Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 American computer-animated epic space opera film directed by Dave Filoni, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first fully animated film in the "Star Wars" franchise and takes place shortly after , at the start of the titular Clone Wars. In the film, Count Dooku and Jabba the Hutt's uncle Ziro orchestrate a plan to turn Jabba against the Galactic Republic by framing the Jedi for the kidnapping of his son. While Anakin Skywalker and his newly assigned apprentice  Ahsoka Tano attempt to deliver the child back to his father, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala lead separate investigations to uncover Dooku and Ziro's plot. "The Clone Wars" premiered on August 10, 2008, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, followed by a wide release five days later. It received largely negative reviews mainly due to its storytelling and animation style, and grossed $68.3 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing "Star Wars" film to date. The film serves as the backdoor pilot to the , which premiered on Cartoon Network two months after the film's release. Plot. The  events of the film chronologically take place between the season 1 episode "The Hidden Enemy" and the season 3 episode "Clone Cadets" of the television series. During the first year of the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, lead a small battalion of Republic Clone troopers against Count Dooku's Separatist droid army on the planet Christophsis. Awaiting reinforcements, the two Jedi greet a shuttle carrying a young Jedi Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been assigned by Grandmaster Yoda to serve as Anakin's apprentice instead of Obi-Wan's , as initially believed. Anakin reluctantly accepts Ahsoka as his apprentice and the two succeed in deactivating the Separatists' energy field while Obi-Wan stalls the droid army commander, allowing a Republic victory. Ahsoka earns Anakin's respect. Following the battle, Yoda arrives and informs the Jedi that gangster Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta has been kidnapped. The kidnapping has been engineered by Dooku's evil Sith master Darth Sidious, who hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's kidnapping in order to get Jabba to ally with the Separatists and fuel anti-Jedi sentiment from the Hutts. Anakin and  Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the Huttlet, while Obi-Wan is sent to Tatooine to negotiate with Jabba over a potential treaty between the Hutts and the Republic. Anakin and Ahsoka track the kidnapper and Rotta to the planet Teth, where they are ambushed by Separatist forces led by Count Dooku's assassin and Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress. The Jedi manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport with which they travel to Tatooine. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives on Teth and defeats Ventress in a lightsaber duel. Though she manages to escape , she knows she has failed. Meanwhile, Anakin's secret wife Senator Padmé Amidala learns of her husband's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle Ziro on Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. Despite Chancellor Palpatine's concerns for her safety, Padmé travels to Tatooine. However, she soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to have Rotta killed, so that Jabba would execute Anakin and Ahsoka in return and be taken into custody by the Jedi Council, which will  allow Ziro to seize power over the Hutt Clan. Padme is captured but a chance call by enables her to summon a squadron of clone troopers, and Ziro is arrested, despite revealing Dooku threatened to execute him if he did not cooperate with the conspiracy. Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are shot down by MagnaGuards, but survive. Anakin devises a ruse to confront Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights off Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by the MagnaGuards, whom she defeats, despite them being  difficult adversaries. The two deliver Rotta safely to Jabba, who nonetheless orders the Jedi to be executed for their supposed kidnapping attempt. However, Padmé contacts Jabba in time and reveals Ziro and the Separatists' responsibility for the kidnapping. Acknowledging the Jedi's heroism and allowing the Republic to have Ziro punished for his betrayal, Jabba, in gratitude, agrees to the treaty. Meanwhile, Dooku reports the plot's failure to Darth Sidious, who assures him that the tide of the war is still in their favor. Back at the palace, Anakin and Ahsoka are picked up by Obi-Wan and Yoda  as the Binary Sunset theme plays in the background. Production. Development. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was made to serve as both a stand-alone story and a lead-in to the weekly . George Lucas had the idea for a film after viewing some of the completed footage of the early episodes on the big screen. Those first few episodes, originally planned for release on television, were then woven together to form the theatrical release. Warner Bros. had tracked the series' development from the beginning, and Lucas decided on a theatrical launch after viewing early footage declaring "This is so  beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" This decision helped convince WB parent company Time Warner to distribute the movie, and to encourage its subsidiary Cartoon Network to air the series. Lucas described the film as "almost an afterthought." Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, said of the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways." Producer Catherine Winder said the sudden decision added to an already large challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity," but she felt it was a good way to start the series, and thought budgetary  constraints forced the production team to think outside the box in a positive way. The story of the kidnapped Hutt was inspired by the Sonny Chiba samurai film titled "Shogun's Shadow". Animation. Lucasfilm and Lucasfilm Animation used Autodesk software to animate both the film and the series using the Maya 3D modeling program to create highly detailed worlds, characters and creatures. The film's animation style was designed to pay homage to the stylized looks of both Japanese anime and manga, and the supermarionation of the British 1960s series "Thunderbirds". At a Cartoon Network-hosted discussion, Lucas said he  did not want the "Clone Wars" film or television series to look like such movies as "Beowulf", because he wanted a stylized look rather than a realistic one. He also felt it should not look like the popular Pixar movies such as "The Incredibles", because he wanted the film and characters to have its own unique style. Lucas also decided to create the animated film and series from a live-action perspective, which Winder said set it apart from other CGI films. Essentially, it "meant using long camera shots, aggressive lighting techniques, and relying on editing instead of storyboards." Animators  also reviewed designs from the when creating the animation style for the film and the new series. In charge was Steward Lee, working as the storyboard artist during filming. Some actors from the live-action films returned to vocally reprise their roles of their respective characters: Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Matthew Wood as B1 Battle Droids, Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, and Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu. However, Lee and Jackson did not reprise their roles in the subsequent television series. Music. The musical score for "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was composed by Kevin Kiner. The original motion  picture soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc begins with the main theme by John Williams, followed by more than 30 separate music cues composed by Kiner. Kiner is known for his work on such television series as "Stargate SG-1", "", "Superboy" and "". The soundtrack uses some instruments never heard before in a "Star Wars" score, including erhus, duduks and ouds. Marketing. Merchandise. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" merchandise was first released on July 26, 2008. Hasbro released several 3-inch "Clone Wars" action figures, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic  All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE). Target and KB Toys also devoted shelf space for "Clone Wars" toys, but did not hold midnight releases or pursue the branding opportunities Toys "R" Us did. Toys "R" Us mounted digital clocks in all 585 of its stores that counted down to the release of the "Clone Wars" toys, and more than 225 of the stores opened at midnight for the debut of the "Star Wars" products. Two of the Toys "R" Us flagship outlets in Mission Bay, San Diego and Times Square in Manhattan, New York City held costume and trivia contests  on July 26, and gave away limited-edition "Star Wars" toys with every purchase. A section of the Toys "R" Us website was also dedicated to "The Clone Wars". The toy line continues with The Clone Wars figures being well received by collectors for their detail to the characters and vehicles. Food partnership. Due to Lucas' sudden decision to produce the film, Lucas Licensing did not have time to enter into agreements with previous "Star Wars" marketing partners like Pepsi, Burger King and Kellogg's, with which the Lucasfilm licensing company had a ten-year marketing plan for the other  films. When questioned by "The New York Times" about "Star Wars" merchandising in July 2008, a Pepsi spokesperson was unaware a new "Star Wars" film was being released. On August 15, McDonald's held its first ever Happy Meal promotion for a "Star Wars" film and for four weeks, 18 exclusive toys came in specially designed Happy Meal boxes. Print media. Dark Horse Comics published a six-issue digest-sized comic book miniseries. Randy Stradley, vice president of publishing for Dark Horse, said the sudden decision to release the "Clone Wars" film required the company to temporarily delay plans for  two other "Star Wars" comic book series, "" and "Rebellion". The "Clone Wars" comics did not receive the promotional campaign it otherwise would have due to the abruptness of the theatrical and comic book releases. Topps, the trading cards company, released a series of 90 "Clone Wars" cards on July 26, which also included foil cards, motion cards, animation cel cards and rare sketch cards by top "Star Wars" artists and Lucasfilm animators. DK Publishing and the Penguin Group released books, activities and other merchandise that tied in with the film. Also released was the "Clone Wars: The Visual Guide", published  by DK, and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" in