Star Wars: Ewoks

I remember loving the Ewoks cartoon as a kid but hadn't seen it in more than 30 years.

But as it is available on Disney+ now, I had to rewatch the entire series again. The closest comparison I have is Disney's Gummi Bears, although to be fair, the Gummi Bears is a much better show.

The Ewoks sport the typical 1980s animation style. Personally, I love it, though that might be because that's the sort of thing I grew up with. The Disney stuff is even better/smoother in terms of animation of course, but otherwise, I take your scruffy 80s animation over 3d renderings like the Clone Wars any day.

As for the content, I found it interesting how different seasons 1 & 2 were in terms of character development. They've really revamped their characters. In season 2, they were way more cliché than in season 1, every Ewok has his or her stick that defines them. I get what they were going for and given another season or two they might have found their voice, but it never really found its footing in the first two seasons for me.

Similarly, pretty much every episode had their bad guy of the week which eventually felt too contrived. In season 1, that was still slightly better with the evil witch Morag as the main antagonist, but unfortunately, they got rid of her at some point.

The writing is average, the characters cute, the Star Wars connection virtually non-existent save for the penultimate episode. The world building is a bit too much "out there" as in it being quite convenient that there's a place, a race, a villain, etc. Nearby for any whim the writers may have.

Ultimately, it's an average 80s cartoon with its typical episodic nature, cookie cutter characters (at least in season 2), convenient writing, etc. Definitely for kids, though for people like me there's of course also the nostalgia factor which is why I watched it to its end.

Like Droids, Ewoks is very of the time, it's cheesy and always ends with a "Saturday morning cartoon lesson punchline".

For collectors the spin off toy range is amazing, and there are some great additional toys if you can afford them!

It's certainly not " holiday special " and there's plenty to enjoy in a Star Wars-lite way. The animation hasn't aged particularly well but is a bit better and certainly cuter than Droids, again, gives it that nostalgic kitch feeling, and whilst not canon, it's not 100% non canon either really... More "Lego" style side hustle, where it's all to be taken with a pinch of lols, and just enjoy it as a bit of fun.

This and "Droids" are both good cartoons for kids. I enjoyed them growing up & while I am glad they released something of them on DVD, I am a little disappointed that Lucasfilm did not just release a box set of the complete series. I think trying to make them into "features" by editing 4 episodes together is a big mistake. It's a lot harder to pop 1 in for 30 minutes. Personally I miss that the original goofy opening is not available (even as a special feature) on the DVD.

However it is still nice to finally have something of them available to show the kids. The best thing about these cartoons is that they are targeted for the younger kids, and every episode centers around some character trait like responsibility, making new friends, etc. They concentrate on what character development would be for a 5 to 10 year old, and they keep violent confrontations to a minimum, even when the Ewoks are challenged by the witch or the Duloks.

While I remember the second season of Ewoks being far less enjoyable than the first, it is still 1000 times better than the drivel served up by the likes of today's after school mainstays: Pokemon & yu-gi-oh. It seems every kid show these days is trying to sell junky cards or is targeted for older teens. There are very few real kid shows (like this one) available.

I WISH Lucasfilm would release a real box set of this series while my kids are still young enough to enjoy them.

It's honestly hard to defend this series, even from a nostalgic point of view. The first season, while far from good, at least tried to deliver small adventures on Endor's forest moon with a touch of charm. It didn't shine in terms of animation or writing, but it had some rhythm and introduced characters like Wicket, Kneesaa or Teebo in a friendly way. The real issue is the second season, which throws everything remotely decent out the window. The designs get worse, the settings feel overly simplified, and the tone becomes even more childish-borderline preschool level. It's hard to believe something so clumsy is officially part of the Star Wars universe.

Still, as weak as it is, there's some merit to its place in Star Wars' expanded history. For many, this was their first encounter with the saga as kids, which explains the affection some fans still hold. But watching it today, especially compared to any modern Star Wars content, Ewoks feels outdated, repetitive, and directionless. Only worth watching out of pure curiosity or galactic completism.

I had heard about the "Ewoks" animated series, but actually never had the opportunity to get to sit down to watch it. Not before now in 2021, and with my love for "Star Wars", of course I sat down to watch the two seasons of "Ewoks" as the chance presented itself.

Well, "Ewoks" was first and foremost a children's cartoon series, no doubt about it. And the only association that it had to the "Star Wars" movies were the fact that the characters in the show were ewoks - as seen in "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi", and a single episode in season 2 that showed a Star Destroyer and some Stormtroopers. Aside from these minor things, then "Ewoks" was just another random Saturday morning children's cartoon show, much akin to the likes of the "Gummi Bears" animated series. Yeah, I kid you not.

Throughout the two seasons we are presented to an abundance of strange creatures that apparently live on Endor, but never were seen in the "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" movie, for some reason. And the ewoks in the series were speaking English.

Sure, "Ewoks" was a cute enough series, and one that is very suited for a young audience, no doubt about it. But if you sit down to watch "Ewoks" with the "Star Wars" mindset and hopes of getting something reminiscent to the ewoks in "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi", then you are in for a rude awakening. Especially since there was no "Star Wars" feeling here.

I found the series to be watchable, but there was just too much goofiness and silly shenanigans going on to take it serious, and most of the characters were just so spaced out that it went way beyond what you'd find in "Star Wars". So yeah, "Ewoks" is a children's show, no doubt about it.

I am rating "Ewoks" a four out of ten stars. I managed to sit through all episodes of the two seasons, as this was with the ewok characters after all. But this is hardly something I would return to watch a second time.