OK, So I will admit, I had never really seen any of the Clone Wars show, a few random episodes, and the first film a long while ago, but since getting Netflix, I've been working my way through them, and have nearly finished Season 3.

(For the record, I have been enjoying Rebels as well).

OK, so I did go in thinking "this is going to be a cartoon, aimed at kids, but then again, so its Rebels, and Ive enjoyed that"

(Note, I didnt avoid Clone Wars because I believe it was "aimed at kids" It was simply never on at a time convenient for me).

Boy was I wrong.

To me, Clone Wars is really not "aimed at kids" at all... it struck me for a 'cartoon' (which is probably not the right term anymore), that it was really violent.

Granted, its dealing with War, and there's no "blood and gore", but ive seen people shot point blank,excecution style, stabbed through the heart with lightsabres, impaled on spikes, necks broken "commando style", wild creatures cut down with sabres, and throw into lava pits, people severed in two (not show in detail), people falling to their death, people sucked into space, screaming for their very lives.

Not to mention the overtly sexual nature of some of the costumes and dancing girls you see int he Hutt and Underworld arcs... even Ahsokas outfit was 'barely there' until Season 3 sometime, when it was actually nice to see her put on clothes!

(Im not a prude by any means, but I guess my expectations were something else! and Yes, I know Leia in her gold bikini is a benchmark, but that film was made 30 years ago).

Now don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying the show, its adding a lot of depth to Anakins character that was absent from the films, and opens up so much depth to the war, the politics and machinations behind the playing pieces in the war. And it also throws up many questions I didn't realise I needed to ask (But I will do that in other threads)

Is it me? Or did anyone else get the same feeling?

(Rebels, I know, some do not like, and I can understand why... but I enjoy it, its a different flavour, and while it certainly has plenty of "vanquishing of stromtroopers" and a certain "execution of a couple officers", I just don't feel it has the same level of wanton and obvious violence as Clone Wars).

RD

You're spot on, that's why a lot of us that enjoyed TCW are having such a tough time with Rebels. Rebels to me aims too low and I am just not enjoying it at all. I said I'll give it a couple seasons and I will but as of right now I do not find any characters in Rebels anywhere near as compelling or interesting as TCW.

See, I dont have any issue with Rebels, perhaps becuase I went in with the same expection "its for kids" like I did with TCW... so I had no expections.

I quite like the characters, I may gloss over the "kids" stuff maybe.

Rebels to me so far feels and sounds like a generic RPG module introduction's section. It is generic and bland. I listen to the main characters and they just give me a sense of three people that were grabbed out of a mall in suburban CA and told to read lines. I was heartened by the last 2 episodes for two reasons and they are named Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader. So we shall see in Season 2.

In all honesty, I think any new series takes time to find its feet.

Its probably even harder when its into an established franchise like Star Wars.

Look at Star Trek, TOS was good (Albeit campy with modern eyes), TNG updated it and did well, DS9 changed the dynamic, and its my favourite of the lot.

Voyager I felt, started to get abit stale, and Enterprise, while enjoyable, was not really up to the calibre of the earlier shows.

TCW had alot to live up to, and I feel Rebels will find it even harder based on its success... not to mention its the first show coming from the Disney Barn.. yes, Lucasfilm are making it, but Lucas does not have the same sway it once had. Its clearly more aimed at a younger generation than TCW probably was. Unless standards have changed since it came out - again, having watch the Story Arc with the Trandoshan hunters, How many were thrown to their deaths?? it feels TCW was aimed at a more mature audience, I am not sure how I would feel putting my 5 yr old kids in front of TCW (not that I have any), while Rebels wouldnt bother me as much.

But I am looking forward to see where it goes.

In the spirit of half full glasses, plenty of room for improvement.

I actually like the episodes that isn`t about the main characters the best. For some weird reason they seem to have much more personality to them and the characters they revolve around come off as much more relatable and interesting.

It is an ok show, very good in many respects, but sadly the main characters come off as a bit boring and unrelatable with little interesting interaction you care about and can relate to. At least in the first couple of seasons.

It is not a character focused show it seems, unlike Rebels where you care about and can relate to the main characters from the get go, they have meaningful dialogue, interesting personalities and fun and intriguing interaction, both villains and heroes.

CW is not a bad show, it has a lot going for it, like world building. But if you are into character stories, like me, I recommend Rebels!

CW has thrown up a ton of confusion for me, when it comes to Organisations and Politics and such (See my other thread) more than anything else.... im only half way through, about to start Season 4, and I hope it will give me more insight into Anakins personality when I go back and watch the films again.. as I felt his portrayal in the films was... lacking somehow.

Although how he kept his relationship with Padme a secret from EVERYONE boggles me.

Informal Poll: What does "aimed at kids" mean?
What about "aimed at families"?
Are the Star Wars films either of those things? Whyt or why not?

Now, what I am about to type is NOT aimed at anyone who has posted thus far. Instead I am citing a mindset often associted with this topic.
There is a certain breed of fan that loved something as a child and, as they grew, became a sort of "self-loathing" fan. You can find them many places but Star Wars seems to have a big share. These sorts feel shame over enjoying a "childish" past time and want it to age with them. Sadly, with this mindset comes a warped view of maturity. Sex/violence/profanity/gore regardless of context have become the markers of "grown up" entertainment all on their own.

With that in mind, I am suggesting that the absence of sex, violence and such does not make a show "aimed at kids" than a show with such thing are automatically appreciable to adults.
In both cases style an context are the keys.
Star Wars, at its best, is timless because its fans can go to so many of the same facets at different stages of life and appreciate the various aspects differently or anew.
At its worst, it can pander and that can be a problem as it can alienate rather than unite.

