, the rumors were basically true, in that yes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is coming to an end. However, it is simply winding down, meaning that we will get more episodes of the show in the future, which we have already known were in production for quite some time before Season Five even ended. These new episodes, however, will not air on Cartoon Network (the network only signed a five-season deal), and an announcement is imminent as to where fans can find these all-new episodes. This decision, as well as the postponement of Seth Green and Matthew Senreich’s Star Wars: Detours, have both been made in light of not only Disney/Lucasfilm’s setting their sights on the new Star Wars films, but also an entirely new animated series set in an era of the Star Wars universe previously unexplored on film or television.
Hit the jump for the official press release, as well as a video from Star Wars: The Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni discussing the future of the show, and presenting an all-new clip from an upcoming episode!
Official Press Release (via StarWars.com):
A New Direction for Lucasfilm Animation
March 11, 2013As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come.
As part of this shift, we have also made some key decisions affecting Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Detours.
After five highly successful and critically acclaimed seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we feel the time has come to wind down the series. While the studio is no longer producing new episodes for Cartoon Network, we’re continuing production on new Clone Wars story arcs that promise to be some of the most thrilling adventures ever seen. Stay tuned for more information on where fans can soon find this bonus content. In the video below, Supervising Director Dave Filoni offers a peek of what is to come in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
At Star Wars Celebration VI last year, George Lucas gave fans a glimpse at the animated comedy series Star Wars Detours from Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Todd Grimes. Detours was conceived and produced before we decided to move forward with the new Star Wars trilogy, and in the wake of that decision, Lucasfilm has reconsidered whether launching an animated comedy prior to the launch of Episode VII makes sense. As a result, we’ve decided to postpone the release of Detours until a later date.
We are incredibly proud of the teams at Lucasfilm Animation for creating some of the most amazing animation ever produced for TV. Keep checking StarWars.com for new developments on these and future projects.
While it is somewhat depressing that Star Wars: The Clone Wars is coming to a close, it is nice to know that we will get resolution to some of the most important story arcs the show presented. The last five seasons have been absolutely amazing for the most part, and I for one cannot wait to see how it all ends, as well as what this new animated series will be all about!
My first thought would be that, since the long gestating live-action series that has been deemed too expensive to produce also takes place in an era of the Star Wars universe unexplored on TV or film (between Episodes III & IV), could it be that Disney has decided to take the 50 completed scripts previously developed for the live-action series and animate the stories instead, since it would be much more affordable to do so? Only time will tell!
As for Star Wars: Detours, yes, I was personally looking forward to it, but I think I speak for many when I say this was pretty much the least of my worries.
