George Lucas is clearly one of the few filmmakers who needs very little to no introduction. To some, heās revered as a God, and maybe rightfully so, because letās face it, few of us would be such big movie fans if not for the āStar Warsā saga and its geek-level of fandom has spilled over into other realms while growing by leaps and bounds due to the internet. If not for the work done by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to bring Mr. Lucasā vision to life in the six āStar Warsā movies, filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson would never had been able to bring their own creatures and characters to the screen in such a realistic manner. There would never have been movies like Robert Rodriguezās Sin City and Zack Snyderās 300 if not for the way Mr. Lucas pioneered the use of computer-generated background environments for films made on green screen.
Yes, a world without George Lucas and āStar Warsā would be a grey and dismal place for fans of science fiction, action and effects movies, because over thirty years after the big screen debut of the first Star Wars, the characters and worlds created by Lucas continue to find new and younger fans, all of whom will be happy to see him continuing the āStar Warsā saga using the latest technology for many years to comeĀ only this time, on television.
Mere weeks after the announcement that Warner Bros. would be releasing the feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars in theaters this summer, Mr. Lucas was on hand in Las Vegas at the annual ShoWest Convention to present an extended clip from the movie at the studioās āThe Big Pictureā presentation. The feature film and animated series fill the gaps between Episodes II and III, but it will also be the first āStar Warsā movie to appear on the big screen in three years. While the feature film looks to be very much in line with the recent movies, the animated series promises to introduce new characters we havenāt seen in the previous films and cartoons with stories that will be short episodic mini-movies.
Flanked by six Clone Troopers from the 501st Legion, Lucas introduced the extended clip, which begins with two Jedi carriers departing from a larger Republic starship. Inside one of them, Anakin briefs his young liege Ahsoka on the upcoming battle, telling his young apprentice to stay close because it isnāt practice although sheās very cocky and self-assured, snapping back that sheāll try not get him killed. The battle scene is quite impressive as we get to see Ahsoka in action against a large armored vehicle thatās able to climb up a vertical cliff-face, followed by a scene of Count Dooku relaying his plans to his own dark apprentice Asajj Ventress via the normal Jedi hologram communication, their plans interrupted by the entrance of Ben Kenobi, leading to a short lightsaber fight between them, Ventress disarming Kenobi with her advantage of two lightsabers to his one. The animation looked somewhat primitive compared to what else is out there with the characters not being as detailed as some might like, but the battle sequences are still very exciting and impressive.
ComingSoon.net had the rare opportunity to talk to Mr. Lucas briefly before the presentation and then we had more time to sit down with him in a more casual atmosphere afterwards. While there are millions if not billions of bigger āStar Warsā fans, being one of the few online writers who was actually old enough to have seen the original Star Wars when it first played in theaters in the ā70s, it was nice to finally meet and talk to such an influential filmmaker.
ComingSoon.net: How much overlap will there be between Genndyās āClone Warsā animated series and the new feature film and television series?
George Lucas: Well, the Genndy show was an experiment that we did with Cartoon Network that was 5 minutes each, they went sort of where commercials normally go, and it was an experiment, not only in doing five-minute shows, but it was an experiment in trying to translate āStar Warsā into an animated medium, and we felt very good about that. We thought it turned out really well, and we then took it to the next level, which was to do a full-out animated series of āThe Clone Wars.ā Thereās not much overlap. Genndy did most of the animation and most of the stories for the first experimental series, and this one Iām pretty much following the mythology and the rules of the features, so itās a little bit different, but itās very much like the features except itās in animation. We decided to do it in a slightly different style than Genndy did, still in the anime genre, but we took it a little differently.
CS: Do you see the show going on for a long time? It obviously takes a long time to produce computer animation.
Lucas: Weāve been doing this for three years. We have one year finished, weāre in the middle of the second year. Iāve written the third year. We expect this to go on for at least five or six years.
CS: And the live action show will go on at the same time?