Rebels had a short first season, and while it starts out a lot more "kiddie" than TCW, I'm trusting that it'll grow in maturity.

You're totally right about TCW. While ostensibly a kid's show, it ended up having a lot of adult themes, which is why it's popular with the likes of... well, us The "Viet Nam" story arc comes immediately to mind, the one where the clone battalion is commanded by the bigoted Besalisk Jedi. You can see shades of "Apocalypse Now" and "Full Metal Jacket" in that story, and it was thought-provoking. The only thing I didn't like about it was...

That's just one example that really surprised me when I saw the show (also on Netflix). Rebels hasn't come close to that one yet, but I'm hoping they'll be exploring more of these sorts of themes in upcoming seasons.

I think a lot of us who grew up with Star Wars were happy to see more adult themes in TCW. For similar reasons I was looking forward to the 1313 game, it looked dark and gritty. I'm enjoying Rebels, but I kind of wish there were two streams of content...Rebels, and something more adult.

I'm enjoying Rebels, but I kind of wish there were two streams of content...Rebels, and something more adult.

I can get behind that, certainly for the more "expanded" content. Perhaps a live-action series.

I do think that core Star Wars (the films) should always be across-the-board accessible... but we are talking more about companion shows.

Lucas was planning on a Love Action TV show at one point, after he saw the quality of BSG convinced him that what he wanted was doable on a TV budget, but it kinda dissapeared into the nether or never really emerged.

Disney might do something, it is after all, a money maker. Simply because it has a Star Wars Label, but I would imagine they wont do anything until Ep 9 is out, which is 5 years away.

As a father with girls who are getting more interested in Star Wars I "like" the Female leads in Rebels and enjoy that they are equal members of the team who don't suffer from clothing issues. My daughters latched onto Hera and Sabine instantly which was really cool. The rebels series is enjoyable though and it is fun family viewing. Too bad Disney/Hasbro dropped the ball on taking the female leads into toys and merchandise. (seriously struggling to find decent Sabine Wren merchandise for my 10 year old daughter). Rebels connected with my kids though where clone wars did not. Now I loved clone wars. So I need to echo Whafrog that two streams of content would be nice.

Lucas was planning on a Love Action TV show at one point, after he saw the quality of BSG convinced him that what he wanted was doable on a TV budget, but it kinda dissapeared into the nether or never really emerged.

Disney might do something, it is after all, a money maker. Simply because it has a Star Wars Label, but I would imagine they wont do anything until Ep 9 is out, which is 5 years away.

Disney could do an Imperial Intelligence weekly series that is adult based and follows the story through an Imperial Lens which could build to the main characters crisis of conscious and eventual defection to being a double agent for the rebellion. It would be interesting though for the first season or two to watch the leads perception of the rebellion change from terrorists to freedom fighters and the character development opportunities for the main to betray "friends" in Imperial intelligence for principals. I would watch it.

As a father with girls who are getting more interested in Star Wars I "like" the Female leads in Rebels and enjoy that they are equal members of the team who don't suffer from clothing issues. My daughters latched onto Hera and Sabine instantly which was really cool. The rebels series is enjoyable though and it is fun family viewing. Too bad Disney/Hasbro dropped the ball on taking the female leads into toys and merchandise. (seriously struggling to find decent Sabine Wren merchandise for my 10 year old daughter). Rebels connected with my kids though where clone wars did not. Now I loved clone wars. So I need to echo Whafrog that two streams of content would be nice.

It`s lame that there`s not more female protagonists in Star Wars! I am crossing my fingers for a female main protagonist in the upcomming JJ Abrams movies. I hope Leia gets a cool role in the story too, she was awesome as Boushh in Return of the Jedi!

I recently rewatched all of The Clone Wars on Netflix, and based on my observations, I prefere the later seasons (when everyone got new designs) more than the first ones. I think it was because the stories were more well-designed, but it could be something else that I can think of.

Edit: Also, anyone got an idea when Rebels will be on Netflix?

I think TCW started with the intention of being a kids show, see season 1's painful jar jar episodes, but it turned a lot darker when cad bane arrived in the final episode of season 1.

In that last episode they killed a bunch of humans (not clones) including shooting a wounded one in the head, killed a defenceless hostage and showed what looked suspiciously like a sex bot.

The cad bane arc continued into the first 3 episodes of season 2 where he tortured a Jedi to death put ashoka in an airlock and kidnapped some babies for surgery they probably wouldn't survive. My favourite bit was when the medical droids were parrying lightsabers with babies.

It's not hard to guess why I stopped my kids from watching TCW but kept watching it myself.

As a father with girls who are getting more interested in Star Wars I "like" the Female leads in Rebels and enjoy that they are equal members of the team who don't suffer from clothing issues. My daughters latched onto Hera and Sabine instantly which was really cool. The rebels series is enjoyable though and it is fun family viewing. Too bad Disney/Hasbro dropped the ball on taking the female leads into toys and merchandise. (seriously struggling to find decent Sabine Wren merchandise for my 10 year old daughter). Rebels connected with my kids though where clone wars did not. Now I loved clone wars. So I need to echo Whafrog that two streams of content would be nice.

It`s lame that there`s not more female protagonists in Star Wars! I am crossing my fingers for a female main protagonist in the upcomming JJ Abrams movies. I hope Leia gets a cool role in the story too, she was awesome as Boushh in Return of the Jedi!

Rey (Daisy Ridley) has been hinted at for being one of the new main protagonists. The buzz around Captain Phasma leads me to believe that may be a strong female antagonist, hopefully in a non-traditional way.