Tonight on Clone Wars: Ambush

February 20, 2009 by Cynthia

Tonight is a repeat of a fan favorite – Ambush on Star Wars: Clone Wars. This was the second most watched episode of the series on Cartoon Network, and maybe that’s because it features Yoda so prominently.

“Yoda is such an important icon in the Star Wars universe, and the importance of doing right by him – and the fans – was not lost on us,” says supervising director Dave Filoni.

“There were heavy expectations going into this series, and since he played such an integral role in the launch episode, Yoda had to carry the weight of those expectations on his little shoulders. Of course, if he’s taught us anything, though, it’s that size matters not.”

Despite Yoda’s own confidence in the Force, bringing the Jedi Master to life was a distinct challenge for the artists at Lucasfilm Animation, who had to develop his signature look and personality in an all-new medium – while at the same time launching the most expansive look at the Star Wars universe yet. The process began with concept art, meant to convey the design of the character and to capture the various moods and expressions necessary to flesh out any given scene.

“We’ve seen Yoda in many different forms, from the puppets used in Episode V to the complete CG rendering of the prequels to the 2-D animation of the micro-series,” says Filoni. “There was a lot of source material to form the foundation, but we had to make Yoda a living part of our CLONE WARS design. And we had an opportunity to combine everything in this episode – from Yoda’s serious side, as we saw it in the prequels, to the playful side that was our first introduction to the character in The Empire Strikes Back.”