Tales of the Jedi (TV series)

While traveling to work on the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni began writing short stories about different Jedi characters from the franchise's prequel trilogy era. Carrie Beck, senior vice president of development and production at Lucasfilm, asked if Filoni wanted to turn these into a series, which he compared to her "find[ing] the money" for a revival of his animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the streaming service Disney+.[13]

In December 2021, the logo for Tales of the Jedi was included on holiday gifts for Lucasfilm employees alongside logos for upcoming film and television projects at the studio. This was also the name of an unrelated comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s.[14]

Lucasfilm confirmed the project in April 2022 when the company announced the schedule for Star Wars Celebration, with Filoni set to discuss the animated anthology series in a dedicated panel.[15] This was held at the end of May, and revealed that the series consists of six episodes,[6] five of which are written by Filoni and the other by The Clone Wars writer Charles Murray along with Élan Murray.[6][1] Each episode is approximately 15 minutes long.[16][17] Filoni also serves as creator, supervising director, and executive producer, with Athena Yvette Portillo and Beck also executive producers.[1]

Filoni described the series as exploring "two paths and two choices", with one following the character Ahsoka Tano and the other focusing on Count Dooku. Each character is explored in three different eras of their lives.[7] Comparing the series to The Clone Wars, Filoni noted that Tales of the Jedi was slower paced and like "a series of tone poems" with less dialogue and more visual storytelling. This was inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki as well as Filoni's mentor, Star Wars creator George Lucas.[5][7] Filoni's first idea for the series was to show how Ahsoka was brought to the Jedi Order by Plo Koon, but he changed this to a story about Ahsoka's first hunting trip with her mother because there had not been many stories about "moms being moms" in Star Wars.[5][18] He felt it was important that "Ahsoka's first experience with someone telling her, 'Don't be afraid,' is her mother."

Beyond the first episode, which has a happy ending and features the "adorable baby Ahsoka",[7] Filoni warned that "these aren't just fun, happy stories. It gets rough at times." He particularly felt that Dooku's life was "surprisingly tragic", and attributed some of the series' darker episodes to them being written during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] An aspect of Dooku that Filoni wanted to explore was the relationship with his padawan learner, Qui-Gon Jinn, whom Filoni described as "one of the best and, in some ways, most interesting Jedi, because of his philosophy, which is different from the Jedi Council. And where did he learn that, if not from his mentor, Count Dooku?"[7]

The final episode, titled Resolve, loosely adapts the events of the 2016 novel Ahsoka, originally written by E. K. Johnston. Speaking about the production of the episode, Filoni noted that Resolve was "based on the same outline I gave publishing for the novel" and that the two works thus told the same story.[19] Ashley Eckstein, the actress who voices Ahsoka, stated that the novel had not come into discussion while Resolve was in production and that she never asked Filoni where the episode fell in relation to the novel. She regarded the episode as "an extension of the novel" and the beginning of "that chapter" of Ahsoka's life.[20]

With the series' announcement in May 2022, it was revealed that Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn, while his son Micheál Richardson would voice a younger version of the character.[10] Matt Lanter reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker from The Clone Wars,[6] while Janina Gavankar was cast as Ahsoka Tano's mother, Pav-ti Tano.[7] In July 2022, Ashley Eckstein revealed she would be reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano.[8]

The series uses the same animation style as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Bad Batch.[5] Charles Murray, Nathaniel Villanueva, and Saul Ruiz serve as directors for the series.[21][1]

Kevin Kiner composed music for the series, after previously doing so for The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Bad Batch.[1] Additional music for the series is composed by Sean Kiner, Dean Kiner, David Glen Russell, Nolan Markey and Peter Lam. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack for Tales of the Jedi digitally on October 26, 2022, alongside the premiere of the series on Disney+.[22]

According to Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, Tales of the Jedi was the 4th most in-demand streaming show in the United States, during the week of October 29, 2022 to November 4, 2022.[24] According to Whip Media, Tales of the Jedi was the 9th most streamed original series across all platforms in the United States, during the week ending October 30, 2022.[25]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Under the reliable stewardship of Dave Filoni, Tales of the Jedi is an absorbing expansion of Star Wars lore that will delight Padawan-level fans and encyclopedic Force scholars alike."[26]

Brian Young of /Film asserted, "These episodes are full of pathos and interesting connections to the broader Star Wars lore. The quality of work from the writers, from Lucasfilm Animation, and the music of Kevin Kiner has never been better. My hope is that these mini-episodes are popular enough to spin more Jedi into the limelight for more tales."[27] Kevin Fox, Jr. of Paste gave the series a grade of 8.2 out of 10, stating, "The overall result, as overseen by Dave Filoni, is surprising and strong. Tales of the Jedi succeeds by saying exactly what it means to and then making its exit, sure to have viewers ready for more. Whether it's ultimately a one-off season or the start of something greater, it's worth Star Wars fans' time to check it out."[28]

Jamie Lovett of ComicBook.com gave the series a grade of 4 out of 5, saying, "These six Tales of the Jedi are beautiful, moving, and deceptively layered for their brevity while packing a few surprises and jaw-dropping moments along the way. Lucasfilm Animation managed to squeeze a lot of Star Wars magic into these shorts, and viewers will only be disappointed that there aren't more of them."[29] Alex Stedman of IGN gave the series a grade of 8 out of 10, writing, "Tales of the Jedi is a strong, tightly written showcase for two important characters in Star Wars lore: Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. Dooku in particular gets a good amount of meat added to his character’s bones, while the other episodes feature a welcome look into Ahsoka at different points in her life. It’s moody and methodical at times, while still managing to weave in some beautifully animated action. It may not be absolutely vital Star Wars content, but there are certainly worse ways to revisit these characters before Ahsoka gets her own series."[30]

Tales of the Jedi received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Broadcast Animation at the 2022 Golden Reel Awards.[31]