Over the past decade, the animation industry has seen significant dips in terms of cancellations, firings, and being less of a priority by corporations that employ animators. We do have good news, though, as Steven Universe has been greenlit for a sequel series ( Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars) by Prime, and a big game-changer, Glitch, has been producing indie animation shows for the past few years on YouTube; some examples of their work include The Amazing Digital Circus, Murder Drones, and their upcoming first 2D show ‘ Knights of Guinevere’. 

But for the past two decades, Lucasfilm Animation has produced countless animated shows such as The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch; and those are just to name a few out of the library Lucasfilm has! In fact, with the introduction of streaming platforms, they have increased their number of animated shows. In late 2022, before The Bad Batch season two was supposed to come out early the following year, they had put out ‘Tales of the Jedi, ’ a series that follows Ahoska Tano, with her life becoming a Jedi and after, during the reign of the Empire. It also follows Count Dooku, his life as a Jedi, and before becoming a full Sith.

Nowadays, big studios like Warner Bros., Paramount, and Disney have lost faith in the medium of animation. Cartoon Network (an animation studio under the ownership of Warner Bros. ) has just released two new 2D animated shows, which are Iyanu and The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, which are based on already existing properties. And Nickeleon is currently working on a sequel to The Legend of Korra, a continuation of the Avatar series. Disney Television Animation has new shows, yes, but they have less faith in the story-driven ones, which have gotten cancelled like ‘Hailey’s On It!’ and The Owl House. 

Yes, Lucasfilm, the studio that makes Star Wars, is owned by the Walt Disney Company, but you've got to understand that the Walt Disney Company is a trust; it's not one solid, pretty kept together company, it's a corporation comprised of other companies that work mostly independently of one another. That’s why Star Wars can keep continuing its story, using different types mediums of course, but the fact that they still keep making animations means a lot because that industry is dying due to ruthless greed. Recently, at San Diego Comic Con, they announced their next animated series, Maul - Shadow Lord, coming sometime in 2026. Which is very exciting. I may be biased because I love Maul. I find him very interesting, and I can’t seem to hate him despite him being a villain, due to his complexity. And, Sam Witwer, his voice actor, is brilliant performing him! 

At the end of the day, even though animation, an important medium, it is dying due to incompetence, CEOs, and big companies; Lucasfilm shines a bright light on it. It encourages it as it is one of their story drivers. There is hope, here and there. And with Sony’s success of ‘KPOP Demon Hunters’, we will get animation back where it used to be. And for some, like me, Lucasfilm is one of the pillars of that hope.