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Announced just a few weeks back, the Lego Star Wars TV special The Padawan Menace has aired last July 22 on The Cartoon Network in the US.
The Cartoon Network has showed a number of funny Star Wars TV shows in the past few years. Three Family Guy parodies and three Robot Chicken specials were a good laugh with some good self-deprecating concerning all thing Star Wars.
The Padawan Menace is their first Lego Star Wars show.
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Lego already produced a fair number of Star Wars adventures,  however they break from their style of the Star Wars video games and short animations by having the characters talk rather than just use gestures and non-word vocalizations.
I totally support this decision as it would be unilateral to keep it up for longer than 10 minutes.

The Lego Star Wars TV special is more than just a gag reel of jokes like the before mentioned Family Guy and Robot Chicken, it also tells a new adventure that builds on both the classic and prequel trilogies.
The Padawan Menace in two words, stolen from one of the younglings: “Toooootaaaaally Aaaaaweeeeeesooooome!”

A 5 out of 5 star rating! So check out below why.


Summery
Master Yoda leads a group of Jedi children through Senate chambers when he senses a disturbance in the Force.
Yoda puts the younglings into the care of tour guides C-3PO and R2-D2, while he goes off in search of a threat to the Republic.
A run-a-way orphan, Ian, slips into the group.
Through the actions of Ian, Threepio accidentally turns the boring senate session into a bumper car brawl. Meanwhile Yoda and Cody captures Asajj Ventress, who has stolen secret Republic battle plans. Amidst the chaos a battle droid manages to escape with the plans. Yoda and Cody go into hot pursuit. Threepio, Artoo and the kids escape with the Jedi Temple School shuttle only to find themselves in the middle of a Seperatist attack of Coruscant. Threepio ‘manages’ to jump to hyperspace, fleeing the battlescene. While trying to capture the battle droid Yoda and Cody discovers Ian stowed away on their shuttle and causes their ship to bump into the battle droids ship, both crash landing on Hoth.
Threepio ends up jumping to Tatooine, where they crash land.
As the evil Sith prepare to wreak havoc, it’s up to Yoda and the droids to ensure that the Republic isn’t torn to bricks!

Cast and crew
With a few exceptions, most of the voice cast are from the Clone Wars animated series.
Anthony Daniels delivers again a fantastically funny energetic Threepio.
Like in the Clone Wars Tom Kane does the narration in the beginning and a Yoda like we’ve never heard before.
Nika Futterman, who does a terrifing Asajj Ventress in the Clone Wars, proves she can do a funny version of her.

Nerdism
There’s  a plethora of Easter eggs and in-gags to look out for such as the Millennium Falcon, Slave-1, numerous advertising billboards and various other iconic Star Wars characters and imagery. I’ve tried to make a list of all the Lego Star Wars sets seen in movie in a follow-up article.
There’s a wave of Star Wars’ greatest hits, such as the Cantina, Hoth and Jabba’s Palace.
JarJar gets shot!
Threepio’s unable to understand the LEGO instruction manual for rebuilding his ship.
Tatooine having seven! suns during the sunset overtune.
Unwanted surprise cameo’s by Darth Vader while he’s doing his own sound effects.
The Mos Eisley’s welcome sign. Or the Darth Mall, where the prices are in half.
Threepio using a Star Wars name generator.
Jabba’s being subtitled on spot.
Shaak Ti’s dramatic overacting.
The Hammerhead’s design a direct reference to a MOC from a fan.
Some designs didn’t catch up to the real-life designs. Like Ki-Adi-Mundi’s headpiece

Conclusion
Clearly the animators had a lot of fun creating this adventues. It shows. There’s a alot of effort in the movements and it subtleties.
The Padawan Menace is stunning, a real feast to the eye. Lot’s of close-up reveal there’s a lot of detailing. It is as though the Lego and it’s minifigs really came to life. superb work on the modeling, texturing and lighting.
The show does have the same high energy as the Clone Wars series, however and maybe luckely, it stayed clear of Clone Wars’ design for the minifigs heads and used the classic one.

I most make a special note to one of the most awesome scenes is when Ventress throws a Lego box at Yoda. The separate Lego bricks forms three battle droids mid-air while making a action pose. Absolutely astonishing!
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Although the show is child-friendly and looks like a heap of fun and with made with love and an eye on the fans.
Make sure to buy the Blu-ray when it sees it’s release in the US next September 16th. I am sure  kids will want to watch this show over and over again.

Ultimately, it’s the humor that makes this special such a winner. Without a shadow of a doubt, The Padawan Menace is one of the greatest additions to the saga and just a plain great animation show.

I sincerely hope that this LEGO Star Wars special will have a follow-up or even the start of a series.
And like Admiral Ackbar screams at the end of the show; “ITS A WRAP!

ps. Be sure to come back later for a follow-up post trying to list never-seen-before Lego star wars designs from the show as well as existing sets.

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