Another new Star Wars animated series in the works.

This is no April Fools joke, another Star Wars animated series is in the works.:

http://www.starwars.com/fans/media/newseries_announcement/index.html

"Lucasfilm Animation is currently developing an all-new animated Star Wars series, focusing its efforts on the comedic aspects of the "galaxy far, far away." Featuring creative involvement from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, creators and executive producers of the Emmy and Annie Award-winning Robot Chicken, as well as writing from The Daily Show's Brendan Hay, the series will look at the Saga's characters with a playful and irreverent tone. The series will be produced by Daytime Emmy and Gemini Award-winner Jennifer Hill (The Backyardigans), and directed by Emmy-nominated Todd Grimes (Back at the Barnyard).

"There are so many stories taking place in the Star Wars universe, and they don't all have to focus on the fate of the galaxy," said Grimes. "We're looking at Star Wars from a new perspective; this will be a glimpse at how the rest of the galaxy is affected by the events of the Saga. There's a lot of humor to be mined from that."

"The Star Wars universe is so dense and rich; it's crazy to think that there aren't normal, mundane everyday problems in a world so well-defined," said Green. "And it's even crazier to think of what those problems might be, since it's all set in a galaxy far, far away. What do these characters do when they're not overthrowing Empires?"

Said Senreich, "We're going to pull back the curtain of some of those behind-the-scenes shenanigans. It's going to appeal to all ages, the way Star Wars should -- but there'll be plenty buried under the surface, as well. As Obi-Wan might say, 'it all depends on your point of view'.""

My thoughts, mixed. But a show like this, if it takes place within the canon, could appeal to the younger audience (and with Seth Green and Matther Senreich on board how could it go wrong?). All I can say, I hope this is better than Squishes (which I hope that said show will never be made.). 

I found something interesting in two articles of this news on the web that could give us more of an idea of what the series is about:

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.reuters.com/ridley-scotts-robin-hood-open-cannes-fest-reuters

""The 'Star Wars' universe is so dense and rich; it's crazy to think that there aren't normal, mundane everyday problems in a world so well-defined," Green said. "What do these characters do when they're not overthrowing empires?"

http://www.moviehole.net/201024321-a-star-wars-sitcom

"Creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich want to explore the after-hours activities of characters such as Darth Vader, Bobba Fett and the pig-looking-dudes who guard Jabba's palace."

Now it makes sense to me of what the new series will focus on. Kinda sounds a little interesting.

I'm all for it, could be interesting. The Star Wars episodes of Robot Chicken were quite good, and I can see the approach to this sort of thing. One of the main reasons that I like the first half of Star Wars is because it presents mundane everyday life on this far-away planet, and there's plenty of humor to be had in that.

My question is, is the "Squishies" thing still legit, or was that a mis-report based on this?

They have tons of stories for this type of show from the various comic book series.  Star Wars Tales has at least one story per issue, a quick adaptation using the actual art with some minor animation could fill out a show per season alone.  Heck pay the people who made some of the fanfilms/viral video's and there's another show a season.  Sounds to me like the they've either got some cash to spare and are putting it towards content or the real life show is getting a second pass (this being one of the criticisms of the Prequels that things weren't given the time to evolved and flush out) so to fill the void these additional shows are coming out.

<speculation/OFF>

I honestly can't imagine stretching the Robot Chicken Star Wars antics into a whole series, so I kind of hope this one never makes it out of development. There's so much more that they could be doing with Star Wars animation that I'd rather LFA not get distracted with silly stuff like self-parodies. Star Wars has a history spanning thousands of years and there are so many eras they could develop whole series out of.

Here's more on what you can expect from the new series!:

http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/Variety_Examines_New_SW_Animated_Series_130605.asp

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118017263.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Another update! Will the news series take place after ROTJ?:

http://www.moviehole.net/201024467-return-of-the-jedi

"Finally, the more dimish inmates of the South Naboo Penitentiary can discover what lay ahead for Luke, Leia, Han and pudgy Wicket after the events of "Return of the Jedi". The rest of us, being able to read and all, have known for years what happened to the Skywalker siblings and the rascally smuggler - Han and Leia, of course, produced twins (later Jedi's themselves), the rebels faced a further battle with the Empire - trying to save the planet Coruscant (the character of 'Wedge' plays a big part in this arc of the story), and Grand Admiral Thrawn replaces the recently-departed Darth Vader as the galaxy's big bad.

Despite his determination to exploit the "Star Wars" in any other which way, writer/director/producer George Lucas has sworn black-and-blue that he'll never put Episodes 7, 8 and 9 to film - no way, no how. Frankly, I'd say it's got more to do with Lucas's fear of asking Harrison Ford to wear Han Solo's vest again, not to mention the nightmare of seeing Carrie Fisher in Slave-Leia bikini again, than the man wanting to maintain the purity and avoid blundering the the saga. Trust me, if it could be done (i.e if Ford would play Solo again), Lucas would likely do it - actually, he definitely would. Imagine how many 'Old Solo' action-figures would be sold!? And consider the greenbacks that would slide into the Lucasfilm cash-register after the 'twins' lunchboxes hit K-Mart!?

Whatever the case, it ain't happening.....

...... at least not in 'live-action' form.

Over the weekend, at Chicago's C2E2 Convention, Lucasfilm's Director of Fan Relations Steve Sanweet dropped a bit of a bombshell (according to BestOf LuckProductions.com) : The upcoming animated "Star Wars" series (assumingly the one that "Robot Chicken" creators Seth Green and Matthew Seinreich are working on) will be set after the events of 1983's "Return of the Jedi" - and yes, it'll feature all of the core characters. Sansweet even hinted at a few dead 'Sith's' returning from the grave!

Remains to be seen who, if any, from the original trilogy will have some kind of participation in the new animated series but if I was a betting man I'd say lay your chips down on Mark Hamill putting his hand up to voice Skywalker and Anthony Daniels needs to eat, so he'll be chomping at the bit to do 'C3P0' again.

A final nugget from Sansweet : The first six "Star Wars" films are headed for Blu-Ray in the near future and they'll encompass a Falcon's worth of extras and some other "treasures"."

Now wheather this is the plot for the new series Seth and Matthew are working on or yet a 3rd animated series, count me in, as long as it stays true to the saga.