My aunt (Fionnula Flanagan) played the mother in Caravan Of Courage. She knew I was a huge Star Wars fan and she brought me on set for the majority of filming of Caravan Of Courage. I was 5 or 6 at the time. At one point, Eric Walker lost his blaster on set and I found it for him. As a reward, I was allowed to sit on set as they filmed the giant spider scene. As a kid I didn't know I wasn't supposed to talk and when I saw the giant spider being lowered down, I looked up and blurted out, "uh oh!" The director yelled, "CUT" and I was given a stern talking to but I was still allowed to hang out on set. They were very kind and I have cherished those memories all my life. It may be a cheesy addition to the Star Wars universe but I still count it as cannon. It's highly possible that a family could get lost out in space and land on the forest moon of Endor by mistake. And as corny as it may seem on the surface, I would argue that the animated show, Star Wars Resistance is far more cheesy than either Ewok movie. Of course..... I could be a little bias. Lol. May The Force Be With You!

To be fair, Jedi predated home alone by nearly 7 years... so Kevin Mcalister used Ewok Tactics 😉

As a kid who lived breathed dreamt Star Wars, that first Ewoks movie was fantastic. I wore out a VHS tape watching it again and again.

Did everyone overlook that the Ewoks eat humans? That was a plot point in Return Of The Jedi... Luke and Leia were going to be a feast in the honor of Threepio. Only by pretending to be their god, did Threepio convince them to not cook them. However, the Imperials... those stormtroopers were the victory feast. The only thing uncertain is what exactly Luke and Leia ate at the end of Jedi. Also, I choked laughing at "Mace Whitedude".

I laughed my ass off when you got to "They just hand out Star Wars to anyone who asks for it."

The family getting killed in the beginning of that second movie was HORRIFYING to me as a child. I cried inconsolably and did NOT enjoy the rest of the movie in empathy for the surviving child. What a CRAZY choice to kill the family on-screen like that. This was in a time where A-Team and Knight Rider both were careful to never even have the bad guys die. It was a shock for sure.

Keeping thesse movies cannon fills in at least one plothole in Jedi. The being how quickly the ewoks got those traps set up. It makes sense when you find out there are freaking giant monsters walking around the planet.

Sindel actually showed up in one of the Black Fleet Crisis novels as a journalist, so she seemed to have done OK after getting off Endor.

People have to remember that when these came on as Sunday night movies, Star Wars was basically over. As a huge Star Wars kid I loved that we were getting more.

I drove my parents crazy renting these movies for like 3 months straight in the late 80s.

So happy I'm not the only one who calls them adorable murder bears. Loved these films as a kid.

14:25 This is the most succinct description I've seen of what it was like being a Star Wars fan when these movies were released. Listen up, kids, with your Mandoverse and your infinite supply of Star Wars books/video games! This is how we LIVED.

The Ewoks TV movies were the 80's kids version of The Mandalorian to me, less epic in scale from the films and more grounded, earnest, but still fun.

I have fond memories of these movies. It was impressive how these were tied into overall lore, a key thing being Battle for Endor was the first time a Nightsister was ever shown.

I was too young to see the OT in theaters, but I remember when the Ewok movies came out on TV, it was a big deal.

Battle for Endor is legit one of my favorite pieces of Star Wars media. I would watch it every chance I got as a kid growing up.

The first Star Wars anything that I saw as a kid was Battle for Endor. Imagine that being your first exposure to the whole story!

I feel like it's worth mentioning pre-Disney and post-Disney acquisition are two different canons, since there was an entire expanded universe that Disney canceled and rewrote. One could even also argue there's three Star Wars canons if you separate things from before and after the Special Editions when Lucas started retconning the original movies.

You also forgot to mention that the Blergh in the Mandalorian actually originated from Battle for Endor.

The week the first one came out was the same week our family got our first VCR. I remember being super excited in the store because I knew I could tape the Ewok Adventure on Sunday because it would've aired after my bedtime.

I'm glad I have that duo of movies on DVD. They'll always be canon to me.

It was because of this star wars “desert “ that i clung to the Droids and Ewoks cartoons as a kid. Even the second movie has it’s merits. May need to revisit them soon.

Canon or not, i liked the Ewok movies, especially the Battle For Endor.

