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.

Right after the success of the Star Wars trilogy- Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi, amid the 80s cartoon phenomenon, two back to back cartoon spin-offs of Star Wars was released and shown on TV on the back of this franchise- the first being Droids starring the duo of android C3PO, and R2 D2 and this, Ewoks, after their initial appearance in Return of The Jedi.

Whereas in the film, the Ewoks are portrayed as being cute and cuddly, they also couldn't speak in actual English dialogue and so for us audiences it was impossible to translate and make out what they were saying, apart from the characters in Return of the Jedi. Here in the cartoon series, they can talk properly and whilst some may argue that this is just too cutesy to be taken seriously as a cartoon, Ewoks was an interesting-yet likable and inventive show.

The furry creatures all have a range of different personality and character traits, not to mention that appearance-wise, each one was different from the other Ewok.

What this show has successfully done is manage to turn the Ewoks- of whom were non-communicative via dialogue terms- into a bunch of talkative and expressive, peace-loving species with human feelings and emotions. The stories were diverse and cute, not to mention entertaining as well. The show also had two theme songs- the first was just horrid, whilst the second was simple-yet a massive improvement over the first.

In all, Ewoks is a great little cartoon series that the whole family can enjoy. It might not be to every Star Wars fan's tastes- depending on how much you love or loathe them especially in Return of the Jedi, but for those who wish to see a completely different, and may I add superior side and treatment to the Ewoks, then you might want to give this a try.

Personally, I liked it and preferred this more to Droids, even though that was a good effort as well

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.

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.

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.