The galaxy of Star Wars is about to enter a new phase, as Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan join forces to succeed Kathleen Kennedy as the president of Lucasfilm, and here we learn that 20 years ago, the a senior position at Lucasfilm Animation was offered to the creator of Clone Wars Genndy Tartakovsky by George Lucas rather than the future showrunner of The Clone Wars, Dave Filoni. In 2026 that might sound like heresey, but back in the mid 2000’s Tartakovsky was a huge deal in the realms of animation, with Dexters Lab and Samurai Jack, so you have to wonder ‘what if’, and where he might have taken it.
Lucas tapped a different animator to oversee a galaxy far, far away back in the 2000s. According to TheWrap, the filmmaker once offered a leadership position at Lucasfilm Animation to none other than Genndy Tartakovsky, himself a legend of animation who helped build an entire TV network devoted to cartoons with a little animated show about a genius kid and his work station. (Or, as everyone now knows it, “Dexter’s Laboratory.”)
TheWrap’s report doesn’t go into much detail, but it does state that George Lucas only recruited Dave Filoni after Genndy Tartakovsky turned down his offer. That said, the idea of Lucas going to Tartakovsky first to lead a new animation branch of Lucasfilm makes a lot of sense. By then, after all, Lucas had already worked with Tartakovsky on the “Star Wars: Clone Wars” micro-series, which won a Primetime Emmy and had some of the best animated “Star Wars” moments ever. More than that, “Clone Wars” had a unique (and incredible) sense of visual storytelling that relied on iconography rather than dialogue. It’s also the show that introduced the beloved characters Asajj Ventress and General Grievous, all while making Mace Windu the coolest Jedi around.
As the leader of Lucasfilm Animation, Tartakovsky likely would’ve given us more animated “Star Wars” projects that experimented with different visual styles. At the same time, it’s possible Tartakovsky simply didn’t want to be stuck working on the same franchise for the rest of his life, especially considering how hands-on Lucas was with “Star Wars” back then. Tellingly, when Yahoo! Entertainment once asked if he’d ever return to a galaxy far, far away, Tartakovsky replied, “I did what I did, so I wouldn’t go back.”
It’s an interesting thought, and one that – if it had happened – would have significantly changed the course of Star Wars history
