076: The Ewok Duology Part 1 — The SoraRabbit Hole

Long ago, in a galaxy far far away there lived a peaceful race of space bears who, when threatened, would outright kill you with sticks and rocks. That’s right, we’re here today to talk about Ewoks! This post will be a spiritual successor to one of my favorite posts I have ever written, my post covering the spectacular Star Wars Holiday Special.

032: Star Wars Gets Festive, or SoraRabbit Learns the True Meaning of Life Day

This is gonna be good. (Credit: LucasFilm)

This post and the following one were suggestions from my wife, who you all know as Cocoashade. She had fond memories of these movies from childhood and always loved the Ewoks. She asked for a post on this years ago and it took me this long to get around to it. Since this was her suggestion and since I had so much fun riffing on the Holiday Special with her, I knew I could only write these posts with her sparkling guest commentary. So, just as with the Holiday post, Cocoa and I will be jumping in with commentary as I recap the plot and give our observations about the movies.

Note that I will strive to preserve our feelings of confusion and discovery as we go. At many times the movie did not give us character’s names so I will not refer to them by name until the point at which we looked them up or the movie actually bothers to name them.

Some more housekeeping notes: First off let’s deal with the Blurrg in the room. These movies are no longer considered canon. Following Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars IP and their purging of Legends from continuity, these movies were erased from canon. However, Disney+ did eventually put these movies on their streaming service, along with the crappy Boba Fett cartoon from the Holiday Special. (Not the Special itself, mind you. They refuse to ever give that to us.)

Secondly, I know there are mixed feelings about the Ewoks in the fandom, but like many things that happen with the fandom, I don’t care about that in the slightest. Ewoks are awesome, Cocoa agrees with me, and there will be no hatin’ on the brave little furballs here. These posts were made in the spirit of fun, and our love for the dangerous little critters will be reflected in our words. Fun fact: My friends refer to the Ewoks as Murderbears.

Aww, lookit the little beasties. (Credit: LucasFilm)

And now for some preliminary thoughts about the movie before we even hit play.

SoraRabbit: “I recall being really excited to watch these when they aired on TV. I was, even as a young bunny, a huge Star Wars fan and I liked the Ewoks. The prospect of having a continuation of sorts to the film trilogy and an expansion of the universe I had come to love was a thrilling thought. After this I watched the Ewok cartoons and got random issues of the comic books too. Anything Star Wars was okay in my book. I didn’t know the word canon back then! I remember liking the movies but only saw them the one time. I don’t remember which one, but I do recall seeing one of them in a hotel room during a family vacation. Back then you had to be home to hit record on your VCR… which, for my younger readers, was a magic box that let you rewatch things until it inevitably ate the tape.”

CocoaShade: “‘Star cruiser CRASH!‘ That’s the big thing that stuck with me. Being younger and having watched Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks were a big thing. When Leia first saw Wicket, everyone in the theater gasped. Me and my brother watched the first movie to death because we’d recorded it. I don’t remember the second one or if I’ve even seen it, but I remember some from this one. I remember the brother was annoying and I get that now, being on the other end of the teenage years. And the parents didn’t matter because you have Ewoks now.”

Sora: “Yeah, Ewoks are better.“

Cocoa: “Ewoks forever!”

Sora: “Oh right, and when I was younger I had action figures of Chief Chirpa and Logray. My brother had Wicket.“

Cocoa: “I had Wicket! I still have him!“

Sora: “So, in my point of view, people always complain about the Ewoks beating the Empire with their crude weapons but—”

Cocoa: (Interrupting.) “Wait, people didn’t like the Ewoks?“

Sora: “Some people complain.“

Cocoa: “Oh, just fanboy whining. Who cares. Ewoks!“

Sora: “Exactly. Anyway, they complain that it’s unrealistic that they beat the Empire, but it makes sense to me. They were in their terrain. Home field advantage. And the Stormtroopers never trained for jungle combat with little bears!”

