MCM London took place last weekend at the ExCeL in Docklands, and a major part of the show was The Clone Wars panel, which brought members of the cast – Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Matt Lanter, Cat Taber and Nika Futterman – to the stage to tell stories and take questions from the audience. One of the most insightful moments from the panel was this, Ashley explaining that when The Clone Wars launched, not only were they the only Star Wars project on the air (remember, The Clone Wars was initially set to run alongside Star Wars: Underworld, which never made it to our screens), but were also the lone torch bearers by the time Disney brought Lucasfilm in 2012.
Ashley Eckstein: “Well, you know, for us, it’s easy to forget, but back when Clone Wars was on the air, there was no other Star Wars. So we thought that Star Wars was done. I mean, the movies were done. This was before Disney bought Star Wars, and so we were the only thing on the air. It’s not like it is today where there’s multiple series and movies. And I only shared this to say, I think we all felt an obligation to continue to carry the torch because Star Wars next year will be celebrating 50 years. 50 years of Star Wars, and I don’t know, I mean I know, I think I can speak for all of us, we felt like it was such an honor to be a part of the Star Wars franchise that we wanted to continue to carry the torch for the next generation of Star Wars fans.”
With enormous thanks to the marvellous Mavis Kiljoy for the photographs.
