Looking back at the Citizen Kane of 1980s Ewok TV movies
Last week, we did a deep dive into what has to be the worst movie in the entire Star Wars franchise. No, not The Phantom Menace or Solo or The Rise of Skywalker or whatever theatrical offering you personally consider to be the bottom of the proverbial barrel. We refer, of course, to Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, which aired on Nov. 25, 1984 on ABC.
We discussed this intergalactic crime against humanity in detail on last week's episode of the Dagobah Dispatch podcast, and I offered a summary of the more confusing aspects of the film in written form because I could not stop myself. (I encourage you to listen to and/or read those before diving into part 2 here.) And I'll be honest: After sitting through that atrocity, I was kind of wishing I could stop myself from watching the sequel. But duty called and I soldiered on to ignore my family so I could spend another hour and 37 minutes on the forest moon of Endor with a precocious tyke and her furry (English speaking!) friends. It was time to take on Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
Little did I realize that Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (first aired on ABC Nov. 24, 1985) would enter such rarefied air as The Godfather II, Evil Dead 2, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and yes, even The Empire Strikes Back — the infrequent sequel that is superior to the original product. And The Battle for Endor is not just superior to its predecessor, it is far superior.
Now, let's not get carried away. This 1980s Ewok TV movie is not about to rub elbows with Empire or Rogue One as a highlight of the franchise, but when it comes to 1980s Ewok TV movies, this is it. This is the one. And because how much you end up enjoying anything you watch is often based on the expectations you bring to it, the super-duper low expectations established after the embarrassingly bad Caravan of Courage help make the sequel seem downright decent by comparison. It truly is the Citizen Kane of 1980s Ewok TV movies.
Here's what you need to know about Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
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Death Becomes Them
As established in our review of Caravan of Courage, the biggest problem with the first Ewok movie is that the lead teenage character of Mace (played by Eric Walker) is a total Jerky McJerkface, completely unlikeable in every way — firing his blaster at Ewoks, berating Ewoks for more food and medicine, bitching when he doesn't think his magical totem is as cool as the other folks' magical totems. He's just a real piece of work, this one.
The Battle for Endor solves their Mace problem by… killing him off 5 minutes into the movie! Dead. Gone. Finito. It's a brilliant stroke to rid the franchise of its biggest nuisance. The only thing I don't like about Mace's death is the fact that it happens off-screen. I WANTED TO SEE IT WITH MY OWN EYES!
But The Battle for Endor doesn't just stop with killing off Mace. It also kills off Mace's two parents, Catarine and Jeremitt! Again, within the first few minutes of the movie. The film just begins with a MASSIVE killing spree, no doubt traumatizing pre-schoolers who just wanted to watch talking teddy bears sing a verse of "Yub Nub."
Interestingly enough, actress Fionnula Flanagan apparently had no interest in being murdered 18 seconds into the sequel, so you see Catarine's dead body obscured just perfectly so you can't tell it is a completely different actress playing the corpse. As for the Jeremitt, original actor Guy Boyd did not return either, leading to a welcome recasting upgrade in the form of… Vice Principal Richard Vernon! (Which is to say, Breakfast Club stalwart Paul Gleason: "Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.") Too bad he also dies.
Of course, all this death leaves young Cindel (Aubree Miller) as a space disco orphan, and the only human in sight. Until…
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Wait, What Is Wilford Brimley Doing Here?
Gleason is not the only actor who made an Ewok movie in the same year of another beloved performance, because at some point Cocoon star Wilford Brimley shows up as cranky curmudgeon with a heart of gold!
Brimley's Noa starts off not wanting anything to do with anyone. And I honestly don't blame him for being a bit on the grumpy side, especially when he repeatedly gets age-shamed by various other characters throughout the movie (even though Brimley was only 50 years old at the time… although, in fairness, Brimley being Brimley, he does look about 20 years older). But Noa eventually takes a shine to Cindel and the Ewoks and — SPOILER ALERT! — helps save the day.
Ewoks Now Have Full Conversations… in English
We already got into the somewhat confusing fact that in Caravan of Courage, some Ewoks start speaking English. Well, in the sequel, there are just full-on conversations happening entirely in English — even between Ewoks, when one would figure their native tongue would come in a little more handy. It's as if their power of speech has progressed from mere parlor tricks to complete conversations.
