Yes, post-ROTS or post-ROTJ. Or between ANH and ESB, or between ESB and ROTJ. Why not all of those? The biggest attraction of the animated format is the chance to resurrect Luke, Leia and Han without the necessity of re-casting (which I wouldn't necessarily scream about, but it's a big risk).
Okay I'll be honest. I saw the first episode of
The Clone Wars and it was hate at first sight.
I didn't like the animation style, there was too much fighting (it was nothing BUT fighting), I didn't give a frak about clones, and Yoda couldn't carry the thing on his own.
Since then, I've gone back and caught up on DVD, and my opinion has changed entirely. I still don't give a frak about clones, but there's a whole lot more going on.
TCW is a well written series, with a nice way of adding character and story complexity incrementally over time, so that the action never (or rarely) slams to a dead halt, but it isn't all just a shallow kiddie show.
Animation allows even more stunning visuals to be created compared with photorealistic SFX, or at least it seems that way to me. Maybe there's less concern whether the design of a planet can be made to look "realistic" if the things being shown are simply too outlandish, but it seems like
TCW's worlds are more fantastical and exotic than the PT's.
The animation of the characters is the only sticking point. They can animate faces realistically enough that the characters' expressions are capable of evoking emotional reaction as well as any live-action actor - that's crucial (and I didn't expect animation to have advanced that far, at least not for humanoid characters as opposed to anthropomorphic animals and toys).
But there are still weak points: the characters walk and move stiffly; they often hold their arms in a weird, doll-like way; there's something too-phony about the way they move in lightsaber battles (even taking into consideration that the movements are Force-augmented and are going to look "unnatural" on that basis); and even little things like hair and fabric, which could be animated to be more flowing and realistic.
So it's really not about the budgetary concerns. It's all about whether the writers, animators and voice actors can produce a worthwhile story, and with
TCW, they definitely have proven that they can.
I suspect that the kid target market requires the format to remain half-hour/week, which is a bit frustrating but if I ever got too antsy I guess I could exercise some restraint and save up episodes to watch two or three at a time. The stories are often structured so that one story is broken up into two, three or four parts anyway. But when I get interested in a show, I can't wait!
He just sits there and says "action" and "cut" without really paying any attention to what the actors are doing. 
).
