THE CLONE WARS: THEY LOOK FAMILIAR...

The powerful Pantoran leader Baron Papanoidia (who bears more than a passing resemblance to STAR WARS creator George Lucas!) and his family gather on Coruscant in a scene from the memorable Season Three episode, Sphere of Influence.

'THE CLONE WARS' SEASON ONE. AFICIONADO's TOP FIVE EPISODES. NUMBER THREE: 'TRESPASS'

Trouble ahead for our snowbound Clone Troopers in Trespass.

Celebrating the ground-breaking opening season of THE CLONE WARS, our countdown of Top Five episodes continues apace. Cloak of Deception, The Blue Shadow Virus and Defenders of the Peace almost made the Number Three spot, but ultimately the chilly and exciting tale of Trespass won the day. And here's five reasons why...

1. Orto Plutonia. In sci-fi storytelling terms, you can't go wrong with anything set on an ice planet, and basing it in STAR WARS terms you certainly can't, either. The hostile snow realms of Hoth, home to a rebel base and an epic ground battle against Imperial Walkers would make a huge impact on fans over the years, so it's nice to see that kind of environment again, yet different realised this time out in the animated medium, and now deservedly involving our Prequel heroes. Trespass has lots of stark atmosphere, from the discovery of the mysteriously slain Separatist and Republic forces, to the final battle between the blue skinned, South African voiced Pantorans (originally conceived for EPISODE I), who claim the world as their own against its native peoples- a kind of STAR WARS western in many ways- a re-imagining of the American Indians defending their lands and aggressors from the white man in a story finale that also has a Custer's Last Stand-esque quality abut it.

Watch "Trespass " - The Clone Wars Episode Featurette #1.15 | StarWars.com

2. The return of the Talz. A brief Mos Eisley cantina alien scratching his bewildered head and making a funny zooty kind of sound may have seemed an unlikely choice for a main monster in a CLONE WARS animated episode, but the white furred Talz creatures ultimately work extremely well in the planetary environs, nicely adapted to animation and with excellent sound design. Noble creatures, the fireside scenes in their encampment, alongside our Republic heroes, are a nice touch, whilst their fierce side, showing their building anger in pack war tactics at the Clone Troopers and the Pantorans whom they have to protect, proves chillingly effective and scary.

3. The McQuarrie Factor - Part One. Taking a leaf from his original 1978 conceptual art for Hoth from EMPIRE, Dave Filoni, the art team, with director, go for an altogether more different and even colder look to the ice world of Orto Plutonia to what was seen on-screen on Hoth. There's lots of his huge mountain peaks and an overall blue tint bringing the story temperature down. The use of building snow density in certain scenes is another plus, carefully handled, adding another vital layer of visual storytelling. Overall, from this episode onward, the series animation style is starting to become bigger and more ambitious.

4. The McQuarrie Factor - Part Two.  Beyond the environments, we also get the Master's influence on the characters in their snow gear and vehicles. The Clone Troopers look similar to the way he envisaged the Imperial Snowtroopers surveying the Rebel base before their attack (as seen in Leigh Brackett's original version of EMPIRE), whilst the speeder bikes they use look like squashed down versions of his Snowspeeder concepts. The previous burial chamber that is the Republic base, whose hangar bay our heroes soon inhabit, has echoes of his original look for Echo Base, too. Outside of McQuarrie, its great to see the designers maintaining continuity, putting Anakin and Obi-Wan in snow costumes similar to the ones worn by Han Solo on Hoth-a nice touch adding further to the overall superior design coolness of the story.

5. C-3PO. He'd had a good time as comedy partner to Jar Jar Binks's Bombad Jedi earlier in the series, but now the legend that is Anthony Daniels gets to have further fun as the important and lovably snooty character, bringing back links to his role as an interpreter from the Classic Trilogy with this adventure,  acting as the all-important go-between for the Republic, the trespassing, angry Pantorans and the even more aggravated Talz, helping to carve out a tentative peace by close of play.

