What Are the Ewoks and Droids Cartoons?
Ewoks was an animated TV series which aired on ABC from 1985 to 1986. Like the Ewok Adventures made-for-TV movies, it takes place on the forest moon of Endor between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The series focuses on Wicket W. Warrick, the young Ewok who encounters Leia in Return of the Jedi, and his friends, following their adventures against enemies such as the mischievous Duloks and the evil witch Morag.
Star Wars: Droids ran for one season in 1985 (and then reran, along with the second season of Ewoks, as the Ewoks and Star Wars Droids Adventure Hour), followed by a one-hour special in 1986. It stars the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO and takes place between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, during which time Artoo and Threepio travel the galaxy with a sequence of different masters.
Video and DVD Releases
Although the complete Ewoks series was never released on DVD, several individual episodes were released on VHS, and eight episodes from the first season were later edited into two feature-length films, The Haunted Village and Tales from the Endor Woods, both of which are available on DVD.
Official copies of Droids are even more scarce, with several episodes released on VHS and a few episodes, pieced together into movies, released on two DVDs. The only copies of the entire Ewoks and Droids series available to Star Wars fans today are old, homemade videotapes of the shows and their various reruns.
So Is It Worth Tracking the Series Down?
Well, it depends. Ewoks isn't a bad series overall, so much as it's a bad Star Wars series. It's conceptually nothing like the recent The Clone Wars animated series, with an epic war, well-developed main characters and a detailed background for later events in the films and Expanded Universe. Rather, Ewoks is full of childish plots about the power of friendship and fantasy elements that seem out of place in the Star Wars universe, such as soap that can turn things invisible and Ewok magical traditions.
In short, Ewoks is merely a typical children's fantasy cartoon with Star Wars awkwardly pasted on. As a typical fantasy cartoon, it's about average, and entertaining enough for children who aren't expecting something too Star Wars-like. For grown-up fans, it's merely a curiosity: interesting because of its obscurity, but nothing to go out of one's way to see.
Star Wars: Droids, on the other hand, is Star Wars in more than just name only. Although the character development suffers due to the series' structure (Threepio and Artoo only spend four to five episodes with each master), the droids' escapades and classic back-and-forth banter make the show incredibly fun to watch. The tone is lighter than the Star Wars films, with more slapstick comedy, cartoonish villains, and violence toned down enough for children, but it still manages to feel like classic Star Wars fare.
Availability on Home Video
Both series are available on DVD.
- Compare prices: Star Wars: Ewoks
- Compare prices: Star Wars: Droids