While speculation regarding the future of Star Wars: The Clone Wars ran rampant after the announcement of the Lucasfilm sale to Disney, the most common thought was that the series, whose fifth season recently concluded, would be leaving its home at Cartoon Network and begin airing on Disney XD. While that is partially correct – it is leaving Cartoon Network – that isn’t the whole story.

Here’s the announcement from StarWars.com:

A NEW DIRECTION FOR LUCASFILM ANIMATION

As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come.

As part of this shift, we have also made some key decisions affecting Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Detours.

After five highly successful and critically acclaimed seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we feel the time has come to wind down the series. While the studio is no longer producing new episodes for Cartoon Network, we’re continuing production on new Clone Wars story arcs that promise to be some of the most thrilling adventures ever seen. Stay tuned for more information on where fans can soon find this bonus content. In the video below, Supervising Director Dave Filoni offers a peek of what is to come in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

At Star Wars Celebration VI last year, George Lucas gave fans a glimpse at the animated comedy series Star Wars Detours from Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, and Todd Grimes. Detours was conceived and produced before we decided to move forward with the new Star Wars trilogy, and in the wake of that decision, Lucasfilm has reconsidered whether launching an animated comedy prior to the launch of Episode VII makes sense. As a result, we’ve decided to postpone the release of Detours until a later date.

We are incredibly proud of the teams at Lucasfilm Animation for creating some of the most amazing animation ever produced for TV. Keep checking StarWars.com for new developments on these and future projects.

Featurette: The Future of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
[youtube]http://youtu.be/ujhf5OkRT-g[/youtube]

So, straight to DVD and Blu-ray, or a special or even a final season on Disney XD? We’ll definitely keep you posted.