Rebels vs Clone Wars
VS.
It probably isn’t fair to compare Clone Wars and Rebels since the Clone Wars had over 5 Seasons and Rebels is just at the halfway point of its first season. but it is hard not to since Rebels basically replaced Clone Wars. So compare them I shall.
What is Rebels about? Rebels takes place in the era leading up to the original Star Wars….The Empire is still alive and well and the Rebellion is slowly starting to form. Where Star Wars obviously influenced Firefly ---Firefly clearly influenced Rebels. It follows the adventures of the crew aboard a ship called The Ghost. As they try to earn a living and stick it to the Empire at the same time. The series has been good so far. I especially like the character interactions and relationships of the crew and Esra (which is basically an Aladdin with Jedi powers) learning how to use his powers.
More Kid Friendly?
Rebels definitely feels more aimed at kids than Clone Wars did and a main part of that may be as result of the main character Esra’s age. It definitely feels like Star Wars which is a good thing and I’m sure like any new show it will take awhile to fully get involved with the characters. Rebels unlike the Clone Wars –which basically focused on characters we already knew from books and movies –has a brand new cast of characters -so instead of jumping straight into the adventures of Anakin and Obi Wan with no need for character development ---this time around we need to spend time learning who these characters are.
The Action
The show has had some really good lightsaber battles involving the main villain The Inquisitor. They have been able to display some exciting action sequences in the show so far ---but again not on the level of some of the stuff from Clone Wars. Rebels is definitely more simplistic in its action sequences. Clone Wars had big epic battle pieces like the assault up the side of a cliff in the Clone Wars pilot movie. I just haven't seen anything on that level yet in Rebels.
Side by Side Comparison
I recently got to re watch some of the Lost Episodes of Clone Wars and I really just like the animation style of Clone Wars better than Rebels. Clone Wars always looked and felt very cinematic. Rebels feels more like a cartoon (which is fine). I think one of the differences is that the background details in Clone Wars were more defined. Clone Wars was an extremely expensive show to produce and I know that they wanted to scale back the production costs for Rebels --but unfortunately it shows on screen. I used to say that I would literally go to the movie theaters once every 3 weeks to watch story arcs of Clone Wars on the big screen. Rebels seems like it belongs on TV. Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying Rebels and I watch it every week-- I just feel that in comparison to Clone Wars that it just isn't on as epic a scale. One reason for this is probably the a result of the story for Rebels focusing on the crew of a single ship ---where Clone Wars took you all over the galaxy and focused on many more characters.
I will continue to watch and enjoy Rebels as we get more involved in their story. As a huge Star Wars fan I recommend watching both series if you haven't already.
Take a look below and compare the animation styles of the 2 shows for yourself
Here is a trailer for Rebels
And one for Clone Wars now on DVD and Netflix
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