Judging by the TFN article, the animated series was a very real possibility at the time AICN broke the story, but eventually fell victim to number crunching.

Why not just post it?

SPY REPORT: Clone War Cartoon Update
Tue, Dec 03, 02 12:18:22 AM EST


When news first broke on the possibility of a Clone War cartoon - needless to say scores of Star Wars fans were thrilled. The prospect of some hi-quality animation set in the Star Wars universe got fans excited. TFN has been working to get the scoop on what exactly this will or maybe would have been like, posting a few updates in the last few weeks and now here's the latest:

Unfortunately, everyone here is talking about the Clone War series in the past tense. As in, not going to happen. The project was going to be expansive - the Cartoon Network wanted some of a toy line and merchandising based on the new sub-franchise themselves, and Six Flags even wanted to make rides centered on them. This was going to be a huge operation, possibly as big as the movies themselves. "Event animation," not some cheap cartoon.
All that exists in all actuality is some concept art floating around offline and a short pilot type of episode - really at best described as a story demo reel that looks alot like Tartakovsky's stuff. Character elements look somewhat handdrawn, but it is completely CGI and very few people have been priviy enough to see it. And the now defunct Feature Films Division at ILM (Frankenstein) are responsible for the project so far, which is going to also pose a problem since they no longer exist, being disbanded months before this took off. But the bottom line is that everyone on this end really wants to do it - but wants more that Lucasfilm will offer. As always, it seems to have boiled down to money unless someone blinks first.

Keep in mind this could change at a moment's notice: Lucasfilm could reduce the demand for the profits - the Cartoon Network could decide to back it no matter what the cost. But as of this writing, several insiders are saying this slam dunk landed like a brick at the expense of the Almighty Dollar.
Hopefully this is all part of the process and the companies can still work out some sort of deal. After deals with Fox, Pepsi, Hasbro that all cost them more than they returned, it seems to make us wonder if TCN is willing to assume such a risk as well. But man, it sure would be cool ...

I would have liked to seen this on HBO rather than Cartoon Network. That might have been one way to get around all the advertising and toy line tie in's HBO is a big enough outfit that it might have been willing to bankroll part of this project.

Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men.....

:whofart:

I imagine that the #1 reason Lucasfilm wanted to do this would be BECAUSE of the advertising and toy line tie-ins.

The whole point (in the big picture) would be to create an ongoing program that could sell toys, comics, books, games, etc. once the films stop coming out theatrically.


As much as I enjoy Star Wars, I'm realistic about it. They're doing this for $$$$. (And, apparently, wanting to keep too much of the $$$$ for Cartoon Network's taste.)

I still expect something like this to show up between now and 2007 or so. Star Wars is just too big of a franchise to let go. We'll see an animated or live action TV show eventually (I'm still hoping for X-Wing Rogue Squadron or something like that... live action and set in a timeframe after Return of the Jedi).

Clone Wars Cartoon
 

YES I can't wait. Ripped this from rebelscum.com

Cartoon Network and Lucasfilm Announce Star Wars Animated Shorts
Thursday February 20, 10:25 am ET
20 Animated "Clone Wars' Serial Shorts to Appear on Cartoon Network in 2003-2004

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2003--Cartoon Network and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today a partnership to create Star Wars: Clone Wars, a series of 20 animated shorts that will air on Cartoon Network in 2003-2004 between other programming.

Star Wars: Clone Wars continues the saga where the live action feature film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones left off - at the beginning of the Clone Wars, an epic civil war that pits the old Republic against a vast separatist movement led by the forces of evil.

Each episodic short will be two- to three-minutes in length and will air exclusively on Cartoon Network at regularly scheduled times during the network's regular programming beginning later this fall. Clone Wars will be produced at Cartoon Network Studios by a team led by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory.

As Clone Wars unfolds the valiant Jedi Knights lead the Republic's Clone Army against many new and ruthless adversaries across the galaxy. These new characters, epic battles and intricate stories will add an exciting new dimension to the Star Wars saga.

"We are incredibly excited to be working with Lucasfilm in creating an animated story that extends one of the world's most beloved entertainment properties," said Sam Register, senior vice president of development for Cartoon Network. "Cartoon Network's creative team will work hand-in-hand with Lucasfilm to make sure that our common vision for Clone Wars thrills Star Wars fans around the world."

