All over the interwebs since the initial announcement, but I'll reiterate here so we can discuss
NEW ANIMATED SERIES STAR WARS REBELS COMING FALL 2014
May 20, 2013
Production has begun on Star Wars Rebels, an exciting, all-new animated television series based on one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time. Scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel, it will be followed by a series on Disney XD channels around the world...
...The action-filled series is set between the events of Episode III and IV -- an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen. Star Wars Rebels takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape. Details about the show are a closely guarded secret at this point.
I might be over-analysing things, but I'm sensing a bit of a strategic move away from prequel-era material, into the originaly trilogy period...which might be to better tie in to post-OT movies.
This is great news. Although I'm sad that the Clone Wars ended quite abruptly, seeing a new series and with OT based ships and characters is gonna be AWESOME!
'Star Wars Rebels' pilot to launch on Disney Channel -- Exclusive Star Wars Rebels, a one-hour animated pilot already in production at Lucasfilm, is scheduled to premiere in Fall 2014 on the Disney Channel before the new brand leaps to Disney XD for the ongoing series, according to Lucasfilm sources.
The series will mine material in the 19 years that follow Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and precedes the Episode IV: A New Hope. In other words, using the life of the Skywalker twins as a measure, the series will be active in the story years that come after their separation as newborns and before their (unwitting) reunion on the prison level of the Death Star.
No word on whether the show will feature Darth Vader (who would be in the Empire's power consolidation years and earning his reputation) or even pull in a character like Han Solo, the smuggler and cynic who becomes an unlikely freedom fighter when he opts to stand with his friends against cosmic odds. The title of the show is vaguely phrased in a way that any rebel - even a Boba Fett or Ahsoka Tano.
The series has three executive producers: Dave Filoni, the point man on The Clone Wars animated series that launched in 2008; screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, whose has a flair for tonal rewiring and
energizing familiar brands with new edge (e.g.: X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes); and Greg Weisman, whose credits include well-regarded work on Young Justice and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
A press release that was being readied Monday morning included a quote from Kathy Kennedy, the hand-picked successor of George Lucas as Lucasfilm president as well as an elite producer (Jurassic Park, Schindler's List) since the 1980s.
"I couldn't be more excited to explore new corners of the Star Wars universe," Kennedy stated in the release. "I think Star Wars Rebels will capture the look, feel and fun that both kids and their parents love about Star Wars."
Kennedy, who has brought a new vigor and decisiveness to Lucasfilm in-house culture that (a bit like Obi Wan Kenobi out in the lonely desert) seemed to forget some its fiery rebel heritage as the dust of passing seasons gathered.
Kennedy shocked some observers when she jettisoned a well-underway Lucasfilm initiative to re-release the prequel trilogy in 3D. The decision was not cheap but allowed her to turn all engines toward the new emphasis, an era of stories and characters that will be most familiar to the fan generation that sat down in the dark with in the Jedi summers of 1977-1983. The centerpiece of the new focus is the third trilogy, with a first installment expected in 2015 or 2016 and directed by J.J. Abrams.
The new venture will put considerable pressure on the creative team. The animation process is not a fast one although it it was not clear Monday how long Filoni and his colleagues have been working on the new
show. For the fans who see Kennedy's priorities as a new hope for the Jedi universe as entertainment, the news of Star Wars Rebels might bring to mind an exchange from 1977 space epic with a now-relevant pun: The Rebellion could really use a good pilot.
UPDATE: A video with Filoni just went live on StarWars.com and YouTube.
I'm wondering if this replaces the proposed live action TV series that was in the works. Cost per episode was deemed too high to proceed....but animating it seems a logical and exciting development?
Andiamo wrote:I'm wondering if this replaces the proposed live action TV series that was in the works. Cost per episode was deemed too high to proceed....but animating it seems a logical and exciting development?
The live-action TV series was rumoured to be about Bounty Hunters, and then rumoured to be a tie-in with the 1313 game (the lower levels of Corsucant). I don't think it's ever been rumoured to have been about the Rebels.
