Top 10 Star Wars Animations (Part 1)

(A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com)

We’re just days away from the Disney+ release of the seventh and final season of The Clone Wars, a show which has evolved from the saga’s lowest-rated cinematic release (saving last year’s Rise of Skywalker) to become the saga’s quintessential animated offering. 

But of course, it isn’t the only animation that George Lucas’s famous galaxy has given rise to. There’s over 40 years of Star Wars cartoons and shorts to pore over so now, just before its most famous production finally wraps up, why not take a look at some of the finer examples of The Clone Wars, Rebels and much, much more?

Bear in mind this is an entirely subjective list, one designed to feature all corners of the world of Star Wars animation. Please feel free to suggest your own edits, additions and changes to this list – and please beware, some spoilers may abound!

10. The Story of the Faithful Wookiee (Star Wars Holiday Special) (1978)

The (original) Mandalorian
(source: YouTube)

Please don’t close this article just because it starts with The Holiday Special…

It’s easy to malign the first real Star Wars “spin-off”, which aired around Thanksgiving in 1978. A quick look at Chewbacca’s threads, Leia’s singing or the inexplicable cantina scenes (read: intergalactic sketches) show why this “train wreck” has proven to be so universally mocked by fans and critics alike. But perhaps the most fascinating thing about this misstep is that it features the first-ever appearance of Boba Fett.

Serving also as the first piece of Star Wars animation, The Faithful Wookiee features Han Solo’s most famous nemesis actually helping the Original Trilogy’s heroes on the water planet of Panaa, as they seek to both uncover a mysterious talisman and evade the clutches of Darth Vader. Of course, it doesn’t take long for Fett to reveal his true colours – the segment IS only ten minutes long – as it achieves its main goal: to introduce the character as a villain for Empire Strikes Back.

This short isn’t merely the best part of The Holiday Special, as it’s also a surprisingly decent tribute to 1970s kid’s television. Its influence is still felt today, both by the unstoppable popularity of Boba Fett and in the title character of The Mandalorian wielding the same weapon as Boba does here (the forked blaster used to vaporize all those Jawas in The Child).  

If that wasn’t trivia enough for you, it’s also the only segment of The Holiday Special ever officially released on home video by Lucasfilm, hidden as an Easter Egg in The Complete Saga boxset released in 2009.

9. LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (2011)

The Padawan Menace was Anthony Daniels’s 58th voice appearance as C-3PO
(source: Wired)

Yes, we’re jumping right from The Holiday Special to the very kid-friendly LEGO specials but honestly – we’ll get to the big guns soon enough. 

It’s true that the LEGO arm of the animated Star Wars universe is a little juvenile, but it wasn’t always that way. Undoubtedly seeking to capitalize on the surprising popularity of the LEGO Star Wars video games and the unending financial success of the toys that inspired them, The Padawan Menace could have just been a cash grab seeking to take advantage of parents sat on the sofa with their wide-eyed kids on a Saturday morning. Whilst it definitely does that, setting the groundwork for future commercial-series like The Freemaker Adventures, this is actually… funny (see for yourself - the official LEGO YouTube account has made the episode available for viewing here).

Star Wars rarely embraces parody: laughs and one-liners, yes, but to knowingly poke fun at its own shortcomings? It seems unthinkable. But that’s exactly what The Padawan Menace does. It’s not afraid to literally and gratuitously shatter Jar-Jar Binks, or point out how weak a deception Palpatine’s double-act really is. Nor is it afraid to mock the endless politicking that formed so much of the Prequels’ dialogue and plot – and it does it all in the same scene!  

Much like The Faithful Wookiee before it, this cartoon depicts an alternate (if un-canon) “first” appearance of one of George Lucas’s most beloved characters. It won’t be spoiled here, as it’s a fan-service twist that actually serves the story. But if neither that nor the thought of a plastic Lucas dealing with a needy Darth Vader pique your interest, well… here comes some Clone Wars.

8. Lair of Grievous (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) (2008)

General vs General: The duels live up to the hype
(source: StarWars.com)

Apologies if this isn’t the episode you’re looking for, but you have to start somewhere.

This might be the most underrated episode of the entire series – much like its star, Kit Fisto, might be one of Star Wars‘s most underrated characters. The key thing to remember about this episode is also the thing that probably works against it the most, which is when it aired. It’s the ­­tenth episode of the first season of The Clone Wars, back when audiences still questioned whether this was just a show for kids, or indeed why it existed it all. However, Lair of Grievous (and the episode just before it, Cloak of Darkness) for the first time showed the potential for the series to become more than just Anakin and Obi-Wan heists, to become a real galactic actioner with stories and battles to rival their big-screen forerunners. 