Cocoa: “Yeah, and if that doesn’t work, it’s like Joel always sang— ‘repeat to yourself it’s just a show, you should really just relax!‘“

Sora: “Star Wars fans can’t relax. That’s a losing battle.”

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (originally titled The Ewok Adventure) was a movie released for broadcast television in 1984. This movie showcases the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, expanding on their home of Endor and giving them a new adventure separate from the Rebellion, Empire, and Jedi. Because he was not happy with the results of the Star Wars Holiday Special, George Lucas took a more active role in this movie.

Before the movie even started Disney+ immediately made us feel old by tagging the movie as “Vintage Star Wars”.

Cocoa: “Oooh no!“

Sora: “We’re vintage!“

Run whoever you two are! RUN!!! (Credit: LucasFilm)

The movie opens with two nameless characters wondering where their kids are after their near-fatal space shuttle crash. The ending credits say their names are Catarine and Jeremitt Towani, but the movie is completely unconcerned with little details like what characters have what names. The first thing I commented on was the picture quality, which was much poorer than the main films in the series. A giant ogre-thing stomps up and scares them.

Sora: “What the hell?“

Cocoa: “Not an Ewok. Hey, that’s Faraday’s mom from Lost.“

We cut to some Ewoks and get to meet Wicket’s dad, who toots a little horn. He has two kids that are lost. Wicket isn’t allowed to come along to look for his older brothers and he complains.

Cocoa: “Did he just say ‘bitch’ there?“

Sora: “He totally said ‘bitch’. And eww, do the Ewoks have real human teeth?“

Cocoa: “Effects weren’t as good back then.“

Wicket’s dad gets in his hang glider and flies around, looking for his kids.

Cocoa: “They’re inventive.“

Sora: “I guess this is the Ewok equivalent to a car. Wait, is this narrated by the Frosty the Snowman guy?”

Cocoa: “Yeah, that’s Burl Ives. Unlike in the Christmas special, where we had to guess at the Wookiee language and pantomiming, here we have a narrator explaining what’s going on to us. It’s like a nature documentary!“

Sora: “In SPACE!“

After a lot of flying around, we see Wicket’s brothers and they come across a crashed ship. In the ship they find a scared little girl and an Ewok immediately draws a knife on her. It happens exactly like this:

Quite the escalation there, furball. (Credit: LucasFilm)

The Ewok quickly decides not to slaughter the defenseless little girl and instead pets her like a cat. Her brother, Mace, comes in to the ship, pulls a blaster and threatens the Ewoks. One of the Ewoks does a roll to knock him over another Ewok behind him and he falls, almost blowing his own face off. One of the Ewoks takes the blaster and also almost blows his face off. They take the boy to eat him.

I wasn’t exaggerating. He’s all trussed up like in Return of the Jedi. And there are llamas for some reason.

Sora: “Space llamas?“

Cocoa: “CARL!“

Sora: “In the Star Wars universe they probably have a creative name like Twiktoodles.”

Ewok family meeting. (Credit: LucasFilm)

The little girl and Wicket immediately become friends. They let Mace free and they all hang out at the Wicket family hut. (And that point I googled it and was reminded Wicket’s family name is Warrick and we had a conversation about how close it is to his actor’s last name of Warwick.) We find out the little girl’s name is Cindel and she coughs a lot and collapses, succumbing to some illness that is never named. The Ewoks show that they can mimic words— one repeats the word “dad” after Mace says it. They give Cindel some medicine.

Cocoa: “We have no idea what’s wrong with you, but here’s some meds.“

Sora: “Always do drugs kids!“

She recovers a little and they’re all friends now. Also of note is that they have a space bunny.

Sora: “So this poses a bit of a continuity problem, whether this takes place before or after Jedi. The Ewoks didn’t make any attempt to mimic the Rebels in that movie.”

Cocoa: “Yeah, they just spoke Ewok and C-3PO had to translate. So we have two Maces in the Star Wars universe now?“

Sora: “He was probably named after the legendary Mace Windu.“

Cocoa: “His real dad?“

Cindel is still really sick and Mace whines until they go get more medicine. The narrator helpfully explains that there is a tree in the woods with a special fluid that only the Ewoks know about.