the UK, published by Puffin and in the U.S. by Grosset & Dunlap. The publishers also released a storybook, picture books and an activity book. At the American International Toy Fair, Lego announced a product line for the film and the TV series, to be released in July 2008 in the United States and in August 2008 in the United Kingdom. Video games. The LucasArts video game developer adapted the film into "" for the Nintendo DS and "" for Wii. A reviewer from PocketGamer.co.uk said his expectations for "Jedi Alliance" were low due  to poor "Clone Wars" movie reviews, but he found the game "a varied and well-paced experience." "" adapted the film, along with episodes from seasons one and two of the 2008 TV series. The game released on all platforms in 2011. Portable media players. A "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" MP3 player was released in August 2008. The player includes one gigabyte of memory, which holds 200 songs or 20 hours of music and comes with three interchangeable faceplates: a green one with Yoda and a lightsaber on it, a silver one with Captain Rex and a Galactic Empire logo  on it, and one with two clone troopers on Coruscant. One review claimed it improved upon a Darth Vader MP3 player released in July 2008, which featured only 512 megabytes of memory and a dated visual display. A "Star Wars" iPod iSpeaker (a speaker/dock for iPods, iPhones and MP3 players) was also released. The speaker includes an image of Captain Rex and three other Clone Troopers. Racing sponsorship. A "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" open wheel car for the IndyCar Series was unveiled at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International. The No. 26 car, which also included Blockbuster  Inc. decals and was driven by Andretti Green Racing driver Marco Andretti, ran August 24 on the Infineon Raceway in the Sonoma Mountains in California. Andretti said, "I'm hoping that my upcoming battle at Infineon will be as exciting as anything in a "Star Wars" movie so I can win it for both Blockbuster and Lucasfilm." The car finished 14th at Infineon, which Andretti attributed to a slow pit stop early in the race; he added, "I just don't think it was a very good performance for us today." The "Clone Wars" car was the second collaboration between  Lucasfilm, Blockbuster and Andretti Green Racing. It premiered as an "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" car at the Indianapolis 500 in May 2008. Novelization. A novelization of the film by Karen Traviss was released by Del Rey Books on July 26, 2008. In addition to narrating the film's plot from various points of view, it includes some of Anakin's memories of his early childhood as a Hutt slave, as well as some of Dooku's recollections of battling the Mandalorians (previously explored in the 2002 comic book ""). Release. Theatrical. "The Clone Wars" premiered on  August 10, 2008, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, followed by a wide release five days later. It received largely negative reviews for its story, animation and repetitive action sequences and grossed $68.3 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing "Star Wars" film to date. Home media. The film's two-disc DVD and Blu-ray Disc was released on November 11, 2008, in the United States and on December 8, 2008, in the United Kingdom. The film was released as a single-disc DVD, two-disc Special Edition DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The standard-definition versions include the  film in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound, and with feature-length audio commentary. The film is also available on the Disney+ streaming service, which launched on November 12, 2019. Reception. Critical response. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" received mostly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: "Mechanical animation and a less-than stellar script make "The Clone Wars" a pale shadow of George Lucas' once great franchise." This constituted the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of any "Star  Wars" film; the previous six theatrical films ranged from 52% to 95% and the made-for-television Ewok films and the "Star Wars Holiday Special" garnered higher ratings, although their averages encompassed far fewer reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100 based on 30 critic reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale. "Entertainment Weekly" listed "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" as one of the five worst films of 2008 with critic Owen Gleiberman saying, It's  hard to tell the droids from the Jedi drones in this robotic animated dud, in which the George Lucas Empire Strikes Back—at the audience. What wears you out is Lucas' immersion in a Star Wars cosmology that has grown so obsessive-compulsively cluttered yet trivial that it's no longer escapism; Because this movie has bad lightsaber duels and the lack of the original cast, it's something you want to escape from. "Ain't It Cool News" posted two reviews of the film during the week before its release, but pulled them down due to an embargo placed  on those attending the screening its writers attended. The same reviews were re-posted on the site, on the day of the film's release. The retraction prompted some readers to allege a conspiracy by Lucasfilm to keep negative press out of circulation until the