Star Wars: The Clone Wars (video game)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts. It is about the Dark Reaper project during The Clone Wars, but also takes place at the Battle of Geonosis. Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube on November 28, 2002 and later April 22, 2003 for the Xbox.

This game mostly consists of vehicular combat, although there are a few times on certain missions that are on foot as either Anakin Skywalker or Mace Windu. The main vehicles in this game (in order of most used to least used) are the IFT-X, the Republic Gunship, and the AT-XT (aka Republic Walker). The player plays as the Grand Army of the Republic throughout the game. Though, in the various multiplayer modes offered in the game, players may select vehicles from both the Republic Army and the Confederacy of Independent Systems Army.

CIS vehicles include the Hailfire droid, GAT, and the Armoured Assault Tank (AAT).

The game begins with the Battle of Geonosis, and takes the player through the evacuation of Rhen Var, with the player leading the escape only minutes before the Separatist Army captures the planet.

The battle of Raxus PrimeOne month after the Battle of Geonosis, the Republic detects unusual activity on Raxus Prime, and sends a strike force led by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate the activity.

On arrival, they find Separatist forces at an excavation site. They send for reinforcements to take the planet. The Republic captures Raxus Prime, but during the battle, Anakin is captured by Count Dooku.

Anakin Skywalker is sent to Alaris Prime, the Kashyyyk moon, to be executed. Skywalker and the other prisoners are doomed to be killed by the Force Harvester, an ancient Sith weapon that drains the Force from all living things within its range. Anakin is able to escape his cell and call for help. The Republic arrives, rescues Anakin, and destroys the Separatist presence on Alaris Prime.

When Anakin returns to the Jedi Temple, Yoda and Mace Windu tell him and Obi-Wan of the Dark Reaper, an ancient Sith weapon built during the Great Sith War that was so powerful that none could withstand it. It required large amounts of energy to work, which the Force Harvester could provide. They believe that the Separatists are trying to build a Dark Reaper on Thule, so they all travel to Thule to prevent it from being built.

When they reach Thule, a massive battle ensues. While the other Jedi battle the Separatist forces outside the Sith Temple, Anakin enters the temple and destroys the Dark Reaper.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The first theatrically released animated Star Wars feature film, set for release in August 2008, fills in the gaps in George Lucas' epic science-fiction saga between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith and lays the ground for a new TV series

Even the most ardent fan of the Star Wars mega-saga would have a hard time making an argument for George Lucas as an actors' filmmaker. Not only was his dialogue lacking in certain graces (prompting the notorious, possibly apocryphal utterance from Harrison Ford, "You can type this shit, George, but you sure can't say it," during the making of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope ) but as the saga went on, his preference for special effects over people became more apparent.

Like James Cameron, Lucas is one of the great technological trailblazers and innovators of Hollywood's recent history, driving forward such techniques as motion control and CGI with the single-mindedness of a prophet. So there's a clear logic in the transition of the Star Wars saga from increasingly CGI-heavy, nominally live-action feature films into pure CGI animation.

Such is the case with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a new feature that follows the six movies to the big screen (Lucas says there will be no more live action films) but also builds on the foundations laid by the 2003 'Clone Wars' animated "pilot" series. And indeed, lays the foundations for a new animated series, which is itself being designed to take the form of a "30-minute 'mini-movie'" each week.

For those who haven't gone beyond cinema or DVD encounters with the original and prequel trilogies (1999's Episode I: The Phantom Menace, 2002's Episode II: Attack Of The Clones and Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith), the Star Wars franchise sprawls for light years in all directions, with all the gaps in the epic story of the rise and fall of the Empire being filled in with innumerable books, comics, videogames and cartoons.

For many fans, the events of the Clone Wars (first mentioned in a discussion between Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 1977 original are among the most important for the overall saga, but were not covered in great detail in any of the feature films. Of The Clone Wars animated feature, Lucas says it's "an extension of the Star Wars story, it takes place between Episodes II and III, where in II we start the Clone Wars and in III we end the Clone Wars. This is theClone Wars, which is all the stuff that goes on in between".