Sora: “Thanks narrator. We needed to know about their special fluid.“

They tap the tree like they’re getting syrup. Mace sees a furry thing in another tree and tries to grab it for no discernable reason. He almost gets his arm ripped off by a monster and the Ewoks have to rescue him.

Sora: “What an idiot.“

Cocoa: “Yeah, I don’t like Mace.“

They return to poor Cindel on her deathbed and Mace announces “We got more medicine!“

Cocoa: “We?”

Sora: “Yeah, they got the medicine, kid. You almost lost your arm.“

Wicket tries to say “sick”.

Cocoa: “Haha. Thick!“

Wicket’s dad seems to say “Gunda tsar. Pizza.”

Cocoa: “Translation: Pizza make you all better.“

Sora: “Pizza cures everything! But hey, why are they in a hut on the ground? Didn’t they all live in tree houses in Jedi?“

Cocoa: “Oh yeah. Summer home?“

"Star cruiser CRASH." (Credit: LucasFilm)

Cindel plays with Wicket’s Space Ferret. She tells Wicket, “We don’t have furry creatures like you back home.“

Cocoa: “Racist! Bitch, we’re a race of people who just saved your lives!“

She then explains that they were on a spaceship that crashed.

Cocoa: “Star cruiser CRASH!“

"Space Horse CRASH." (Credit: LucasFilm)

Wicket mimics the star cruiser crashing. Cindel asks if he has a star cruiser and he gets a toy horse. He pretends it’s flying and then crashes. Cindel laughs, “Horses don’t FLY!“

Sora: Okay, that’s actually really adorable.

Mace just wants his gun so they can get away from “these animals“ as he puts it.

Cocoa: “Wow.”

Sora: “Yeah, rude. Hey, look, space chicken.“

Cocoa: “Is that a French Hen?“

Sora: “Endor Hen.“

Cocoa: “Oh, of course.“

Sora: <Whining voice.> “When are they gonna get to the caravan of courage?“

I swear, these kids are nothin' but trouble. (Credit: LucasFilm)

As the Ewoks sleep, Mace gets his gun back and they sneak out of the hut and into certain danger.

Cocoa: “This can’t be good.“

Sora: “Well, I mean, this is the kid that while on a routine mystic fluid run almost got eaten by a tree muppet.“

They walk roughly five feet before stopping to make camp. Touching music plays as they talk abut how much they miss their parents.

Sora: “Forget your parents, kids. They were eaten by a forest ogre in the opening scene.“

Cindel is sure they’re dead but her brother thinks they’re still alive. Mace hints that his parents think he’s a screw up.

Sora: “I wonder why. Hmm, it kind of seems like they’re hinting at a backstory here.“

Cocoa: “I bet he’s the reason they crashed!“

Shortly into this emotional moment they have to run away from a terrible puppet monster. Mace attempts, and fails, to shoot it.

Sora: “I knew it. Everywhere Mace goes he almost dies.“

Cocoa: “God this kid’s a terrible shot. Why does he even have a gun?“

Ooooh special effects. (Credit: LucasFilm)

The kids hide from the monster in a hollowed-out tree. They wake up to Ewoks fighting off the stop-motion monstrosity.

Cocoa: “Fight the green screen… to the death!“

The Ewoks brandish spears at it, swing onto the creature’s back, and use a blowgun to knock it out.

Sora: “Is it dead or sleeping?“

Cocoa: “Slee— uh… its body is smoking and it’s not breathing.“

Sora: “Yeah, it’s dead.“

Cocoa: “Wicket, what did you DO?!“

Sora: “What he had to.“

Not a thought in their dead, black eyes. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Mace inspects the “thing” (as he calls it) and finds one of his parent’s life monitors.

Sora: “Yes! Loot the corpse!“

He uses this as proof that his parent’s are still alive.

