Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, initially known as The Ewok Adventure, is a television film from 1984, helmed by John Korty with a script crafted by Bob Carrau from a tale by George Lucas. The narrative centers on a family of Humans who find themselves stranded on the forest moon of Endor following a spaceship crash. After the Gorax abduct their parents, the children collaborate with the native Ewoks on a mission to liberate them. A sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, was released in 1985.
The Towani family's star cruiser has suffered a crash on the forest moon of Endor. Their offspring, Cindel and Mace, are missing. Their parents, Jeremitt and Catarine, are searching for them using flashlights. Without warning, the Gorax attacks them.
Within an Ewok settlement, two children belonging to Deej Warrick—Weechee and Widdle—have also disappeared. He employs a hang glider to scour the surrounding woods. During his search, he notices a light reflecting off an object on the ground. He finds the missing Ewok children, and on the way back, they investigate the shining object. It turns out to be the Towani starcruiser, and inside they discover the human child, Cindel. Outside, Mace assaults one of the Ewoks, and enters the starcruiser wreck with his blaster. He threatens the other Ewoks, fearing that they are a threat and that they may have their parents. The Ewoks overpower him and carry him back to their village on a stretcher, with Cindel in tow.
Upon reaching the village, Cindel falls ill. Mace requests food from the Ewoks, believing it will aid her. Instead, they administer some of their medicine to Cindel. However, it proves insufficient to restore her health, and the Ewoks have no more. Thus, Mace sets out to locate a specific tree containing medicinal fluid. He reaches inside the tree and is attacked by a temptor. With the Ewoks' assistance, he manages to extract his hand after a struggle. They bring the fluid back to Cindel, and the Ewoks offer to use some to heal Mace's wound from the tree incident.
The following morning, Cindel's condition improves, and she and Wicket (another of Deej's sons) become acquainted while sitting at a table. She tells Wicket about the ship crash that brought her family here. Mace remains skeptical of the Ewoks and informs Cindel of their intention to leave the village once he retrieves his blaster.
Later that night, while the Ewoks are asleep, Mace awakens Cindel and recovers his blaster. They depart from the village and venture into the forest. Cindel insists that they are lost and requests a rest. Mace starts a fire and confesses that he misses their parents and regrets his past misbehavior. Cindel expresses concern that their parents are dead, but Mace is confident they are alive. Suddenly, they hear a boar-wolf approaching, and they flee. Mace fires at the boar-wolf. They seek refuge inside a hollow tree trunk, which the wolf attempts unsuccessfully to penetrate.
The next morning, the children are awakened by the Ewoks battling the boar-wolf with spears. Wicket fires a poison dart into the beast, subduing it. They discover Jeremitt's life monitor on the boar-wolf, indicating that their parents are still alive. Mace seeks the Ewoks' assistance in determining the boar-wolf's origin. Deej directs him to Logray, the village shaman.
Inside Logray's hut, Logray utilizes his crystal image spinner to pinpoint the location of the Towani parents, who are being held captive in a cage by the Gorax. Cindel pleads with Deej for assistance, but he initially declines, aware that Jeremitt and Catarine are held in a place from which no Ewok has ever returned. After consideration, Deej decides to aid the children. That night, Deej's wife Shodu gazes mournfully at her family, fearing she may never see them again.
The next day, the entire village assists in preparations for the journey. Logray summons the group to participate in a ceremony, during which each member receives one of the Sacred Tokens of the Legendary Ewok Warriors. Deej (the group's leader) receives the White Wings of Hope, Weechee (the eldest son) receives the Red Wings of Courage, Wicket receives a magic walking stick, Widdle receives the Blue Wings of Strength, Cindel receives the Candle of Pure Light, and Mace receives a rock. A crystal and an ivory tooth are brought along to give to other Ewoks who they must find to join them in their quest. Mace dismisses his rock and discards it, but Wicket retrieves it behind him.
The Warrick family bids farewell, Logray bestows a blessing upon the group, and they embark on their quest. Cindel and Wicket travel in a compartment atop a horse, while the rest of the group either rides a horse or walks.
A tree suddenly falls behind Mace. He fears for Cindel, but quickly discovers that she is alright. Chukha-Trok appears with an ax, and Deej offers him the ivory tooth to join them. Mace objects and challenges Chukha-Trok to an ax-throwing contest to prove his worth as a warrior. This earns Mace's respect, and he asks Chukha-Trok to join them. They continue on their quest, but Deej stops to find Kaink the priestess, to whom he gives the crystal totem. Before she can join however, they must pass a test; Kaink hands Mace the crystal, which turns into a lizard. Mace storms off in frustration, but Cindel picks up the lizard and it turns into a white mouse. She asks Kaink for her help and she agrees.
