if it’s 1993 or whatever and you’re trying to write the Prequels from scratch, what would you focus on? Suppose your goal is to generate the maximum amount of drama and audience emotional investment possible. What is the most effective way to achieve that?
If I were in 1993 and I had to rewrite the Prequels from scratch, then I’d keep the actual story, but I wouldn’t develop it in a movie trilogy. Rather, I would just make the Prequels to be part of the EU, because the Prequels have an incredible amount of story to tell, and three simple movies are not enough to tell it. So, I would basically create a whole multimedia project similar to the already existing Clone Wars Multimedia Project, but starting from the early PT era when Obi-Wan was still a Padawan. I would tell Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s adventures, until we get to the events of The Phantom Menace and the discovery of Anakin, then going forward and forward until the Clone Wars start. Then I would explore the Clone Wars in detail, like in the CWMMP, and then I would end everything with the events of Revenge of the Sith and Order 66. The story would remain the same, but it would just be more developed and explored better, since it would be developed in comics, books and video games instead of movies.
Being italian and having watched the PT for many years in italian only, i can safely say he comes out a bit better than the original, it’s by no extent of the imagination a perfect dubbing, mostly because the voice actor still needs to emulate at least sometimes his tone, unfortunately we traded a better performance for Anakin for the clearly superior acting that Ewan McGregor gave for Obi-Wan in original language, not to mention McDiarmid’s priceless Palpatine acting.
I’m Italian too, and I love Francesco Pezzulli’s performance better, for sure. I love Hayden’s too, though. I never had any great problem with Hayden’s performance.
“Sometimes we must let go of our pride, and do what is requested to us.”
– Anakin Skywalker
Honestly i dont like Anakin Version of TCW Show i dont feel that Anakin is Hayden i think TCW is a Reinterpretation of the Prequels for the OT Fans that didnt like the Original Prequels Movies in the Original Prequels Movies Anakin dont have a Padawan, Darth Maul dont survive and Anakin is more introverted personally i do not consider the Cartoons to be Canon with the 6 Original Movies the Cartoons are just an Alternate Universe to me
TCW Version of Anakin Skywalker was just a Bad Clone of Han Solo
‘George Lucas should get more credit for “saving Anakin Skywalker” in Star Wars: The Clone Wars’?
I believe credit should also go to Genndy Tartakovsky for his 2003 Clone Wars series.
He was the original guy who showed an actual credible and authentic friendship and brotherhood between Anakin and Obi-Wan on screen. From Obi-Wan suggesting to the Jedi Council that Anakin be made a Master and then arguing for him vs the Council Members. Their fighting together as a team, both their contrasting approaches working as an effective duo is also showcased well. And despite Anakin’s issues with the Jedi’s ‘overbearing’ approach at times, their confiding to each other they both miss Qui-Gon is a heart warming emotional moment. Obi-Wan preparing Anakin for his mission on Nelvan too showed how much he cared for Anakin and wanted him to succeed:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1XDh-MW5ug - despite the series being a fast-paced action orientated series, it still showcased that.
Anakin also comes across as more more caring and compassionate for others around him. An all round more likeable, charismatic, and believable Jedi, than we saw in the PT films themselves.
Yes, these were all things Lucas and Filoni showed more often and in more detail in their 2008 Clone Wars projects, but Genndy should also be credited too. Perhaps even more so given he was the original creative to highlight that believable and evolving relationship on screen, showing that it could be accomplished, and perhaps even inspiring Lucas to do more of that for his later 2008 project?
So credit to Lucas for trying to fix his mistakes and issues with the PT in the 2008 TCW, but these were problems of his own making. And the initial “fixes” were based on someone else’s attempt to show Anakin in a far batter light than previously seen, despite them being were later retconned and rewritten so Lucas & Filoni could do it their way for the 2008 TCW.
That’s not ignoring there being a writers’ room for TCW. People often think Filoni wrote much of TCW, yet he didn’t (he directed around twice as many episodes than he wrote). Christian Taylor, Henry Gilroy, Drew Greenberg, Scott Murphy, Katie Lucas, and Steven Melching all feature in writing a lot of the episodes.
The Clone Wars messes up continuity or how Lucas is still destroying Star Wars - 2011 OT thread
Clone Wars (2003 animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky) - a general discussion thread - 2005 OT thread
2003 Clone Wars vs 2008 The Clone Wars - 2014 OT thread
“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas
Like others who have posted in here, I too would rather more screen time given to highlighting Anakin and Obi-Wan’s friendship in the PT films themselves, in build-up for a more satisfying and impactful and payoff for their eventual duel in ROTS, than some dumb needless droid factory scene that ran for 5 uninterrupted minutes in AOTC.
A 5 minute scene which in itself was filmed in post-production to correct some perceived issues, and yet offered little impact to the story or characters.
“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas
TCW Version of Anakin Skywalker was just a Bad Clone of Han Solo
and without the charm or warmth of Han Solo.
I thought the 2003 Clone Wars gave us a better Anakin as a character than the AOTC did, even better than early 2008 TCW did. There wasn’t many scenes of them, it wasn’t that type of show, but what there was, was very well done.
I need to give the 2003 Clone Wars another watch through.
“Don’t tell anyone… but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories - let’s call them homages - and you’ve got a series.” - George Lucas
I watched it recently and it is short but sweet. Anakin’s journey when told visually (the Ventress fight and the cave vision) is good stuff.
As for the CG series I enjoy it best when it’s not about Anakin and Obiwan, so there it is.
TCW Anakin is great at points, when he got to be a kind of ruthlessly heroic character. He wouldn’t hesitate when a friend was in danger, which was an interesting way to foreshadow his eventual turn.
It seems pretty fair to me that Lucas doesn’t get much credit for ‘saving’ Anakin though. It would only be balancing out the ruining he did already. I’d have much preferred to just have a decent Anakin in the films, and not scattered throughout 7 seasons of a cartoon spin-off. TCW is fairly overrated by the fanbase too. The good stuff is remembered fondly, but there was LOADS of average to outright bad material too. It’s a worse hit rate than the movies.
Not even the worst of TCW did the same irreversible damage to Star Wars that the prequels and Rise of Skywalker did.
Not even the worst of TCW did the same irreversible damage to Star Wars that the prequels and Rise of Skywalker did.
Yeah probably wouldn’t argue with that. TCW doesn’t do much to alter anything significant, and is basically entirely supplementary. The lazy cowardice of TROS’s story ripples back through everything unfortunately.