New Jedi Learns Power Of Force For 'Clone Wars'

A long time ago, in a state far, far away from Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco (Pennsylvania, to be exact), future filmmaker Dave Filoni was born. Like any other kid his age, Filoni was a fan of George Lucas' "Star Wars" saga -- and all the residual fun that came with it, including action figures and role-playing toys.

But little did Filoni know growing up that he would one day take the director's reins from Lucas for a "Star Wars" film.

Appropriately, Filoni is at play once again, in a way, as one of the biggest creative forces, so to speak, for the computer animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" -- the hotly anticipated prequel feature that serves as a springboard for a new series on TNT and Cartoon Network this fall.

"It's something you always imagined doing when we were growing up. 'Star Wars' was the big thing," Filoni said in a recent @ The Movies interview. "So, to get the opportunity to work on it is amazing. But you have to take the responsibility very seriously. What I like about working on 'The Clone Wars' is that everybody on this crew does take it seriously, not just myself. All the artists and production staff -- we all love 'Star Wars' and we have a lot fun while we do it."

It's pretty amazing to think that the fascination with the new film's concept has been around since "Star Wars: A New Hope" in 1977, when Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) told Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) about fighting "in the Clone Wars." That short exchange of dialogue captured the imagination of countless fans, including those in the Filoni household.

"My brother still can't fathom it," Filoni enthused. "He'll call me up and say, 'I still can't believe you're making 'The Clone Wars.' He and I would talk about it growing up, just trying to imagine what those were like. Back then we didn't know that the Clones were the Stormtroopers. It's neat to know so much about it now, and actually work with George on it."

Opening in theaters Friday, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" chronicles the previously-untold adventures between "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" and "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."

Names familiar to the "Star Wars" film saga are among the voice cast -- Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) -- while noted voice actors including Tom Kane (Yoda) James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Catherine Taber (Padme Amidala) join the film saga's family. Actor Matt Lanter ("Heroes," "CSI," "Commander in Chief") voices the pivotal role of Anakin Skywalker, while Disney Channel actress Ashley Eckstein ("Phil of the Future," "That's So Raven") provides the voice of Anakin's spirited padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano.

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is unique in that it's an open-ended proposition of sorts. The feature film is just the start of the new saga (albeit one big start), paving the way for what every director's dreams about: in-depth character development.

"It gives a unique chance to look at many different characters and many different situations. The nice thing about the film is that we can really look at one of the key relationships -- between Anakin and his padawan Ahsoka -- which is the big new thing," Filoni said. "The feature really sets up a lot of the tone and things that you'll later become familiar with in the series. It's a great way to get the audience acclimated to 'The Clone Wars.'"

The new film finds Master Yoda and Obi-Wan on the front lines of battle as they lead a massive clone army to maintain order and peace as they fight the evil forces of the Dark Side; while Anakin and Ahsoka's mission is to encounter the nefarious crime lord Jabba the Hut -- which is complicated by Count Dooku and his agent Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman).

Filoni, who will also be the supervising director of "The Clone Wars" series, said that the feature film will begin just as the other "Star Wars" films have, with the iconic Lucasfilm logo. But there are noticable differences. For starters, the explosion of John Williams' classic theme song has changed to a variation of the compostion, and the narrative that sets up the film isn't scroll off into a galaxy, but a clip of highlights, with narration, to set up the story for the audience. And of course, with a new adventure comes new characters.

"It will be an interesting thing (for fans) to see the similarities and differences between the animated version of 'Star Wars'' and the films," Filoni said. "It gave us a chance to do something new and exciting with the look of the characters and the look of the world. It's just a really nice artistic choice for it to become animated."

"The Clone Wars" is unique in that it has its own history, in a sense, as series of short, traditionally-animated vignettes on The Cartoon Network. Filoni said that the computer animation drew inspiration from the previous incarnation, the new film and television show is for the most part its own entity.

"It was a great series and had great action, and we definitely had our influence as far as some of the look of the characters that we brought over," Filoni said. "But 'Clone Wars' is about exploring 'Star Wars in-depth with George and our movie really about setting up the whole tone of the television series. Ventress, of course, was in the previous 'Clone Wars' cartoon, so there are carryovers and touches of things that are similar in both. But overall, it's really a brand new thing with the film. It's quite different in a lot of ways."

As creator of the "Star Wars" universe, Lucas is the greatest influence of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," even though he's not in the director's chair. Instead, he's an executive producer on the film and readily available for any Jedi-flavored advice Filoni and his team of filmmakers seek.

And while Filoni says that Lucas gives him an enormous amount of creative responsibility, the director prefers that the iconic filmmaker serve as the Yoda-like mentor over the entire proceedings.

"We may do something and he'll say, 'We'll, maybe think of it as this or that.' Then we'll come back to his creative vision," Filoni said. "We still have a decent amount of flexibility, but I really want it to be what he sees and what he thinks 'Star Wars' is because 'Star Wars' has such of a great feeling. When you watch a 'Star Wars' film, there's something about it that captures your imagination -- and he's the key to understanding that."