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The earlier, 2003-2005 animated series had also been set during this period, when the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine (the duplicitous chap revealed to be chief Sith baddie Darth Sidious, later the Emperor, played by Ian McDiarmid in the films, but voiced by Nick Jameson and Ian Abercrombie in the cartoons), and the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) under Count Dooku (the rogue Jedi, turned Sith, played by Christopher Lee in the movies and voiced by Corey Burton in the videogames and cartoons).

During the run of 25 20-minute episodes and five shorter episodes, more about the activities of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu and others during this three-year period was revealed. This traditionally animated series was made by the Cartoon Network, but for the new Clone Wars feature film and series, Lucasfilm Animation is back at the helm.

The new film will involve the travails of Anakin (played by Hayden Christensen in the two latter prequels but voiced in the cartoons by Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan and their encounters with such villains as Dooku and the lightsaber-wielding, robotic hunter of Jedis General Grievous.

Supervising director Dave Filoni said Lucas wanted to use the opportunity of the film and the series to tell more about Anakin and what could be called his "good side", and his fraternal relationship with Obi-Wan. Among the new characters being introduced is a Jedi padewan by the name of Ahsoka Tano (Drane). Filoni says she "stands between the two characters" of Anakin and Obi-Wan and is "learning about what it means to be a Jedi in this time in much the same way the audience is learning about the Clone Wars. So in that way she's a touchstone for the audience."

One aspect of the film's storyline that has emerged from previewed footage involves Dooku dispatching his Dark Jedi henchwoman Asajj Ventress (a character created in the artwork for Episode II, but actually realised in the earlier animated series as a nemesis for Anakin) to find Jabba the Hutt's son and develop some sort of allegiance. Lucas tends to play his hand close to his chest though, so more solid specifics of the story aren't available at the time of writing.

Interestingly, the film was originally simply going to form part of the new series, but Lucas says of the newly developed animation technique, "we looked at it on the big screen and the quality we felt was really good enough to put into a theatre. The big issue is we felt a lot of the fans wanted to see this on the big screen before it ended up as a television series."

Lucas suggests that the "assembly line" they set up for the series offers a versatility akin to "the old-time movie making". He elaborated, "What I love about television, it's like Monogram Pictures or the old studio system, where a couple guys come to work and they sit and have some coffee and go, 'Why don't we make a movie about such and such? Okay, fine.' And at the end of the day, it's pretty much on its way."

So we're getting a film then a series that Lucas describes as "like 'Band of Brothers' in space, with Jedi," that will further expand on the Clone Wars. It's episodic, so although Anakin will be a key character, it won't be a straight telling of his story, there will be episodes focussing on clone troopers and other Jedi, like the fishy, dreadlocky Kit Fisto (seen in Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith). During the proposed 100 hours of new material, we may even see the return of old favourites like Boba Fett.

When Lucasfilm officially announced the film in February 2008, Lucasfilm Animation had already made more than 30 of the new half-hour episodes, with the primary production split between Lucasfilm Animation in California and the Lucasfilm Animation Singapore studios, and theatrical distribution handled, for the first time, by Warner Bros not 20th Century Fox.

The series had first been announced in April 2005, when Lucasfilm was developing the new 3D CG animation techniques. At Comic-Con in July 2005, Steve Sansweet, head of Lucasfilm fan relations, described the style being developed by the teams as "a melding of Asian anime with unique 3-D animation styling".

The bigger point about Star Wars continuing its life in CG animation is that with full CGI, any of those complications and expenses arising in a film shoot from actors, sets and locations are completely bypassed and the vision has fewer restraints. Filoni says the Clone Wars part of the Star Wars saga "has to be shown on an epic scale to understand that there's a universe, a galaxy, involved in this conflict." Arguably, the fully CGI route will fulfil this, and the footage already knocking about online certainly looks like it will fill the big screen with action.

