I haven’t talked about because well, it’s Star Wars, but  down in Florida right now the latest Star Wars Celebration is going on.  This is pretty much the year’s biggest Star Wars event, and they have debuted some great footage from Clone Wars Season 5 over on IGN.com.

Throughout the footage, a key character named Embo appears, with his trusty animal sidekick.  There is apparently some significant acrobatics, and the bounty hunter Embo has a pretty unique friendship with this animal.  Embo is also notoriously… silent.

If this whole dynamic seems familiar, it should.  According to Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni, Embo and his compatriot were clearly modeled after G.I. Joe ninja Snake Eyes and Timber.  IGN says the following in regards to the homage:

“After the clip was over, Filoni talked about how the quiet and deadly Embo and his fearsome and loyal pet were, “My homage to Snake Eyes and Timber.” As a kid, Filoni was a big G.I. Joe fan and recalls how cool he thought Snake-Eyes was, exclaiming, “He’s a ninja and he’s got a wolf!? Are you kidding me!?”

A pretty cool tip of the hat.  Thanks to Dan Uthman on Twitter for the heads up, and check out IGN.com for the full details, including  The trailer for Clone Wars Season 5, which contains a brief snippet of the footage described above.