Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced, alongside many other Star Wars projects, a new series called Star Wars: Visions. The project, which will feature several animated short films for release on the Disney+ streaming service, is set to explore the Star Wars universe through the lens of anime creators. According to Kennedy, the show will be a Disney+ exclusive that produces 10 short films in total that celebrate the Star Wars universe.
The announcement came alongside quite a few other Star Wars related reveals. Other projects announced include Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an animated show in the style of The Clone Wars, the official announcement of the Obi-Wan TV show that will see Hayden Christensen return as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, and the live action Ahsoka show featuring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, reprising the role from The Mandalorian. Of course, that's just scratching the surface of all the different Star Wars franchise announcements that were made during Disney's Investor Day.
Not much was said about who would be working on the films or what kind of material they'd be tackling, but the project did get an official release window. The Star Wars Twitter account wrote: "Star Wars: Visions, an Original Series of animated short films, celebrates the @StarWars galaxy through the lens of the world’s best Japanese anime creators. Coming in 2021 to @DisneyPlus." The benefit of an anthology series like this is that they allow the creators to take artistic liberties that aren't available on a more linear television show or film project. With any luck this means audiences will be treated to some really new and original visual takes on one of pop culture's most recognizable science-fiction franchises.
As with most of the announcements though, there isn't a lot to go on other than speculation. Will the show cover the original trilogy? The prequels? The Disney sequels? Expanded universe material? It's impossible to say. In fact it may be entirely up to the creators involved, although Disney undoubtedly has some influence and specific ideas in mind for what it wants covered. Whatever the project ends up being, hopefully the show will be a unique and fresh look at the Star Wars universe from creators who have a passion for the franchise.
Star Wars: Vision is coming to Disney+ in 2021.