One Man Star Wars Trilogy

How does Charles Ross represent the Death Star being blown up? Just throw his hands up and go "boom"?

Science fiction stars don't seem to enjoy their show's catchphrases being quoted back at them.

Star Trek actor Jonathan Frakes flinched when I told him, "Live long and prosper." X-Files icon David Duchovny was nonplussed when I asked him if the "truth was out there". However, Charles Ross, star of the One Man Star Wars Trilogy, remains calm when I say to him: "May the Force be with you."

"You can say that if you want to," he says. "It sounds like a sermon or something like that."

But the Force is with Ross. The stage-trained actor was as surprised as anyone when a Star Wars sketch condensing the 1977 movie into 20 minutes charmed audiences. He was able to parlay this success into the One Man Star Wars Trilogy in 2001 and take it from his native Canada to around the world.

"Writing something that was a bit more one-man-orientated seemed to make sense just because I wanted to do theatre," Ross says. "When it took off it was a bit of a surprise to me. This is one of those things that struck a chord."

Fortunately, it also struck a chord with Star Wars director George Lucas's company Lucasfilm, which didn't shut Ross down. "By the time I got contacted by them, I'd already had enough positive press behind me."

Ross describes the show as a retelling of the original bad-hair trilogy. "I've got the script down to one hour. I don't use costumes or sets or props."

Does he use lightsabres onstage?

"No, I don't. Don't own toys, don't have any costumes. It really is the trilogy condensed down to its bare-bones story, which, when you think about the story, is a pretty simple story."

No C-3PO or Chewbacca suits?

"No, man, this has to be portable. I could yank a bunch of costumes around with me but - correct me if I'm wrong - I think, no matter how much money you put into it, it would look kinda lame. I figured if you can't tell the story with your own faculties maybe you shouldn't be telling it. Why bother?"

Ross obviously doesn't dress up like Princess Leia on Jabba the Hutt's slave barge. "I only wish I could do that. I couldn't find enough gold to fit my physique."

Does he do some of the great lines such as "[Luke], I am your father"?

"Oh, absolutely."

Does Ross quote Yoda? "Try not. Do ... or do not. There is no try"?

"It's a classic line. If you don't use those, what are you doing?"

Were C-3PO and R2-D2 gay lovers?

Star Wars Muppets Coming Soon

If you keep one mouse ear to the ground, you've probably heard about Disney's soon-to-be-released set of Star Wars Muppet figures -- you know, Kermit the Frog as Luke, Miss Piggy as Leia, etc. What you may not know -- especially if you were born post-'80s -- is that the Muppets and Star Wars actually go way back -- 28 years back to be exact.

In 1980, The Muppet Show, a primetime event fronted by Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street fame, introduced Luke Skywalker and "cousin" Mark Hamill to the show as guest stars. Along with Luke, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and R2-D2 (himself) also starred, participating in several sketches that included "Star Wars-ified" versions of some of the Muppets.

Miss Piggy, naturally, portrayed Princess Leia, and crook-nosed Gonzo, whose masked face failed to conceal his signature schnoz, donned the costume of Darth Vader (or "Dearth Nadir" in Muppet-speak).

Now, as far as Star Wars Muppet crossovers, that was it -- no Kermit as Luke, Fozzie as Chewbacca, Beaker as Threepio, etc. Those incarnations would come, at least in part, three years later in a publication called Muppet Magazine.

For their Summer 1983 issue, Muppet Magazine ran a cover story on movie spoofs, which included "Battle of the Space Heroes", a five-page comic narrative which once again crossed the Muppets with the Star Wars universe. This time, we finally got our Fozzie as Chewbacca (or "Chewbackwards") and Kermit as Luke ("Fluke Shywalker") -- characters also included Miss Piggy as "Princess Loina" and Gonzo as "Barff McVader". And so, short of Beaker as Threepio and Rizzo the Rat as Yoda (both part of the upcoming set of figures), you now have the low-down on how we'll come to inherit a cool set of Muppet Star Wars crossover figures.

