Why Ahsoka trailers aren’t showing her animated history
Many Star Wars fans have been Eagle-Eyed scouts of the trailers for each show as they get ready to release. Ahsoka has been no exception. And with less than 10 days until the series release, the Eagle-Eyed scouts are out in force.
One problem that some fans notice is the lack of images or video sequences of Ahsoka from the animated series Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars. Many feel that these are the prequels to the Ahsoka series and should be part of the advertising. The question becomes, why isn’t Disney using Ahsoka’s known images and videos, even if they are animated?
To be honest, it’s pretty simple. Disney marketing doesn’t want new people to the Ahsoka story to feel lost in the new story or to feel that they must invest more of themselves into a backstory. Others feel that animation is just for kids and that the stories told there aren’t worth their time, which has always been an unfair stigma of animation. Either way, making people feel like there is too much of a learning curve to start a new series isn’t good for business. As much as we want it to be about characters and storytelling, at the end of the day, it’s all about the money.
Why does this approach make sense?
The reason why this makes sense is also very simple. Imagine you were telling a new version of a story, a beloved character. Would you want your new viewers or readers to have to do extra research to gain entry to your story? Of course not. You wouldn’t want to risk the possibility of people feeling like the story you are about to share with them is unapproachable. And that’s where Disney and Lucasfilm are with the story of Ahsoka.
To include snippets of the animated Ahsoka would be asking new viewers to feel obligated to watch older episodes of the animated series. Asking some of those viewers who didn’t think the animated series was made for them to watch a backlog of episodes and stories they weren’t interested in so that they could have an entry point into the new story would have been a giant misstep for Disney and Lucasfilm. When there is already so much dissension in the ranks of the fans with anything that is associated with Disney as far as Star Wars creation, they needed this series and anything else new, really, to have a low entry barrier. These new series have to be fan-friendly and not fan-serviced.
The difference? The difference is that being fan-serviced would mean doing only things to make the fans happy, using simplistic approaches, and not trying to break through any new characters, stories, or locations. Fan friendly would mean that they are doing this with some fan service but making this a product that fans across all demographics can enjoy. And again, although we see this as a fun universe where we get to hear and see our favorite corner or nerd-dom come to life, as stated before, this is still a business. Disney and Lucasfilm need to get viewers in front of their TVs, phones, and tablets to watch Disney+.
So as much as you want to see Ahsoka’s animated backstory included, you may have to watch older episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels on your own time. Just be ready for Ahsoka to premiere on Disney+ on August 23rd with a 2 episode premiere.