Star Wars: Droids

This was a fun cartoon series, with cool stories and good animation. It centered around C3PO and R2D2 and their adventures before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The show deals with gangsters, princes, and a speeder race that was likely the precursor to the Pod Race in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. "Droids" had the Star Wars atmosphere as well as the atmosphere of '80's cartoons. It was canceled after only one season,

After having sat through two seasons of "Ewoks", I must admit that my expectations for another "Star Wars" animated show wasn't really all that great. But still, with it being "Star Wars", of course I had to sit down and watch it. Oddly enough, then I never had the opportunity to sit through "Star Wars: Droids" before now in 2021, 36 years after it was released.

Well, while "Star Wars: Droids" was by no means overly outstanding, it was certainly watchable, and somewhat better than "Ewoks", I will say that much for this 1985-1986 animated cartoon.

"Star Wars: Droids" definitely feels a lot more like something that belongs in the "Star Wars" universe, in comparison to how the "Ewoks" cartoons turned out to be. And in "Star Wars: Droids" you get to meet a lot more of actual characters and vehicles that you've seen in the "Star Wars" movies, so that counts for something.

And it was of course good that they had Anthony Daniels to voice C3-P0 in this animated series, as his voice is just the one and only for this droid. And the series has listed R2-D2 as himself, sure, why not?

The animation and art style in "Star Wars: Droids" is a bit more in my liking, as in comparison to "Ewoks". However, you have to keep in mind that this is a cartoon and an animated show, so the bodies of R2-D2 and C3-P0 bends and stretched in ways they can't in the movies. And for some reason C3-P0 has pupils in his eyes in this animated show.

The voice acting in "Star Wars: Droids" is a bit all over the place. I mean, sure you have Anthony Daniels carrying the show, but then there were some dubious voicing like the one done for Govenor Koong.

It was definitely fun to watch a chubby character named Kybo Ren appear in this animated show. Even more so because he was a goofball and he looked like he was wearing a discount knock-off Darth Vader costume a couple of sizes too tight.

"Star Wars: Droids" is a children's show, certain, but it does have a broader appeal to a more adult audience in some aspect as well.

I am rating "Star Wars: Droids" a five out of ten stars. It is watchable and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, but this was aimed at a younger audience. And while i have sat through all episodes now, I doubt I will ever return to watch this again, as it just lacks the appeal of the later animated "Star Wars" shows, such as "Clone Wars" or "Rebels":

Unfortunately, I never watched Droids as a kid, I was a little bit too young at the time of the release and I never came across any re-runs later on.

So while I've heard of the cartoon in the years since, I only watched it when it hit Disney+. And I have to say, my inner child loved it. I know that I would have been all over it as a kid.

As an adult, it's a bit more of a mixed bag. The writing is a bit campy and very typical for the time. The ways in which the plot unfolds is always very convenient and the villains always cookie-cutter characters who are equally evil and incompetent.

The story arc was probably a bit special for the time. While each episode tells a self contained story, Droids features story arcs that span 4 to 5 episodes. At the end of each story arc, R2-D2 and C-3PO are transplanted into a completely new setting with a new master and new surroundings.

Personally, I think that may have been a bit too much variation. I would have preferred it for the Droids being in a more stable environment from where they launch into their adventures. That way, it would have been possible to establish the characters some more, have them grow over time, etc.

But since there only was one full season, that probably wasn't in the cards anyway, so I guess it's all right.

I do love the animation however. The backgrounds are often really well done, there's a lot of details with all the technology and widgets and I generally love that 1980s style of animation of which Droids is actually one of the better ones.

The writers often had interesting ideas and concepts that would make their way into other Star War vehicles later on: Jann Tosh's Wheel Bike looks a lot like the vehicle of General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith, the Landspeeder Race in episode 4 seems to have inspired the Pod Race in The Phantom Menace, the Rebel Spy Kea Moll from the first story arc feels a lot like Rey and we have an evil crime lord called Kybo-Ren.

Too bad that there is only one season and a 1 hour special. Apparently it was really expensive back in the day to produce one of these episodes. Maybe with the Streaming war going on, there's a possibility of reviving it again, given that compared to other content, this would probably be a relatively cheap way to bolster your content. But then kids these days seem to prefer the 3D animated stuff, so it will probably never happen. Very unfortunate.

Right now there's a DVD out with a few of the stories edited into movies, but I wanted to see it in its original form. I had one video as a kid, and the rest of the series I've only seen through low-quality internet videos.

It's interesting to see the direction the show took immediately after the original movies and before Episodes 1-3 were thought of. The character designs are fun, and even if they're sometimes cliché or annoying, they're bearable overall.

The writing style is campy for sure, but the show's a great piece of nostalgia and I'd gladly shell out the money for a good-quality set of the original episodes.

I saw this series years ago (probably on the BBC) when I was a kid and though I remember the animation as very bland and the story's disconnection from the movies as disappointing I still watched it and presumably enjoyed it enough to waste my time doing so. Why? Well I can only presume it was the magic still associated with all things Star Wars even as the craze was becoming Transformers (now that's what I call(ed) a robot cartoon).