Dave Filoni is not someone you would call a newcomer to the Star Wars Universe. After all, he has spent several years working on animated shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. However, The Mandalorian was a decidedly new thing for him since it is a live-action series. Luckily, Filoni confirmed that he got some help from George Lucas in preparing for the daunting new project last year.
Filoni recently spoke to Deadline about making the big move from animation to live-action with The Mandalorian which he admitted was something he had wanted to do because he was inspired by Lucas.
"It's a shift, for sure, and something that I was interested in for a while. I really got interested in, you know, seeing if I could do it from working with George and listening to his stories and his experience, and from the way he taught me how to, you know, shoot animation, because we were doing it in kind of a virtual sense, as well, with our animation programs that he was creating to tell The Clone Wars," Filoni said.
Filoni continued by stating that he became interested in what The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau has done with his previous works.
"So a lot of what Jon was doing when I saw him shooting Jungle Book, but even more so, Lion King, was very relatable to me as far as technique and technology, from what George and I had been doing in Clone Wars," he said.
Filoni also credited Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy for helping him along the way but it was Favreau who became his true mentor.
"So Kathy Kennedy and I, we're always looking for a good bridge for me to try to, you know, change mediums, and this was, to be honest, a very perfect fit and a great environment, and I gained a great mentor and teacher in Jon here to shepherd me through the process of live-action," he said.
It's great to see that Filoni had all the best mentors to work with when he had to do The Mandalorian. Needless to say, we're looking forward to seeing more of his creative work on the Star Wars show.
The Mandalorian Season 2 will air on Disney+ in October.
Related: The Mandalorian Creator Jon Favreau Reveals How Marvel Helped Him Respect Star Wars Fans
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