"Genndy Tartakovsky and the team at Cartoon Network are tops in their field," said Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing. "Their work on Samurai Jack shows that they can tell an epic story in a unique way, lavishing equal attention on dramatic battle scenes as well as the dramatic development of the characters."

I thought this was supposed to be a series.

Cool. I hope this also comes to DVD.

Here is the original thread discussing this (from back in November):

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...postid=3011190

And an article:

http://www.starwars.com/eu/feature/20030220/index.html

And some artwork:

http://www.starwars.com/eu/news/2003...sposter_bg.jpg

I'm currently drunk as a skunk right now (a vendor from work took us out for drinks), but I saw the news on Ain't it cool news, confirmed on Theforce.net and starwars.com, and became as sober as a preacher.

Genndy freeking Tartakovsky. Genndy goshdamned Tartakovsky.

I think I need a towel.


Damn.

Is that supposed to be good or bad? From the looks of it Lucas has given Tartakovsky free reign to interpret it as he wishes, of course based on Lucas story of the Clone Wars.

Are you for real? Genndy is the man behind Dexter's Laboratory (which can be pedestrian at times, but usually isn't. Omelette du Fromage is one of all time favorite cartoons ever) and Samurai Jack, which isn't always heavy on the plot, but oozes with style.

I think Genndy will be spoken of down the road the same we talk about animators like Chuck Jones and the like today.

I feel we are truly in for a treat here.

Looking forward to this as well. Just wish we were getting a full blown series instead of these 2-3 minute shorts.

Looks cool!

I think it kinda sucks... Sure we get Animated Star Wars, but then entire season amounts to about 1 hour. You think they could have come up with an actual series.

In addition... you got to wait around to see them and sit through other stuff you don't care about just to get your Star Wars fix.

This is basically a very cool programming experiment (and a way to push Star Wars toys, if you're a cynic). They didn't want to create a full series right now because Episode III has yet to be released and these shorts are just aimed to bridge Episode II & III (The Clone Wars).

You didn't hear it from me, but if this is successful and all parties are happy with the product, there is a slight chance there may be an animated Star Wars series a few years down the road.


Don't worry about that, the shorts will most likely run at specific times of day (i.e. 5p, 8p, 10p, etc.), not at 6:12p or 9:37p or something like that.

I must be the only person on the face of the earth who doesn't like this guy's work. I think looks cheap, like a flash animation or something thrown together in after effects.

Of course, the only other option would have been more CGI, which for some reason seems to work a lot better for other people than it does for Lucas anymore.

Would be cool if these segments were done by several different artists, with each one doing their own story arc in their own style.

As a card-carrying member of the "Luca$ is Killing His Own Creation Society", I really couldn't care less about <B>Star Wars</B> right now, but I'm thrilled to see anything new from Tartakovsky. I would imagine they can do some really interesting and stylistic things with the shorts, although at first glance, I'd rather have a full series. I'll definitely tune in for this.

das

No not only one Jason, my sister and I can't stand that animation either. We call it lazy animation, but your description about being like chessy cheap flash program hits on nail more.

I think that artwork looks bad

No. There is another.

I'm having a mixed reaction to this.

Yeah it would be cool to see an animated Star Wars series. But stylistically I'm not sure if Gendy Tartakovsky's "style" is right for Star Wars. I think more the style of the new He-Man series might be more appropriate. I'm also not crazy about the format they've chosen. Twenty 2-3 minute shorts? They could have easily done six half hour episodes and aired them on a weekly basis.

Well if this intended to sell more toys kenner already has my $$$$$$$ since I really buy more Star Wars toys than any other collectable. I'll reserve judgement until I actually SEE the shorts. I do like Samurai Jakc and Dexter though.

Folks, though I'm not sure what it means personally, I hear tell of a saying that it's not the length of something, but how you use it.

Just think, we won't have needless exposition scenes, we won't have little cappers that finish with "And knowing is half the battle", we won't have anything but 2-3 minutes of pure Star Wars.

And anybody who thinks Samurai Jack's animation is cheap is blind as a bat. It's expressive, colorful, inventive, full of life, etc, ad nauseum.

I'm very glad to see this coming.

What I would really love to see would be an animated series based on the post-ROTJ novels and comics, that pulled all of the storylines into a single coherent continuity/canon. Something nice and long like the Batman animated series... sixty episode/half-hour seasons.

And then after that was finished, they could fill in some gaps on the prequel trilogy in a similar manner.

But that's just me.