Fandom never ceases to amaze me. The turn out for yesterday's #SaveTheCloneWars Twitter protest was astounding! I will admit, I feared this protest would turn out to be nothing more than a few friends and I trying to make it seem like we were making more noise then we actually were. Boy was I wrong. When the clock stuck 9:30 am PST, thousands of Save The Clone Wars tweets from fans began to pour in. Fast forward to 9:30 pm PST and the the tweets were still coming! That's right 12 hours later and (at least) every minute there was a new tweet bearing the hashtag #SaveTheCloneWars. Like Savage Opress, it truly was a sight to behold.
The tweets came from fans of all types. Men and women, children and adults, teenagers and grandparents; everyone chimed in. But it wasn't just your average fan either. Rick Fitts, who's made appearances on Star Trek and just about every other TV series ever made, took to Twitter and let Disney know that he loved the show. Megan Rath and Sam Huntington, the stars (along with Sam Witwer) of Being Human, participated and got the word out. Even Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News spoke out in support of the show. Everyone was out to support The Clone Wars.
Given that massive layoffs have taken place at Lucasfilm Animation, the chances of actually saving the series may be slim to none. But we accomplished something greater than that. We were loud and it will be next to impossible for Disney to ignore the over 7000 tweets that poured in from fans showing their support for the show. It is now a matter of how they will react. Hopefully, we taught them to think long and hard before they decide to cancel something so beloved again.
The greatest thing that happened, however, was something that was never considered when planning this protest. Not only did we (hopefully) get through to Disney, in the process we also reminded the cast and crew of The Clone Wars how loved they are. It was as much a thank you to them, as it was an attempt to save the series. It is for that reason, above all else, I consider Saturday a success.
But the fight's not over! Keep letting Disney know you love the series, drive the message home. Make sure they don't make this kind of mistake again! If you haven't sent a letter already - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Send one now and let your voice be heard. Keep tweeting @Disney and using the hashtag #SaveTheCloneWars. Make sure they think twice about decisions like this in the future.
I want to say a giant thank you to everyone who tweeted and to everyone who helped spread the word. Special thanks go to:
The SaveTheCloneWars.com Team
RebelForce Radio
Jedi News
Club Jade
The Star Wars Report
Yoda News
Sandtroopers
Following the Nerd
The Bearded Trio
Paul Bateman
Rick Fitts (Star Trek)
Megan Rath (Being Human)
Sam Huntignton (Fanboys, Being Human)
Harry Knowles
High Adventure
R2 in 22
Knights Archive
The ForceCast
And finally to my good buddy (and SWU founder) Benjamin Hart, for encouraging me to pursue this crazy idea!
Images via @grandmanuel and Paul Bateman
I'm all for saving the Clone Wars, however divided it maybe in the realms of Star Wars fandom. But I guess that with bigger things on the horizon - it's going to be how it is and slim. Sadly, Lucas never listened from 1997-2012 to us long standing fans requests (20 years+ and suffered the Special Editions, prequels, poor Blu-Rays and DVD box sets and a very, very poor release of the original theatrical trilogy) requests - so I doubt that Disney (in conjunction with George still, despite fan speculation) will listen on E.U territory as a multitude of fans are hungrier for the big screen events of Star Wars and returning it to how it used to be. I just hope we get to see the big finale of the series in the future and not just ending on the loss of a whiny padawan.
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem Steve, they aren't going to wrap it up. They're going to air the first few episodes from Season 6, but then they're just going to drop it and not finish the storyline. They're just going to leave us hanging on what happens with Ahsoka and Ventress (among other characters).
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else think it would be a good idea to try and get the 501st legion to march on Disney Studios to save The Clone Wars? I saw the idea on Twitter and think it's a pretty good one.
ReplyDelete501st Legion Southern California Garrison Website:
http://southerncaliforniagarrison.com/
@Steve May: Whiny padawan? Wow. Aren't you blunt. :|
ReplyDeleteugh another ahsoka hater, the only reason i want to see the show go on is because i want to see ahsoka mature (jedi knight/not doesnt matter)and learn the rest of her story
ReplyDeletethis better come back for the 6th season then we can not have the 7th! i dont want bonus content i want a season
ReplyDelete