Wicket (Warwick Davis) seems to have almost fully mastered the language, hitting Cindel up with multiple questions ("We're gonna eat soon?") and demands ("Cindel learn here with Wicket.") and imploring his fellow Ewoks to "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" while being chased by evil marauders.
I don't know if any of this makes any sense, but I suppose it beats the Star Wars Holiday Special alternative of listening to 20 minutes of unsubtitled Wookie speak between Chewbacca's family on Kashyyyk.
The Magic Is Gone (in a Good Way)
Well, not all the way gone, but all those magical powers that the Ewoks somehow possessed in Caravan of Courage are completely absent in the sequel. It's not the only example of Ewok retconning going on. Remember all the Earth animals like chickens, ferrets, llamas, owls, and goats that were all over An Ewok Adventure, even though we had never seen an Earth animal in any other Star Wars movie before or since? Yeah, they're gone too.
But even though the Ewoks no longer possess the awesome power of magic, there is an evil sorceress Charal with a magic ring that allows her to shape shift into ravens or other less-evil looking women, enabling her to track and fool young Cindel with ease.
And then there is another cutesy furry forest-dweller named Teek who technically does not use magic, but is super fast. He's kind like of like the Flash, but without all the off-camera Ezra Miller issues. He's also vaguely demented looking and resembles what an Ewok named Gizmo might look like if it ate after midnight.
Ewoks - The Battle For Endor
Much More Special Effects
Clearly short on time to make their air date, the folks at Industrial Light & Magic did not put their best work on the screen in An Ewok Adventure. And that is putting it kindly.
But while the special effects on display in The Battle for Endor will not rival anything on the big screen, it represents a huge step up from its predecessor. For one thing, the second movie appears to have actual, like… sets. That includes a downed starcruiser as well as big mountain and cave sets for when Wicket and Cindel are on the run from evil marauders.
Stop motion master Phil Tippett also gets a workout here with tons of effects all over the place for various creatures throughout the movie. (There's an entire scene where a hang gliding Wicket chases some sort of space dinosaur, finally dropping a rock on his head.) Again, it's clear the team actually had a little time and money on this project, as opposed to what must have been something of a rush job on Caravan of Courage.
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Final Thoughts
It's not just the special effects that are better in Battle for Endor. Pretty much everything is better. Again, Mace is killed off mere minutes into the movie. I cannot stress the importance of that enough. Huge game changer. But there are so many other things that make this the superior Ewok outing, starting with the direction by Ken and Jim Wheat, who would go on to write horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Fly II, and Vin Diesel's Pitch Black.
While you can tell corners had to be cut, those cut corners are far less noticeable and glaring. For instance, while there are once again scenes supposedly taking place at night that you can tell were actually shot during daytime instead, it's not as laughably obvious as in Caravan.
Also, unlike Caravan, Battle for Endor has actual… battles! Several of them, in fact. And sure, they may simply be regurgitations of what we saw before in Return of the Jedi (with the furry creatures once again taking down the bad guys via a combination of trip ropes, rocks, spears, bows & arrows, rolling tree stumps, and expert vine swinging), but hey, go with what you know, right?!
The second film also undoes one of the more confusing decisions of the first, which was to make Wicket (the only Ewok most Star Wars fans could even name or recognize) a mere side player. Here, Davis' rambunctious little scamp is back front and center — hanging with his Endor bestie Cindel, showing off his flawless English, burning his butt at one point… all the good stuff.
Now, don't get me wrong. 88% of this movie is completely absurd. There is one scene where fleet-feeted Teek steals a huge blanket so he, Wicket, and Brimley can get on each other's soldiers and walk undetected through a party of giant marauders not unlike Vincent Adultman on Bojack Horseman. And it works! Plus, the marauders, like stormtroopers before them, have exceedingly bad aim, But, unlike Caravan of Courage, it's a fun absurd. And, dare I say, actually okay entertainment for an Ewok-obsessed youngster.
But that's just my take. To hear what my cohosts Devan Coggan and Lauren Morgan think, check out the latest episode of EW's Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch, where we break down the entire film. Psst! We also have Star Wars bigwigs Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni on as guests this week to chat a little Mandalorian season 3, and you do not want to miss that, no matter what your feelings on Ewoks may be.
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