Togruta or Twi’lek, this show was never afraid to show that coolest of all Star Wars tropes – the alien Jedi. We get that here, with the aquatic pairing of Master Fisto and Ackbar-esque Mon Calamari Knight, Nahdar Vebb (yes, it is all one fish-out-of-water metaphor). But more importantly, we see a headstrong young Jedi eager to attack rather than defend (any of that sound familiar?), all the while getting a real canonical introduction to the ruthless might of General Grievous. Not only that, but the episode features a rare look behind the horrific origins of the droid general – being that we are on his home territory, we get the briefest glimpse at his past and the hideous means that he must go to “stay in shape”.  

When Ben Kenobi first mentioned The Clone Wars and their Jedi combatants in A New Hope, minds surely raced to imagine lightsaber showdowns just as intense as their contestants. In moments and episodes like Lair of Grievous, those fantasies finally came to life.

7. “The Ballad of Kanan Jarrus” (Star Wars Rebels) (2014-18)

Kanan also had a high-profile voice actor in Freddie Prinze Jr.
(source: Lucasfilm Animation)

(To be clear, that’s an unofficial title..)

In its origins, Rebels faced many of the same criticisms that The Clone Wars did. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor, it never really grew out of those audience concerns. What it did have, however, was Kanan Jarrus.

Over four seasons, the perennially-conflicted Jedi underwent all the Force-sensitive challenges that viewers were used to from their big-screen Star Wars heroes – from reluctant survivor of Order 66 turned unsure teacher, through to resistance icon and world-weary warrior. His tale bookends the series from the first episode of Rebels – the double-length Spark of Resistance – through to the near-end in his last appearance, Jedi Night. Throughout this combined hour of television, we not only watch the former Caleb Dume wander the narrative path of a Jedi, but also undergo moments befitting an icon of the Jedi Order.  

It all starts in his first appearance, when the exiled knight FINALLY reignites his lightsaber – it’s a bracing moment accompanied by an instantly-iconic line: “Focus all your fire on… on the Jedi!” This is the Jedi of legend – the swashbuckling defenders that Luke Skywalker or Rey revered. Then, when he makes the ultimate sacrifice in season four, he evokes the aged Ben Kenobi or Han Solo, surrendering to his fate to save and inspire the galaxy’s best hope.

With his voice echoing through The Rise of Skywalker alongside some of the saga’s most beloved Jedi, the importance and clamor for Kanan is clear even two years after his last appearance. Rebels may not always hold up against its more established animated brethren, but its Jedi Master certainly does.

6. “The Mortis Trilogy” (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) (2011)

It wasn’t just in himself that Anakin saw a vision of his future…
(source: Lucasfilm Animation)

Within any series, there are episodes and storylines that so often mentioned in “Top Ten” lists that it’s almost stereotypical to do so once again. But as The Clone Wars shows in its finest stories, there’s little wisdom is resisting these moments. 

The very popular ‘Mortis Trilogy’ from Season Three starts innocently enough. The show’s three leads Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka arrive for a rendezvous with Captain Rex in deep space. Unable to locate their Clone counterpart, the three are dragged unavoidably into a strange intergalactic crystal… and all Hell breaks loose.

The three episodes that follow are a meditation on the lore of the entire saga. Three mystical beings (The Father, The Son and The Daughter) challenge and tempt the Jedi as they demonstrate their own dueling ideals of The Force, and there’s betrayal and bait around every corner. Amongst it all are duels as dramatic as the episodes’ cliffhangers, spliced with the return of Liam Neeson and Pernilla August as Qui-Gon Jinn and Shmi Skywalker – and best of all, a jaw-dropping vision of Anakin’s dark future.

Perhaps the only critique of this arc is the way it finishes: the three Jedi undergo these trials, only for The Father to return them to the galaxy they recognize with little recollection of events – it’s the Star Wars equivalent of the “it was all a dream” story trope. However, the vivid spirituality of the arc is certainly in no danger of leaving the mind of the viewer, as ‘The Mortis Trilogy’ aims to showcase the vastness of The Force.  

Not only does it succeed, but it in fact becomes a showcase of the very best of The Clone Wars.