In the years following the mᴀssive success first established by the original Star Wars movie, the franchise has often looked to the original trilogy as a foundation of sorts for everything that’s followed. It makes sense that Star Wars would want to follow the original trilogy’s template in order to both remain consistent and to achieve similar success.

This was especially the case in the earliest parts of the Disney era. The Star Wars sequel trilogy’s main criticisms arose from those who thought that its story was too closely replicated from the original trilogy, most notably A New Hope. Ten years later, however, it’s clear that Star Wars has actually found a new, possibly even better, foundation.

Star Wars Animation Is The Basis Of The Franchise Now

Its Influence Is Undeniable & Inescapable

There’s no denying that Star Wars animation – from Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Star Wars Rebels and even Star Wars: The Bad Batch – has become the franchise’s newest foundation for its storytelling. All of our modern Star Wars stories, whether they are TV shows or movies, have some kind of foundational root in Star Wars animation.

Similarly to how Star Wars only had the original trilogy to work from after 1983, which defined the childhoods of many fans, Star Wars animation filled the void after the prequel trilogy, and also defined a generation of brand-new fans. The Clone Wars has become essential to the Star Wars mythos, with Rebels and The Bad Batch following in its footsteps.

The live-action Ahsoka series is considered a Rebels sequel series for a reason. It quite literally picks up where the Rebels epilogue left off, with the majority of its cast of characters all deriving from the animated series. Even the critically acclaimed Andor made use of animated characters, such as Saw Gerrera and Erskin Semaj.

The next Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, will even feature Zeb Orrelios of Rebels in a story that has certainly found plenty of inspiration from Star Wars animation. The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau may have always loved Boba Fett, but his interest in Mandalorians grew from playing Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars.

Animation Is Star Wars’ Most Perfect Medium

Despite Live-Action’s Popularity

It’s truly no surprise that animation is serving Star Wars this way, because it’s undoubtedly the franchise’s most perfect medium. While Star Wars was born in the live-action medium, and that remains its most popular, Star Wars animation can, and has, achieved what live-action simply has limitations on.

From full fluidity in lightsaber fights to character designs and more, Star Wars animation simply does what no live-action property could ever recreate. This is why many characters who have entered live-action from animation have been on the receiving end of some heavy criticism; live-action cannot properly recreate what’s so flawlessly portrayed in animation.

Star Wars just feels so right when it’s portrayed in animation. It doesn’t mean that live-action can’t be just as good at times, or that it ought to remain obsolete in comparison. Rather, Star Wars animation manages to capture a consistent amount of magic and charm that can be hard to replicate in live-action.

Star Wars Is Recognizing The Importance Of Animation

It’s Getting The Appreciation It’s Long Since Deserved

Now, twenty years after the formation of Lucasfilm Animation, Star Wars is truly starting to recognize just how important animation is to the franchise. They brought The Clone Wars back for a final season in 2020, years after it was initially canceled, and they continue to build from this series in various live-action projects.

Most recently, The Bad Batch has gotten a lot of appreciation in the form of spin-off materials. The comic miniseries Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories — The Bad Batch — Ghost Agents by Michael Moreci and the upcoming novel Sanctuary: A Bad Batch Novel by Lamar Giles have both continued the story of Clone Force 99, even after the series ended.

Preorder Sanctuary: A Bad Batch Novel here

Having an animated series receive so many spin-off stories is almost unheard of in a franchise like Star Wars, as that kind of treatment is typically reserved for live-action stories. This is why something like Ahsoka is also so noteworthy; its dependency on animation isn’t something that’s exactly common, yet it needs the context of Rebels to be understood.

There’s certainly a balance to be struck with it all, but it’s undeniable that Star Wars animation is the most important thing to the franchise right now. It’s more than likely that 2026’s Maul: Shadow Lord animated series will continue this tradition as well. Star Wars has identified its newest foundation, and it truly is perfect for the franchise.