I’ve been receiving a deluge of letters from fans asking for me to spread the word about the #SaveTheCloneWars campaign. I’m on board. I support saving The Clone Wars. I want to see more episodes and I want to see them finish what they started on their own terms.
But there has to come a point where we’re fighting a smarter battle.
A letter I wrote in response to one fan from the campaign, I think, sums up nicely what I mean:
I’m not sure there is any chance of getting the show back until AFTER Episode VII comes out, if ever.There’s just no way for it to happen. When they laid off everyone who worked on the show, they all set out to find jobs elsewhere. It wouldn’t be like they could just start back up production again, this is the same thing Joss Whedon keeps giving for Firefly’s slim chances of ever coming back.And we know that it’s not because of money that Disney cancelled it. They have a strategy and new Clone Wars doesn’t fit into that strategy at this point.But TheForce.Net has reported that the “bonus content” might only be two arcs, and there are, by most accounts, at least an entire season of arcs that are done or very nearly done.In my opinion, fighting to save The Clone Wars would be much better focused on getting them to release all of the content they have already. Then, after that’s out, the movement should start pushing to get the rest of the stories finished. I’m not sure it’s possible to get the stories finished on screen, but if enough is made of it, then maybe we might get them in another medium. And the petition/funding website that you guys have working for you isn’t news at all. Who are these guys? What control do they have at Disney? Do they have anyone’s ear there more than I do? Or Rebel Force Radio? Or anyone in the Star Wars community? No.On the other hand, there’s also some speculation about specific reasons some of the episode arcs have been cut from the “Bonus content.” For one: the Boba Fett arc could be directly contradictory to their plans in a Boba Fett and Young Han Solo movie. Which do you think is going to make them more money? Four episodes of Clone Wars? Or two new movies featuring Han and Boba Fett?It’s a sad reality, but the time to rally would have been back in January when I first raised the alarms, or when Rebel Force Radio started putting out the call, but no one listened. I was told that I was an idiot and the show was just moving to Disney XD. I hate to say “I told you so to all those people,” but I did.And Filoni is already taken the next job developing the new show. If you WERE going to get the rest of The Clone Wars, it seems as though it would be without Filoni. Do you want that? Or would you rather he stuck around and gave us more Star Wars?I LOVE the Clone Wars. I’ve reviewed every single episode of the show from the moment it first began airing, and even with the movie before that, and I’m the ONLY journalist to do so. I love it with every fiber of my being. But do I think there’s a chance of it being saved? No. Do I think there’s a chance to force Disney into releasing more “bonus content” than they’re intending? Hell yes.
I hope this doesn’t sound too sour, or too much like bitter medicine, but Hollywood just doesn’t work the way many seem to think it does.
If you know more than I do and I’m wrong, please tell me.
In the meantime, demand more “Bonus Content.”
(And be sure to be listening to the Full of Sith podcast)