Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
Premiering October 26, 2022, exclusively on Disney+, “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” is an anthology of six all-new animated shorts produced by Lucasfilm Animation and created by Dave Filoni (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Star Wars Rebels”). Based on Star Wars and characters created by George Lucas, the series is set during the prequel era and spotlights important moments in the lives of fan-favorite characters Ahsoka Tano and Jedi-turned-Sith Lord Count Dooku as they embark on respective paths toward heroism and villainy. “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi” features the voices of Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano; Corey Burton as Count Dooku; Janina Gavankar as Ahsoka’s mother, Pav-ti; Micheal Richardson as young Qui-Gon Jinn; TC Carson as Mace Windu; Ian McDiarmid as Darth Sidious; Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn; Phil Lamarr as Bail Organa; Clancy Brown as Inquisitor; Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker; and James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Dave Filoni is the creator, supervising director, executive producer, and writer of five of the six shorts: “Life and Death”; “Justice”; “The Sith Lord”; “Practice Makes Perfect”; and “Coda.” Charles Murray and Élan Murray are the writers of “Choices.” Nathaniel Villanueva directs “Life and Death”; Charles Murray directs “Choices”; Saul Ruiz directs “Justice”; “The Sith Lord”; “Practice Makes Perfect”; and “Coda.” In addition to Filoni, Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck are executive producers; Alex Spotswood and Josh Rimes are producer
Release Date: 26th October 2022
Creator: Dave Filoni
Writers: Dave Filoni, Charles Murray, Élan Murray
Directors: Charles Murray, Nathaniel Villanueva, Saul Ruiz
Executive Producers: Carrie Beck, Dave Filoni, Athena Yvette Portillo
Cast: Ashley Eckstein, Corey Burton, Janina Gavankar, Micheal Richardson, Bryce Dallas Howard, TC Carson, Ian McDiarmid, Liam Neeson, Phil Lamarr, Clancy Brown, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor
Composer: Kevin Kiner
Tales of the Jedi, a single season of six animated shorts has arrived, and while the season may include a variety of tones and paces (the opening episode, the much-vaunted Baby Ahsoka story Life and Death serves dual purpose in both giving Lucasfilm the Baby Yoda successor its been chasing for 3 years while also solidifying from a very early age the destiny of a character who is rapidly morphing into the GFFA equivalent of Gandalf the White) there’s a glut if good stuff to take away from this impressive debut season. The complicated politics of third episode Choices adds depth to the character of Count Dooku; after his long, slow descent to the dark side more than hinted at in second episode Justice featuring a young, oddly accent less Qui-Gon Jinn, their relationship is one that fascinates and informs. The wisdom of the younger Jedi is holding Dooku back from the flames while his later partnership with Mace Windu in Choices feels almost like a challenge for the master to veer towards the shadows.
Fifth episode Practise Makes Perfect delves into the training of Ahsoka during the post Attack of the Clones era as Anakin, clearly less than impressed with the mechanical, predictable nature of remote training, takes his padawan to a quiet area where Captain Rex and his troops equipped with blasters set to stun test her powers and skills at predicting the unpredictable. It’s what a show like this was built for, a dip into the motivations, skills and daily life of characters we got to follow so closely for many years in The Clone Wars, and which will only serve to give depth to the character when she returns in live action next year in her own Disney Plus show.
The final episode Resolve goes large as we learn Ahsoka was present on Naboo for Padme’s funeral during the events of Revenge of the Sith, and with Bail Organa asking for her help but a shattered Ahsoka ready to step away to an anonymous life, the seemingly simple events of the episode see to it that her determination to do the right thing aren’t outweighed by the losses she has suffered and the defeats she’s borne witness to.
However, it’s the fourth episode The Sith Lord that makes the entire project worth every second of craft, skill and effort to bring to life. Simply put, it’s one of the most captivating episodes of animated Star Wars programming put on screen, explaining the fate of Yaddle (Bryce Dallas Howard nailing it in her first – and hopefully not her last – GFFA vocal appearance). The mystery of Kamino, the cover-up of Sifo-Dyas, the moment Dooku made his fatal decision, the chronology of his leaving the Jedi Order and the arguable truth that Qui-Gon Jinn was the single most important Jedi in all of the prequel trilogy. Sidious lost an apprentice when Darth Maul fell, just as Dooku did, and that parallel married to pitch-perfect performances by Ian McDiarmid, Corey Burton and Bryce Dallas Howard in THAT iconic Attack of the Clones location on Coruscant serves up an absolute gem of an episode.
Superb work all round, a variety of tones and stories that hang together so well, with skilful design and execution matched by all-round great vocal performances and music from Kevin Kiner that’s begging for a physical release (as all modern Star Wars music is). Please, don’t let this be a one-off; every trilogy could benefit from investigations of this nature, and while the prequel trilogy is the most dense in terms of plot and motivation, the tipping point for all that follows, a season of 15 minute shorts in the original and especially in the underserved sequel trilogy would be most welcome.
Don’t sit on this; watch it right away and bask in the glow of a job done very well indeed.
- Audible Audiobook
- Lydia Kang (Author) - Marc Thompson (Narrator)
- English (Publication Language)
- 04/04/2023 (Publication Date) - Random House Audio (Publisher)
