Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises in the world. The galaxy far, far away spans movies, cartoons, TV shows, novels, comic books, video games, and so many other mediums. For some it can be overwhelming to take it all in, so missing or forgetting anything is definitely a given.
There are so many unique and fun ways Star Wars has expanded its ever-growing franchise, some will have cult followings. One of those is Genndy Tartakovsky's three-time Emmy winning 2003 micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars. This was the traditionally animated predecessor to Dave Filoni's Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, which also aired on Cartoon Network just a few years later.
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The series was made in between the release of George Lucas' prequel films, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It was released as a web series and on Cartoon Network as 25, three to five-minute episodes spanning three seasons, then later on two separate DVDs, with the main goal of the story bridging the gap between the latest Star Wars films at the time and introducing fans to characters like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous who are later seen more in Revenge of the Sith.
The series is animated in Tartakovsky's signature style, which can be seen in his other popular animated shows like Samurai Jack, Primal, and Dexter's Laboratory. It's a quick-paced, intense, and immensely fun series that combines genres into a wholly new experience for Star Wars fans.
Although it was released as a way to capitalize on the large toy market that Star Wars regularly claims, along with being a companion piece to the prequel trilogy, the series is no longer considered canon, being part of Star War's Legends line which was created amid Disney's reconfiguration of the Star Wars canon. For a while, the series became difficult to watch as it had only one DVD release, no Blu-ray release, and wasn't on any streaming services-until April 2, 2021, when Disney Plus put it on their streaming service. It had been all but forgotten to casual viewers, but for many hardcore fans, it was still a beloved part of their Star Wars universe as it gave them new characters and warped to light speed existing characters to the ever-expanding galaxy.
It brought so many new things to the franchise, as it leaned into its science fiction with new characters like the Gen'Dai, Durge, an armored and immensely strong bounty hunter with regenerative and body manipulating abilities. It is in chapter 20 of the series when it becomes a horror movie with the introduction of General Grievous in his hunt for Jedi. Viewers don't see him for the first couple of minutes, just the fear he instills in Jedi, which for many fans at the time, was something that was never seen. The strongest beings in the galaxy are afraid of whoever this thing is.
When viewers finally get to see Grievous in action, they finally get to understand what the fear was about. Just like Durge, he seems almost unstoppable, but this time being trained to combat Jedi. He is skilled, smart, and relentless in his pursuit to please his master, Count Dooku. Aspects of which, are very much to a lesser extent when we see Grievous later in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Tartakovsky's style had the ability to do what was almost impossible in the live-action movies, giving showcase to things that fans never really got to see in the Star Wars movies. Although the micro-series has a heavy use of action, as it takes place almost always during a battle, it doesn't lack any characterization. It shows Star Wars fanatics what all the hype is surrounding the new and old characters they could expect in the conclusion of Lucas' prequel trilogy, while the movies rarely showed Jedi like Yoda and Mace Windu in action.
The micro-series showed what made every Jedi in the movies so unique, like Kit Fisto's ability to fight underwater and Mace Windu's incredible prowess as a fighter and force user. Only in this series can fans see over five minutes of Mace Windu quite literally single-handedly take out an army of B2 super Battle Droids. With the introduction of the micro-series, Mace Windu went from a Jedi fans are told about and briefly see in action, to a Jedi that they truly thought could take on any challenge that came his way.
For those who haven't seen Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series, or are interested in getting a boost of 2003 nostalgia, they can now do so with the entire series being put up on Disney Plus.
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