Ewoks (television series)

Ewoks is an animated television program chronicling the escapades of the Ewoks residing in Bright Tree Village. These events unfold before the Battle of Endor. The primary antagonists consistently featured are Morag, the Tulgah Witch, and the Duloks, the Ewoks' adversarial species. Brought to life by Nelvana under the direction of Lucasfilm Ltd., Ewoks graced the screens of ABC from 1985 through 1986. The initial season was simply promoted as Ewoks and aired as part of the Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour, while the subsequent season was marketed as The All New Ewoks.

Development

George Lucas, the Star Wars visionary, harbored a long-standing fascination with animation and desired to narrate Star Wars tales through this medium. During the production of The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, David Acomba, the director, presented Lucas with a recent animated piece from Nelvana, a Canadian animation studio. Impressed, Lucas commissioned Nelvana to produce the animated segment for the special. Satisfied with their output, Lucas re-engaged them in 1984 to develop two animated series: Droids and Ewoks. These subjects were selected for their appeal to younger viewers and because, with the film franchise's future uncertain, they were the least likely to create conflicts with the feature films' narratives. Lucas, serving as executive producer, aimed to elevate the standards of Saturday morning animation with these two shows, desiring superior animation and voice acting compared to typical animated series of the era.

The pre-production phase commenced in May 1984. During this period, Lucas convened with the show's producers, directors, and writers to brainstorm story concepts. Lucas outlined his foundational ideas for the series but refrained from involvement in daily operations. He envisioned the Ewoks' culture as rooted in universal themes from Earth mythology and religion, suggesting the crew delve into The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Uses of Enchantment. Paul Dini, a writer, later recalled that "In my first meeting with George, one of the things we kept coming back to was that the Ewoks would have a sense of community and continuity." While characters from the main saga films were off-limits, the writers were granted considerable creative latitude to expand upon the Ewoks beyond Return of the Jedi. The team reimagined the Ewok characters for animation, endowing each with a distinct personality and features. The stories frequently drew inspiration from The Lord of the Rings, Pogo and the Uncle Scrooge stories.

For visual inspiration, Lucasfilm arranged for the crew to visit Muir Woods National Monument, near Skywalker Ranch, where the Endor scenes for Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi were filmed. Bob Carrau, a writer, remembered: "What was really great for me about Ewoks, was that you could walk around in nature (like when you were camping or something) and you would come across a pine cone that looked really neat. What [sic] was great, because you could go back to the writing table and write a story about it!" Clive Smith estimated the production cost for each hour-long pair of Droids and Ewoks episodes to be between $500,000 and $600,000, making them among the more expensive animated series of that time. He later remarked, "Ewoks wasn't as problematic because you could get away with more animal characters. Droids had many recognizable humanoid characters which are much harder to do and make look right". Brian Lemay, a layout artist, offered a contrasting perspective: "The Droids show was much more challenging as it had far more locations and they required perspective drawing which I really enjoy (a lot more than drawing trees, that's for sure). […] The main difference was the lack of trees in Droids. […] I guess the other key difference was the lack of emotion in the characters in the Droids series. They always seemed to have the same emotion on their faces where as with the Ewoks they had lots of emotion, happy, sad, surprised, angry, the whole range." During production, the American animation team often engaged in games and practical jokes during their downtime. Wang Film Productions also contributed animation work to the series.

In the second season, Lucasfilm shifted the majority of production to their own studios, affording them greater direct control over the series' creation compared to Nelvana. Production for season two commenced in late 1985. Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser, the new executive producers, proposed several modifications to the series. Most of the new episodes were shorter, focusing primarily on the core characters of Wicket, Tebbo, Kneesaa, and Latara, with other characters relegated to minor roles or removed entirely. Efforts were made to better differentiate the Ewoks and make them more distinctive. Other alterations included different voice actors, new musical scores, and a CGI-enhanced opening sequence. Denny Delk, who voiced Wicket in the second season, commented on the actors' recording schedule: "We usually completed a story in about an hour and a half, unless there was something especially tricky. We'd do two or three stories in a day, and record every week or so." According to Jim Henshaw, the voice of Wicket in the first season, the cast had a list of Ewokese words and phrases to enhance their dialogue. "When there were long speeches of exposition, to get a story rolling or something, we'd stick in a few more choice phrases – and all of a sudden, we would sound like we really did come from another planet!"

