File it under the category of “What Could Have Been.” According to The Wrap, acclaimed animator Genndy Tartakovsky turned down a leadership role at Lucasfilm—presented by George Lucas himself. His decision paved the way for Dave Filoni to take creative control of a galaxy far, far away.
Now, fans are wondering how Star Wars would look if Tartakovsky had accepted the offer.
George Lucas via AMC+ YouTube
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The creative output of the two men suggests that, while Lucas saw potential in both, Tartakovsky would have led the iconic franchise down a very different path.
Tartakovsky and the Clone Wars Era
Before catching George Lucas’s eye, Tartakovsky had made a name for himself at Cartoon Network as the visionary creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack. The latter, which premiered in 2001, was especially praised by critics for its elaborate action sequences and minimal dialogue.
In 2002, Lucas asked Tartakovsky to do a series of three-to-five-minute animated shorts set between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The micro-series was titled Star Wars: Clone Wars, ran for 25 episodes, and won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program twice in 2004 and 2005. More importantly, Clone Wars was able to deepen the lore and expand the legacy of the franchise, despite being in a different medium.
(L-R): Clone Trooper Fireball and Clone Captain Rex in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, season 3 exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
With the growing success of Star Wars animation, Lucas reportedly wanted someone to fill a leadership role at Lucasfilm similar to what John Lassiter was doing at Pixar. In 2005, he offered the position to Tartakovsky, with the requirement that the animator would only work on Star Wars-related projects. It’s unclear if Tartakovsky felt that his work with Star Wars was complete and was ready to move on to the next job, or if the exclusivity requirement was a deal-breaker.
Tartakovsky instead went on to make the critically acclaimed Primal, leaving Lucas to seek out someone else to handle creative duties at Lucasfilm Animation. His search eventually led him to Dave Filoni.
The Rise of Filoni
At the time, Filoni was known primarily as a director and storyboard artist on Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. According to The Wrap, Lucas found him to be a “malleable protégé,” who was fully committed to Star Wars. Together, they retconned some of Tartakovsky’s contributions to the mythos, as Lucas felt Tartakovsky had made the Jedi too powerful. After Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2014, the Clone Wars micro-series was completely decanonized. Meanwhile, Filoni’s presence only increased and he was able to make the leap from animation to live-action projects.
Filoni, who was recently selected to co-lead Lucasfilm along with Lynwen Brennan, is a controversial choice within the Star Wars fandom. As a senior creative, he had a central role in producing two divisive Star Wars series for Disney+. Leslye Headland, showrunner on The Acolyte, described Filoni as a mentor, and as Chief Creative Officer, each script received his stamp of approval. The show was canceled after a single season. Filoni wrote all eight episodes of the live-action Ahsoka, which struggled to find an audience.
(L-R): Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Huyang (David Tennant) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
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Now, it seems that Tartakovsky left Star Wars at what few realized was a pivotal moment. As for Filoni, it’s possible he never would have worked at Lucasfilm if Tartakovsky hadn’t stepped aside. While it’s impossible to know if Tartakovsky would have followed Filoni’s trajectory from animation to live-action to leadership at Lucasfilm, had he remained, Star Wars would undoubtedly occupy a very different narrative space today.
How do you think Star Wars would be different if Genndy Tartakovsky had remained at Lucasfilm? Sound off in the comments!
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