Star Wars: The Clone Wars developer Genndy Tartakovsky recently took the time to explain why he believes the 2D mico-series still holds up among Star Wars fans.
"I like to think that it has [had a lasting impact] and I think we were one of the first things that George [Lucas] let out for somebody else to do, right? Besides some books and comics and stuff, there really wasn't anything in the film media that was done," Tartakovsky said in an exclusive interview with CBR.
"So we did a good job," he continued. "That was, what, 10 years ago, more? 20, almost? I think it was 2003 or 4, so we're coming up on 20 years since we did it. And that people still talk about it and it still resonates and they just made a new toy line about it -- that's, you know, that's incredible. It's not just us, obviously, it's the characters of the universe that everybody still loves. But what we did still resonates and it still holds up, which is incredible."
Tartakovsky went on to say that he is "extremely proud" of his Clone Wars cartoon. "I think maybe in some weird way to take a lot of credit for everything, maybe it did loosen things up, the way George thought about stuff, and that maybe other people's approach to his amazing ideas and property would be okay," he concluded.
Not to be confused with the CG-animated, Dave Filoni-helmed Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2008, Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars initially hit the network in late 2003 -- about a year and a half after the theatrical premiere of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
Tartakovsky's Clone Wars was the first on-screen adaptation of the eponymous conflict, which was first alluded to in the original Star Wars film from 1977. The Emmy-winning micr0-series ran for a total of 25 episodes across three seasons, which were released in the form of two volumes.
Star Wars: Clone Wars initially concluded its run on Cartoon Network on March 25, 2005 -- roughly two months before the theatrical premiere of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Tartakovsky's cartoon even marked the first on-screen appearance of some key Episode III characters, namely General Grievous and Commander Cody. Tartakovsky's Clone Wars was added to the Disney+ streaming service earlier this year.