Sora: “How? Doesn’t that prove the opposite?“

Cocoa: “I totally know dad’s alive because his FitBit’s in my hand and not on his wrist.“

I'm gonna grow my beard like that. (Credit: LucasFilm)

They all go to visit Logray, the village mystic. In his spinning dreidel, they sees the kid’s parents, held prisoner in a cage by the forest ogre. Mace screams “It looks like a MONSTER or somethin’ real BIG! Where is it? Where is it?“

Sora: <Cracking up laughing, I had to pause for a bit to catch my breath. Then I rewound and watched him say it again.> “That is some impeccable line delivery.”

Cindel cries and begs the Ewoks for help. The narrator pipes up, helpfully explaining that the monster is the giant Gorax who lives in a land from which no Ewok has ever returned.

Wait, Ewoks can talk in complete sentences now? (Credit: LucasFilm)

An Ewok thinks about it for a bit and then, in clear English, says “We help you.“ And in the process his teeth almost fall out.

Cocoa: <Just laughs.>

Sora: “I’m assuming that one is Wicket’s dad? They’re not very distinctive.”

Cocoa: “Yeah, I dunno. I thought Wicket was on his own in Jedi but I guess he has a family. Pretty sure that one’s his dad.“

Sora: “And his name is Daddy Ewok?“

Cocoa: <Laughs.> “You’re not calling him that.“ <Grabs her phone and looks it up while I catch up on notes.> “His name is Deej.“

Sora: “I like mine better..“

That night what appears to be a female Ewok cries while looking at the baby.

Sora: “And that’s Wicket’s mom? I’m really having trouble telling them apart and the narrator is not being helpful. He only pops up every ten minutes or so.“

Cocoa: “Yeah, I think that’s the mom. They seem like they just threw some generic Ewoks in to make a family for Wicket.” <Looks it up again.> “The mom’s name is Shodu. And his brothers are Widdle and Weechee.“

Sora: “Kinda seems like a job for the narrator but whatever.“

The next day they put together their team and prepare to leave.

Sora: “Look! It’s a caravan… of courage!”

In a ceremony Logray gives mystical tokens to everyone. He gives winged hats to some of the Ewoks and Wicket gets a “magic walking stick.“

Sora: “A… magic… walking stick?“

Cocoa: <Just laughs again.>

Cindel gets a magical candle and Mace gets a rock.

Cocoa: “Ha! You get a rock. You can’t be trusted with anything better.”

Sora: “Hey wait, I think that rock saves their lives later. Doesn’t he end up hucking it at the ogre?“

Cocoa: “Eh, probably. Chekov’s rock.“

They also learn they have to find two more Ewoks to join them or they’ll never succeed. The remaining two gifts are a monster tooth and a crystal. Mace tosses the rock but Wicket picks it up secretly. They all say goodbye to Momma Ewok.

The caravan sets off. (Credit: LucasFilm)

One of the Ewoks (Wicket’s brother?) has a gun.

Cocoa: “Where’d he get a gun? Leftover from the Empire? Or did he steal it from the kid?“

Sora: “Isn’t that the Ewok who almost shot himself in the face earlier? I don’t think anyone here should have a gun, honestly.“

Cindel and Wicket ride in a little compartment on the horse.

Cocoa: “That thing looks heavy. Poor pony.“

Sora: “What’s that thing called? I know there’s a name for it.“

Cocoa: “A kitty.“

Sora: “Uh, no. I don’t think that’s right.“

Cocoa: <Looks it up.> “Oh, a litter!“

Sora: <Laughs.> “You associated kitty with litter.“

Cocoa: <Also laughing.> “Well, when CeCe is in her covered litter box peeking out the window she looks like she’s in one of those.“

Mace refuses to get in the litter because he says its for little kids and he’d rather walk. When he says this, we’re both certain Deej responds with “That’s sex talk.“ As they leave, there’s a couple dozen Ewoks gathered to see them off.

