Dave Filoni Involved With New Star Wars Cartoon

Posted on by

FiloniIGN has a recap from Dave Filoni’s sit down with Rebel Forces Radio yesterday. Among the highlights? He’s apparently involved in the early processes of a new Star Wars cartoon.

“At this point, I am involved in some early production discussions and exploration of what we’ll be doing with Star Wars animation in the future, which is really exciting for me and I have some friendly faces around me, of course, that are helping me on the project. So it’s a transition time, as I’ve said before, and I think it will lead to an exciting time and hopefully I’ll see things grow again.”

What is this new cartoon? New idea yet, but I kind of figured this would happen. Lucasfilm Animation was somewhat of a redundant department after the Disney acquisition, because if Disney has anything, it’s a world-class animation shop. That said, even if Lucasfilm Animation were to shut down or downsize, Disney is smart enough to pick off that talent and retain them for future projects. Don’t be surprised if not only Dave Filoni but the bulk of his creative crew find their way to this new project.

It’s also worth noting that Lucasfilm isn’t the only company experiencing downsizing in their visual effects and animation departments. Over in the comments at Club Jade, Pablo Hidalgo pointed out that Tippett Studios and numerous other VFX shops were experiencing layoffs. The downsizing at Lucasfilm Animation might have less to do with Disney and more to do with a changing entertainment landscape.

Tosche Station Radio #52: I Call Bull$#!*

Posted on by

ToscheStationbig

Play in new window | Download

On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by staff writer Bria and Aaron Goins for a continuity throwdown!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s New on the Blog. Shane discussed Bruce Timm leaving DC. For that wonderful holiday known as April Fools, we asked our friend and Star Wars newbie Lisa what she’d like to see in the Sequel Trilogy. Brian called bullshit on the idea that multiple universes can’t exist simultaneously in Star Wars. He also wrote about the Lucasarts closing shop.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci made an impromptu trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. She’s also kept herself busy reading Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn as well as the Orion Offensive by John Jackson Miller. Somehow in all that, she found the time to finish the first draft of her newest novel, Seer. Brian’s been working through his comic backlog but also started reading Season of Passage by Christopher Pike. Bria continued on her journey aboard the Waru Express by starting the New Jedi Order. She’s also been keeping busy at her other blog, the White Hot Room.

Deak’s Dirt starts with sad the sad news: LucasArts is shutting down. Also ILM employees were also laid off in the process. In convention news from Wondercon, Dark Horse is adapting The Star Wars based on Lucas’s original draft for A New Hope. Features older General Luke Skywalker, Anakin Starkiller, and Darth Vader (not a Sith, not in the suit). Meanwhile, there’s an excerpt for Into the Void by Tim Lebbon over on the Random House website, as well as the finished jacket. The This Is Madness bracket continued on, but are the hosts still paying attention to it? Harry Markov, Science Fiction Frequency Launches ‘Women in Genre’ Month, an effort to raise awareness and celebrate the women working in genre fiction. Doctor Who returned from hiatus and announced John Hurt would be guesting. In addition, BBC confirmed two guest stars for the 50th anniversary episode Game of Thrones also returned to the airwaves. Finally, there was more sad news as legendary film critic Roger Ebert passed away Thursday afternoon.

This week on Camie’s Concerns, the hosts rounded up Bria from our blog and White Hot Room as well as Aaron Goins of the Star Wars Bookworms podcast and the Star Wars Report blog to discuss the Sequel Trilogy, the Expanded Universe, and how they both can (or can’t) get along. Gear up for a bit of a friendly throwdown as the group discuss EU characters, the concept of the Multiverse, and whether or not Marvel is a good model for Star Wars moving forward.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

The Fate of LucasArts was a Decade in the Making

Posted on by

To say fan reaction to the closure of long-time game developer and publisher LucasArts was strong would be an understatement. Emotions ranged from sadness to outright anger at new parent company Disney for shuttering the studio responsible for critically acclaimed titles like TIE Fighter, The Dig, and Escape from Monkey Island. Through the years, this division of the Lucasfilm brand had been responsible for numerous well received games that became benchmarks for the industry as a whole. It’s understandable, then, that fans of the company are bewildered as to why Disney would close down such a prolific studio and monument to gaming history.

While a glance through their catalog reveals a studio that has had more success than the vast majority of their competitors, a deeper look reveals that LucasArts set themselves on a risky path nearly a decade ago.

Continue reading →

Lucasarts Shuttered, Employees Laid Off

Posted on by

LucasartsKotaku is reporting that Disney has officially shut down Lucasarts and laid off all employees.