That 1st Ewok movie aired the day that my family was driving from NJ to my grandparents in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I was so stressed out about missing it as my dad was known to drive deep into the night before stopping. I made such a stink about it that my parents promised me that we would be at a motel before 8 pm. I think we got to the room about 8:05pm as I burst in, turned on the TV and found the channel. At most I missed the first 5-6 minutes but I was devastated. Looking back I feel for what a thankless job being a parent can be. Here my parents made special travel arrangements so their youngest could watch a TV show, navigated all the chaos of driving 3 kids half way across the country and accomplishing this within 5 minutes of the scheduled time and I got mad at them 😂 Hey, I was 6.

So a little Easter egg in the original version of Star Tours right as you’re about to board they show a video and one of the passengers is Tink from the second movie. And when they redid the ride, the woman who did the voiceover is now a passenger in the boarding video

I just love that Mace is prominently featured on the poster art for Battle for Endor yet is killed within the first 5 minutes of the movie.

You are correct Dan. Any Star Wars we could get our hands on was awesome. I watched both these movies at home and at school when the teacher wanted a break. I was 10 at the time as well and also made my own comics continuing the adventures of Sindel and Wicket. I still have them somewhere in the house.

Those movies weren't that bad, I liked the Ewoks cartoon, and Sindel is a neat character that should still be canon. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of everybody dying in the first scene of the second movie though... it's kinda heartbreaking.

The Blurrgs (the bipedal fish-faced reptile mount) were originally from 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓. Decades later, they also appeared in the debut of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏. The Blurrgs at least have been canonized/encanoned from these intergalactic mini-epics.

Caravan of Courage got a limited cinema release in the UK. A friend of mine's dad ran a local theatre and he gave me some lobby cards for the movie, on card rather than photo paper, and I still have them.

I was sick and off school. Caravan of Courage was just out and was rented for me. I loved it! I loved the Ewoks and even got a Baby Ewoks plushie for a birthday. Caravan of Courage made me so happy… Battle for Endor didn’t! It was excitedly rented when it came out and it just upset me so much. They killed Syndal’s family in the first 10 mins. I was traumatised!

If Lucasfilm came to me and said I could make any Star Wars idea I wanted, in my top 5 possibles would be a third Ewok film to bring these movies back into canon. Admittedly it would be as big a hit as the Willow TV series, but I'd still be tempted.

I remember back when The Phantom Menace, my crazy obsessed Star Wars friend was so excited. So to neg him, I asked him what he thought of Episode. 7 and 8? He looked at me weirdly, and I said “You know, Caravan of Courage and the Battle For Endor.” Never have I seen him so pissed off before.

Every time I think Ive seen all this channel could cover, something new pops up. I love this feeling and love where the channel has gone.

I remember two things about the first movie. One, it was simulcast on a local FM radio station, so you could watch it with *stereo sound*. 😮 And two, the kids telling their story to the Ewoks, and hearing Wicket repeat "Star cruiser, crash!" Which is literally the only thing I remember about the movie's plot. I'm pretty sure I never saw the second one.

I still like to believe that was an honest-to-god F-bomb that Wilford Brimley dropped in the 2nd Ewoks movie.

Is it just me, or do these two Ewok movies feel like the dry run for what became Willow?

Return of the Jedi was my favorite Star Wars growing up, because it was the only Star Wars movie I had ever seen. I loved the amount of creatures the movie had. So the Ewoks were one of my favorite parts of the movie.

ROTJ was the first movie I ever saw in theaters as a 4-yr-old fan. I caught the Battle for Endor when it aired and my parents taped it. I also had the Ewok Village playset as the centerpiece of my early SW collection. Let me add, Dan is exactly right about cherishing the tiny kernels of SW we would occasionally get in the 80s and 90s…I must’ve read the Han Solo Adventures book a hundred times when I was a kid.

Born 1982 and finding Star Wars in the late 80s to early 90s, yes it was a dark time for a kid watching the movies over n over but no toys to play with. And when you found a beaten up action toy, it was like finding gold. I had one friend who was also a star wars fan in that time and we debated star wars as much as we could. Yes every star wars bit was a special treat and I remember when star wars slowly came back in form of Dark Horse Comics and Micro Machines.

In my area these movies were shown on TV in mono but had a stereo soundtrack you had to tune into on your FM radio. I think they called it "simulcast' and was necessary before VHF stations started sending stereo audio. Tuned into it with my K-Mart purchased Panasonic boom box and was blown away by the sound.

In the early 90s there was a backlash against Return of the Jedi and especially the Ewoks, but I remember that they were really popular in the 80s especially their toys

Truly said: they were the only new Star Wars movies on offer at the time. Watched both, but Battle for Endor etched itself into my mind with the power of trauma 😂

Battle for Endor was one of my favorite movies as a child. We had it recorded off of TV from my VCR. I watched it so many times the tape started to wear out

As a kid, the second movie devastated me when the parents died. 😢

I've been watching and humming Tom Cardy's "Perception Check" for a month. I loved seeing it pop up in this video.

