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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Well, I’m glad that didn’t happen. Absolutely dislike this visual style. One of the worst things TV has ever entered.
I thought that Star Wars couldn’t disappoint me anymore, but this was a hit in the gut. Star Wars: Clone Wars was the best thing in the franchise since the original trilogy. The 3D Clone Wars by Filoni was nothing but slop. I’m not sure how well Tartaskovsky would’ve performed in a leadership role, but it couldn’t be worse than that hack Filoni pushing his OC Ahsoka everywhere.
Both Clone Wars and The Clone Wars were excellent. No need to sh*t on the one to prop up the other.
Nope, the 3D one was canon breaking trash. It was the introduction of that Mary Sue Ahsoka.
Nice hat. Is he one of the guys from “Brokedick Mountain”?
They all are. Perverts, the lot of them.
Every picture I see of him he looks like if Andy Serkis had fetal alcohol syndrome. Just a weird creepy guy that looks like he has hygiene issues. This is the guy that you want to handle the creative of something that was once a license to print money, and needs to build good will with the exiled fanbase so that Disney can at least make SOME money off this entire saga. Honestly, if it’s just the creative control and he doesn’t have to handle any of the business end, why didn’t they just offer it to Lucas? It’s about the only thing they could have done to earn a second chance, and they blew it. Shit, even Jon Favreau. And talk about a career made from failing up. He’s only here because literally every other better option turned the job down.
You made me laugh.
Lucas, the architect of his own destroyed legacy.
They say that he got help with the first two movies, and that he took credit for a lot of creative ideas of others. As is often the case, such people fail when they lose such allies.
He really did. And I’m very forgiving. I’ve come to enjoy the prequels-jar jar. It was his constant tinkering with the “original”. I just wish he would’ve left it well enough alone.
I don’t hate Ewoks, I was young.
I do not think Empire was the best film in the series.
Other than retrospective manipulations, I hate the fact that he completely washed his hands of it, and sold his “baby” into serfdom.
Like the worst father. No respect for progeny.
But now he likely has a fountain of gold and chocolate running his Marin county or SF compound keep that he’ll spend the rest of bourgeois life.
Dude only accomplished four real movie bits in life. Even though I hate spielberg and scorsese now, their awesome output out-factored his by ten.
Two trick pony from Modesto California.
Are you a Beatles fan? Still, the, greatest band ever.
Dave Filoni watching Full Metal Jacket: “The only things in Texas are steers and queers!!”
Queers? I better buy me a cowboy hat.