Given the lingering hard feelings over Lucasfilm Animation and the cancellation of The Clone Wars, it’s easy to get upset at Disney. I would caution against it, however. Lucasarts was a development studio that was in trouble years before Disney even came into the picture. The number of titles they released plummeted around 2006-2007 and the marquee titles they did release were not well received critically. The Force Unleashed and its sequel were regarded as middling titles and The Old Republic was a huge expenditure that failed to put a dent in the MMO market.

There’s also this to consider:

Lucasarts has been a development studio in trouble for years. This studio getting shut down doesn’t mean the end of Star Wars games. If anything, I view it as a hopeful thing. For whatever reason, they have been unable to produce quality products internally for a number of years and they probably could have and should have been closed down sooner to redistribute that valuable IP.

If Disney is licensing the Star Wars IP now to other studios, that could be great news for fans.

Edit: Official statement from Lucasfilm

GameInformer received a statement from Lucasfilm discussing the closure of the studio.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

In addition, Kotaku is now reporting that Star Wars 1313 and First Assault have been canceled

Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio’s current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.

Geeky Clothing Item of the Day: Rogue Squadron Hockey Jersey

Posted on by

We’ve all got geeky t-shirts. Maybe even geeky jackets. But do you have a geeky hockey jersey? I didn’t think so. Over on Twitter Nanci and I were alerted to this item that I need in my closet yesterday.

Yes that is a Rogue Squadron hockey jersey and good heavens I want it so much. It even features the Rogue Squadron insignia on the shoulders! If you head over to the product page and you have $95 on hand, you can order yourself up a custom jersey that lets you supply your own name and number. Maybe instead of a Skywalker 77 you want an Antilles 77?

Just Keep Swimming: Pixar Announces Release Date for “Finding Dory”

Posted on by

dory Just when we thought Disney couldn’t get any more awesome: Disney and Pixar announce that Dory, Nemo, and Marlin will be swimming back into theatres in 2015 in Finding Dory.

Lest you think that this is an April Fool’s joke that didn’t catch on until today, fear not. Deadline.com reported that Pixar had started work on a Finding Nemo sequel back in July 2012.

As for what’s going to happen, MTV.com has offered a quote from returning director Andrew Stanton on what Finding Dory will entail:

One thing we couldn’t stop thinking about was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In ‘Finding Dory,’ she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way.

Finding Dory is expected in theatres 25 November 2015.

Harry Markov, Science Fiction Frequency Launches ‘Women in Genre’ Month

Posted on by

Too frequently fans and the people involved with genre fiction are asking where the women are. This has confused speculative fiction author Harry Markov, who regularly interacts with women who write, edit, and represent genre fiction. He and Science Fiction Frequency believe that this is a problem.

And they’re going to do something about it.

Gender politics is a messy thing and I don’t like to speak for the whole community, but if we’re still in the active pursuit of the answer to where women in genre are, then we have a problem. One heck of a problem. It’s healthy to talk about it, but it’s also healthy to do something about it, too.

Here’s what I will do in April. I’ll dedicate each day to tell a story about how a woman in genre has changed my life for the better through her hard work and dedication. That’s 30 days and 30 kick-ass women – critically acclaimed and small press names, new talent and established names, in the limelight and involved behind the scenes.

This is what the Women in Genre month is about and I’d like to see you talk online about all the wonderful women you encounter and admire. Let’s praise and celebrate and change the tone of the current conversation about gender in genre. I believe that if we push female creators to the forefront, we’ll send the correct message and maybe cure our gender blindness at least a little bit. And men talking about women will make all the difference.

If you want to join the conversation, SFF has ways for you to contribute to Women in Genre month.

Dark Horse Adapting Original Star Wars Concept

Posted on by

At Wodnercon yesterday, Dark Horse revealed just what that Jonathan Rinzler-written project would be. According to BleedingCool.com, it’s going to be an adaptation of George Lucas’ original Star Wars concept.

At WonderCon, Dark Horse announces new eight issue Star Wars series for September – The Star Wars. Based on George Lucas‘ original concept that eventually became the Star Wars films.

Featuring Darth Vader not as a Sith/Jedi but just a General. Anakin Starkiller. An old General Luke Skywalker.  Jonathan Rinzler will write and Mike Mayhew will do the art.

Dark Horse also shared some concept artwork for the new series which you can see at the link above. For continuity purists, don’t even try to mesh this into canon and just enjoy it for what it is. A fun Infinities-style what-if.

