[7.4/10] Maybe I’m grading this one on a curve since the series premiere of Droids was so middling, but this wasn’t half bad! Ewoks is clearly aimed at a younger audience, and there’s a fair amount of silly slapstick and simple character archetypes to go along with that. But it also had some cool imagery, a strong central threat, some shading for the cast of characters, and even a little arc for Wicket.
What surprised me is how directly this cartoon follows from the Caravan of Courage film. I’m not sure how the two are supposed to be oriented in time with one another. But you have common characters, with obvious ones like Wicket, but also Logray the local shaman, and Izrina, one of the fire fairies the gang met in the film. The Ewoks also use similar gliders to what they did in the film, and while the home designs are more in the realm of the treetop villages we saw in Return of the Jedi, the general aesthetic of the forest and sense of magic follows in the footsteps of the first Ewok movie, which is more synergy than I expected. It makes me extra glad I checked out the generally-disregarding first live action film before starting this show.
Maybe I’m just giving this one too much credit after seeing it was written by future Batman: The Animated Series super scribe Paul Dini, but you get the sense of an actual ecosystem and community here. There’s shading to the characters and their relationships. It may be simple and age appropriate, and even a touch confusing when a lot of these teddy bears are hard to keep straight in the early going, but it makes this first episode more sound than I might have anticipated.
The good shaman and the evil witch have a longstanding rivalry and effort to get the best of one another. Her conflict with the Ewoks feels very “Gargamel vs. the Smurfs”. But within the Ewok community, you have families and leaders and friends with different goals and who view one another differently. I’ll confess, Wicket’s band of playmates gets a bit same-y in places, but the efforts of trying to do good but slipping due to simple mistakes or peer pressure or just wanting to have a little fun make their world relatable.
Little details like Wicket’s little sister taking part in a “hooding” ceremony, help add color to the Ewoks’ culture through the presence of ritual. (And suggests this one takes place after Caravan of Courage in the timeline, I think?) The shortcut of letting us understand their speech and giving them some distinct and original rituals helps separate them from some unfortunate “noble savage” tropes at play.
There’s also groups that exist apart from the Ewok community. The witch is one, but the group of ratty, Seussian creatures whose representative assists the witch to gain help for his countrymen makes for an interesting power dynamic, both between the two of them and potentially the other enclaves that call the Forest Moon of Endor home. Likewise, the presence of the Wisties, mysterious fairies who seem to be allies of the Ewoks, but also mystical beings who can be caught and used for evil by various villainous figures, helps add to the sense of texture in this world. In brief, the stories and setups are simple, but Dini and his team construct a world of texture and possibility here, which is, perhaps, a case of doing more than what was required for a kids’ show.
The art direction team does more than their fair share too. The designs of the Ewok village are inviting, if understandably a bit simplified. The characters move with a little more bounce and verve than I might have expected given some of Nelvana’s less-availing efforts. And the fire effects – scenes of affected fairies, forests aflame, and the heroes working together beneath in a flame-flashed sky – display an artistry I hadn’t anticipated.
The story’s not bad either. Again, nothing too fancy, but kids getting in trouble for goofing off, and being doubted when they have to report a real problem is a venerable plot for a reason. We can all relate, and it makes you sympathize with Wicket and show he and his friends’ willingness to do good when it really counts. Hell, even him earning his aunt’s ire in increasingly contrived situations, only to earn her admiration when he saves her life, is a sweet place to take things.
Overall, every show plays the expectation game to some extent. When you expect something to be middling at best and it turns out to be reasonably good, you’re apt to see it as really good for exceeding your expectations. Maybe I’m giving the first episode of Ewoks an unearned boost, but either way, this opening salvo is better than it had to be, and I hope the rest of the series follows suit.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-04-04T18:42:12Z
[7.4/10] Maybe I’m grading this one on a curve since the series premiere of Droids was so middling, but this wasn’t half bad! Ewoks is clearly aimed at a younger audience, and there’s a fair amount of silly slapstick and simple character archetypes to go along with that. But it also had some cool imagery, a strong central threat, some shading for the cast of characters, and even a little arc for Wicket.
What surprised me is how directly this cartoon follows from the Caravan of Courage film. I’m not sure how the two are supposed to be oriented in time with one another. But you have common characters, with obvious ones like Wicket, but also Logray the local shaman, and Izrina, one of the fire fairies the gang met in the film. The Ewoks also use similar gliders to what they did in the film, and while the home designs are more in the realm of the treetop villages we saw in Return of the Jedi, the general aesthetic of the forest and sense of magic follows in the footsteps of the first Ewok movie, which is more synergy than I expected. It makes me extra glad I checked out the generally-disregarding first live action film before starting this show.
Maybe I’m just giving this one too much credit after seeing it was written by future Batman: The Animated Series super scribe Paul Dini, but you get the sense of an actual ecosystem and community here. There’s shading to the characters and their relationships. It may be simple and age appropriate, and even a touch confusing when a lot of these teddy bears are hard to keep straight in the early going, but it makes this first episode more sound than I might have anticipated.
The good shaman and the evil witch have a longstanding rivalry and effort to get the best of one another. Her conflict with the Ewoks feels very “Gargamel vs. the Smurfs”. But within the Ewok community, you have families and leaders and friends with different goals and who view one another differently. I’ll confess, Wicket’s band of playmates gets a bit same-y in places, but the efforts of trying to do good but slipping due to simple mistakes or peer pressure or just wanting to have a little fun make their world relatable.
Little details like Wicket’s little sister taking part in a “hooding” ceremony, help add color to the Ewoks’ culture through the presence of ritual. (And suggests this one takes place after Caravan of Courage in the timeline, I think?) The shortcut of letting us understand their speech and giving them some distinct and original rituals helps separate them from some unfortunate “noble savage” tropes at play.
There’s also groups that exist apart from the Ewok community. The witch is one, but the group of ratty, Seussian creatures whose representative assists the witch to gain help for his countrymen makes for an interesting power dynamic, both between the two of them and potentially the other enclaves that call the Forest Moon of Endor home. Likewise, the presence of the Wisties, mysterious fairies who seem to be allies of the Ewoks, but also mystical beings who can be caught and used for evil by various villainous figures, helps add to the sense of texture in this world. In brief, the stories and setups are simple, but Dini and his team construct a world of texture and possibility here, which is, perhaps, a case of doing more than what was required for a kids’ show.
The art direction team does more than their fair share too. The designs of the Ewok village are inviting, if understandably a bit simplified. The characters move with a little more bounce and verve than I might have expected given some of Nelvana’s less-availing efforts. And the fire effects – scenes of affected fairies, forests aflame, and the heroes working together beneath in a flame-flashed sky – display an artistry I hadn’t anticipated.
The story’s not bad either. Again, nothing too fancy, but kids getting in trouble for goofing off, and being doubted when they have to report a real problem is a venerable plot for a reason. We can all relate, and it makes you sympathize with Wicket and show he and his friends’ willingness to do good when it really counts. Hell, even him earning his aunt’s ire in increasingly contrived situations, only to earn her admiration when he saves her life, is a sweet place to take things.
Overall, every show plays the expectation game to some extent. When you expect something to be middling at best and it turns out to be reasonably good, you’re apt to see it as really good for exceeding your expectations. Maybe I’m giving the first episode of Ewoks an unearned boost, but either way, this opening salvo is better than it had to be, and I hope the rest of the series follows suit.