They continue in their quest, now crossing vast fields. They reach a lake, where Mace sees his reflection and becomes curious. He touches the water and is suddenly trapped below the surface. Cindel and Wicket are playing, but she suddenly realizes that Mace has disappeared. She calls for help, and the Ewoks run to help him. They first try a rope, but it too becomes trapped below the surface. They then try a tree branch, which does the same. Cindel then tells Wicket to use his magic stick. This works; Mace grabs hold, and they pull him to safety.
Back on dry land, Deej and Kaink look at a map, while Weechee and Widdle play a game and Wicket swings on a tree branch. Mace ushers the group to move on, and puts Cindel in the compartment atop the horse. He then calls for Wicket, who lets go of the tree branch. This scares the horse, which runs away with Cindel. Chukha-Trok rides another horse after her. He gets alongside the horse, and brings it to a stop.
Chukha-Trok, Cindel and the horses rejoin the group, and they proceed with their quest. That evening, they establish camp for the night. Inside one tent, Cindel, Wicket, and Mace are drifting off to sleep when a Wistie captures Mace's attention. He follows it outside, where a whole group of Wisties emerges from the ground. He calls for the other to come and look. Wicket instantly recognized them, alerts other tents to look. A sleepy Widdle comes out, but is not impressed. Cindel sets her candle on the ground, and the Wisties gather around it. They all fly down into the flame of the candle, which transforms into Queen Izrina.
Mace takes her into his hand, and he and Cindel speculates that Izrina is away from her family like she, Mace and Wicket are. The group continues their quest, and camps again that night. Cindel complains of being hungry, but Mace refuses, not knowing how longer their quest will be. Wicket then offers them some food. Mace brings out Izrina, and offers her some of the food. She then flies around the tent, to the joy of all the inhabitants.
The following day, the group traverses the Desert of Salma, eventually reaching the Forbidden Fortress of the Gorax. Mace wonders aloud how they will enter the fortress. Kaink suggests Mace's rock, but Mace tells her that he threw it away. Wicket has it however, and gives it to Mace. Mace is still skeptical, and ask what to do with it. Kaink motions for him to shake it, which makes Mace realize that it has something inside.
He throws it on the ground to reveal an arrowhead, which Kaink motions for him to put on the ground. The arrowhead then magically points and moves toward the entrance to the fortress, which they discover is blocked by a giant boulder. Mace then uses his blaster to destroy the boulder and unblocks a cave entrance. They go inside, and Deej insists that the youngest members of the group (Wicket, Widdle and Cindel) stay by the entrance. Mace tells Cindel to stay behind, and everyone exchanges hugs.
The remaining members of the group venture deeper into the fortress, where they eventually encounter a massive spider web spanning a bottomless chasm. Mace climbs onto the web, describing the experience as "climbing a ladder sideways". Suddenly, a spider attacks them. Mace stabs it with a knife, causing it to plummet into the pit. The Ewoks follow him across.
Meanwhile, back at the entrance, Wicket reassures and entertains Cindel. Deej is the last of the group to cross, when he is also attacked by a giant spider. Mace pulls his blaster, only to find it out of power. Deej tries to knock it away, Kaink uses her magic wand to hypnotize the spider. Once Deej is safely across, Chukha-Trok uses his ax to cut the spider web, which causes the spider to fall with the web into the pit.
The group then finds themselves at the bottom of a giant staircase, where they attacked by a third spider, which Wicket kills with a knife. They climb the steps to the top, where they find the Gorax's lair. Mace hears the Gorax, and tells the others to run and hide with him. However, Weechee doesn't make it out in time, and has to hide behind the Gorax's giant ax as the Gorax sits down at his table eating off of a bone. It gets up to look at its next meal: Jeremitt and Catarine, who are hanging in a cage from the ceiling.
Weechee accidentally knocks the ax over, which garners the Gorax's attention, and it comes after him. He runs to the rest of the group, who again run and hide. Mace wonders how they will reach their parents, and Chukha-Trok suggests they use the Gorax's ax as a lever. Mace stands on one end, at which point Jeremitt and Catarine notice him. Chukha-Trok and Deej jump off a ledge onto the other end of the lever, which sends Mace flying up into the air, where he grabs hold of the cage containing his parents. Mace throws down a rope, and introduces Chukha-Trok as "a friend" as he climbs up.
