As a dedicated Star Wars fan, I’ve come to understand that the history of this epic saga has always been about generating profits while maintaining a kid-friendly appeal. Some might argue that the material produced under Kathleen Kennedy is solely focused on cash grabs, but in truth, the essence of Star Wars has remained consistent throughout its evolution.
Today, we have ‘Skeleton Crew’, which seeks to evoke nostalgia reminiscent of Amblin productions, and various TV shows by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni that lean heavily on the familiarity of ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ programs.
However, let us not forget the equally cynical endeavors of pre-2012 Star Wars media, such as the Hyperspace Hooplah show at Disney theme parks, the Ewok TV movies from the 80s, or even the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Each of these productions was designed to capitalize on the franchise’s popularity while maintaining the allure that has kept fans hooked for decades.
Prior to 2012, an endeavor was made to combine the classic “Star Wars” saga with contemporary humor and trendy pop culture references. However, despite boasting many well-known figures in its production team, this project failed to take flight, becoming known as the controversial animated series “Star Wars Detours”. This show aimed to offer a distorted perspective of this universe, unfortunately at a time when it was not well-received.
What Was Star Wars Detours?
George Lucas didn’t shy away from poking fun at his own creation, Star Wars. Although the Prequel Trilogy steered clear of self-referential humor, Lucas appreciated and even fostered parodies of the saga on animated series such as Family Guy and Robot Chicken. The creators of Robot Chicken, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, established a strong working relationship with Lucas that led to a new Lucasfilm Animation project. Once the Star Wars saga was concluded, Lucas was eager to explore and play with the characters and universes he created. This led to the development of Star Wars Detours, a series featuring unconventional takes on Star Wars characters dealing with everyday scenarios like money struggles, relationship disagreements, hostage situations, and so forth.
The essence of the show appears to be presenting a more formal and family-friendly adaptation of the Robot Chicken Star Wars specials. This is evident not only through Robot Chicken’s creator Green and Senreich being at the helm of the show, with Green also lending his voice to various characters, but also by inviting Seth MacFarlane back to reprise his iconic portrayal of Emperor Palpatine from Robot Chicken. This program would have further extended the Lucasfilm Animation empire beyond The Clone Wars, as the then-developing animated film Strange Magic was also intended to enhance the expectations for this label’s content.
2010 marked the initial stirrings of what would come to be known as Star Wars Detours, with Green and Senreich hinting about the project to prominent media outlets. They shared their enthusiasm for it, mentioning that like The Clone Wars, Detours was self-funded by Lucas and a network would be selected later to broadcast the production. It was at Star Wars Celebration VI in August 2012 when the world got its first peek at Star Wars Detours. Various sketches from the show were shown, which unfortunately did not impress many internet enthusiasts who dismissed it as another peculiar addition to the Star Wars media library, similar to Kinect Star Wars.
Why Detours Was Shelved
Two months following the public unveiling of the initial “Detours” footage, Disney shelled out billions of dollars to acquire Lucasfilm. Consequently, Disney now held the rights to everything related to “Star Wars”, and the series’ most ardent supporter (George Lucas) was no longer in the picture. A few months after this acquisition, it became apparent that Disney intended to rethink the small-screen aspirations of “Star Wars” as “The Clone Wars” was canceled. By March 2013, Disney officially announced that “Detours” had been put on hold.
Originally, 39 episodes of the animated series “Star Wars Detours” were completed, but Lucasfilm’s executives decided to shift the Star Wars franchise towards a more serious tone and attract a new generation of children to immerse themselves in this world. At first, humorous elements like jokes about Jar-Jar Binks and Admiral Ackbar didn’t align with this strategy. Over a decade after its cancellation, Green mentioned that as time passes, it becomes increasingly unlikely for “Star Wars Detours” to be released due to the need for updates to make it relevant to contemporary Disney+ viewers. Without significant fan demand for the property, “Star Wars Detours” remains stored on a hard drive, much like the Death Star plans.
Despite the show not reaching its intended success, Green has openly expressed that he holds no grudges. This is because his long-term collaboration with Lucas on the production was priceless and the amusing Star Wars sketches they created together were worth every moment of Detours. Furthermore, the animated series has found a unique, legendary place in Star Wars folklore (as an unpublished yet completed project) which very few other projects can boast. In comparison, none of the Ewok TV movies managed to achieve such a significant milestone.
Previously this year, Green shared with us his heartfelt thoughts on an extraordinary and improbable encounter he had with one of his most significant inspirations. He expressed that the creative process often involves many ideas that are never actualized, or projects that remain unseen, which is a challenging aspect of this profession. Reflecting on the people he knows, the work he’s done, and the unique experience he had, Green stated that he has gained an incredible amount of knowledge from just being part of it all. Spending time under Kathleen Kennedy’s mentorship was, for him, a great honor.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is now streaming on Disney+.
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2025-03-23 04:14