New Star Wars animated show "Rebels" coming fall 2014

[Jedi_Master]

I read through the "Visual Guide" yesterday. I like the overall structure of the story, and the various characters seem interesting.
The part of the series that I am most interested in as of right now is the hand weapons. The Sith Inquisitor has a lightsaber with a blade that spins in a circle, the young hero has a combo lightsaber/blaster, and both the ISB agent and the alien warrior Zeb have a combination blaster rifle/force staff that is similar to those wielded by General Grievous' body guards.
All of them look very cool.

 

[mos6507]

Well I think the assumption is it's the general style seen in Disney animated movies (and I do admit, Ezra does look an awful lot like Aladdin).

At least in feature CG there's a stylistic convention where "sexy" lead male characters should have really long noses with a huge bridge and eyebrows so straight across you could use them a ruler. Plenty of 2D examples since Aladdin, but for recent CG ones, you have Flynn Rider and Nod from Epic.

 

[Christopher]

Weren't Aladdin and Flynn both Glen Keane designs? That would explain the resemblance.

 

[cooleddie74]

I read through the "Visual Guide" yesterday. I like the overall structure of the story, and the various characters seem interesting.

I'm definitely more excited about the new series after seeing parts of the new Visual Guide on YouTube. I haven't yet had the chance to see and read through the actual book itself but if the online videos posted by fans are any indication then it's definitely one fun Visual Guide and a worthy addition to a personal Star Wars reading collection.

 

[Reverend]

And the extended trailer is out...
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5YN3LAGw4[/yt]
Nice way to have Kenobi on the show without *actually* having him on the show. A bit weird though to see him in the new style. His head looks all round and squishy...

 

[cooleddie74]

Sounds like they got James Arnold Taylor to reprise his voice role. I'm glad.

 

[Mr Light]

Great trailer! Having seen proper scenes now... the animation style looks very good. It doesn't look "cheaper" than Clone Wars or anything like that. I'm excited!

Interesting that the trailer used movie scores (whereas Clone Wars created its own music). I wonder if the series will be like that?

The villain with the muttonchops beard looks ridiculous, however

 

[Reverend]

^They have the same composer as TCW and he's said he''l be drawing more from the classic themes, but it's still a largely original score. Observe: -
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtxExG9QW8c[/yt]

 

[Christopher]

So... the lead character in the series, Ezra, is a kid from a backwater planet... who meets a Jedi who tells him the Force is strong in him and offers to train him to fight the Empire... and who hooks up with a hotshot pilot and a droid with attitude. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[Reverend]

Sounds like Star Wars to me. Isn't that the point?

Seriously though, yeah, they're clearly evoking the original film on purpose (at least as the starting point) but even without seeing a single episode, it's clear they're putting unique spins on all the characters. They're not just carbon copies of what we've seen before.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The similarity to SW (1977) was identified months ago, in thread I believe. Yeah, it's worrisome. The look in the extended trailer is pretty decent, though I'm still not happy with all the proportions. There being nothing to complain about was, of course, too much to hope for.

 

[cooleddie74]

I'm more hopeful about Rebels going in than I was when I saw the very first clips and ads for The Clone Wars back in 2008. I grew to have a pretty strong affection for TCW once the growing pains of the show gave way to much stronger characters and storylines. I don't need Rebels to even be as good as TCW....it just needs to be good. Or good enough.

That's all we can ask from most television series and that's usually the most we can get from them.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I really enjoyed the trailer, and getting used to the characters already. The animation has grown on me since the first trailers we got a few months ago. I'm planning on picking up the Visual Guides (I'm a sucker for DK books) as well as the novel most likely at a later date. Can't wait to hear Jason Issacs as the Inquisitor!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Not bad, I do think the background details look more simplified than Clone Wars but the characters are fluid and seem likable. Is it me or is that one of the more authoritative sounding Stormtroopers we've seen(heard?).

 

[Corran Horn]

So... the lead character in the series, Ezra, is a kid from a backwater planet... who meets a Jedi who tells him the Force is strong in him and offers to train him to fight the Empire... and who hooks up with a hotshot pilot and a droid with attitude. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Just like Shadows of the Empire - when you have no Han, break the glass and use the emergency backup Han.

 

[davejames]

Yeah the ships and backgrounds are a bit less detailed than before, but they're still more than good enough to get the job done, I think (and they still manage to make that Star Destroyer passing overhead look pretty awe-inspiring).

 

[kirk55555]

The trailer was actually ok. I'll probably give the first episode or two a try, even though I'm not really expecting much.

 

[cooleddie74]

Even Droids and Ewoks with all their campy mid-'80s cheesiness managed to last a year or two each. I don't think Rebels would disappear too soon - if the series desperately needed a ratings boost they'd probably take cues from The Clone Wars and retool the execution of the show to make it more appealing and exciting, or move it to another time slot or even channel if they feel the Disney XD numbers aren't strong enough.

As things stand now, I don't think it'd flop. Star Wars has such a vast built-in fanbase and audience after almost 40 years and so many people excited about the new movies being made that they'd probably have to shoot themselves in their own foot for the series to be a failure.

 

[Saul]

So... the lead character in the series, Ezra, is a kid from a backwater planet... who meets a Jedi who tells him the Force is strong in him and offers to train him to fight the Empire... and who hooks up with a hotshot pilot and a droid with attitude. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Star Trek 2009?

Great trailer. Like What I see. I liked the brief link to the Clone Wars and hope they throw a few more in along the way.

 

[davejames]

As things stand now, I don't think it'd flop. Star Wars has such a vast built-in fanbase and audience after almost 40 years and so many people excited about the new movies being made that they'd probably have to shoot themselves in their own foot for the series to be a failure.

Well I will say one thing TCW had going for it (and I imagine the main draw for a lot of people) was all the buildup and foreshadowing they could do not only towards ROTS, but the entire OT. And the fact you had central players like Anakin, Yoda, and Palpatine involved only made that easier.

With Rebels I'm not really sure how much of that kind of thing they can really do. None of the characters appear to have any direct influence or connection with future characters that we know of, and while the creation of the Rebellion is important, it's still not nearly at the same level as the saga's main Skywalker storyline.

It'll be interesting to see if they can find some way to make up for that, or if they're just hoping a return to the fun, cornball spirit of ANH will be enough to keep people watching.