Now, for the trivia-minded, some astute fans could argue that the Muppets and Star Wars actually "met" a year before the 1980 Muppet Show episode on the set of The Empire Strikes Back. Frank Oz, who voiced Miss Piggy among other classic Muppet characters, was also the voice and puppeteer for Yoda. One day on the Dagobah set, Frank surprised Mark Hamill with Kermit and Miss Piggy while rehearsing a scene with Yoda. Naturally, hilarity ensued.

The Star Wars Muppet figures are due out this summer and will be available exclusively at Disney theme parks.

Still need a Star Wars Muppet fix? Check out the exhaustive list of Star Wars Muppet connections over at Muppet Wiki.

George Lucas Talks Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Movie makers, actors, directors, producers and movie distributors descended on Las Vegas to share movie news and get excited for the next big films coming from Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers, just to name a few at ShoWest 2008.
Filmmaker George Lucas was on hand for a short interview with Starwars.com to talk about the next generation of Star Wars fans and why the clones finally get the spotlight. Comingsoon.net also was in the room to ask a few questions as well.

A lot of new fans will be watching this new animated series and seeing Star Wars for the first time. What are your thoughts on this new generation of kids that will be introduced to the Star Wars saga through The Clone Wars animated series?

What do I think of them? The poor kids have to grow up in this crazy world that's been created!

It's obviously a different tone but still has the drama and the characters.

The TV series is exactly like the movies, exactly. I mean, you can see it in the clip. It's basically just the movies only with cartoon characters. It's basically a dramatic series, there's a lot of action, a bit of humor. It runs along at the same level. It's unusual for an animated film, because it's not really hardcore like say Beowulf and it's not a Pixar movie, so it kind of falls in between in this funny world where Star Wars is, which is kind of hard-edged but not really, sort of on the verge of PG-13, flips over once in a while, but sort of the high end of PG.

It also seems to show a little bit more of the clone characters as well.

Yeah, now we get introduced to the clones, which we didn't get in the movies. Now, they're like main characters and they really are central to the whole thing, and you can identify them and know who they are, and it's sort of like "Band of Brothers" only with Jedi. [laughs]

Since the feature is being done specifically for the big screen, where is the movie going to end and the series begin?

It's not that episodic. This is a movie but we started doing the episodes and some of the episodes are stand-alone and some are two, some are three, some are four, and there's no cliffhangers. It's not like the current vogue of "24" and "The Wire" and stuff where you actually have to watch the entire series in order to understand what's going on. This is an old-fashioned episodic show. We looked at it on the big screen and it looked so beautiful and great that we said, "Gee, we can make a feature just like this." So we did and got all the people, got all the stuff and said, "Let's make a feature." So we did.

Do you think you'd have other people continue the Star Wars saga past Episode VI or turn some of the other material into films?

But there's no story past Episode VI, there's just no story. It's a certain story about Anakin Skywalker and once Anakin Skywalker dies, that's kind of the end of the story. There is no story about Luke Skywalker, I mean apart from the books. But there's three worlds: There's my world that I made up, there's the licensing world that's the books, the comics, all that kind of stuff, the games, which is their world, and then there's the fans' world, which is also very rich in imagination, but they don't always mesh. All I'm in charge of is my world. I can't be in charge of those other people's world, because I can't keep up with it.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens theatrically on August 15.

Special thanks to Orna from Warner Bros. and Lynne Hale at Lucasfilm for arranging the interview, Edward Douglas from ComingSoon.net for his questions. You can read his entire interview here.

Read our entire coverage of ShoWest here on the Official Starwars.com blog.

Stay tuned to Starwars.com for the latest news and information on Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

George Lucas: The Clone Wars Q&A

Why now? Why was now the right time to bring Star Wars to animation?
This is a project we've actually been working on since the end of Revenge of the Sith, I've worked in animation before with Steven [Spielberg] in A Land Before Time, John Korty on a film [Twice Upon a Time] and a few other things. I love animation. I started out in film school in animation, and I felt it was time to explore that medium, and then at the same time be able to explore a part of Star Wars that is so vast that you can't deal with the Luke Skywalker / Anakin Skywalker saga... you get to deal a little bit more with the minutiae of the Clone Wars.

