When Disney cancelled Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with the explanation that they wanted to “pursue a new direction in animated programming,” fans were dismayed. After a couple of ups and downs in early seasons, the show found its feet when introducing and developing one of the all-time greatest Star Wars fan favorite characters: Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Now, with the show unexpectedly brought back from the dead for a final 12 episode run, Ahsoka’s voice actor, Ashley Eckstein, wants to update us on the current status of it.
Her comments come via an interview with CBR conducted during the New York Comic Con and understandably, she seems pretty psyched to play Ahsoka again:
“Oh my gosh, it’s surreal to be back! You know, [it’s] the 10th anniversary and I have to say it’s something that I didn’t think was possible. So the fact that I can say, “Clone Wars saved” on the 10th anniversary of the show is pretty surreal.”
In more concrete news, Eckstein went on to confirm that they’re currently recording the new episodes, and that the majority of the original cast are returning to voice their roles. Even better is that they’re recording the roles as an ensemble in the studio rather than piecemeal, which animation fans will recognize as an indication of quality performances to come. There was some speculation that they’d use the unused recordings made before the show was cancelled, but from this, it sounds like they’re starting from scratch.
So, how does Ashley feel about the part after voicing Ahsoka right the way through Clone Wars and then as a more experienced Jedi in Rebels?
“Well, it’s so funny because, after Clone Wars and when I jumped into Rebels, it was actually pretty hard for me to do Rebels Ahsoka because she was that much older and she was a whole lot more like Obi-Wan rather than Ahsoka from Clone Wars. She was more of the mentor now, the teacher, and so it took me a while to get into that role, and then now I have to go back to Clone Wars, so I have to unlearn everything that I learned and that place I went to for Rebels Ahsoka and go back to Clone Wars Ahsoka and really, I mean, this is after she walks down those steps.
So, you know, she’s still around the same age, so age-wise I know I can — because I would change my voice according to her age — so age-wise I kind of know I can get my voice back there, but she’s also in a different place because she just left the Jedi Order and she’s dealing with all those thoughts and emotions and questions of, like, “What happens next?”
And for the fans who’ve spent the last half decade campaigning to get The Clone Wars back on screens, even when the odds were against them and hope seemed lost, here’s what the actress had to say to them:
“Well, I just want to say thank you. I mean, thank you to all the fans who kept the dream alive, I guess you could say with #SaveTheCloneWars. I have to say I’m one of those people that I believe the possible is possible and kind of never give up hope. Star Wars taught me to always have hope. But I think maybe I was too close to it, because Clone Wars coming back was the one thing that I thought would never happen. I have to say, you know, thanks to the fans for never giving up hope, because they never did! It was like literally a couple times a week I would see Tweets from fans saying, “Save The Clone Wars” and I was like “Aww, that’s nice, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.” And then, when I got the call and they said that it was coming back, I couldn’t believe it! I was like, “Oh my gosh, the impossible is becoming possible!” and then to see #CloneWarsSaved. I have to give the credit to the fans, because the fans never gave up.”
So, there you go. Never underestimate the tenacity and passion of the fanbase. It’s a pretty uplifting lesson that even if your favorite show is tossed in the bin with apparent finality, you can still bring it back if you keep the faith.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars will return on Disney’s streaming service in 2019, and as soon as more details arise, we’ll be sure to let you know.
