Dave Filoni Isn't Always Trying To Pull His Animated Star Wars Characters Into Live-Action
If there's any one person who's responsible for molding the state of the "Star Wars" franchise into what it is right now, it might be Dave Filoni. There's a strong argument to be made that Filoni's guiding hand on both the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: Rebels" television series left permanent strokes on the entire universe. Original characters from these animated shows have since appeared in the live-action realm, with the most popular and enduring of them soon to get her own series, "Ahsoka." Filoni doesn't always look to translate his animated creations into the real world, though, unless it makes complete sense. That way, he can avoid portraying them as glorified cameos catering to fan service and instead make sure that they contribute to the grander scheme of the plot.
Filoni's animated universe has bled into the live-action "Star Wars" stories more and more, pulling whole pieces of the lore to build a larger story (and, at times, confusing those who are unfamiliar with the cartoons). Saw Gerrera, a character who appeared in "The Clone Wars" as a young resistance fighter, continued his penchant for rebellion when he popped up in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" played by Forest Whitaker. Bo-Katan, the politically complicated antihero who fought for the Mandalorian Death Watch terrorist group, has similarly been played by Katee Sackhoff (who additionally voiced the character's animated counterpart) on "The Mandalorian," going back to her first appearance in season 2. Other important developments, such as the resurrection of Darth Maul that was a centerpiece of Filoni's animated series (later seen in "Solo") or the Empire's Inquisitors (seen in "Obi-Wan Kenobi"), have also played into the greater mythos of "Star Wars."
A tricky transition
Dave Filoni will have a chance to bring even more of his animated creations over into live-action on the upcoming "Ahsoka" series he's developing. However, the creative revealed in an interview with The Wrap that he "very rarely" gets to make the transition because of the inherent differences between live-action and animation. He brought up the examples of Bo-Katan and Cad Bane, the former of which he said requires a different type of performance from Katee Sackhoff in two distinct mediums. Cad Bane in "The Book of Boba Fett" presented an even tricker problem since he's an alien that's easier to visually portray in a cartoon. Filoni explained that he only adapts his animated characters for live-action when he's confident they can make a smooth transition:
"I'm always cautious. And ['The Mandalorian' creator] Jon [Favreau] and I talk about who will we bring in? I try to do it when it makes the most sense. [...] The character [Cad Bane], he's so lean and gaunt in 'The Clone Wars.' And if we don't do that, is it all CG? How are we going to portray that? If we don't think we can do that effectively, then we shouldn't do it."
It's worth noting that although Corey Burton reprised his role as the voice of Cad Bane, the motion capture stunt performer Dorian Kingi acted as the body stand-in to get the anatomy proportions correct for "The Book of Boba Fett." Luckily for fans, it sounds like Filoni has found a way to bring his characters from "Rebels" into "Ahsoka." After all, as he put it himself, "I wrote it. You can't fault me there."