Clearly this has a different look than anything that's come before. Can you share with us the method you went ahead to do this, and the thinking behind the design of The Clone Wars and also the design of the characters?

In order to create The Clone Wars, I had to develop a whole new studio from scratch. We've really been able to advance our animation ambitions. When it comes to the look and feel of The Clone Wars project, I wanted to do something that was in the realm of anime, design-wise, but still different. So I said, "How can we do this along with a strong storytelling sensibility?"

I have a tendency that --- just like with Star Wars, which is based in the 1930s Republic Saturday matinee serials, or Indiana Jones which is based on the same thing -- I wanted to give it a look and the feel of something that's from the past. So everybody was fairly amused in the animation community that we picked Gerry Anderson and Thunderbirds to be our inspiration. It has a very stylized look. I didn't want it to look like Beowulf, which we could've done, or The Incredibles, and when you're doing animation about live action actors and everyone knows what they look like, you really do have to come up with a sophisticated and dynamic caricature of these people.

A lot of people are excited about the new characters that you've incorporated into the storyline, great new good guys and great new villains.

We added a new character. We needed to change the dynamic between Obi-Wan the mentor and Anakin the Padawan, which is where we left them. That's how they entered the Clone Wars. We wanted to make that relationship become more dynamic... sort of like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They're now equal. They're now partners. They're now working together.

But we really wanted to have that Padawan-mentor relationship, so we gave the most unlikely person a Padawan, which is Anakin, and we made the Padawan a girl. She's very feisty. She's very outgoing and independent-minded, which gives Anakin a real challenge, because he's sort of like that too. He's trying to clean up his act by teaching her to settle down and think and not be so aggressive.

She gets in her share of action.

She's a great character. She's turned out really fantastic.

Star Wars Lands In Philadelphia

Reporting Nicole Brewer

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― For more than 40 years, Star Wars has captured our imagination and our hearts as an epic space opera and a popular culture icon.

The brand's broad appeal spans the generation gap and brings with it a sense of excitement and awe for people of all ages.

Here in Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute hosted 'Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination,' an exhibit organized around solving human needs with two technology themes: "Getting Around" and "Robots & People."

Since the exhibit's February 9th opening, thousands of people from all around the country have experienced "the force" that is Star Wars, but that all changed when CBS 3 turned the tables and let Star Wars experience Philadelphia.

Infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett and two storm troopers took to the streets of Philadelphia Monday to experience all the city has to offer.

The group's Philly tour included a stop at a local cheese steak shop, a walk down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and a "Rocky" run up the Art Museum steps.

When asked what the characters thought of the city, Boba Fett cited the city's skyline among his favorite Philly attractions. A man of few words, Fett simply called it "amazing."

The bounty hunter and his friends took time to encourage people to come to the Franklin Institute's Star Wars exhibit before it leaves Philadelphia on May 4th and heads to a galaxy far, far, away.

‘Star Wars’ Live-Action Show To Reveal Galaxy’s ‘Greasy, Seamy Underbelly’

by Josh Horowitz

If you thought the cantina in Mos Eisley was a “wretched hive of scum and villainy,” well you’d better be cautious because an upcoming journey back to the “Star Wars” universe is going to reveal the “greasy, seamy underbelly of ‘Star Wars.’”

That’s what Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm’s Director of Fan Relations, revealed to MTV News at New York’s Comic Con yesterday about the much anticipated live-action “Star Wars” TV show in development. Confirming that the show will “involve some characters we know” along with new creations, Sansweet said the show would be “of epic scale.”

As for how Lucas and company are going to approach such a massive undertaking he said “it will take advantage of everything George has learned about digital.” I guess that means it will at least look a little better than that that “Star Wars Holiday Special.”

