Why the Clone Wars is NOT a Kids Show, In 15 Pictures

The Clone Wars is a one-time love-it-or-hate-it deal. Many people understandably have issues with it, and it’s been called a “kiddie show” even by fans of the movies. The combination of an animated format, cheesy music, and cartoonish antics have earned it enough hate to be dubbed as “not true Star Wars” and “just a bit of fun for kids.”

This is not true. The show might even be less kid-friendly than the movies. Sure, it has no blood, but it’s still a dark, violent show, and many scenes have more weight about them than a small child can comprehend. This is true especially for children who have not seen the movies because they are targeted to a slightly older audience, and because some are PG-13 (such as Revenge of the Sith, the end of which is essential to understanding and enjoying the depth of the Clone Wars). Here’s why toddlers should stay away from this show, for better or worse.

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Jedi training ordinary Separatist citizens to riot and rebel against their government and become notorious terrorists and extremists
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A dozen people decapitated because they refused to join a terrorist cell
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A terrorist group of so-called Mandalorians casually torching up a village of innocents to show their strength
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A cyborg about to decapitate a psycho on screen for all those toddlers to see
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A lizard-person hunting enslaved kids for sport
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An alien zombie with a worm up its nose, straight from your nightmares
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A worm that enters through your nose or ears and turns you into a zombie before eating your brain completely
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Clones fighting their comrades on orders of a fallen Jedi
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The same Jedi slaughtering his own men
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Clones executing clones for questioning risky and ruthless orders from the same Jedi
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A guy committing suicide after terrorists took over his planet
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A twi’lek committing suicide
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Anakin, forced to either kill his master, kill his apprentice, or complete his turn to the Dark Side
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A lecture on war budgets and corrupt governments that every six-year-old will understand and enjoy, as told by a homicidal terrorist mastermind
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And finally, foreshadowing of Anakin’s fall, the rise of Darth Vader, and the beginning of an era of evil for the galaxy

…and all that is only a small sample of the hidden darkness in this seemingly innocent cartoon. If your kid wasn’t messed up before…

The fact that it is for an older audience could be good or bad. It’s good because if you enjoyed it, you don’t have to be ashamed of actually liking a kid show. It’s bad because it shows what a dumb move it was to try to sell toys from it, and because it proves that Lucasfilm was just too lazy to produce it in live-action. It also brings up the question of just how much more enjoyable a TV-14 live-action show would have been instead of a TV-Y7 cartoon, for both the Clone Wars and Rebels.

Still not convinced? Watch the show again and see for yourself.

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