How Dave Filoni Went From Avatar: The Last Airbender to The Mandalorian

On Star Wars Day (aka May the 4th), Disney+ debuted its new docuseries, Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, which gives fans a behind the scenes look at how the cast and crew brought this innovative series to life. Hosted by Mando showrunner Jon Favreau, the premiere focused on the five directors that worked on Season 1 -- Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Taika Waititi -- with each of them sharing a bit about their respective experiences on and off the set. Clone Wars creative director Dave Filoni shared an endearing story about his journey from working on Nickelodeon's iconic animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, to landing a gig directing a big-budget live-action series like The Mandalorian. When Filoni was first approached to work on a Clone Wars series by Lucasfilm Animation, he revealed that he thought it was all a prank. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/23/disney-gallery-star-wars-the-mandalorian-official-trailer"] "I almost didn’t get the job because I thought it was a practical joke," Filoni explained. "I was working at Nickelodeon and someone called from Lucasfilm Animation, and I’m like, ‘there’s is no Lucasfilm Animation.’ And I thought I had been so excited about Revenge of the Sith coming out and talking about it all the time, but the guys from SpongeBob were just busting my chops over Star Wars. So I thought it was a prank call from this producer I’d never heard of from (in air quotes) 'Lucasfilm Animation.' Because you get so tired of being picked on, so you’re just like, 'this is the SpongeBob guys.'" Filoni went on to describe his first meeting with Star Wars creator George Lucas and how he initially thought he wasn't going to get the job. "And when I met him I had to go up to the main house and I had to sit there at a table," Filoni said. "He’s got my art portfolio and he’s going through it… And I’m sitting there like, 'yeah, I’m not getting this.' Because [Lucas] sees the best in the business. And all I can really think of is, 'when I’m in line for Revenge of the Sith, I can outclass any nerd there because I’ve been in a room with George Lucas.''' Fortunately for Filoni, Lucas liked what he saw and he got the job on the spot. Filoni's fellow collaborators had nothing but praise for the Clone Wars veteran, with Taika Waititi calling him "an encyclopedia of Star Wars lore." The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal said, "You wouldn’t be able to do this show without Dave Filoni. He is the truest lover of the material. He’s so well-informed and he knows exactly what would fit and make sense." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-gallery-the-mandalorian-images&captions=true"] For more Star Wars, Disney announced a new Star Wars movie directed by Taika Waititi, our review of the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and check out this stunning Star Wars concept art. [poilib element="accentDivider"] David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

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