I’ve been on a Star Wars binge lately, and for the first time ever, dipped into one of the animated series.
I grew up watching very early animations, where the background was static, most of the character was static, and the mouth moved when they were speaking. Up and down, a bit.
So I’ve resisted watching modern animations because of that earlier experience.
I had a friend give me a list of all episodes in Star Wars Rebels that he thought covered essential canon. He gave me twelve hours of viewing from among the four seasons and basically said “watch all of the last season”.
So I did.
I must admit that at first, I cringed, because the characters are, well, digital. And the mouths and hair still look funny despite the huge strides animation has made. But the sets were dynamic and highly detailed, and above all, three dimensional. There was depth there.
It took a few hours to get beyond “oh, this is animated, the people look weird,” and settle into just watching the story unfold. And every now and then I was reminded yet again that this was an animation.
And in the end, even though the story-telling was great, I was still left with a mild feeling that it wasn’t real, and therefore, didn’t really count. Which is bizarre, because live-action movies and TV story-telling isn’t any more real than animated story telling.
However, I rolled straight over into watching Rogue One after watching Rebels (and appreciated the backstory that Rebels set up for me), and the ending of Rogue One choked me up (it’s only my second time through that movie), while all the heroism and sacrifice at the end of Rebels didn’t move me nearly as much.
In the end I enjoyed my foray into the animated series and I might also dip into Clone Wars for the same reason–to learn more about the canon and the back stories that inform so much of the newer movies and characters. But I don’t think I will ever enjoy them as much.
What about you? Do you get as invested in the characters and story-telling of animated shows? Or do you prefer live-action?
Today, the very first book of the new Iron Hammer series, Galactic Thunder, has been released at all bookstores, everywhere, and there are some early reviews:
…what an amazing start this is!
BEST last line ever!
Danny is full of vim and vinegar
…in my opinion the best Danny book yet.
Danny and her crew learn that humans may not be alone in the galaxy.
Thirty years ago, Danny and her crew on the Supreme Lythion were instrumental in the defeat of the sentient array, the crumbling of the Empire and the development of crescent ships.
Now wildcat crescent ships are opening up the known galaxy, finding more worlds to be settled and new resources. When the wildcat ship Ige Ibas goes dark and silent, Dalton comes to Danny for help, because his son, Mace, is on that ship. Despite their history, Danny agrees to try to find Mace.
But the Ige Ibas has gone dark for a reason, and Danny’s investigation rouses the ire of a new enemy, one that emerges from beyond any worlds known to humans…
Galactic Thunder is the first book in the Iron Hammer space opera science fiction series by award-winning SF author Cameron Cooper. The Iron Hammer series is a spin off from the acclaimed Imperial Hammer series, and features many of the characters and situations from that series.
The Iron Hammer series:
1.0: Galactic Thunder
…and more to come!
Space Opera Science Fiction Novel
Enjoy!