release of the film, but although the review by site creator Harry Knowles was negative, Drew McWeeny said that his review was positive and that no such conspiracy existed. Several critics compared "The Clone Wars" to a Saturday morning cartoon and described it as little more than a plug for the upcoming animated series. Linda  Barnard, of the "Toronto Star", said the movie "pretty much drives a stake into the heart of every loyal fan of the movies. And now <nowiki>[George Lucas is]</nowiki> out to stick it to those too young to know about Jar Jar Binks." "Variety" magazine reviewer Todd McCarthy said, "This isn't the "Star Wars" we've always known and at least sometimes loved." Joe Neumiar, of the "New York Daily News", wrote, "If this were a true "Star Wars" film, right about now somebody would say, '...I've got a bad feeling about this.'" In his review for  Entertainment Weekly, critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film an F grade and wrote, "George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun." Carrie Rickey, of "The Philadelphia Inquirer", said, "The best that can be said about the movie is that it's harmless and mostly charmless. "The Clone Wars" is to "Star Wars" what karaoke is to pop music." The main criticism toward the film was the animation. Many criticized it as cheap, wooden, non-engaging and out-of-date; some reviewers drew negative comparisons to 1960s marionette-based shows "Thunderbirds" and "Fireball XL5", although George Lucas previously said the  animation style was a deliberate homage to such shows. Tom Long of "MediaNews" said the animation "is downright weak compared to what's generally seen onscreen these days" and that the characters are so stiff they look like they were "carved by Pinocchio's father." Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4 and said "the characters have hair that looks molded from Play-Doh, bodies that seem arthritic, and moving lips on half-frozen faces—all signs that shortcuts were taken in the animation work." McCarthy said "the movements, both of the characters and the compositions, look  mechanical, and the mostly familiar characters have all the facial expressiveness of Easter Island statues." However, some of the same reviewers who criticized the animation acknowledged some positive elements about it; McCarthy said it allowed for "somewhat more dramatic compositions and color schemes," and Carrie Rickey, of "The Philadelphia Inquirer", said the scenery and backgrounds were "vivid and alive", although she said the characters "move as you would imagine the statues at a waxworks might." Reviewers also criticized the dialogue, which Ebert said was limited to "simplistic declamations" and Claudia Puig of "USA Today" described as "stilted and overblown, a  problem also in some of the live-action incarnations." Many critics also said that the battle scenes were repetitive and lacked tension; McCarthy described the action sequences as "a little exposition, an invasion; some more exposition, a lightsaber fight; a bit more blah-blah, a spaceship dogfight, and on and on." Linda Stasi, of the "New York Post", also described the lack of character development in the film, writing that whereas the original "Star Wars" films dedicated time to allowing viewers to get to know the characters, "Director Dave Filoni is so concentrated on the action that we're never  given the chance to care who lives and who is blown into spare parts." Jason Anderson, of the "Globe and Mail", wrote that although "The Clone Wars" is intended for younger audiences, "parents may be perturbed by the film's relentless violence." Ebert also found protagonist Ahsoka Tano "annoying," and Michael Rechtshaffen, of "The Hollywood Reporter", said the attempts of humor amid the bickering between Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker are "strained". Puig said she enjoyed the character, and that "her repartee with Anakin enlivens things." Box office. "The Clone Wars" earned $68,282,845 worldwide, including $35,161,554 in North  American domestic box office grosses and $33,121,290 in international grosses. The film earned $14,611,273 on 3,452 screens in its opening weekend, including $6,228,973 on its opening day, August 15. It was the third-highest earning film of the weekend in spite of negative critical reception, behind "Tropic Thunder" and "The Dark Knight", which earned $25.8 million and $16.3 million, respectively. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said that the box office performance met expectations because two-thirds of the audience were families and the budget for the film was $8.5 million, frugal  considering it was a CGI film and because the film was meant to introduce the animated series. Fellman said, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium." When "The Clone Wars" dropped to $5.6 million in its second week of release, ContactMusic.com described it as "the first bona fide "Star Wars" flop." The film also earned $23,428,376 from DVD sales in the US. Accolades. The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award in the category "Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel", but lost  to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Sequel. A second film, "", a feature-length "director's cut" of the four-part season finale of the series' , was released direct-to-video on September 27, 2012, initially made available exclusively at Target.