Before the 2008 Clone Wars CG-animated series, there was the 2003 animated microseries by Genndy Tartakovsky. It aired on Cartoon Network back in the day, and was the first look (as it came out between Episodes II and III) of the Clone Wars. Each episode was only 2-3 minutes long, and (confusingly) the first two seasons were bundled and released on DVD as Volume 1. This post reviews and reflects on this first volume.
I watched this DVD with my kids this week, and was surprised how much I recalled (I hadn't seen it in 15 years). The entire first two seasons last only ~2 hours, but are full of memorable sequences. The show is largely nonverbal- entire episodes can feature no speaking- and so this is highly reliant on visual storytelling. They did a great job. New characters (Asajj Ventress, Durge, General Grievous) were introduced, you got to see the Jedi and Clones in action against thousands of droids, there were large space and land battles, and some intrigue and foreshadowing of what's to come in Episode III (recall that this was released before that movie, so this was our first look). I think this was the first Star Wars TV show since the panned Ewoks, and it was exciting to see Star Wars in this 'new' medium.
Perhaps what surprised me is how much it reminded me of the 2008 Clone Wars series. That, of course, had much longer episodes, many more seasons, and much more speaking. But the essence of that show can be found here (in fact, this show's success inspired them to do the CG show a few years later). The story arc is eerily similar in places, almost like the later show copied and expounded upon this one. Based on the wiki page, Disney declared this show non-canonical, which is probably why you can't find this on Disney+. But if you can get a hold of the DVD, check it out.
Rating: A
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