I said it right when Ashoka came out; They had magic in Ewoks and they brought magic back... It seems more and more Canon now.

I liked the Ewoks for sure. I kind of remember the movies. The nods in Battlefront brought it back to mind. I’ve seen them on D+. I enjoyed them.

My parents taped this when it originally aired and I watched the hell out of that VHS tape. Loved the movie so much - Loved Wicket! My Grandma purchased the "Ewok / Wicket" costume pattern at the store and hand-made me a Wicket Costume. Wore it for Halloween until I outgrew it. God bless Grandma!

I appreciate the Berenstain Bears joke. I saw one of these movies randomly as a child, and it lived as a crazed fever dream in my memory for years.

I was 5 when Jedi came out… so I was all in on Ewoks. I loved ROTJ, loved the cartoon and comic series and remember really liking these 2 movies. However, the movies have not aged as well as I’d hoped. I think the first one is still pretty fun, but Battle for Endor is a bummer. I didn’t remember it well so I was surprised when the whole family bought it… and it doesn’t get much better from there. But, that movie dud introduce the Blurrgs.

The thing with the Ewoks beating the Stormtrooper is, while the Empire had superior weapons, the Ewoks had a knowledge of the forest, jungle battle tactics and their backs against the wall, and the Empire were arrogant, so the Ewoks outsmarted them by their tactics, and the Imperials on Endor underestimated them.

One thing that is inextricable from my memory of these films, particularly the second one, is that my sister (who was 3 when it came out) was terrified by it--particularly the bad guy in it--and the way we got her to cooperate when we had to babysit for her was to threaten to put in "the Ewok movie" on our VHS player, which always worked and she would be obedient immediately...until she wasn't, and we had to make the same threat again. ;)

My parents had Battle for Endor recorded from TV and I watched the shit out of it. I didn't even know there was a movie before it and so I was sad that the little girl's family all got killed, but I didn't have a connection to them like if I had watched the first movie first. It was just part of the story that her family died like in Bambi or something. Still pretty interesting way to start a movie by showing a girl's parents and brother battling for their lives and then get slaughtered. Especially because you didn't typically see any kids ever killed in movies. Loved the darkness of it.

Outside of America these were released in the cinema, and as a kid I saw them both

The Ewoks animated series was the first Star Wars related thing I ever watched as a child, and I absolutely loved it. But I knew the show was supposed to take place in the same universe as those movies with robots, X-Wings and Stormtroopers, cause I've seen the toys on the shelves, so I kept waiting for them to show up in the series at some point - which sadly they never did. (*insert crying Ewokface here*)

In the most recent "From a Certain Point of View ROTJ" book, the chapter that highlights Wickets story has a slight hint to his previous adventures that took place during these TV shows, slight nod well placed 👍

I missed Jason Vorhees in the last video, but glad to see he has returned in the classic spliced clip for Boba Fett.

I love these films. Probably because I grew up watching them taped from TV (w/ commercials) and they actually were the first “Star Wars” films I ever saw. There’s something magical in The Ewok Adventure; Burl Ives’ gentle narration, the death of Chukha-Trok is very sad, the Gorax is terrifying, etc. In Battle For Endor, Wilford Brimley’s grumpy-turned-heroic nature still warms my heart. Love em and defend em.

I LOVED the battle of Endor when I was a kid! I grew up near the redwoods, and as a kid I imagined that I was on the forest moon of Endor.

I actually recorded it on our then brand spank'n new piece of technology, the VCR when it came out in 84. The quality is horrible, but i loved it. Watched it on Disney+, but without the 80s commercials, it just isn't the same. Go figure.

14:45 As a closing commentary on the '80s, wow that reality check really hit me hard. lol On the other hand, movies and TV shows back then really were more of a shared cultural experience than they are now, and it did give me a deeper appreciation for movies to watch them over and over again on the old VCR. You could literally go to school the next day and discuss a particular show with friends or even teachers because chances are everybody saw the same show you did. In high school, my English teacher even discussed the final episode of M*A*S*H even though it had been YEARS since it aired because it was very correctly assumed that everybody in the country saw that. Nowadays there's such a glut of entertainment that the only way to share your thoughts and enjoyment on any particular movie or TV show is to go online to find that niche audience. Yes, that also includes Game of Thrones because not everybody watched that either.

