Cartoon Splendor of Star Wars

Actually I do like the Star Wars cartoon series so far being presented on the cartoon network.

They have brought out a first series of this on a DVD treatment with just an introduction to four episodes. But it’s a pretty good lineup with a taste of things to come.

It can be seen right away. A sort of sidelines storyline with the running of several storylines getting a hectic pulse of action and a nice glimpse of the major characters finding their feet on the ground with a rather good story.

More than that. You get a pretty good first episode to sink your teeth into. Though the animation still needs a little getting used to with their faces still getting the “flattened” look to them. The way you see the Easter Island statues. It can be a little distracting at times.

But the story is there. And there’s a very excellent three part story on here with the battleship Malevolence that brings a furnishable story arc from a beginning to a self-contained closure. It’s deftly handled and gives a feeling that there is still much more to the Clone Wars epic motion that is still peeling away from the momentous battles witnessed at the height of the galactic wars.

I really like the Malevolence ship that spells certain impossible costs for the Republic led by the good Jedi council and the soldiers fighting for the democracy. With the Malevolence ship getting underway, commanded by the metallic Grievous, the lone stark figure of powerful Sith training, he is ordered by the higher ups to destroy medical ships and smaller command posts just on the outskirts of the war.

There are some nice details. You can see the robotic general still has his hacking cough, a layover from the damages caused by the Jedi Mace Windu when they crossed each other’s paths. You can see this in one of the Clone War cartoons shows that was first presented on Cartoon Network. It’s a nice touch of the story that is kept.

Strangely enough, I could almost see there are two definite crews of animators and writers: one for the film that came out in the previous summer and another for started this particular cartoon series. I didn’t mind the theatrical film version that introduce Anakin Skywalker’s padawan Ahsoka Tano and a very good storyline involving the Hutts. It was okay.

But the cartoon series following thereafter? It’s much better. The scripts are better. The writing is much more controlled. As with the basic complexity of the story arc seen in the Malevolence thread. The characters are better handled. It’s almost as if there’s an entirely different crew of writers and animators doing the work now. I’m not sure what it is. Could it be that they have greater freedom of writing more dense stories.

The dialogue is much better.

There’s one nice touch of the story when Master Plo Kloon must hide himself from the searching Separatist weapon Malevolence until help arrives. So they must fight to struggle, their lives at a stark end. One of the soldiers felt that they would not get any help at all, “We’re just soldiers. We’re expendable.” But Master Plo Kloon disagrees with this statement. And he reassures the solider that everyone has their role in the greater scheme of the story design. That he’s more important than just window dressing.

It’s a nice touch. And there is plenty of humor throughout the story that holds the story together making it far more interesting and imaginative. I liked the Malevolence storyline and hope there would be more story arcs like this one.

Almost as if the crew of the theatrical film version has gotten their act together and polished off all the flaws that has hampered the introductory big screen effort. I might not even bother going back to see it. I’ll stick with this cartoon series.

Anything else I like in this cartoon? No Jar Jar. Mesa mesa glads he’s gone.

There’s also the impending gloom that settles over the entire run of episodes so far. Let’s see if they can capitalize on that atmosphere to bring a more impounding notion of dread that can be reminiscent of “Empire Strikes Back” and “Revenge of the Sith,” both films I do like very much.
There’s a nice developed them of Grievous trying to prove his worth to his higher up authority figure Count Dooku. It would great to see them working their way with this into the storyline.

Um, anything else?

Well, please give Obi Wan Kenobi more to do. I do realize that the story revolves the pain-in-the-butt Anakin Skywalker and it seems that he’s doing all the work and getting by just fine. While Kenobi just stands around most of the time and just barks orders. I do like the fact that his features resembles very much of Ewan McGregor. But he’s Obi-Wan f******* Kenobi. He’s one of the few surviving Jedi who didn’t get tainted, in any way, by the Jedi purge. So he’s a very good character. Utilize him more often. Instead of giving all the good action pieces to Anakin Skywalker who simply is a whiny little twit.

Kenobi is better than that. And there should be plenty of opportunities to show in the stories why he is so beloved in the Star Wars canon. James Arnold Taylor provides the voice who does come close to the original source. Use him more often. There’s no doubt that he’s still one of the most popular, if not the most, characters in the entire franchise. The story should be able to break off to give him some good focus. And give him a chance to shine.

I’ll have to made a small detour in the conversation to give notice to the tenth anniversary of Star Wars: the Phantom Menace. Has it been ten years already? I remember hating it like it was yesterday. I remember the long years of anticipation turned into bitter disappointment with seeing what a piece of crap the Phantom Menace was. I wish that thing was never made. And I would feel all the better for it if it was entirely disposed from my thoughts. But I still have memories of it. And they were unhappy ones.

I wish I could get my eight dollars back from Lucas who destroyed by loved memory of the Star Wars myths by giving us a polished turd that was the Phantom Menace. Malice couldn’t even describe by hatred for the thing. But it’s ten years later now. And I don’t think he would be giving back my money now.