The Haunted Village (film)


Development


In 1997, eight episodes of the Ewoks animated series were edited together as two full-length films. Episodes 2 ("The Haunted Village"), 1 ("The Cries of the Trees"), 3 ("Rampage of the Phlogs"), and 9 ("Sunstar vs. Shadowstone") were edited together to make The Haunted Village, and Episodes 10, 5, 4, and 13 were edited together to make Tales from the Endor Woods. These compilation films were later released in several Region 4 countries, such as Brazil (the Brazilian edition was released in 2005 with the Region 1 and 4 codes on the same disc) and Australia. The Haunted Village combines four loosely related episodes into one story, while Tales from the Endor Woods connects four seemingly unrelated stories via a newly recorded voiceover. The original opening credits and theme song are not included as part of the films, and were replaced with simple credit sequences and new scores by .

Release


The cover of the 2004 DVD release of Star Wars: Ewoks

The cover of the 2004 DVD release of Star Wars: Ewoks

In 1997, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox released the film on VHS. Fox created a commercial advertising the newly edited film, along with its counterpart Droids animated film, The Pirates and the Prince. The commercial was included on the release, and was later hidden on the DVD release of The Pirates and the Prince. The initial shipments of the tapes were sent to many stores in a display bin that featured a Star Wars Animated Classics header. Several stores also received a merchandising kit with shelf danglers, shelf talkers, countertop displays, mobiles and buttons.

The Haunted Village was released on Region 1 DVD on November 23, 2004 under the title Star Wars Animated Adventures: Ewoks. It contained both The Haunted Village and Tales from the Endor Woods on a double-sided disc.

Continuity


The sequence of the episodes in The Haunted Village causes several continuity errors. Chief Chirpa's campfire story at the beginning of the film was taken from the ninth episode, "Sunstar vs. Shadowstone." However, the rest of the ninth episode is presented as the final act of the film. In his campfire story, Chirpa says he is relating events from the previous night, but with the intervening stories, several nights have passed between the two sequences. Additionally, Malani gets her hood in the first episode, "The Cries of the Trees." However, since this episode is presented second in the film, we see Malani wearing her hood before she receives it.

An error unrelated to the resequencing is when Paploo is seen playing his horn, but it makes no sound.

Sources


Appearances