I can not express how altered I was when I sat down to watch Battle for Endor and watched everyone from the first movie be slaughtered. It was more traumatic than Owen and Beru Lars' off-screen demise.

Just watched these with my kids and they loved them. They are better than anything Disney has done with the IP

One thing I liked was these movies may not be canon, but when they were making Star Wars Galaxies the MMO, several aspects of these movies were integrated into the Endor of that game. The moon ended up being quite dangerous, you needed to be significantly skilled and have good gear to adventure there (the game used a level-less progression system at first). I remember getting Marauder Armor was a fun status symbol, some gear not many people had so you could stand out from the norm.

The first movie was a big event for my family. We all sat down and watched it with popcorn. It would be safe to say that we all had a somewhat tepid response to it, but we’d recorded it on VHS and I watched it many times. The sequel was surprising. I’d call it among the more shocking of things I’d watched as a kid. Killing the Mace and the parents early in the first act was bold.

I was 9 when a New Hope came out. I watched everything Star Wars back then, including the Christmas special. I was not old enough to know what grandpa was doing with his VR rig. I was still into it enough that I watched both Ewok movies, though I didn't enjoy them as much as I'd hoped to.

I had the Ewok village set! It was awesome! Note: the tree village set, not the hut.

Not canon but set between Empire and Jedi films. I saw Ewoks again recently on Disney+ and its actually more fun to watch now than when I was a kid.

I remember the movies and saw them when they were on TV. But thanks to the toy commercial you showed I now remember that preschool line of toys... And I don't let Disney tell me what's canon or not...lol

The Ewok Adventure is the first thing I ever taped off TV and I watched the crap out of it. The second one traumatized me. Why would they straight up murder everything from the first one. The 80s were hard core.

Being a Jedi for 40 years now I´ve got to confess I´ve never seen any of the Ewok movies. And though I got all the Endor related toys back in 1983 (and still have them) I´ve never been interested that much in a specific story revolving mainly around the Ewoks. But now that I´ve just watched your above episode, I just can´t help but ignite my Neopixel lightsaber to go start the Wayback machine and give the Endor movies a second chance. ;)

Yeah, Battle for Endor was literally the only Star Wars I had on VHS… fitting cause those two were like weird bottle episodes of the original saga… even having no frame of reference for what happened in Caravan of Courage was a kinda perfect encapsulation of what type of story Star Wars is meant to be.

When I was little I the 80s, we had Battle for Endor taped off TV on a Beta Max cassette. It was years before I even knew a previous Ewok Adventure movie existed.

"Courage, loyalty and love are the strongest forces in the universe.... ...until the writers off your whole family in the sequel."

I am shocked that there was no mention of the change to have Ewoks talk in English in the sequel. IT MAKES EVERYTHING SO MUCH WEIRDER.

These were huge events for an 11-year-old. I remember radio stations in NYC simulcasting the sound. Taped it and watched over and over again.

I grew up watching these movies, and here are a few of my observations. -I have an unproven theory that, following his divorce from Marcia in 1983, George Lucas had the notion to make his own Lord of the Rings cycle using Warwick Davis as a lead. The first two 'Ewoks' TV movies seem to follow this basic form, and then Willow (1988) follows it all up with many of the pre-established elements from 'Ewoks' (Christmas light faeries, magic sticks, stop-motion beasts, projectiles that turn people to stone, etc). -If my LucasFilm's LotR theory holds any water, 'Ewoks: Caravan of Courage' seems to mirror the basic forms of Tolkien's 'Fellowship of the Ring'. 'Ewoks: The Battle for Endor' resembles 'Two Towers' and 'Willow' completes the cycle with 'Return of the King'. -George Lucas loves to play around with that Joseph Campbell/Carl Jung mythic gobbledygook where his writing "rhymes" with that of others. Much of the 'Ewoks' cycle seems rooted in childrens' Fairy Tales. (Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Hansel & Gretel, Jack & The Beanstalk, etc.) - In 'Battle for Endor' the character Noa (Wilford "Diabeetus" Brimley) spent years building a ship in the wilderness, while Siân Phillips plays a literal witch of Endor. In 'Willow' the baby Elora Danan was put into a basket and sent downriver to escape a tyrant's wrath. In 'The Phantom Menace' Anakin Skywalker was born of Immaculate Conception... All of which are original concepts created by George Lucas in 1977. -George Lucas had asked David Lynch to direct 'Return of the Jedi' (1983), but he turned this down to direct 'Dune' (1984). Ultimately, Richard Marquand took the RotJ job in his place. -Other Ewok connections to Dune... Siân Phillips, who played the force-witch Charal in 'Ewoks', also played Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in Dune (1984). The claymation beast in 'Caravan of Courage' is known as a "Boar-Wolf" and it bears a striking resemblance to the illustration of the "D-Wolves" on page 273 of The Dune Encylopedia (also from 1984). The opening of 'Willow' (1988) seems to mirror the opening of 'God Emperor of Dune' (1980) in which a chosen girl-child of destiny escapes a tyrant's ferocious wolf-monsters by floating downriver. -C-3PO is practically the Ewoks' version of Muad'Dib in Return of the Jedi. Frank Herbert later coined the term "Three PO" as a pejorative in his novel 'Heretics of Dune' (1984) ~Bonus~ The name of a Space Pirate in that old 'Droids' cartoon (1985) is "Kybo Ren". The Force Witch Charal was later retconned to be one of the Night Sisters of Dathomir, in the now-defunct Star Wars Expanded Universe. The 'Ewoks' TV movies are also considered to be part of the Expanded Universe and are also considered non-canon.