Lucas: The live action show probably wonāt start until 2010. Weāre working on it now, doing the scripts and everything, but it takes too long to get it up and organized, but I think this is a chance for the fans to see the animated series on the big screen. It works great on the big screen and itās kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it big.
CS: Since the feature is being done specifically for the big screen, where is the movie going to end and the series begin?
Lucas: Itās not that episodic. This is a movie but we started doing the episodes and some of the episodes are stand-alone and some are two, some are three, some are four, and thereās no cliffhangers. Itās not like the current vogue of ā24ā and āThe Wireā and stuff where you actually have to watch the entire series in order to understand whatās going on. This is an old-fashioned episodic show. We looked at it on the big screen and it looked so beautiful and great that we said, āGee, we can make a feature just like this.ā So we did and got all the people, got all the stuff and said, āLetās make a feature.ā So we did.
CS: There wonāt be a āTo Be Continuedā at the end of the movie teasing those who see it to watch the television show?
Lucas: Well, no, but the show starts in Octoberā¦ October 1stā¦ no, in the fall. They havenāt decided yet. We just made our deal.
CS: Thatās pretty tight for a show starting in the fall.
Lucas: Yeah.
CS: I assume the series will continue the same kind of scope and scale that we see on the big screen like the clip you showed earlier?
Lucas: Yeah, and itās still in widescreen even on television. Itās got the same production value, it looks the same. Everything is exactly the same.
CS: Youāve always been such a big proponent of doing things in movies, so why did you decide to enter the TV world after all this time?
Lucas: Well, I love TV. āYoung Indiana Jonesā was one of the happiest times I ever had, so I love television. Itās great to be able to do a lot of work. Thereās not as much pressure as there is on film. Film is a very tight little box. If you donāt fit in that box, youāre gone. Television, thereās more room to move around. Thereās certain issues that if you donāt fit in the box, you donāt get on certain networks, but eventually, you can always find a place, whereas a movie, itās much harder.
CS: But thereās also an issue with television where the networks are always looking at the ratings before deciding whether to keep a show on the air. Youāre already doing so much work towards the future of the showā¦
Lucas: Yeah, well Iām going to do a hundred shows. Iām going to do it no matter what they do, so obviously, I want it to stay on the air a long time.
CS: I know Anthony Daniels is returning to voice C3PO, but might there be anyone else from the movies that might voice their characters in the animated movie or show? I know that everyone loves Frank Oz as Yoda. Will we see some of them?
Lucas: No, no. I mean, because itās a TV show, itās something that goes on and on and on and on, so itās not really designed to have a lot of the old actors back.
CS: Itās harder for scheduling.
Lucas: Yeah, itās impossible, ācause TV, itās very hard. You have to basically be on-call every day.
CS: Thereās been a lot of talk about where this animated film and series fit in to the āStar Warsā mythos. We know that āThe Clone Warsā takes place between āEpisode IIā and āEpisode IIIā but thereās only a certain amount of time that can be fit in there. Do you know how many years this war takes place?
Lucas: I donāt know. Iām not the expert in that field, but a couple years, two or three years, so itās notā¦ if we did every minute of every day, we would be able to go on for a hundred years. (He then laughs heartily at that idea.)
CS: That would be fun to keep it going for that long.
Lucas: No, I think we got plenty of stories. Itās an indefinite amount of time. I mean, we know what the time is. We got ā(Episode) IIā and we got ā(Episode) IIIā so we saw the start of the war, we saw the end of the war, but you donāt know all the adventures that went on in between.
CS: What are your plans for theatrical films in the future? You have āIndiana Jonesā with Steven, but are you going to continue making movies, even if youāre producing other directors?
Lucas: Probably. I mean, what Iām doing is Iām doing a film called āRed Tailsā Iāve been working on for years, and then Iām working on a live action āStar Warsā TV series, and weāre in the script stage. That probably wonāt come out for a couple of years, then Iām going to do my own films. Iām basicallyā¦ you might say āretireā and just work on āhobby moviesā after that.
