18 Years Before Leading Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni Directed Star Wars' Worst Film

When Dave Filoni was later named head of Lucasfilm, many pointed to his TV work on The Clone Wars and Rebels as proof he was the right successor. Eighteen years earlier, however, he directed the theatrical Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a feature that many still regard as the franchise’s weakest entry.

The film opens on Christophisis, with Anakin (Matt Lanter) and Obi‑Wan (James Arnold Taylor) fighting a droid army and suffering heavy clone losses, then abruptly shifts into a mission to rescue Jabba’s kidnapped son Rotta (David Acord) on Tatooine. Filoni has commented on the Force‑Cast podcast and George Lucas called the feature an “afterthought,” and the movie reads as if early episodes were stitched together rather than shaped into a single three‑act story.

Critics and viewers have long noted the uneven animation and character work in the feature.

dave filoni, lucasfilm, star wars, clone wars, anakin skywalker, obi-wan kenobi, rotta, jabba, tatooine, animation