belated October 2023 Patreon round-up: EXCLUSIVE - Star Trek & Star Wars: The Clone Wars viewing diaries & Podcast Episode 100 Films Reviews

Although technically these are October rewards, my exclusive $5/month and $1/month tier content was actually released in early November, delayed by a focus on the public work I wanted to finish by October 31. I advance those on Patreon before that, as you can see here, here, here, and here, just in time for a late Halloween conclusion. The official, more permanent patron-exclusive posts were ready soon afterwards and are linked below. For the $5/month tier, I shared a couple viewing diary entries I wrote years ago but never published until now (because I never followed up with other episodes as intended, they currently exist as one-offs). Both cover the first official episodes of sci-fi series from two of the most beloved sagas of all time - in one case, the original Star Trek show back when it was a scrappy Gene Roddenberry-led upstart and in the other case, an animated Star Wars series which premiered in the final years of George Lucas' reign. Meanwhile, I finally published the last part of my Episode 100 podcast opus, covering a dozen different films in depth. Although this particular chapter is shared below, for the complete picture of the multipart episode - released over many months - you should check out the official Episode 100 cross-post.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - discussion w/ Bob Clark on the feature film (& more)

Welcome to my viewing diary for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 - 14). In this prelude (the diary will begin in earnest sometime in the future), Bob Clark and I discuss the preliminary material, particularly the film (which I reviewed yesterday). I have never seen this series before so there will be NO spoilers.

The impetus for covering The Clone Wars came largely from Bob Clark (creator of the webcomic Neo Westchester), a passionate fan of both the Star Wars prequels and this series. He joined me for a chat a few years ago, which I'm happy to finally produce now. We go in-depth into various aspects of the film The Clone Wars, branching off at points into discussions of various American animation styles (even allowing for these detours, I had to cut out long segues into auteurism in fan culture and the tone of the Disney renaissance - hopefully I can find a place for them eventually). Whereas I'm coming to the series as a total newbie, Bob is a long-time fan, and whereas I'm not particularly well-versed in animation techniques, Bob has far more grounding in that area. The resultant conversation will probably be of interest to both new viewers of The Clone Wars and those far more immersed in its culture, as well as those simply curious about the topic.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This is an entry in the viewing diary for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series (2008-14).

I don't think any other TV series I cover will require quite as much "easing into" as The Clone Wars. We are now four entries into this viewing diary and after two live-action features, a couple dozen cartoon shorts, and an animated feature we still haven't quite hit The Clone Wars proper. Then again, this movie is probably best viewed not as a standalone film but as a pilot for the series. After all, its stakes are hardly as high as any other Star Wars film (well, ok, maybe Phantom Menace) and its purpose is clearly to establish characters and solidify a universe that will pay off. And actually I thought it did a pretty good job at that. In fact, I found The Clone Wars quite enjoyable - a surprise given its abysmal reputation. Although the series itself has been acclaimed, earning several Emmies, establishing a new generation of Star Wars fans, and winning over many viewers who had been dismayed by the prequels, The Clone Wars got off to an ignominious start with this theatrical feature.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars microseries

This is an entry in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, covering both versions of the animated show alongside the prequel films.

As I prepared to do a Clone Wars series, I was confused. I knew there had been a movie, not very well-received (Rotten Tomatoes reveals an 18% - far, far worse than any prequel score). I knew there had been a TV show recently, supposedly much better than the movie, that was cancelled by Disney when they bought Lucasfilm - apparently they preferred to focus on a later period of Star Wars history for a variety of reasons. I knew that a decade ago, there was a Clone Wars show created in traditional 2D animation. So I was surprised when I looked at images from the Clone Wars film that were computer-animated (even though I hazily remembered that detail in retrospect - when the film was released in 2008, I looked askance at it partially because it seemed to be taking the prequels' obsession with CGI even further). Turns out there are two versions of this story. The first, called simply Clone Wars, was created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network in 2003-05, between the release of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Designed in short, stylized bursts of action (following one episode of quick exposition), each chapter of Clone Wars ran but three minutes, until season three, when the runtime was extended to twelve (for five episodes). Taken all together (either on the two-volume DVD set or as stitched into a relatively continuous narrative on YouTube), these twenty-five chapters form a two-hour twelve-minute exploration into untapped corners of the Star Wars universe. I loved it.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars prequel prologue - Attack of the Clones