Coming October 15th to UK DVD and Blu-ray: STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS- THE COMPLETE SEASONS ONE TO FIVE.

THE BLUE BARON IS BACK! GEORGE LUCAS IN "SPHERE OF INFLUENCE"



George Lucas becomes the star of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, this week on SKY MOVIES PREMIERE HD



SKY MOVIES have very kindly sent us the latest press release info for the new episode of THE CLONE WARS showing on SKY MOVIES PREMIERE and HD from this weekend, and its the one fans have been waiting for, as George Lucas takes the action hero spotlight in SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

Here's the info:

Star Wars Creator George Lucas Sees Some Action in an All-New Episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars!

When Pantoran Chairman Papanoida's family is kidnapped and held for ransom, Ahsoka Tano must team up with Senator Riyo Chuchi to aid the new chairman in recovering his family. It’s a journey deep into the dark underbelly of the Coruscant crime scene, with an unlikely – and immediately recognizable – protagonist painted into a corner and forced into action in “Sphere of Influence,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars – at 5.30pm Saturday 6th November on Sky Movies Premiere/HD.

Seen only briefly as a background character in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Papanoida will nonetheless appear very familiar to Star Wars fans, film buffs and pop culture aficionados. He is, of course, modeled after Star Wars creator George Lucas – who also wore blue face paint for the character’s live-action cameo debut.

“My appearance in Episode III was just for fun. Mostly, I did it for my kids,” says Lucas. “I was wrapping the series, and I’d never been on-screen in a Star Wars film, even though I’d been making them for decades. With The Clone Wars, I get the best of both worlds, because I get a starring role but don’t have to do any acting or wear any blue make-up.”

Lucas’ children – Amanda, Katie and Jett – also appeared with the director in the live-action outing, and they, too, make their Clone Wars debut in “Sphere of Influence.” None of the Lucas family provides voice-acting for the series, however; Jett’s doppelganger is voiced by Robot Chicken’s Seth Green, while Amanda and Katie’s avatars are voiced by Meredith Salenger (who also voices Barriss Offee) and Nika Futerman (Asajj Ventress), respectively. Lucas himself is voiced by Clone Wars regular Corey Burton (Count Dooku, Cad Bane) – who based the character’s distinctive sound on Orson Welles’ Harry Lime from The Third Man.

While Papanoida is featured fairly passively in his live-action incarnation, the character has an opportunity for a considerably more active role in The Clone Wars. Taking him deep into the Coruscant underground, the Pantoran Chairman’s mission gives him the chance to demonstrate his chops in a few decidedly action-oriented sequences.

“We actually made Papanoida into kind of an action hero,” says Dave Filoni, supervising director of The Clone Wars. “The bad guys have his family, and he goes after them, blasters blazing. Shoot first, ask questions later. His character is very focused on finding and protecting his kids; it’s a desperate situation, and he steps up. It’s a fun episode with a lot of action – and it’s unique, in that our normal heroes give up the spotlight while Papanoida takes matters into his own hands. This was a surreal episode to produce, since the guy on screen was sitting right next to me while we were making it.”

CLASSIC IMAGE: BLUE IS THE COLOUR!

Here's a fun family photo you don't see everyday, showing Katie Lucas and her proud father, a certain Mister George Lucas, as the alien beings Chi Eekway and her daddy, Baron Papanoida- members of the animated series seen Pantoran race, both of whom make cameo appearances in EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH. George's appearance-which he apparently had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing- is literally a blink and you miss it moment at the Coruscant opera. Katie is also in that scene talking to him as Chi, but she does get a line of dialogue in EPISODE III, in a sequence with Padme and the Delegation of 2000 that's ultimately cut out, though it would eventually resurface on the film's DVD release a short time later. Katie, now a script writer for the animated CLONE WARS series, will soon have the entire Pantoran/Lucas family dynasty return for an an action-packed episode of politics, intrigue and danger.

Look for the episode - its title currently unrevealed - to transmit in the not too distant future on CARTOON NETWORK in the US and SKY MOVIES in the UK.