As episodes were being developed, Lucas reviewed rough cuts. The first season's musical score was crafted by Patricia Cullen, David Greene, and David Shaw, featuring an opening song by Taj Mahal and Inshira Mahal. Patrick Gleeson composed the second season's music, which included a different opening song emphasizing friendship among the Ewoks. Broadcast standards were strictly enforced, with ABC's Standards and Practices Board imposing limitations on what could be shown or addressed in the episodes. In a 2004 interview, Dini noted: "...we were dealing with a regime at the network that just wanted safe children's programming. Every time we wanted to stretch it a little bit, they would kick up a fuss over it"; ABC rejected an episode Dini had written called "The Starman" because it was "too Star Warsy". Lucasfilm briefly considered producing an animated Ewoks special akin to The Great Heep but instead chose to create Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

Release

Promotional image for the series

Ewoks premiered on September 7, 1985, competing against Muppet Babies and The Smurfs. Despite frequent scheduling changes and generally lackluster ratings, the show was renewed for a second season in late 1985. However, ratings remained stagnant, leading to the series' cancellation in 1986. Writer/producer Paul Dini speculated that a third season would have explored more stories about Malani, Asha, and the woklings.

In the mid-1990s, starting in 1994, the US Sci-Fi Channel broadcast episodes of Ewoks alongside its counterpart, Droids, within its "Cartoon Quest" and "Animation Station" programming blocks.

Merchandising

In 1984, Joe Johnston authored and illustrated The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense, an Ewok storybook introducing many elements later integrated into the series. That same year, Random House initiated a series of children's books subtitled "An Ewok Adventure," designed to complement both the series and Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. In 1985, Kenner launched a toy line inspired by the series, featuring action figures, ship models, and other merchandise. Also in 1985, Star Comics, a division of Marvel Comics, began publishing a bimonthly Ewoks comic book based on the animated series. The comic ran for two years, concluding with issue #14. Similar to the TV series, it targeted a younger demographic. It was produced alongside the Droids comic, based on the Droids animated series. Star Comics' Ewoks (1985) 10 featured a crossover with Droids (1986) 4. An LP record and a cassette featuring the French theme song were released by Dorothée.

Following the series' completion, Nelvana forwarded the majority of pre-production materials to Lucasfilm, who subsequently partnered with Royal Animated Art to sell these materials to private collectors. Some items were acquired by a California-based business, while others were distributed as part of the Hyperspace fan club. In 2010, StarWars.com commemorated the 25th anniversary of both Droids and Ewoks with a series of articles highlighting the collectibles available from each series. The 2013 one-shot comic Star Wars: Ewoks—Shadows of Endor was conceived to unify the diverse aspects of Ewok lore.

Home video

The series first appeared on home video in 1990 with J2 Communications' release of The Star Wars Trilogy Animated Collection. This collection comprised three VHS tapes; one tape contained a single episode, while the other two each featured two episodes—with one of those repeating the episode from the single-episode tape. Each tape began with a Star Wars Animated Classics trailer promoting the "Special Double Length Edition" volumes. However, for the single volume tapes, the white box covers were shown, but differing content was advertised. CBS/Fox Video also distributed the complete series on Region 2 VHS in the UK.

On June 26, 2002, Rick McCallum, the producer of the prequel trilogy, addressed a question about a complete DVD release on StarWars.com's now-defunct "Ask the Jedi Council" feature, stating, "I hope so. Definitely. At some point after we're finished with Episode III, we'd really like to make all of that material available to our fans on DVD. Unfortunately, we won't be even thinking of making any firm plans until we're finished with this trilogy." He also privately communicated this to Paul Ens. According to Pablo Hidalgo, a comprehensive series release was considered as an alternative to the Animated Adventures DVDs: "I don't know what numbers are run in the mysterious background that decides to say 'You know what? That doesn't look like a product that we can move.'" At 2005's Celebration III, McCallum and Lucasfilm's Vice President of marketing Jim Ward evaded questions regarding a complete DVD release of the series. During the Celebration VI "StarWars.com and Beyond" panel, it was suggested that both Droids and Ewoks might be streamed on StarWars.com in the future.

On March 16, 2021, D23.com, Disney's fan club website, announced that both seasons would be available on Disney+ starting April 2. It was released on that date as part of the new Star Wars Vintage Collection.

Continuity

The Ewoks in the series predominantly speak Basic, interspersed with occasional Ewokese words or phrases. While this departure from continuity is evidently for the benefit of an Earth-based audience, no official in-universe explanation has been provided. It does not appear that Ewok dialogue is translated from Ewokese for viewers, as the episode "Battle for the Sunstar" depicts Ewoks communicating with Doctor Raygar and Imperial droids without the aid of a translator.

The novel Fate of the Jedi: Outcast also alludes to the show: Ben Skywalker inhales deeply of Dorin's helium-rich atmosphere and sings, his voice "as high and ridiculous as that of an animated Ewok in a children's broadcast."

The developers of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided watched the entirety of the Ewoks series as preparation for creating Endor within the game.

Seasons

Credits

Sources

Notes and references

External links

Appearances