Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)

Star Wars: Clone Wars is an American animated television microseries created, directed and co-written by Genndy Tartakovsky and set in the Star Wars universe. It takes place between the event of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and leading straight to the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The series aired on Cartoon Network for 25 episodes from 2003 to 2005. Since its release, the series has received universal acclaim from critics and fans and won multiple awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Series. It also paved the way for a second Clone Wars series, the CGI-animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which ran from 2008 to 2014, with a revival in 2019.

Plot
The Clone Wars have spread across the Galaxy, with the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order under attack from the Confederacy of Independent Systems, who are wishing to secede with the help of the Sith. As the wars rage on, more and more planets opt to defect to the Confederacy. Both Jedi and Sith use a metaphysical power known as "The Force", but in different manners: the Jedi draw on the "light side" which is fuelled by compassion and selflessness, while the Sith draw on the "dark side" which is fuelled by greed, anger, and hatred.

Why it Rocks

 * 1) Epic and exciting story.
 * 2) Introduces new characters to the Star Wars saga, including General Grievous and Asajj Ventress.
 * 3) Beautiful animation, along with visually colorful environmental settings.
 * 4) Count Dooku, Darth Sidious, and General Grievous are awesome villains.
 * 5) Anakin Skywalker's gradual turn to the dark side is portrayed well, unlike in Attack of the Clones.
 * 6) Great action scenes in every episode.
 * 7) Interesting and unforgettable characters.
 * 8) It paved the way for the rise of the equally better (and arguably more superior) Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
 * 9) Many fans praised the involvement of Genndy Tartarkovsky (the creator of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack).
 * 10) Jar Jar Binks is completely absent and is never mentioned.
 * 11) Focused mostly on visual storytelling, which had little-to-no dialogue.
 * 12) Great set up to Revenge of the Sith.
 * 13) It fixes the problems of what Attack of the Clones had to Anakin of being a whinny brat, to a straight-up serious Jedi Commander.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) After Disney gained the rights to Star Wars in 2012, the series has been declared non-canon with 2008's The Clone Wars being the real canon.
 * 2) While the last five episodes were great that lead up to Revenge of the Sith, they felt kinda forced and rushed. If they made more episodes of a countdown to Revenge of the Sith, it would have made exciting storytelling.
 * 3) It over-exaggerateed the powers of the Force of the Jedi and Sith by making them really powerful, unlike the movies.