By George & Josh Bate
The Lucasfilm Animation panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan looked back at its incredible 20 year history and peaked ahead at what’s to come.
David W. Collins moderated the panel of Dave Filoni and Athena Yvette Portillo. Filoni is well known in Star Wars circles, having largely spearheaded the direction of the franchise in recent years and serving as Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm. Portillo, meanwhile, is an accomplished producer of various Star Wars animated shows, including The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch.
After the rapturous applause from the Celebration crowd for Filoni calmed down, the cowboy hat-wearing Star Wars expert took a moment to highlight the accomplishments of his colleague Portillo. “I know I represent Star Wars a lot,” Filoni said. “I get to talk to you guys all the time. But none of these shows would happen without Athena [Yvette Portillo].”
Filoni revealed that the droid AP-5 from Rebels is actually named after Portillo (i.e., Athena Yvette -5)
Filoni reminisces about his mentor George Lucas
There obviously wouldn’t be a Lucasfilm Animation with George Lucas, something Dave Filoni made sure to convey during the panel.
“George is a great teacher,” Filoni remarked in speaking about one of Lucas’ most underappreciated qualities. “He taught me and our whole division. He really loved coming to work…It surprised people at Lucasfilm that he was around all the time.”
Filoni and Portillo told a great story about the development of The Clone Wars episode “Landing at Point Rain.” They described that multiple episodes of the five-episode arc had already been entirely completed when George Lucas came in with a different idea for the episodes. Lucas and Filoni collaborated on cutting together an episode of the arc that mixed pre-viz footage with war movies like Battle of the Bulge. This was a filmmaking technique Lucas had used in crafting the space battles in the original Star Wars. When the spliced-together episode was ‘complete,’ Filoni remarked to Lucas that it did not have any dialogue. Lucas succinctly responded, “You’ll figure it out,”
Later in the panel, Filoni teared up while talking about Lucas and how much their work together means to him. The master and apprentice relationship between the two has afforded so many great stories, but this panel really highlighted the bond the two have and how much Filoni looks up to Lucas. “[Following Lucas’ vision] means a lot to me,” Filoni said.
The Clone Wars
“We were very fortunate we got to finish The Clone Wars,” Filoni said before the Celebration Stage crowd went crazy with roars and cheers.
The Clone Wars clearly means a lot to fans, and Dave Filoni is no exception. To co-architect of the show was clearly very proud at how they were able to finish the series.
During the panel, Filoni presented a publicly never-before-seen clip from the unfinished Boba Fett arc from The Clone Wars. For those unfamiliar, this arc would’ve shown Cad Bane train Boba Fett, providing added context to their rivalry that plays out in The Book of Boba Fett.
The clip (or animatic as Filoni called it) shows Boba Fett jetpacking through the busy streets of Coruscant as he is chased by Anakin Skywalker on a speeder. The chase sequence definitely has the feel of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s chase with Zam Wesell in Attack of the Clones. Eventually, Boba takes his eyes off Anakin and crashes into a driver, subsequently plummeting to the ground. Boba manages to run away from Anakin for a bit, before the Jedi knight catches up to him. Boba ties Anakin up briefly, buying him just enough time to escape. With Boba in the wind, Anakin speaks with Mace Windu over hologram about Boba.
Filoni stated that this arc will never be finished (although we hold out hope this changes, especially after seeing this clip).
In addition, Filoni spoke about fans’ reverence for clone troopers, something he and Lucas did not expect. “George and I were always shocked at how much people related to [the clones],” said Filoni.
In an interesting comparison, Filoni explained how the Republic created the clones to be the same at first and that they became individuals. Conversely, the Empire took all the stormtroopers in as individuals and molded them to be all the same.
Star Wars Rebels
Filoni and Portillo also looked back at Star Wars Rebels. The beloved animated series continues to play a role in canon, as evidenced by returning characters featuring in Ahsoka.
Filoni spoke about what it was like to make Rebels under Disney leadership. “Rebels is the first project that Lucasfilm did with Disney… So we didn’t really know what that relationship was going to be like…They gave us a large amount of latitude.”
Filoni described that the change in animation style, leaning more into Ralph McQuarrie’s work, came about (in part) due to the change over to Disney.
Another big change that came about due to Disney was the inclusion of Darth Vader. Filoni revealed that a Disney executive suggested that he include Vader in the series, which initially led to trepidation on Filoni’s part given how quickly Vader’s darkness changes the tone of the show.
Rebels also allowed Filoni to lean into more mythical elements of the Star Wars universe. He confirmed that he is “still working with” concepts like Mortis and the World Between Worlds in making Ahsoka.
Filoni on Star Wars fandom
In a candid moment during the panel, Filoni delivered the perfect quote to encapsulate how every Star Wars fan should think of the franchise.
“I don’t get into this debate of what’s better than what. I don’t care. I like it all.”
Lucasfilm Animation’s 20th Anniversary
A beautiful poster showcasing tons of characters from Star Wars animation over the years debuted at Star Wars Celebration. Everyone in the crowd was given a free poster to take home with them. Check out the poster below….
Another beautiful image was shown at the panel, this time highlighting all the incredible artists of Lucasfilm Animation with little blocks that collectively comprised an image of the Bad Batch.
A look ahead….
After 20 years of accomplishments, Lucasfilm Animation shows no sign of slowing down.
The crowd watching the panel were treated with an exclusive look at an entire episode of the upcoming series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld. Click here to learn more about the episode.
That’s not the only animated Star Wars show on the horizon though.
Dropping every jaw in the audience was the reveal of a new series – Maul: Shadow Lord. A trailer was shown exclusively to the Celebration crowd. Read all about the Maul series, its release date, and footage description here.