The Greatest Magic Trick In Star Wars History [Op-Ed]
They say the secret to pulling off the greatest magic trick is to truly make the audience believe there was no trick in the first place…
On October 15th, retailers across the world will have available the “Complete Set” of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on both DVD and Blu-ray in what will be the greatest magic trick in Star Wars history. How so? Easy, it is simply not the “complete set”. Where is sixth season? When news hit that the series was being cancelled due to the Disney deal, we were told that season six would still become available, which would give the series a proper finale, but that never happened. Fans were even treated to actual full season six trailers and clips of the final series finale season when the news hit of the series cancellation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXyhDYbHuI0
Yet no mention of it since, not even when the complete set was announced this past summer at the annual Star Wars Celebration. When fans head to the register at their local retailers next week to buy their “complete set” they will in effect be witnessing the final on stage “here it is and now it’s vanished”, abracadabra bow magic trick pulled off by Disney. Almost with just as much conspiracy and precision as the Emperor’s execution of Order 66. To fully grasp this ultimate Lucas Arts/Disney “Las Vegas style” illusion of all illusions, we need to really go back to the beginning of the rise and fall of the highest rated Cartoon Network cartoon series of all time.
On August 15, 2008, (three years after the final Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith hit the theaters) Star Wars fans were treated to not only the first ever animated CGI Star Wars film, but the first ever cartoon series to get a theatrical release launch. Star Wars: The Clone Wars film released with mixed reviews, however the first season of the Cartoon Network TV series premiered just about two short months later that would go on to be nominated and win annual awards every year for the series five season run. From the Emmy Awards, Annie Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Critics Choice Awards, PAAFTJ Television Awards as well as the BTVA Awards, needless to say, The Clone Wars was a critical and commercial success that launched Cartoon Networks ratings to new heights. In addition, the TV series success opened the door for a successful toy line and six modern video games.
Even in a rarity these days, the voice actors themselves became huge stars within the Star Wars fan base. Voice actors Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Matt Laner (Anakin Skywalker), and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) were practically rock stars at annual comic and Star Wars conventions, as well as appearing in several Star Wars magazines throughout the past 5 years. When I attended last years C2E2 convention, the line for Ashley Eskstein was one of, if not the longest wait there…even amongst cast members from AMC’s The Walking Dead that also were in attendance at the convention.
The Clone Wars introduced a few new awesome characters to the Star Wars universe, such as Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), Cad Bane (Corey Burton) and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) just to name a few. However, Ahsoka Tano stands at the top of the popularity mountain that many (including Lucas Arts I would be willing to bet) did not see coming. I wasn’t too impressed with her the first time I heard her call Anakin “Sky Guy” in the 2008 CGI film, but that was in 2008…by 2009 she was easily one of my favorite characters in the series. Every week before a new episode would air, fans would ask themselves “is THIS the episode where she dies?” It was just about a given since we knew that she was not a character even mentioned in both the live action trilogies. Almost every fan of the series ,if not all ,would wonder just how Ahsoka Tano would meet her end.
When the last episode of season five aired, we were left with a bit of a cliff hanger where Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order and walks off into the sunset. Some fans have come to accept that final scene as a proper ending. She lives. The Clone Wars ended and the Revenge Of The Sith steps in to link the story line.
To be honest, as a fan, I could accept this is the finale…and I may have too…but frankly I feel fans deserve better than some “open-ended jump to you own conclusion” ala Sopranos finale. This is STAR WARS…the crème de la crème of media franchises. We trusted Lucas Arts to give an award winning multi-season series that debuted with a theatrical box office movie a real ending. So much for getting treated to witnessing the end of fan favorite Cad Bane, let alone Ahsoka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM
Enter the Disney deal. In a time when it is now the “norm” for popular cartoon series to get cancelled (Avengers EMH, Young Justice), it was still a shock that one of Disney’s first moves was to cancel the Clone Wars series, especially when the company has their own Disney XD network that could have easily aired the true final 6th season. I’m sure many will rebuttal that with some legal mumbo jumbo, but fact is it could have been done. Just look at the 4kids Mirage TMNT Forever film that was not only aired on Nickelodeon but distributed by the company’s DVD manufacturer as well.
In an interview with George Lucas on the day of the Lucas Arts/Disney sale announcement, one of the reasons Lucas explained for the sale was that he believed that Disney would be able “to ensure and protect” the Star Wars franchise for generations to come. Which is pretty ironic, since one of the first order of business was to shut down and let go the entire team behind the Clone Wars series and leave millions of Clone Wars fans holding a big bag of “Bantha Fodder”.
The biggest nail in the coffin for season six for me personally was the announcement of the “Complete DVD Set Of The Clone Wars”. Has anyone ever heard of a new season of a TV series announcing a DVD release AFTER a “complete set” hits retailers? No. This is part one of the smoking mirrors illusion by Disney. To “wow” us with the left hand while they hope we don’t notice the magic trick of quietly sweeping season six under the rug with the right hand. Part two of this “Harry Houdini” trick is the pushing of the new Disney Star Wars: Rebels cartoon series. Maybe the idea is that fans will forget about the Emmy award-winning series we have watched for five years and simply be hypnotized by the new shiny toy so to speak.
The Future. Perhaps in a “the glass is half full” outlook, Disney did not want to end the story line for the biggest hole in the cancelled Clone Wars story line…the fate of Ahsoka? It is very possible with Disney focusing everything onto the upcoming Episodes 7–9 trilogy that they wanted to keep the door open for the character to actually be part of the new trilogy. I am guessing by the timeline, that Ahsoka would be a good 5–10 years younger than Darth Vader when he met his end in Return Of The Jedi. So if she did survive the Clone Wars, she would still be young enough for some good Jedi action in the upcoming films.
However, (although it would be pretty cool) I can’t say I am thrilled to see the conclusion of a character in the years 2015, 2017, or 2019 that I was introduced to 2008 when the CGI film was released. How about you? I am sure as a fan, I will be there with you all when both the new cartoon series premiers and on opening day for Star Wars Episode VII and I will forgive, but never forget that a company of the size of Lucas/Disney/Star Wars that we trusted would screw us over on season six and ask us to start a new series when they never gave us the chance to finish the last series. Bravo, ladies and gentlemen, bravo. We just witnessed the greatest magic trick in Star Wars history.
