Date of Completion

5-13-2026

Degree Type

Honors Thesis - Campus Access

Discipline

Film & Television Studies (FTVS)

First Advisor

Sue Scheibler

Abstract

This project seeks to closely analyze the role that television series play in expanding the narrative world of film franchises by exploring the Star Wars franchise and two of its series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Star Wars: Rebels. Expansive scholarship exists on the overarching franchise, yet these animated series have been overlooked, despite the crucial context on the value of adding television installments to film franchises they provide, especially in context of transitioning the franchise to Disney ownership. To explore the series as installments in a larger franchise, I perform a close analysis of eight episodes comprising two narratives of The Clone Wars, and four episodes comprising two narratives of Rebels. I consider release context, narrative timeline, audiovisual elements, character actions, and audience reception to assess what contributions these series make to the overall story. My preliminary conclusions include how these series expand the science fiction world-building to realize more of the storyworld and draw in new audiences, as well as adds depth and context to character actions. Most importantly, it works to reinforce elements of the feature films that audiences liked, while minimizing or correcting aspects that were unpopular. In The Clone Wars, this attempts to minimize the Prequel Trilogy’s unpopularity, while it allows Rebels to serve as a bridge between previous iterations of the franchise and the new era of Disney Star Wars. Both of these series expand the narrative and universe of Star Wars, appealing to new viewers while reinforcing the preferences of existing audiences.

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