Sora: “That’s actually really impressive. They made all those costumes and hired extras just for one two minute scene. Also I thought the Ewok suits were all cheap compared to Return of the Jedi, but I guess that’s just the distance of memory. These look great.“

Cocoa: “Yeah, they seem to have taken a lot of care with the suits. But the Ewoks were never meant to talk. Deej almost lost his teeth when he said they’d help.“

Sora: “I also thought for some reason that this took place before Jedi, but that makes no sense. That would mean that these are the first humans they’ve seen, so why did they freak out so bad when they met the rebels? And also they forgot how to talk after this. So that means it would need to take place after and the tree houses and most of the Ewoks are gone. I just don’t know.“

Shortly after they set off they meet a gruff Ewok with an axe and decide to recruit him. He refuses at first due to pride or something but Mace shames him into joining. He proposes an axe-throwing competition and when Axe-Guy wins, Mace gives him the tooth and asks him again to join because they need his strength. He agrees this time. The narrator says this newcomer is the brave warrior “Chugacough“ or something like that.

Sora: “Chuga— wha? How do you spell that?“

Cocoa: <Looking it up.> “His name is Chukha-Trok.“

Sora: “I’m not writing that down every time. He’s going to be Axe-Guy in the post.“

Further down the trail they meet a new Ewok, who the narrator says is Kaink, the Ewok Priestess.

Sora: “Her name is Taint?“

Cocoa: “No. I have no idea what he actually said, but it wasn’t that.“

Kaink should get the remaining gift, a magical crystal. She will join them, but first they must pass her test. She casts a spell and the crystal turns into a lizard. This scares Mace. Cindel grabs it, though, and it turns into a mouse. For some reason this means they pass the test and they’re at a full roster.

Cocoa: “How was that a test?“

Sora: “Uh, magic?“

We watch the caravan walk for a bit.

Cocoa: “Why is Mace dressed like a… a… “

Sora: “Like a Rebel pilot?“

Cocoa: “Thank you! Are his parents poor? Do they have to shop at the army surplus store?“

Sora: “Maybe they’re just really big fans of Rebels? And Jedi?“

While they’re taking a break and looking at the detailed map (which looks like it was drawn in crayon) Mace touches the water of a pond and is sucked in somehow. He can’t get back up.

Cocoa: “Why the hell does he keep touching things?!“

Sora: “Cindel is less trouble than him and she’s practically a toddler!“

When this happens, Cindel is busy playing rock baseball with Wicket but somehow sees him from thirty feet away while he’s at the bottom of the pond and her back was turned. They rush to save him but can’t breach the water. Cindel suggests Wicket use his magic stick. He does and Mace is saved.

Sora: “That makes me angry. NONE of that was explained!“

Cocoa: “I think they’re trying to show that the land is cursed or enchanted or something? I don’t know why they’re playing around, though, while everything is trying to kill them.“

Wicket swings on a tree branch and scares the horse. It runs off with Cindel inside the litter.

Axe-Guy hops on a horse and chases after the runaway horse. For a very long time in a weird chase scene. He gets the horse under control and the little girl is safe. They walk on and we see a montage of scenes of them walking around, making camp, walking more.

Now there's fairies. (Credit: LucasFilm)

In a tent, Cindel comments how her magic candle never goes out.

Sora: “They gave her a mystical nightlight.“

As Mace drowses, a cartoon fairy flies by the tent, getting his attention.

Sora: “Ugh, he’s gonna touch that now.“

Cocoa: “He never learns.“

You just know none of this is going to be explained. (Credit: LucasFilm)

A whole bunch of fairies fly all over the camp, pestering the Ewoks.

Sora: “Uh, narrator? Where are you? We could sure use some context… “

Cocoa: “Haha that Ewok looks like a dirty teddy bear they found on a bus and put into the movie.“

Cindel comes out of the tent with her magic candle and the Priestess gestures for her to put it on the ground. She does, and the fairies swirl around, getting sucked into the candle flame.

