There are two paths and two choices in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, the new six-part animated anthology of shorts streaming October 26th. From Lucasfilm Animation and supervising director Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), Tales features parables built around Jedi from the prequel era: Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). With appearances by characters from George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy — including the Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor), Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Master Mace Windu (TC Carson) — witness never-before-told Tales from both sides of the Force.
All of these references to the philosophical underpinnings of Star Wars and the other animated shows may make it sound like Tales of the Jedi is for fans only and an impenetrable web of cross-references for the uninitiated. That’s not the case. Similarly, the small scale of Tales of the Jedi compared to other animated entries in the franchise may put off established fans, but they would also be missing the mark. The 10-15 minute run times of these six episodes, set at moments away from the grander sweeps of the Star Wars space opera, allow Filoni and his team to employ a more elegant storytelling style, relying more on atmosphere and mood than on action. It puts the group’s storytelling artistry on display in a way that even Star Wars novices can appreciate while delivering stories that, for all their subtlety, still cut deep enough to penetrate even a jaded Star Wars veteran’s defenses.
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.