What We’d Really Like to See in the Sequel Trilogy

Posted on by

Lately we’ve been talking a lot about continuity and canon and multiverses on the blog. But with Disney buying Star Wars, I think it’s time to face the fact that our fandom isn’t going to cater to hardcore fans any longer–the ones like us, who blog and podcast just for the fun of it, the ones who have seen the movies ad nauseum, the ones who go to conventions. No, it’s time for Disney to focus on a new frontier of fan–those who haven’t seen any Star Wars films. Only then can Disney truly begin its era from a blank slate, not only without any Expanded Universe knowledge bogging down new projects, but also the pesky film backstory as well.

I asked my good friend Lisa what she’d like to see in the Sequel Trilogy. She was kind enough to write the following editorial for us. There’s no denying her insights are mind-boggling. We can only hope that J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt take some of her ideas to heart. – Nanci 

* * *

No one is denying how epic the movies in the Star Wars universe can be. I just think we can all agree that a new set of movies is the perfect time to shift the scope to smaller, more personal stories. Working on a smaller scale will also help them move toward featuring fan-favorite characters who haven’t had enough screentime in the past.

Not to mention that while the star wars themselves are a serious topic, there is plenty of room in the ‘verse for humor. Every movie doesn’t have to be Fate and Choice and War and Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! As a veritable Star Wars expert, I think it’s finally my turn to throw my hat in the ring with a few ideas for movies that should absolutely become part of the next trilogy.

Imagine Eddie Murphy’s head under there and Fett gets even more amazing.

Bounty Hunters: We Do Need Their Scum

Everyone’s favorite bounty hunters take the lead: I know Boba Fett gets all of the attention (probably due to his admittedly impressive accordion skills and theme song), but there’s a lot more to these bounty hunters than meets the eye. If we gather them all together for a family reunion, there’s bound to be enough drama (and let’s be honest- explosions) for a dozen movies. Depending on when in the timeline it’s set, the story could tie in with events from the earlier movies or be something completely new. Humor, adventure, bickering with the clone you raised as your own child…it’s basically everything movie audiences are looking for. Bonus point: they can cast Eddie Murphy as all of the Fetts!

Han and Leia: The Disney Version

Disney’s newest princess will definitely kick ass and take names: Star Wars is a timeless tale that will be passed down to our children and our children’s children, much in the same way that classic fairy tales were passed down to us- through catchy songs and an unstoppable marketing team.. Now that Disney has their hand in the pot, it’s only natural for their newest princess to get her own animated feature, complete with musical numbers. Leia is perfect for the new, snarkier direction Disney’s been taking their animated features in, and Han Solo is absolutely the love interest our daughters deserve. Besides, let’s be honest here- fairy tales don’t really count until Disney tells us they do. Bonus point: hook those fake nerd girls while they’re young!

Stormtroopers in Love

Now imagine they’re kissing!

The stormtrooper rom-com we’ve all been waiting for: They are, by far, the most ubiquitous characters in the Star Wars universe, but how much do we actually know about the stormtroopers? I’m not talking about things like their collective inability to hit a target or the fact that they’re all named Harry. That’s the simple stuff. We need to go deeper, if they’re going to get their own feature. We need to learn the important things, like their hopes, their dreams, and their workout regimen. At the end of the day, I think they want what we all want- to find love and gluten-free desserts in an uncivilized world. Isn’t it time they got it? Bonus point: finally, a Star Wars movie you can see with your girlfriend!

Crossover Appeal

Once the Star Wars cinematic universe is established as an undeniable part of our movie culture, even to the people who for some crazy reason have never seen a Star Wars movie, it’ll be time for the franchise crossovers to begin. My personal votes are for the Fast and the Furious (2 Fast Tatooine Furious?) or Step Up (a wookiee vs. stormtrooper dance fight will literally end all war on this planet) franchises, but there are so many possibilities out there!

The crossover that’s been waiting to happen.

Fare thee well, Mr. Timm

Posted on by

bruce_timm_by_dkdelicious-d3ezn9nDC Animated Producer, director, art director, writer, occasional voice actor and all around awesome guy Bruce Timm steps down.  And as long as everybody else is doing it, I call bullshit too.

If you’re even close to my age, when you think about DC comics, you can’t help but think about some of the incredible animated programs that have been created over the course of the last twenty-one years.  To most of us, we know that his work more or less started with Batman: The Animated Series, which eventually became The Adventures of Batman and Robin.  In truth, a quick look at Timm’s IMDB page will show you he actually started working with DC animated characters as far back as 1981 on The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!

Continue reading →