Sora: “And still the narrator is silent. Some exposition would be great right about now.“

One fairy was left and she doesn’t look like she can fly. Mace speculates that she’s lost from her family like they are.

Cocoa: “But they’re right there in the candle! Your family’s dead, kid!“

In another scene (maybe the same night? Not sure.) Cindel complains about being hungry and they eat Wicket’s little… whatever they are.

Cocoa: “Sensu beans?“

Sora: “Scooby snacks?“

Cocoa: “Wicket Wafers.“

Sora: “You win.“

The fairy flies around making them laugh, and this sequence goes on way too long.

They voyage on, and Mace appears to have some sort of axe made of ship parts.

Cocoa: “Where’d he get the floppy disk axe?“

Sora: “I don’t think they showed. Or I was taking notes and missed it.“

Cocoa: “I think they just made him a toy and took his gun. They realized it would be safer for the Ewoks to have it.“

They walk around in the desert and the narrator finally pipes in, saying they’re in a desert.

Sora: “Ugh! So useful! Where were you when there were fairies flying all over, man? We don’t even know what they’re called!“

Cocoa: “God, I feel so bad for those actors. It’s gotta be scorching in those suits.“

Across the desert they finally reach the lair of the dreaded Gorax. Mace wonders how to get up there since there’s nothing but rocks. The Priestess gestures that he should use his magic rock. He realizes that he threw it away.

Cocoa: “He’s not Mace Windu, he’s Mace Losedu.“

Sora: <Laughs.> “I love you.“

Who keeps giving this kid a gun? So irresponsible. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Wicket gives Mace the rock and Cindel looks annoyed.

Cocoa: “She looks like she’s had it with her big brother. Like, I’m not doing anything and I’m still contributing more than you!“

Mace realizes the rock is hollow. He breaks it open and there’s an arrowhead inside.

Sora: “Oh, I guess he doesn’t throw it at the ogre. Oh well. That would’ve made too much sense. What’s the point of the rock then? Couldn’t Logray have just given him the arrowhead?“

The arrowhead is set on the ground and moves on its own, showing the secret entrance to the lair. But it’s blocked by a giant rock that’s too big to move. Mace asks for his gun.

Cocoa: “No, don’t give him the gun!“

They give him the gun. He blasts an opening in the rock.

Sora: “Yeesh, that rock just exploded. Blasters do not work like that.“

Cocoa: “Whoa, he hit what he shot at. And no one died.”

They enter the cave.

Cocoa: “I want to be a warrior Ewok.“

Sora: “I believe in you.“

Inside the cave, Deej decides the little ones should stay behind where it’s safe. Mace agrees.

Cocoa: “We took you all the way through this dangerous journey to leave you in a cave.“

Sora: “Well, how else will they get in trouble and have to be saved?“

Cocoa: “And what do they mean little? All the Ewoks are little!”

Despite Cocoa’s protests, Cindel, Wicket, and one of Wicket’s brothers are left behind. (Widdle?) The other ones put on their little winged magic hats.

Cocoa: “Wait, that little one being left behind has a magic hat too! Shouldn’t he be going with them?“

Sora: “I think Logray just gave that to him because everyone else was getting presents.“

No one ever wonders if a giant web might have a giant spider... (Credit: LucasFilm)

They have to cross a bottomless pit on a precarious spider web.

Cocoa: <Shudders.> “Spiders. Why’s it always have to be spiders?“

Spider Muppet, Spider Muppet... does whatever a Spider Muppet can. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Mace crosses quickly and tells the others to follow and that it’s safe. It’s not safe. One of the Ewoks almost gets eaten by a huge space spider.

Cocoa: “Nooo, eww. No! I see the strings. Nooooo!“

Sora: “This is awesome. Every movie should be like this.“

The Priestess saves him by waving the crystal around and Axe-Guy cuts one part of the web.

