Cartoon Review: Genndy Tartakovsky's 2003 Sar Wars: Clone Wars (Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

Because Disney+ released the seventh season of the Clone Wars, I decided to go back and watch the first six seasons before jumping into the newest one.  By episode nine, however, I found myself asking many questions raised by seemingly plot holes in the series.  Chief among these questions, what exactly is Anakin Skywalker's rank in the Jedi Order, and why is it that Ahsoka Tano was familiar with Asajj Ventress when the dark side villain made her first appearance in the series.  A quick web search showed that this was actually not Ventress' first appearance in the Star Wars universe, nor was this series the first to address the Clone Wars.  Rather, there had been a prior series addressing the Clone Wars that aired between 2003 and 2005 on the Cartoon Network, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.  A quick look at internet images from the series sparked a vague recollection.  But, I did not remember the specifics.  So off I went on a quest to find, and watch, Tartakovsky's take on the Clone Wars.

As I began my quest, I first noticed that the series was not available through Disney+.  This perplexed me, since Disney bought Lucasfilms back in 2012.  Surely that included the rights to this Clone Wars series.  Another quick internet search revealed that this was a mystery to numerous Star Wars fans.  The most logical of the possible explanations speculated that Lucasfilms and the Cartoon Network developed this series jointly.  Thus, the Cartoon Network likely still has a stake in the property, preventing Disney from making it available through the Disney+ streaming service.

Fear not!  The full two hour, thirteen minute series was released on DVD, and is available, new and used, on Amazon.com.  (No, I do not get any kickback from mentioning Amazon.)  Even more exciting, as of the time I am writing this review you can find the full series on YouTube!  I am not providing a link to the series, because it is easy to find and because I don't want to call the attention of any potential bot to it, which might result in its removal from YouTube.  If you haven't already, you all need to see this.

The Tartakovsky series doesn't pretend to be a kids' show.  It grabs your attention with violent action almost immediately, and doesn't let go.  That, by far, is its greatest strength over the later Clone Wars series.  Indeed, I can sum up the entire series in one word: bad-assery!

The Tartakovsky series covers the timeline between the films Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.  The series develops the plot of the Clone Wars, to show us how we go from the introduction of the Clone Army to the battle of Coruscant, where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Skywalker must rescue the captured Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of the evil General Grievous.  Since the Disney purchase of Lucasfilms, it is not considered Star Wars canon, which is disappointing because it explains, among other things, how Anakin Skywalker can have his own Padawan when the second Clone Wars series opens.  Moreover, because Tartakovsky focuses on action instead of overly detailed dialogue and plot development, it leaves plenty of room to fill in the gaps creatively with more adventures of the Jedi Knights against Count Dooku's forces, such as the introduction of Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka.

The first thing I noticed was the fantastic quality of the animation.  This is not computer generated graphics.  This series was hand drawn in the style of Tartakovsky's other hit cartoon series, Samurai Jack.  The series begins with a battle sequence, where the voice of Yoda briefly sets up the series with a summation of the situation facing the Republic.  This battle sequence is every bit as exciting as anything Lucasfilms produced on the big screen.

Tartakovsky next does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for the conflict that underlies the entire series.  No, not the one between the Republic and the Separatists.  It is the conflict between Sheev Palpatine and the Jedi Order over the fate of young Skywalker.  Throughout the series, Tartakovsky characterizes Anakin Sywalker as a brash, at times reckless, adventure junkie haunted by his aggression and anger.  From Tartakovsky's depiction of Skywalker, we can see why Skywalker was so vulnerable to descend down the path of the dark side of the Force.

The series depicts the villains as fierce adversaries, worthy of fear even from the Jedi Order.  General Grievous, for example, isn't the caricature of a bumbling bad guy as he's depicted in the later cartoon series, as well as in the film, Revenge of the Sith.  Rather, he is a ferocious antagonist, adept at hand-to-hand combat skills, including the wielding of a light saber.  While we are used to seeing single Jedi Knights almost effortlessly handle multitudes of battle droids, Grievous defeats groups of Jedis fighting him simultaneously.

Absent is the use of battle droids as silly comic relief. They are the deadly tools used by the Separatists to fight the Jedi and its Clone Army.

Also absent is the insulting appeal to hormone-driven teenage boys.  The female characters' breasts are not over-emphasized like the later Clone Wars series.  Nor do female characters don gratuitously revealing costumes, which is littered throughout the rest of the Star Wars universe.

There are some flaws to this depiction of the Clone Wars.  Kenobi serves mostly to deliver one-liners and sarcastic remarks like a bad imitation of a James Bond movie.  We don't get a sophisticated characterization of Kenobi like we do of Skywalker. Nor do we get much of a characterization of Padme Amidala, other than to emphasize her love for Skywalker.

In sum, Genndy Tartakovsky's depiction of the Clone Wars is far superior to the later cartoon series of the same subject matter.  It lives up to the expectations created within the imagination of the wide-eyed six year old in me, created when I first heard Luke's and Obi-Wan's passing reference to the conflict while hypnotized by the theatrical release of the first Star Wars movie.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.

References

Amazon.com, "Star Wars: Clone Wars -- Volume One."

Cotter, Padraig, "Why Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars Isn't Canon," Screen Rant (May 23, 2019).

Internet Movie Database, "Star Wars: Clone Wars."

Kaliroff, Marc, "'Star Wars: Clone Wars' Should Absolutely Be Added to Disney+," Goomba Stomp (January 11, 2020).

Kleinman, Jake, "Tartakovsky's Clone Wars: Why the Best Star Wars Series Isn't on Disney+," Inverse.com (November 28, 2019).

Kohn, Eric, "The Best Star Wars Series is the One Nobody Talks About -- Watch," IndieWire (May 4, 2017).

USA Today, "Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4 billion," (October 30, 2012).

Wikipedia, "Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)."

Wookieepedia, "Star Wars Clone Wars."