General Star Wars Animated Series

As someone who actually really likes the prequels, my defence is usually that there's really nothing glaringly terrible about the actual plot. Lucas is terrible at writing dialogue, and directing, but he does a bang-up job at writing a story. Notable in that none of the original trilogy were directed by him, and he had people cleaning up his scripts, but the story still came from him.

ANH was directed by him, I'm pretty sure.

The EU went into more detail on Palpatine's bag of dictator tricks, including spreading nasty rumors about the Jedi just as Hitler did about the Jews. Specifically they were claimed to be using inhumane war tactics - Plo Koon was accused of killing Neimoidian children, Aayla of poisoning Felucia's water supply, etc.

Would it be incorrect to say that there was some symbolism with the Clone troopers as well?

At one point, they were viewed as a sign of hope against Count Dooku's War, but practically overnight, they became the foot soldiers for the Empire's oppression.

The way the characters interact and the story evolves is actually quite top notch, it's just that the execution had a very detached feeling to it. That is Lucas' main failing as a director, he knows how to tell a story through visuals but doesn't understand how to get the best performance from his actors. In various film schools they offer director-specific acting classes so they can understand the acting process better.

I still find it kind of amusing how while the prequels themselves, as films, have a hatedom, their content (apart from Christensen!Anakin, Jar-Jar, and the various explanations of how The Force works) doesn't really.

edited 21st Apr '14 9:01:25 AM by HamburgerTime

That is true. Something good did come from those movies, even if their execution was off.

Then again, there was a reason that George had such a tight grip on the Prequels wasn't there? I can't recall the exact reason, but the Star Wars Holiday Special had something to do with it I think.

edited 21st Apr '14 3:01:00 PM by HandsomeRob

Probably not, since the other two original films came after it and weren't even directed by him.

Though George pretty much directed return of the Jedi too (seeing some behind-the-scenes things make clear that he's the one calling the shots).

I've heard Lucas was kind of a dick to Marquand behind the scenes, but IIRC that was from an anti-Lucas site so I don't know the exact nature of their relationship.

Yeah, I think you guys have got it. I think the prequels are good movies, besides cheesy lines and acting at times ("It's only because I'm so in love!" "No, it's because I'm so in love with you!"), but the Original Trilogy had those at times too. And yeah, the story itself was indeed the strongest aspect of the movies.

Thank. God.

The publishing branch and partnership with Del Rey is safe. Disney just announced four new novels. A New Dawn is about how two of Rebels' main characters met, and is being written by John Jackson Miller, with input from Filoni, Kinberg, and Weisman.

The other three are James Luceno's Tarkin (which is exactly what it sounds like), Kevin Hearne's Heir to the Jedi (a first-person story from Luke about the events between Episodes IV and V), and Paul Kemp's Lords of the Sith (featuring Palpatine and Vader stranded on an inhospitable planet).

And these are the first books released under Disney's "one canon" policy, so future works will have to pay attention to them. :P

EDIT: Also, they've formally announced that the new movies will not follow the same path as the EU, but that "EU materials" (which presumably means books, and hopefully comics) will remain in circulation, and characters and storylines from the EU can be incorporated into the new canon (much like what happened with a lot of characters in The Clone Wars).

edited 25th Apr '14 6:56:25 PM by BadWolf21

So, basically, the movies are canon to the EU, but the EU isn't necessarily canon to the movies.

That's... pretty much what Big George has been saying this whole time. I confess it's a bit vague for me, though. So, assume it's out unless it's explicitly in?

No. ...What? I don't follow your train of logic.

As of this moment, nothing is canon except the movies, and The Clone Wars. However, going forward, everything is canon on an equal level. On top of this, characters and situations that have been rendered non-canon don't have to remain so. For an example that will probably be recanonized but quick, Thrawn no longer officially exists, but he is free to reappear in the new canon. I actually anticipate that he will, quite possibly in Luceno's Tarkin novel.

Yeah, I'd imagine the best-loved aspects of the former EU will be put back in swiftly. Thrawn, definitely. Maybe Mara as well, and the Solo kids.

Mara and the Solo kids are probably not likely, actually, since every single rumour about the new movies features characters that would replace them.

Especially the Solo kids.

Do we know the status of the Tartakovsky miniseries? I was always ambiguous as to whether that would be "T-Canon" as well, and kinda liked it besides. Also it has the origin of Luke and Leia.

edited 25th Apr '14 9:51:19 PM by HamburgerTime

I don't think it was ever canon.

Say, while we're on the subject of the EU, does anyone know of any other "commandments" Lucas issues to EU authors? He allowed them quite a bit of freedom, but I know he prescribed a couple things they weren't allowed to do. Apart from the obvious "Don't contradict the films," though, I only know of two: Luke, Han, and Leia cannot be killed onscreen (which ended up changing the NJO quite a bit), and Yoda's species cannot be revealed. Anyone know if there were others?

Those are the only ones I've ever heard.

Why would we assume it wasn't canon? It did end with an episode that led directly into the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith, and it did per Lucas's own request introduce Grievous before the film did.

edited 26th Apr '14 9:50:25 AM by DrDougsh

I think originally they weren't allowed to make any of the three get married and have kids either, but after they sneaked Han and Leia past Lucas somehow, it was dropped. 'Tho this might just be a fandom legend...
and @Hamburger Time The micro-series was C(ontinuity)-level canon, and Labyrinth of Evil, also a C-level work for instance contradicted quite heavily. T-canon was expressedly created for TCW and the live-action series, that never took off.

edited 26th Apr '14 10:44:53 AM by Werebazs

I think it initially was supposed to be canon, but it cluttered up the timeline of the Clone Wars so much that it was generally viewed as Broad Strokes if it wasn't discounted altogether, since it left no time for anyone else to tell Clone Wars stories.

The story is that George initially said no when they pitched Luke and Mara getting married, and they snuck it past him anyway.

Wasn't there one episode that implied the series was an in-universe action movie, albeit based on true events? That would explain why everyone in it was waaaaaaay more powerful than in the films.

edited 26th Apr '14 5:26:43 PM by HamburgerTime

Wha?

So George Lucas didn't want Luke to have a wife huh? Well that doesn't bode well for Mara's movie appearance(s). Too bad, too, i really would have like to see her in action in a movie/TV show instead of just reading about her and seeing pictures of her in a comic book.