Despite most of the characters not being voiced by the original actors, and despite John Williams not doing the music, I thoroughly enjoyed the animated Clone Wars movie, and have the first season shipping to me via NetFlix right now.

The movie did three things I liked. First, it had a beginning, middle, and an end. Next, it had definitive main characters, unlike Episode 1. Also unlike Episode 1, it had a reasonably easy to follow story. Last, it was an animated film and didn’t pretend to be live action. The action sequences could have been better, but they weren’t terrible or a distraction or anything.

I applaud Lucas for finally making a prequel sequence that’s not total garbage. The animated film is much more honest and much less stupid than the other movies, and I look forward to watching the first season with my 8-year-old daughter; It’ll be interesting to see if the reception is much different between us.