Cocoa: “That one cut brought the whole thing down.“

Sora: “It was a lode-bearing strand.“

Cocoa: “And there goes the spider.“

The spider falls to its death. Mace helpfully says, “That was close, you guys are great!“ The Priestess replies with “Hoonda.“

Cocoa: “I think that’s Ewok for ‘asshole‘.“

Sora: “Totally..“

Watch the hand, kid. (Credit: LucasFilm)

They come to an enormous staircase where the steps are almost as tall as them. They crawl up them one by one.

Sora: “That looks exhausting.“

Cocoa: “The poor actors.“

The spider reappears and attacks the kids. Wicket shanks it without hesitation.

Cocoa: “God, Wicket!”

Sora: “Little badass.“

“Yerdle“ says Wicket.

Sora: “Yerdle?“

Cocoa: “Yerdle.“

At the top of the stairs the Gorax arrives. He’s huge.

Sora: “Is this… are they doing Jack and the Beanstalk?“

I think he sees them as parakeets or something. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Mace sees his parents in the cage. An Ewok knocks over the ogre’s huge axe and throws a rock at him, getting his attention. He continues to play as bait while Mace and the others use Gorax’s axe as a catapult to fling Mace up to the cage holding a rope. I call the move “reckless” but it’s effective and he climbs in, reunites with his parents and lowers the rope. Axe-Guy climbs up to help and the dad looks suspiciously at him. “What is that?“ he asks.

Cocoa: “They’re all rascist against Ewoks.“

Sora: “Xenophobia starts at home.“

They finally have parents. (Credit: LucasFilm)

The bait Ewok hides under a basket and the Gorax steps on it. They wait a beat before showing it’s empty.

Sora: “That seems way too obvious. But I bet it scared some kids who watched this and thought the Ewok got squished.“

Cocoa: “Probably the same pansy-ass kids who were scared of the Dark Crystal.“

Sora: “Hey, the Skeksis were scary!“

Mace and the parents climb down. The Gorax arrives, almost getting Axe-Guy, who’s still climbing down the rope. He falls and Dad catches him.

Axe-Guy attacks the Gorax’s foot with his axe but it does nothing. He keeps doing it, though.

Sora: “Crazy little bastard. I like him!“

They all flee, but the web is no longer an escape route. Mace throws his fairy at the Gorax who goes crazy and knocks rocks down. One rock hits Axe-Guy.

Mace tries to help him, but it’s too late. Axe-Guy touches him on the nose, gives him his axe, and dies.

Cocoa: “Nooooo!“

Sora: “Whoa, he dies? Seriously?”

Cocoa: “I didn’t remember that! I thought Mace’s parents died!“

Sora: “Poor Axe-Guy!“

As the Gorax walks down the stairs the Ewoks trip him and he almost falls into the pit. The Priestess uses her crystal to knock a stalactite onto his head.

She likes shooting things as much as her son does. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Mom grabs the blaster and shoots the Gorax. He falls down the pit.

Sora: “Is it just me or is it strange that she’s the one who kills the Gorax?“

Cocoa: “I think it’s like loosening a pickle jar. The rest started it and she just finished it off.“

Sora: “Makes sense, but story-wise it’s anti-climactic.“

The kids are in danger again. (Credit: LucasFilm)

They have a moment of sadness that Axe-Guy died. Only a moment. The kids have arrived across the pit. The Gorax reappears from the pit and tries to eat Cindel.

Mace throws Axe-Guy’s axe and the Gorax falls to his death again. This time for good.

Sora: “Okay, there. That’s a way more satisfying death for him than having the mom shoot him. It ticks all the boxes. Mace has stepped up and did something right. He used his dead friend’s weapon to save his sister and Wicket. Well done.“

Mace swings over to Cindel on the vine in a move that reminds us of Luke in the first Star Wars.

Cocoa: “Kiss her! No wait, don’t put that in the post.“

Sora: <Laughing.> “It’s totally going in the post.“

The parents finally reunite with their kids. The dad is very proud of them. The Ewoks chuckle. They all leave the cave somehow. Mace says goodbye to his fairy and cries.

