Ahsoka is now an equal to the other Jedi in the new season.

BD: What's going on animation wise?

DF: Definitely, with Keith Kellogg, our animation supervisor that I've brought in, he's done a phenomenal job in getting the facial shapes to react a lot better with the rigging team. He's had a lot meetings with the animators on just subtle ways that this thing can push and how eyes can exaggerate; ways to take the characters feel more pliable and more flesh oriented. I think that's been the big step for us: when you look at the character, you react to their expressions and don't worry about their stylization. And then the action has just gotten better and better. I started asking the directors to get away from martial arts and get back to some brawling: more like I used to see Indiana Jones do. I wanted to see some of the guys fighting like that, not with a particular style but with a lot of guts.

BD: And what about the environments?

DF: Yeah, we made a huge leap in environments at the end of last season with the "Padawan Lost" and Wookie Hunt" episodes. We look at environments that have a lot of foliage and sticks and leaves and tons of detail. A lot of times when you see these CG shows, they can feel kind of empty. I wanted to get away from the model railroad approach where we get much more immersive: little barnacles in the ocean, little sea creatures of all kinds. Environments have become a bigger character.

Bill Desowitz is former senior editor of AWN and editor of VFXWorld. He has a new blog, Immersed in Movies (www.billdesowitz.com), and is currently writing a book about the evolution of James Bond from Connery to Craig, scheduled for publication next year, which is the 50th anniversary of the franchise.