good video. the berenstain joke was on point

I'm so used to seeing "Caravan of Garbage" being written in the title...

"Wilford Brimley Fatigue" is the greatest thing I've heard all week!

Battle for Endor was on TV a lot when I was a little kid and honestly, I liked it and still have fond memories of it. My only childhood complaint was that they rode horses in the movie instead of some kind of rad alien horses.

As a kid who was raised on Star Wars, I relished any and all related material. So, I loved these movies. Plus, with Jedi ending the Trilogy, I enjoyed that these told a separate story.

I miss George and his crazy, beautiful epics.

The Gorax scared the absolute piss out of me as a kid.

I remember listening to the first Ewoks movies on the Radio. It played simultaneously while it aired on Tv.

As a 13-year old kid I love the Ewoks and ate up the first movie with both hands (never saw the second movie.) To this day I sometimes mutter "Starcruiser crash" if anyone uses the words "crash" or "Starcruiser" to me in conversation. But now, 40 years later, I probably wouldn't last ten minutes trying to watch that movie.

I only watched Battle for Endor on VHS. I remember the girl showing her glowing bracelet which showed she was only the only left alive.

"lol no" as an answer in the thumbnail is sending me, never change man, never change

I loved the Ewoks movies. That scene where Mace gets trapped underwater freaked me out.

I distinctly remember watching both Ewok movies when they first aired! I was such a Star Wars kid!

The Ewok movies were the thing that first got me into Star Wars when I was young. I still have the VHS tape of both of them we recorded (complete with the commercials) from when they aired on American TV at Christmas in 1988 or whenever it was. Are they great? No. But you have to remember that they were low budget spinoffs made specifically for younger kids. And they'll always have a place in my heart :)

Just a little bit of Star Wars to hold on to this guy is a genius. You know exactly what was going on forty years ago. amazing

14:08 Eh, the Ewok movies were only barely maybe canon even in the 90s. One EU novel mentioned one of the characters, but otherwise they were totally ignored - like most 80s side content. And most fans thought they were too tonally at odds with the rest of the series to fit in, with the witches and magic, not to mention the question of where they even fit in the timeline. The funny thing is, if anything, they're more lore-friendly today than they were at the time. The introduction of the Night Sisters and the idea that "magic" is just another way of using the Force made the magic in the Ewok movies a lot more palatable.

As a kid I only ever saw RoTJ once, (which we just called Star Wars and I only vaguely remembered) but the ewok movies were on the Disney Channel constantly. So to me, they were the main characters of Star Wars. 😊 So much so, that I was shocked to later find out as an adult that the three “main” Star Wars movies weren’t 2 Ewok movies and RoTJ. 🤣

I remember watching the ewok adventure and recording it. How i WISHED Luke would show up. I NEVER SAW the sequel. I didn't even know it was a thing! I'm gonna stream it this weekend!!

I remember waiting so excitedly for the first movie to come on TV.

The part that always stuck with me was whenever these movies would air on TV, they played an audio simulcast on the radio. I would always get my parents to let me use my Fisher-Price radio to listen to the show while watching it with the TV sound off. One year we were out and wouldn’t get back in time to watch it so they let me listen to it on the car radio after much begging on my end.

Return of the Jedi was the final chapter in the Star Wars saga. If you want some more, read the Heir to the Empire books.

A+ video! LOVE IT! So glad you picked this subject for the video, what a blessing!