Customer Reviews

Star Wars Animated Adventures: Ewoks

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Man, I was really looking forward to this. "Ewoks on DVD? Sweet beans!" Ah, no. Instead of a standard DVD boxed set of the thirty-eight episodes in the series, we get, after years of waiting, a couple of poorly edited episodes stuck together and billed as a "feature film" just a few years after the same stunt was pulled on VHS. Hmmmm . . .

Seriously now: does ANYONE prefer these cobbled-together "movies" with about five separate plots to the ordinary method of NOT BUTCHERING the original episodes and packaging them together by season with the opening theme song and closing credits intact? Maybe if they made both versions available, but NO. We get stuck with the same crap that we can still get on VHS.

And as if this abominable amalgamation wasn't bad enough, they're not even releasing all the episodes in this format. Someone, PLEASE help me wrap my head around this logic. What possible reason can there be for not releasing all of the episodes, especially when half of the ones they are releasing, screwed up though they may be, were just released a few years ago? What is this, some kind of sick mental game? Will they wait until DVDs are obsolete and then start selectively releasing episodes AGAIN?

Come on, Lucasfilm, you're better than this. Almost EVERYBODY ELSE gets this stuff right; why can't you?

Looks like I'll just have to sit back and wait for "next time," whenever that may be.

Don't take my rating wrong, I don't hate this cartoon, what I hate is the way Lucasfilm has handled the property. Basically what this release is is 8 episodes from the first season of the show cobbled together to form two very unbalanced animated films. What we do get is basically 8 episodes of the show with new adult Wicket voice-overs. What we don't get is the opening theme song, original end credits, and I have a feeling original music (though I guess I'll never know since this will probably be the only release in this format.) At least the "chapters" are labeled with the original episode titles. I know this sounds nit-picky and in the vein of the "complainers" of the ill done reissues of the Original Star Wars trilogy on DVD, but come on. What is the purpose of releasing an old saturday morning cartoon, almost certainly because the fans demanded it for nostalgia purposes, and then heavily editing it so that it has almost no feel of how it originally aired?

Not because of a hate for Ewoks. I love the Ewoks & the droids. This IS NOT the cartoon that was on Saturday mornings in the 1980's. This is a few of the episodes badly put together to make a film that has four or five plots. The cartoon that used to be on had two seasons, one of them running with the droids. This is the same garbage that was pushed on VHS. Do not waste your money. What's wrong with Lucasfilm?

The problem with this is that unlike all other TV series which generally include proper credits for each episode, commentaries, special features, original music & sounds... in other words, the real TV series, this offers NOTHING. This is a cheap way to test the waters to see if anyone would drop the cash on the whole set. Lucasfilm says "this is what people have been waiting for." No, no it isn't. Season one of the Ewoks ran with the droids in a program called "The Ewoks & Droids Adventure Hour" & had a wonderful theme song by blues artist Taj Mahal. The stories were wonderful & in a way, built on one another. Season two ran alone & was drawn a bit differently & focused mainly on Wicket, Teebo, Kneesaa, & Latara. It was geared mostly for the very young, except for a couple of episodes ("The Night of the Stranger" & "Battle For The Sunstar"). Season two also was a bit more varied with several of the episodes split into two stories, offering more tales from the Endor woods.
At any rate, this IS NOT what people have been waiting for at all. It's the same as it was on VHS, meaning that they only offer a few episodes, different music, & a whole lot of nothing else. Wait for the release of the rest of the series (but not too long, because they never will). If you want to blow your dough on this, go ahead. I certainly wouldn't.

In 2004, it was announced that, in addition to a DVD release of the original Star Wars films, we would be getting the Droids and Ewoks animated series on DVD. At that year's comic-con, when Steve Sansweet made the announcment, he simply said that both series would be released. Now, many of us fans automatically assumed that the COMPLETE series would be released. I have always enjoyed both series, so I was very much looking forward to season sets containing all 35 episodes of Ewoks, and all 15 episodes of Droids.

HOWEVER, it was announced, not long before their DVD release, that instead of the complete series, would would simply be getting a rehash of the 1996/1997 VHS releases, where 8 episodes from each series were edited together as two feature length films per series. Now, I have to admit, this format works OK. But that's not what most fans want. What I want to know is, who exactly made the decision to release these edited versions instead of what the fans REALLY want?

Hopefully, for the big 2007 ANH 30th anniversary, Lucasfilm will get their act together, and bring out a COMPLETE release of these two classic series on DVD (or Blu-Ray, etc.).

Clearly, the Lucasfilm motto: "Don't give them everything, or else how are we going to milk this in the future?"
Yes, it's wonderful that they are releasing this - but be honest - this is either a half-hearted effort OR a devious plan for future double dipping. Lucasfilm is started to gain a notorious rep for releasing titles with little features (i.e. the Indiana Jones box set - no commentaries) or "modified" versions with obvious plans for double-dipping the public (i.e. The Star Wars Trilogy - hello). I agree with the many reviewers who wanted the complete series of Ewoks and Droids. Expect this to happen with the future planned Star Wars TV series, too. Why release the entire season, when they can milk several DVDs throughout several years. And yes, the Holiday Special will get released eventually ("Because you demanded it...") with several DVD editions. I wish Lucasfilm would recognize the fan base, instead of just mapping out where the dollar signs are. They did a wonderful job with books in the 1990's, now it's time for the DVDs.

You buy these types of shows for the nostalgia.. Not to see a new edited version of the show. I'm not happy with my purchase because they turned it into a miniseries instead of keeping it the show I remember. I highly recommend NOT getting this dvd if you're looking for a trip down memory lane.

:-)

I have read the reviews on line here at Amazon.com about the first release of these two "Ewok" cartoon episodes, "The Haunted Village" & "Tales from the Endor Woods" some I agree with, others I don't. I remember seeing this animated series during its original television run in 1985 through 1987 as I went from a 10-year-old boy to a 12-year-old pre-adolescent and I loved these cartoons growing up and I still do. I only wish that Lucas had released all of them instead of just two of them. These "Ewok" cartoons take place before the two Ewok television movies as we watch Wicket, Princess Kneesaa, and Teebo grow up on the moon of Endor. Once again George Lucas is executive producer as he did with "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" & "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" and that in part is what made this animated television series so good, because George Lucas is a great storyteller, creating great characters and a great adventure to watch those characters grow within the episodes, but he is no director. Any episodes of this wonderful animated series is highly recommended and a great & positive influence for children to watch.

These episodes keep going and going! I never did finish it because it seems like there are hundreds of episodes. The shows are good to watch once but do not have lasting appeal.

Wow! I am thrilled they released the Ewoks on DVD! I bought it the day it got released, and have been watching it ever since :) One sad thing though is that it's only 8 out of 13 total episodes. I sure hope Fox Home Entertainment will release the last 5 episodes on an additional DVD!

The DVD includes the following episodes:

THE HAUNTED VILLAGE
- The Haunted Village
- The Cries of the Trees
- Rampage of the Phlogs
- Sunstar vs. Shadowstone

TALES FROM THE ENDOR WOODS
- Wicket's Wagon
- The Travelling Jindas
- To Save Deej
- Asha

Missing episodes:
- The Tree of Light
- The Curse of the Jindas
- The Land of the Gupins
- The Three Lessons
- Blue Harvest

Picture and sound quality is very good, and if you feel it would fun watching your old favorite animated adventure, go ahead and buy this exceptionally great DVD!