Mace climbs down first, but as soon as he reaches the bottom, the Gorax notices their activity. Weechee distracts it by hiding under a basket and moving across the floor. The Gorax smashes the basket, but finds nothing underneath. Weechee runs out from behind a corner, enraging the Gorax. Meanwhile, everyone continues climbing down from the cage, which is beginning to break. Weechee runs back to warn them, with the Gorax on his trail. The cage breaks, and Chukha-Trok falls into the hands of Jeremitt. They run out of the Gorax's lair, but Chukha-Trok stays behind and repeatedly attacks the Gorax's foot with his ax.
As Mace is yelling for him to come on, Izrina lights up in his pocket. Mace unleashes Izrina on the Gorax, which disorients it while Chukha-Trok continues his attacks. In a rage, the Gorax strikes the walls of his fortress, which causes rocks to crumble and fall on Chukha-Trok. Mace runs to him, but realizes that Chukha-Trok is dying. Before he dies, Chukha-Trok gives Mace his ax.
The Gorax chases the survivors down the giant steps, but they use a pulled-tight rope to trip him. Kaink then uses her magic wand to cause a stalactite to fall on his head. Catarine then uses Mace's blaster to shoot the Gorax in the chest, which causes him to fall off the ledge into the pit. Mace shows Deej Chukha-Trok's ax, and explains his sacrifice to them.
Cindel, Wicket and Widdle appear on the other side of the chasm. But at that moment, the Gorax emerges from the pit and moves toward them. Mace throws Chukha-Trok's ax into the Gorax's back, which causes him to fall back into the pit. The group then swing across the chasm using a remaining part of the spider web as rope. Once they are safely on the other side, the family embraces, happy to be back together and out of danger. They then head for home, with Mace suggesting that Izrina will help guide the way.
Sometime following Return of the Jedi's premiere, George Lucas conceived the idea for a TV special centered around the Ewoks. This concept arose from his wish to create a film for his daughter, Amanda, who particularly admired the Ewoks. Producer Thomas G. Smith presented the idea to major television networks, but only ABC accepted, stipulating that the project fill a two-hour time slot. Lucas later remarked on the production: "I hadn't done any TV and it was a chance to use many people in the company who hadn't had much experience with live-action production and experiment a little. The economics of TV are vastly different than the economics of film. It was done for very little money."
John Korty took on the roles of director and cinematographer, while Lucas and Bob Carrau penned the script. Korty and Smith conducted auditions in Los Angeles and Marin County for most roles. The only exceptions were Warwick Davis and the other Ewok actors, who had already proven themselves in Return of the Jedi. Pre-production commenced in April 1984, with filming starting that June in Marin County, California, and the California Redwoods. The eight-week shoot was carefully planned around child labor laws and the children's school schedules. Davis had a tutor on set, with whom he studied for four hours per day. Lucas directed re-shoots and edited some scenes, while Davis also filmed one of the shots. After production was complete, Lucas and Smith oversaw post-production.
At Lucas's suggestion, an actual hang-glider was built and flown in the film by an actor in an Ewok suit. Jon Berg designed the Gorax, which he portrayed with both a stop-motion model as well as himself in costume. A scene shot for the film but deleted had Mace come across a group of large flowers. He sticks his hand in one of them, which then tries to pull him underground. This was replaced in the final film with a scene of Mace sticking his hand into a tree. The film also originally had a different ending in which the characters dance in snow. Production Designer Joe Johnston commented on the film's special effects: "The effects we did were pretty primitive. We did forced perspectives and glass paintings, back-to-basics things that had been around since the 1920s. George just told us to go out there and have some fun."
During production, Lucasfilm provided Warwick Davis and Eric Walker with a film camera, feeling that it would be educational for the two. Their on-set tutor had the idea for them to make a documentary about the making of The Ewok Adventure. Davis and Walker, calling themselves W&W Productions, proceeded to shoot behind-the-scenes footage, which they edited in their hotel room using Lucasfilm equipment. The documentary wasn't publicly released at the time, and was thought of as a private "home movie" for the two. When the Ewok films debuted on DVD in 2004, Eric Walker expressed his disappointment with the DVD's lack of extras, and felt that the Ewok Adventure documentary should have been included. In July 2006, Walker announced on his website that he would publish a book about working with George Lucas entitled Growing up on Skywalker Ranch. In 2011, he opened a Kickstarter project to raise funds to complete the book—by then retitled Growing Up in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. The campaign was successful, raising well over the original goal. One of the gifts for donating to the project was a DVD of the Ewok Adventure documentary. On November 25, 2014 (the 30th anniversary of the first airing of Caravan of Courage), Walker posted the documentary on his YouTube channel.
