By his own admission, Dave Filoni has “always loved Star Wars”, so becoming supervising director of the hit animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a dream come true. He chats to Total Sci-Fi about the show’s past, present and future…

You must be pleased with the massive success of the show…

It’s great, but we try not to get caught up in it. By the time an episode airs, we’ve moved so far beyond it, into bigger and better things. And that’s my main concern – telling the best stories we possibly can, and constantly improving.

How closely do you work with George Lucas?

George is very involved in the making of the series. He has very clear ideas about what Star Wars should be, including lots of notes and concepts that date back as far as the first film.

So when we’re making The Clone Wars, it is definitely coming from an organic place that is true to the origins of Star Wars. And, ultimately, Star Wars begins and ends with George, so it’s really great to be able to work so closely with him.

How long do you anticipate the show running for?

When we started doing the series, it was such a clean slate. We were able to really dig into aspects of Star Wars that were only glimpsed in the movies; we could devote an entire episode to a background character or a Jedi who may or may not have had any actual dialogue in the films.

There was so much opportunity, but the world is so rich that the slate fills up quickly. We end up pushing things off to potential future seasons because there’s so much material to work with, but we’re always coming up with new material in the interim, too. So there’s no shortage of stories.

Though the TV show has been a huge hit, the 2008 feature-length Clone Wars movie received a rough ride from some critics. Were you disappointed?

Yes and no. As I’ve said, by the time something is ready to be shared with the public, we have moved on and are working on bigger and better things. When the movie came out, I knew that we had already made improvements in leaps and bounds, so it was frustrating to see our early work on the big screen.

For the people who were disappointed, I just wanted to be able to tell them to wait and see what we had coming down the pike.

Have you always been a massive Star Wars fan? If so, did you ever imagine you’d end up working on the franchise?

Yeah, I’ve always loved Star Wars; it’s been a part of my life since I was a kid. I remember riding home from seeing the first movie in the theatre; my brother and I were in the backseat of the car, pretending we were shooting down TIE Fighters.

And Star Wars also has some very specific storytelling techniques, which I have incorporated into all of my work. It’s a common shorthand, particularly in my industry. When I was working on Avatar, I’d use it as a point of reference all the time. When I got the call to come up and interview for the Clone Wars job I initially thought it was some of my Avatar buddies playing a prank.

We hear that you have a lot of Plo Koon merchandise in your office, is that right? What is it you like so much about the character?

I used to have a lot more Star Wars stuff but I have been giving a lot of it away to my crew. I collect Plo since there is a lot of stuff out there to buy, and I’ve liked him since the live-action films.

Why do you think the bounty hunters are so popular with viewers?

Bounty hunters are old school Star Wars. Ever since Greedo waylaid Han in the Mos Eisley Cantina, they’ve been a staple of the Star Wars universe. It’s just part of the recipe, and it’s really exciting for us to be able to throw them into the mix.

How do you enjoy the Star Wars fan festivals such as Celebration and the Star Wars Weekends?

I love interacting with fans. We have the best fans; everyone has an opinion, and I really enjoy getting into discussions about Star Wars.

What’s your favourite Clone Wars episode and why?

My favourite episode is one you haven’t seen yet so I can’t tell you about it!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One is released on DVD (region 2) on 16 November 2009.

Click here for all the latest news in the official Star Wars magazine!