Before George Lucas co-created Star Wars: The Clone Wars with Dave Filoni, the filmmaker had tasked animator Genndy Tartakovsky with creating an animated series based on the titular prequel era conflict. Given Tartakovsky’s prominence in the animation space, the series was a certified banger.
After Disney purchased the franchise, the old series was rendered non-canonical, or at least that is what I believed until now, like most fans. However, that wasn’t the case as Tartakovsky admitted Lucas himself did not want the series as part of the wider Star Wars canon. Here is the real truth about the de-canonization of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars.
Genndy Tartakovsky admits George Lucas de-canonized Star Wars: Clone Wars
Genndy Tartakovsky started his career as an animator and storyboard artist before creating hit 1990s cartoons, such as Dexter’s Laboratory. By the early 2000s, Tartakovsky had a strong portfolio of animated hits under his belt, leading to George Lucas tasking him to create Star Wars: Clone Wars.
The series aired for three seasons and took place during the titular prequel era conflict Lucas had hinted at back in his 1977 original movie. However, shortly after the series concluded in 2005, Lucas began developing a new version as early as 2007 (via The New York Times).
During an interview with Digital Spy, Tartakovsky talked about Lucas co-creating a new take on the Clone Wars, which led to Lucasfilm considering his 2D-animated series non-canonical. He said:
It’s frustrating that they tried to erase it from being canon. At first, it was canon. And then once George started doing the CG version, he wanted to clean the slate. And so they de-canonised ours.
Tartakovsky’s comment confirms that the earlier version of the animated series was de-canonized by Lucas himself, to make room for the 2008 version, which had more creative input from the franchise’s creator. As a result, Tartakovsky’s version was sadly and quietly shrugged away.
Genndy Tartakovsky does not want to return to Star Wars
Despite lamenting the de-canonization of his series, Tartakovsky suggested that he had no hard feelings over the incident. The writer-director also stated that he had moved on from the franchise and wasn’t losing any sleep over his past project in the galaxy far, far away.
Tartakovsky’s version was critically well-received and gained recognition for introducing several key pieces of Star Wars lore, including the first appearance of General Grievous. Tartakovsky also noted in the same interview that his work continued to influence modern installments, citing the Star Destroyers in The Force Awakens as an example.
During a separate interview, Tartakovsky confirmed that he had no aspirations to return to the space opera saga. He stated (via Yahoo.com):
I did what I did, so I wouldn’t go back.
Ultimately, Tartakovsky’s version of the Clone Wars remains a fascinating piece of Star Wars media, which is extremely underappreciated in the modern era, where plenty of animated shows exist in the franchise. However, 2002’s Clone Wars is still an underrated gem more fans should check out.
Star Wars: Clone Wars (as Star Wars Vintage: Clone Wars 2D Micro-Series) is streaming on Disney+ (USA).
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
