New animated series: "Star Wars Rebels"

[Buzz Bumble]

And the idiotic idea of "exclusives" are now being added to broadcast TV.

This is from ComingSoon.net ...

ABC to Air Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion with New Darth Vader Scene
Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion will air on ABC on Sunday, October 26 (7:00 p.m. ET/PT), it was announced today. Executive Producer Dave Filoni states, "We wanted to do something special for the ABC broadcast. We've added a scene which gives audiences insight into the Inquisitor and includes a cameo by Darth Vader voiced by the distinguished actor James Earl Jones."

The television movie Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion delivered 6.5-million viewers in its premieres on Disney Channel and Disney XD around the world including the U.S. and 16 markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa and Canada. The Star Wars Rebels weekly series on Disney XD (Mondays 9:00 p.m. ET/PT), has been renewed for a second season.

In other words, ABC insisted on having something "extra" so people who had already seen (and paid to see) it on Disney channel will also watch on ABC. Then there's the people who aren't in America who may or may not get to see that added scene on the DVD release, and maybe even different extars on the Blu-ray release. Nothing but pure selfish greed.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

I'm excited to see Darth Vader in Rebels, I just hope when the Season 1 Blu-Ray box set comes out it's included. James Earl Jones is also coming back to voice!

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Still no sign of the Rebels series listed in the local TV Guide here in New Zealand.

I finally watched the premiere "movie" yesterday, and it was pretty good. Some of the animation was a bit clunky, but you tend to get that with CGI animation. It was ruined at one point by a silly Disney Planes character flying all over the screen - no idea what that was for (possibly some sort of Planes competition being run by Sky TV's Disney Channel).

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Another week, another new Star Wars Rebels clip, this time from New York Comic-Con (via ComingSoon.net) ...

NYCC: Watch a New Clip From Star Wars Rebels!
Following the show's panel at New York Comic-Con, a new clip from Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion is now online! Check it out on YouTube!

 

[Jedi Daniel]

Still no sign of the Rebels series listed in the local TV Guide here in New Zealand.

I finally watched the premiere "movie" yesterday, and it was pretty good. Some of the animation was a bit clunky, but you tend to get that with CGI animation. It was ruined at one point by a silly Disney Planes character flying all over the screen - no idea what that was for (possibly some sort of Planes competition being run by Sky TV's Disney Channel).

I found the wookiees & Ezra's hair to be the only clunky bits of animation.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

Another week, another new Star Wars Rebels clip, this time from New York Comic-Con (via ComingSoon.net) ...

Finally, we get to see the Phantom!

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The premiere episode was played again here in New Zealand last Monday, this time on free-to-air TV2. I watched it again just in case it contained the new Darth Vader scene ... it didn't, but I'm almost certain at least one scene was slightly altered.

When Agent Kallus is knocked off the platform near the end and is hanging above a stormtrooper who had been knocked off earlier, the stormtrooper says something like "First time you've seen a Jedi". I'm almost certain that in the Sky TV Disney Channel broadcast Agent Kallus then kicked the stormtrooper off in annoyance, but in the TV2 broadcast that kick was missing.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

You're right, he definitely kicked the Stormtrooper off in the pilot. I wonder why it was edited.

 

[darthskellington]

I wonder if it was edited intentionally, or if it was prior to a commercial break and got trimmed out of sloppiness. Do you guys have commercial breaks every 5-10 minutes like they do here in the US?

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Here in New Zealand the advert breaks vary depending on the channel and the time of day. I've never really bothered to time them, but there are more during peak viewing times.

Sky TV boats about being "ad free", but in reality they do have a minute or two of promo adverts for their own shows about every 15 minutes.

The "free to air" channels have adverts and they increase in number and frequency duing peak viewing times. A normal TV episode of something like CSI, Arrow, etc. takes about an hour to play starting 8:30pm.

Plus there's the silly in-show pop-up promos and "coming next" adverts that distrupt the actual show. You get more of these on Sky TV, including that silly Planes logo floating all over the place during Rebels.


I don't think there was an advert break immediately after that scene. The only reasons I can think of for cutting that small part of the scene (I didn't notice anything else missing) would be to either fit it within the "normal" half hour / hour timeslot scheduling or because it was considered inappropriate for that time of day / viewing audience on free-to-air TV.

Still no sign of the other episodes down here yet.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

Add breaks here in Australia are usually every 10 or so mins.

The Vader scene was not in the premiere airing here unfortunately.

 

[darthskellington]

Vader scene is on youtube, if you search. According to a friend, it was added at the very beginning of the episode.

Yeah, here in the US you get about 7-8 minutes of commercials for every half hour of show. They space them out so there are fewer and longer add near the start of the show, and shorter but more frequent ones near the end, once you are hooked and won't change the channel. If you are watching public broadcasting, there are usually no commercials during the show.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

I missed the very start of that second broadcast, so I don't know if the Vader scene was there or not.


There's a consumer show here called Fair Go which covers people's complaints about poor service, dodgy workman, etc. At the end of every year they have two episodes which are nothing but adverts. The first one (last week) is the Schools' Advert Competition where kids make their own adverts with prizes for different age groups and the show's presenters also make their own parody of a "popular" advert. The second episode (this coming week) is the annual "Best & Worst Advert Awards" where viewers get to nominate and vote for their choices - sometimes the same advert gets voted into both categories.

 

[darthskellington]

There used to be a show here about the best and funniest ads....haven't seen it in years though...wonder if it is extinct now.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Yep, those shows (mostly imported, but there was a New Zealand one as well) also show up from time to time, but this Fair Go awards and competition has become an annual event.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The animated series Star Wars Rebels is finally coming to TV in New Zealand (and probably Australia) ... as long as you suscribe to Sky TV.

It's anyone's guess why the fools broadcast the premiere movie on Sky TV's regular Disney channel a while back, but not the series itself ... but now Sky TV is adding the Disney XD channel to their basic subscription package starting on Christmas Eve (24 December, 2014) and it will include the Star Wars Rebels series.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The movie length premiere, Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, is out on DVD (at least it is in Australia and New Zealand), apparently released three weeks ago, but I've only just seen it in shops here. No sign of a Blu-ray version anywhere though.

 

[darthskellington]

Yeah, I think it is only on dvd. Probably to keep price low and accessibility high. It came out the same week as the premeire here in the US, which is smart if you are trying to get people to tune in quickly. We borrowed the dvd from a friend so we could watch the premeire....although it went online not long after that.

 

[Jedi Daniel]

I've only seen the DVD, no Blu-Ray version. This DVD version doesn't have the added Vader scene either. I'm waiting for the Season 1 Blu-Ray box set to come out.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

Yep, I've been trying to decided whether or not to buy the DVD (it's only NZ$20, so I probably will get it) or wait for the Season 1 set. The Spark of Rebellion may or may not be included in the Season 1 set - the Clone Wars movie was kept separate (I think), although that was a proper cinema movie. As usual, it's also very likely that the Season 1 set won't have the extras from the separate DVD.