While the prequels have a poor reputation among many Star Wars fans, Star Wars: The Clone Wars has proven that there are worthy stories to be told within that time period.  The cartoon show has introduced new characters and shown many more die.  While it certainly follows Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the side characters are put in constant mortal peril and it creates a thrilling journey.  Darth Maul has been revived in the series despite missing half of his torso (he’s a little stir-crazy when we first meet him), and the panel talked quite a bit about the upcoming season while also explaining the tremendous Umbara story arc that was one of the highlights of Season Four.

Instead of having the voice cast twiddle their thumbs as they rarely make creative decisions, last Saturday’s panel featured the talents of supervising director David Filoni and head writer Matt Michnovetz moderated by Star Wars author Pablo Hidalgo.  Hit the jump for the full recap of one of the most lively and interesting panels at Comic-Con this year.

Darth Maul kicked some Jedi ass when we last saw him on the animated series Clone Wars and now he’s continuing his comeback looking even more intimidating in the new trailer for the fifth season of the series which seems to outdo the prequel films in many ways. In addition to the return of one of the saga’s most favorite, and poorly utilized villains, Mandalorian terrorist Pre Vizsla (voiced by Jon Favreau) is back looking for some vengeance of his own after Count Dooku decided to cut the killer loose after he failed to assassinate Obi-Wan Kenobi’s old love interest Duchess Satine. Armed with his kick-ass Darksaber, Vizsla isn’t going to go down without a fight. Honestly, this trailer might be the best thing from the Star Wars universe in a long time. Watch it after the jump!

With the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D this weekend, Twentieth Century Fox recently hosted a press junket at Skywalker Ranch and Lucasfilm.  In an effort to promote the experience for the next generation, my seven year-old daughter, Cyan, interviewed four people who helped bring George Lucas’ vision to life.  Her final interview was with Joel Aron, CG Supervisor for Star Wars: The Clone Wars the animated series.  They discussed how Darth Maul could come back if he’d been cut in half, the most rewarding part of working on Star Wars, who his favorite character is, his Sith name, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Though The Clone Wars animated series has obviously garnered a big audience of Star Wars fans on Cartoon Network, the series just might be a bit too intense for some of the younger viewers who still want to journey into a galaxy far, far away. Therefore, children and parents alike might be happy to hear about Lucasfilm’s announcement of a new 30-minute animated special called LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace which will air on Cartoon Network on Friday, July 22nd at 7/6c. Since the video games that have inspired the series are a lot more childish and silly in tone than the real Star Wars films, this will definitely be lighter fare for younger Star Wars fans, but the animation should be something fun to behold. If you’re interested, hit the jump for images from the half-hour special plus the synopsis and the full press release with details on encore airings and such.