“I wouldn’t go back”: It’s Not George Lucas We Should be Mourning, The Greatest Star Wars Director Whose Work Disney Decanonized Won’t Ever Return

Despite being one of the best pieces of content in the Star Wars library, Clone Wars creator has said he is never going to do more Star Wars stories.

george lucas, star wars
Image by Chin tin tin, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons.

SUMMARY

  • Genndy Tartakovsky has said that he will never return to direct anything under the Star Wars IP again.
  • The director was responsible for a slew of animated shorts, collectively titled Star Wars: Clone Wars, which served as inspiration for Dave Filoni's CGI show.
  • Tartakovsky has delivered more than a few hits, the kind that have cemented him as an industry legend.
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There is little doubt about the fact that Genndy Tartakovsky is an animation genius. From the greatest hits of most millennial childhoods to critically acclaimed adult animated shows like Primal, Tartakovsky’s footprint on the industry and popular culture is undeniable as it is evergreen.

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Gendy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars || Lucasfilm

Tartakovsky’s 2003 offering that depicted the Clone Wars preceded the CGI show by about five years and covered some of the greatest hits of Anakin’s time as a Padawan, and his ascension to Jedi knighthood. However, despite how brilliant the series was, its removal from the Star Wars canon probably caused Tartakovsky to declare that he would never be returning to the IP.

Gendy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars was erased by Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars
Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars || Disney

While Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars tried its level best to fit into the canon of the films that came before it, Filoni’s The Clone Wars did little to be in line with what Clone Wars had depicted. While it is unknown if this is the reason Tartakovsky wished to never return to the franchise, it is strongly suggested to be the case.

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On the topic of returning to direct more Star Wars content, the visionary animator said:


I did what I did, so I wouldn’t go back.

Tartakovky’s Clone Wars was set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which was successful enough to serve as the inspiration for Dave Filoni’s CGI series.

Given that Geroge Lucas and his son were massive fans of Samurai Jack (and Star Wars, in part, owes a lot to samurai films), Tartakovsky seemed perfectly suited to work with Star Wars material to create shorts as a means to market the Prequel trilogy via programming on television.

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Gendy Tartakovsky’s body of work leaves little to be desired

Primal (2019)
A still from Primal || Adult Swim

Be it Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Sym-Bionic Titan, or Primal, it is undeniable that Genndy Trtakovsky‘s contribution to the world of animation, catering to both, children and adults, is massive and influential. The animation genius has a distinct art style, using bright colors and visual storytelling in a manner that often features little to no dialogue.

Even if his characters are not verbose more often than not, Tartakovsky is able to deliver emotional gut punches with just his sound design and character movement, a format that lends itself well to animation. Be it intended for children, or a mature audience, Tartakovsky has always managed to create likable, complex, and entertaining characters with simple concepts and bold presentation.

Star Wars: Clone Wars can be streamed on Disney+

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Written by Anuraag Chatterjee

Articles Published: 778

Anuraag Chatterjee, Web Content Writer
With a passion for writing fiction and non fiction content, Anuraag is a Media Science graduate with 2 year's experience with Marketing and Content, with 3 published poetry anthologies. Anuraag holds a Bacherlor's degree in Arts with a focus on Communication and Media Studies.