ATLANTA : Now watch your favourite Jedi characters in toon format! Cartoon Network and Lucasfilm have announced a partnership to create Star Wars: Clone Wars, a series of 20 animated shorts that will air on Cartoon Network US in 2003-2004 between other programming.

Star Wars: Clone Wars continues the saga where the live action feature film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones left off - at the beginning of the Clone Wars, an epic civil war that pits the old Republic against a vast separatist movement led by the forces of evil.

An official release informs that each episodic short will be two- to three-minutes in length and will air exclusively on Cartoon Network at regularly scheduled times during the network's regular programming beginning later in the uyear. Clone Wars will be produced at Cartoon Network Studios by a team led by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory. As Clone Wars unfolds the valiant Jedi Knights lead the Republic's Clone Army against many new and ruthless adversaries across the galaxy. These new characters, epic battles and intricate stories will add a new dimension to the Star Wars saga the release states.

Lucasfilm is one of the leading independent film and entertainment companies in the world. Lucasfilm's businesses include George Lucas' film and television production and distribution activities. Lucasfilm's feature films have won 19 Oscars and received 52 Academy Award nominations, and its television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards.

Cartoon Network is seen in 82.1 million U.S. homes and 145 countries around the world