This is an entry in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, covering both versions of the animated show alongside the prequel films. (as a general update - the YouTube version of my public podcast episode was finally published yesterday)

Here is where the story of The Clone Wars really kicks off; by comparison, it's questionable whether I even needed to review The Phantom Menace for this series, though it did make a good personal prologue. This feature film was released a year and a half before the first TV series (whose 3-15 minute episodes I will be reviewing all together tomorrow, before beginning to cover its longer-running incarnation). And it takes place immediately before the events of the show, climaxing with the first battle of the Clone Wars. The clone army is introduced, mysteriously farmed on the ocean planet of Kamino at the behest of a long-dead Jedi. Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is established as the primary villain, a rogue Jedi who believes that the corrupt Republic is under the sway of Sith Lord Darth Sidious (he isn't wrong although he is a liar, since he too obeys Sidious). Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) transforms from a cheerful little kid into a brooding adolescent, extremely skilled and powerful but also entitled and resentful, and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), no longer the solemn padawan of Phantom Menace, is depicted as a seasoned warrior and diplomat. Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) is also given his first opportunity to play the man of action. Hell, we even learn that feeble old Yoda (Frank Oz) is no slouch with a lightsaber.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars prequel prologue - The Phantom Menace

This is an entry in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, covering both versions of the animated show alongside the prequel films.

As I prepare my Clone Wars viewing diary, it occurred to me that I should probably include entries on the Star Wars prequels. After all, they are essentially part of the same story, and I did review the Evangelion films as part of my series on that show. I happened to be rewatching these films anyway - for the first time in a half a decade - so why not take a little time to write about my reactions in the context of the series? Of course there are a couple problems with this. One is that The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones take place before the events of the show, and therefore should properly be written about before I see the series. Perhaps more importantly, the films were made without any knowledge of either version of the show (Revenge of the Sith did come out after the first, short-lived Clone Wars series began, but before the later, longer show was born). So to a certain extent I'll be flying blind here, in terms of comparing the film to the series, as were the filmmakers themselves.

Leading up to The Clone Wars: 5 "prologue" entries, starting tomorrow

My previous TV entry was on Star Trek, which makes a nice segue into the similarly titled, similarly legendary, yet radically different world of Star Wars. Like the Trek entry, this week's posts will essentially be standalones, attached to a larger viewing diary yet not covering actual episode of the respective series. However, in this case there are enough pieces - five in all - to justify an introduction.

The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm's six-season prequel-era animated series (which tended to bridge some of the thornier divides within the ever-more-divided Star Wars fandom) had quite a long build-up. In terms of real-world chronology, that includes six feature films over thirty years, two trilogies that - along with the massive (and now largely defunct) extended universe - laid the groundwork for the show's bustling galaxy, mythology, and ensemble. In these "prologue" pieces, however, I'll be focusing mostly on in-world chronology, and thus limit myself to the first two prequel films (The Phantom Menace and The Attack of the Clones) whose stories precede the series, the earlier cel-animated series by Genndy Tartakovsky which overlaps with it (and introduces many of its characters), and the CGI feature film which essentially serves as its theatrical pilot. Finally, on Friday, I will publish a conversation with Bob Clark, who has been nudging me to cover this series for many years.

None of this week's pieces will be in my conventional viewing-diary format (story/reaction, ideally a paragraph on each, although Mad Men's first season stretched those boundaries by its end). They're a bit more free-range than that. I have also started work on the larger series (the above image is from the debut episode) but those entries probably won't appear on the site until next year or later. When they do, each season, perhaps each story arc will wrap up in another discussion with Bob.

See you tomorrow, and may the Force be with you...