CS: Itās funny you should mention that because it leads to a question Iāve always wanted to ask you. Anyone who works at the same job for thirty years must wake up somedays and think, āYou know what? I donāt want to do this job today.ā Youāve been so invested in āStar Wars,ā creating so many worlds and characters, but you must wake up some days and say āI want to do something else today.ā
Lucas: Yeah, well that happened actually right after I finished the first trilogy. I said, āLook, I expected to do one movie and it turned into three and I expected to be done in a year and it ended up being ten, so Iām ready to move on now.ā It was later when I realized that it was so big that no matter what I did, it was going to be linked to me and that was basically what I am no matter what I do, so thatās when I said, āOkay, Iāll finish the whole sagaā and then once I came to that, I said, āWell, gee, it would be fun to do an animated film.ā I love animation. The idea of CG anime is something Iāve been interested in for a long time, and itās a chance to explore other things and then train a lot of people and let them take off and use their imaginations.
CS: Do you think youād have other people continue the āStar Warsā saga past āEpisode VIā or turn some of the other material into films?
Lucas: But thereās no story past āEpisode VIā, thereās just no story. Itās a certain story about Anakin Skywalker and once Anakin Skywalker dies, thatās kind of the end of the story. There is no story about Luke Skywalker, I mean apart from the books. But thereās three worlds: Thereās my world that I made up, thereās the licensing world thatās the books, the comics, all that kind of stuff, the games, which is their world, and then thereās the fansā world, which is also very rich in imagination, but they donāt always mesh. All Iām in charge of is my world. I canāt be in charge of those other peopleās world, because I canāt keep up with it.
CS: Whatās going on with āRed Tailsā? Is that something youāre going to be working on soon?
Lucas: Well, as a matter of fact, Iām working on it tomorrow. Weāre getting toward a script, and probably start shooting before the end of the year, and it should come out next year maybe.
CS: So the TV stuff isnāt taking away from you making movies.
Lucas: Well, thatās probably going to be the last movie I do just becauseā¦ I mean, apart from my own movies, but my own movies are going to be more esoteric and probably will come and go in a week and be in one or two arthouses here and there. You can get the DVD.
CS: Kind of what Francis Ford Coppola has been doing in recent years?
Lucas: Yeah, itās basically the same as what Francis is doing.
(At this point, Bonnie Burton from StarWars.com, who had been sitting in on the interview, jumped in with a couple questions of her own.)
StarWars.com: A lot of new fans will be watching this new animated series and seeing āStar Warsā for the first time, so what do you think of this new generation of kids that are going to be introduced to the āStar Warsā saga.
Lucas: What do I think of them? The poor kids have to grow up in this crazy world thatās been created! Gosh!
SW: Itās obviously a different tone but still has the drama and the characters.
Lucas: The TV series is exactly like the movies, exactly. I mean, you can see it in the clip. Itās basically just the movies only with cartoon characters. Itās basically a dramatic series, thereās a lot of action, a bit of humor. It runs along at the same level. Itās unusual for an animated film, because itās not really hardcore like say āBeowulfā and itās not a Pixar movie, so it kind of falls in between in this funny world where āStar Warsā is, which is kind of hard-edged but not really, sort of on the verge of PG-13, flips over once in a while, but sort of the high end of PG.
SW: It also seems to show a little bit more of the clone characters as well.
Lucas: Yeah, now we get introduced to the clones, which we didnāt get in the movies. Now, theyāre like main characters and they really are central to the whole thing, and you can identify them and know who they are, and itās sort of like āBand of Brothersā only with Jedi. (laughs)
As we wrapped up, we asked Mr. Lucas about the plans for āStar Wars Sagaā on Blu-ray Disc as I took the picture above, but we got sidetracked by that and never got a response about a timeframe.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens theatrically on August 15 with the animated show due sometime in the fall.
Special thanks to Orna āVaderā from Warner Bros. for arranging this, Bonnie Burton from StarWars.com for her questions and support (she also took the picture above from the ShoWest presentation), and Mr. Lucas himself for taking the time to talk to us.