The Ewok Adventure premiered on ABC as the "ABC Sunday Night Movie" on November 25, 1984. Some radio stations broadcast a simultaneous audio track in order to create a stereo experience for viewers. It achieved the second-highest ratings for an ABC movie that year. It was later broadcast on the Disney Channel. In Europe, the film was released theatrically under the title Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. The French version's ending credits featured an original song by French singer Dorothée, replacing the Peter Bernstein score.
Starting in 1984, Random House published a series of tie-in children's books that continued the adventures of the Ewoks from the film, many of which also used the subtitle "An Ewok Adventure." In 1985, two children's book adaptations were released: Random House's The Ewoks and the Lost Children and Buena Vista Records's book-and-record Read-Along Adventure The Ewok Adventure. In 1986, Lucasfilm released an official soundtrack, which included selections from Peter Bernstein's scores for both Ewok films.
The Ewok Adventure became available on VHS and Laserdisc in 1990 via MGM.
On November 23, 2004, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox released the film on DVD—this time with its theatrical title of Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. The DVD presents the film in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio with a Dolby Digital 2.0 English audio track and English subtitles. The release was billed as Star Wars: Ewok Adventures, a "double feature" of Caravan of Courage and its sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. The disc itself is double-sided, featuring one film on each side. It featured no extras, only the films themselves.
On March 16, 2021, it was announced on Disney's fan club website D23.com that the movie, along with its sequel, would be available on Disney+ starting April 2.
ABC initially considered the film as a potential pilot for a TV series, but Lucas declined. However, a sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, was filmed in the summer of 1985 and broadcast on ABC that November. It continues the story shortly after the first film, focusing on Cindel and the Ewoks' fight against a band of pirates. In late 1985, Lucas told Starlog that further Ewok films were planned, and both Warwick Davis and Eric Walker believed that a third film was in the works. However, as Lucas later recalled "We made two, and were going to do a third, but they became very expensive to make."
During the Celebration IV opening ceremonies, the cast of "Star Wars in 30 Minutes" performed a skit called "Lucasfilm in Five Minutes 1983-2005", in which they re-enacted segments or imitated elements from all major Lucasfilm productions from 1983 to 2005. Both Ewok films were included in the act. In 2009, StarWars.com celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Ewok films with a series of articles covering various aspects of each. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards had a Caravan of Courage poster in his office while making that film, reportedly as a reminder of past Star Wars spin-off films. An animated rendition of a promotional still from the film appears in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
The film held a C-canon status within the Holocron continuity database, officially placed in 3 ABY. Thomas G. Smith, the producer, suggested that the film depicts a young Ewok playing with an AT-AT toy, indicating the Galactic Empire's presence on Endor. Eric Walker mentioned that Smith considered the film to be set 150 years after Return of the Jedi, around 154 ABY. While Leland Chee considered this timeframe for the Holocron, he ultimately rejected it due to Wicket's youthful appearance. Following the 2012 Disney acquisition, Lucasfilm Ltd.'s canon system underwent a complete overhaul in anticipation of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. As of April 25, 2014, only the six episodic films, The Clone Wars movie and TV series, and anything going forward are to be considered canon. However, according to Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo, there are no restrictions to reference the Ewoks films but that no one is obliged to do so, aside that George Lucas himself didn't see neither Caravan of Courage nor The Battle for Endor as being necessarily connected to the Star Wars mythos.
In the novel Tyrant's Test, Cindel is shown to have become a reporter on Coruscant; during the Yevethan crisis, Cindel receives the so-called Plat Mallar tapes from Admiral Drayson, and leaks the story of the only survivor of the Yevethan attack of Polneye. In the novel Legacy of the Force: Fury, Allana's entertainment monitor is displaying an entertainment broadcast, "In which Ewoks spoke Basic and befriended shipwrecked little girls". Star Wars Battlefront's "Survivors of Endor" map includes the Gorax cave, complete with rearing spiders and an empty cage hanging from the ceiling.