Cocoa: “Are the rest of them still in the candle?“

Sora: “They’re happy there.“

(Note: As I was researching this post I see that the candle is actually what turned into that fairy. Her name is Queen Izrina. None of that was explained and we missed that the candle transformed. Just another point where this movie was way too confusing and vague.)

PARTAY! (With a bunny.) (Credit: LucasFilm)

Back at the Warrick hut we see a classic Ewok celebration. Music, food, dancing, a bunny, everything you would expect.

Sora: “Ain’t no party like an Ewok party.“

Cindel gets a wing hat. Wicket dances and Dad tells Deej that they should both be proud papas. Deej laughs at this and agrees.

Let's all do the Wicket dance. (Credit: LucasFilm)

The narrator returns, saying that they all learned that courage, loyalty, and love are the strongest forces in the universe. Which they already knew, he adds.

Sora: “So they learned nothing?“

Cocoa: <Laughs.>

End credits roll.

SoraRabbits Thoughts: “This was actually a pretty enjoyable movie. Smaller in scope than the films in the original trilogy but still full of action and nice character moments. I know we gave Mace a lot of crap, but even he had a character arc. I just hope he learns to stop touching things. Even though we established that they ultimately learned nothing from this.”

Cocoa: “Mace didn’t learn shit.“

Sora: “Everything they set up paid off and there was a relatively happy ending. Except for poor Axe-Guy. It was kind of cheap and predictable at spots, but they did well using a TV budget, I think. I especially like that they built a hang glider and had a guy in an Ewok suit flying around on it. You could tell that wasn’t green screened because the parts that were were really obvious. They had a lot of space animals that looked suspiciously like Earth animals for being a race of warrior farmer bears on a different planet.”

This is a prime IMDB profile pic. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Cocoashade’s Thoughts: Watching it again, I still hate Mace. When I was a kid I didn’t catch that Wicket’s family lives on the ground, I’m not sure why. Is it a hierarchy thing?”

Sora: “Oh, I bet it was because they had all those animals and they couldn’t get the space llamas into the trees!“

Cocoa: “Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Mace was all over the place. And why did they have a narrator? He was only there sometimes. Not helpful. And I really feel bad for the actors in those hot suits in the desert. And how did they see through those glass doll eyes? Did they take the eyes out and have to snap them back in?“

Sora: “I still can’t believe Axe-Guy died.“

Cocoa: “Yeah! I didn’t remember that somehow. Why would they make an Ewok die in a kid’s movie? The 80’s was a different time. We had to see things like that growing up. But to be fair, he did kind of have a red hood so he had to go.“

Sora: “Ah, the old red-shirt trope.“

Cocoa said this one looks like a dirty teddy bear they found in the street. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Cocoa: “It was a lot to pack into an hour and a half. It was a big journey. It’s like Willow or Lord of the Rings but in fur-suits. I think it still holds up.“

Sora: “Same.“

Cocoa: “Oh, but we never got to find out why the parents think Mace is an idiot.“

Sora: “Well… “

Cocoa: “Yeah, I guess we know. But is he the reason the star cruiser crashed?“

Sora: “He probably hit the wrong button. Kid can’t stop touching things.“

So that was Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure! We had so much fun rewatching this and riffing it. But the fun isn’t over yet! Yes, this post is Part 1 of 2. As I was putting this post together I realized it would be way too long, so I split it into two posts. In the next post we’ll cover the sequel to this movie and talk a bit about the legacy of the duology.

They're walking towards that painting. (Credit: LucasFilm)

Thank you for joining me and my lovely cohost in revisiting a piece of our childhoods. This was a lot of fun and we’re only halfway through! Join us next time for Part 2 in the Ewok Duology: Wicket’s Revenge! (At least I think that’s what I remember it being called.)

Hi.

Sep 13 076: The Ewok Duology Part 1

Hi.

Sep 13 076: The Ewok Duology Part 1

Sep 16 077: The Ewok Duology Part 2

Aug 12 075: SoraRabbit Watches: Star Wars The Clone Wars Season Three

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