Sansweet said the initial writers of the show have been selected and “they’ve had their first couple sessions working with George and [producer] Rick [McCallum].” So when can we expect all of this? “We’ll see it in production probably sometime in 2009. Hopefully the series will be on by 2010,” said Sansweet.

A “Star Wars” series that’s “greasy” and “seamy?” I guess that means there won’t be too many Ewoks dancing around. How does that sit with you, fellow “Stars Wars” fans?

Chewbacca unmasked to celebrate magic of Star Wars

by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

THE man behind one of the world’s most iconic sci-fi movie characters was in Merseyside to celebrate the magic of Star Wars and meet fans.

Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca, the loyal sidekick of Han Solo in the legendary films.

He flew in from Texas as one of a number of big-name signings at the event, held at the Spaceport centre in Wirral.

Peter found himself in demand on the sci-fi convention circuit after the Special Edition of the Star Wars series was released.

Other stars who were present included Paul Blake (Greedo), Rusty Goffe (Jawa), Ian Liston (Wes Janson) and Gerald Home (Tessek).

The celebration brought to an end Spaceport’s Sci Fi at the Movies exhibition, which showed artefacts from some of the world’s most famous science fiction movies, giving fans an opportunity to view never before seen movie memorabilia.

Spaceport, which is owned and operated by Merseytravel, is the UK’s most modern space-themed visitor attraction, and is housed in a listed building alongside Seacombe ferry terminal, in Wallasey.

Star Wars Kid: Activities

Movie Timeline: From The Phantom Menace through Return of the Jedi, this interactive timeline chronicles more than 35 years of Star Wars fun and adventure.

Episode I Fun Guide: Whether you've seen it one time or one hundred times, this fun guide highlights what you may not know about Ep I. Watch the Episode I DVD and compare notes!

The Galactic Color-Bot: Mix colors and pick patterns to color your own versions of Star Wars Episode II characters and scenes.

Match the Music to the Scene: This activity challenges you to listen to selections from the scores of the Star Wars films soundtrack. Turn up your speakers!

Star Wars Kids: Games

Carbon Connection: Enter the carbon-freezing chamber, activate the machines and make the best matches between characters, vehicles and items from the Star Wars universe.

Force Flight: Hop in the driver seat of your favorite Star Wars vehicle and zoom through four familiar environments of the Star Wars galaxy. Use the Force to avoid danger and maneuver safely through four challenging levels.

Garbage Masher: Use your Star Wars knowledge to save our heroes in the Death Star's garbage masher by quickly identifying which option doesn't belong with the others.

Trivia: Challenge your Star Wars smarts by playing more than seventy trivia games covering themes that span the saga. Are you game?

Which Film Is It ?:This fun game will challenge your memory of key and low-key scenes from all the Star Wars films. There are more than 130 images to challenge your Star Wars knowledge.

Who Said It ?: More than 130 quotes test your knowledge of the saga, each presented with three possible characters who might have said it.

The Clone Wars: Epic Battles

The Clone Wars Sneak Peek

Official Press Release

Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures and
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. Announce Deal to Release
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS in 2008
Warner Bros. Pictures Releases Full-Length, Theatrical Clone Wars Movie August 15,
Followed by the Debut of the Groundbreaking TV Series, Premiering This Fall
on Cartoon Network and TNT

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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (February 12, 2008) – A new era of Star Wars entertainment begins in 2008 when STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, from creator George Lucas, premieres as an all-new feature film in August, followed by the television series debut in the fall, in a partnership announced today between Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS takes audiences on incredible new Star Wars adventures, combining the legendary storytelling of Lucasfilm with an eye-popping, signature animation style. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS will open in North American theaters Friday, August 15. International release dates will be announced soon.
"I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell," said George Lucas, executive producer of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward." The theatrical debut of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS is only the beginning of all-new Star Wars adventures that continue in the fall when the long-awaited television series premieres on Cartoon Network, followed by airings on TNT. Details regarding international broadcasts will be announced shortly.