I just wanted to begin
this blog entry off by saying thank you to everyone who offered up
suggestions for All-Request Wednesday this week. The range of topics
that I have gotten from readers like you have been remarkable, and I
thank you for giving me so many choices.
In fact, the choices that
you gave me for this week were so unique, creative, and fun that I
had a heck of a time trying to choose the one that I was going to
talk about this week. All of them were so good, I just couldn't pick
one on my gut.
So, what I did was take
all of the entries, put them in the baseball cap that I wear outside
in the Garden Centre area, and choose one at random. And, today's
winner is...
...Bailey C. of
Ontario, Canada!
Remember,
if you want to suggest an idea for the Pop Culture Addict's Guide to
Life All-Request Wednesday, there are a couple of ways to do it. If
you use Facebook on a regular basis, then you can join the official
fan page for the blog, and send me your suggestions there. Or, if
you have a Google+ account, you can also send me your suggestions
there as well.
I
have been considering opening up an account on Twitter as well, in
case you would like a third option to work with...please let me know
if this is what you would like to see, and I will do my best to
incorporate your suggestions.
After
all, Wednesdays are all about you!
So,
let's see what Bailey has suggested that I talk about for this week's
edition.
By
now, I'm sure that most of you have watched at least one of the six
“Star Wars” films. The films made George Lucas a very rich man,
and made household names out of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and
Carrie Fisher. I've seen most of the “Star Wars” films...even
though it wasn't until I was twenty before I saw the original one
from 1977! I'll admit that while I'm not as obsessed over the Star
Wars films as other people out there (loosely translated, I was NOT
one of the ones who camped outside of a movie theater over a two
night period in 1999 just to watch a screening of “Star Wars: The
Phantom Menace”), I do like them because at the time they were
something that was unlike anything else ever seen in the motion
picture industry.
But,
did you know that the huge success of the “Star Wars” series of
movies spawned a series of secondary projects? And, that one of
these secondary projects just happens to be the subject of today's
entry?
So,
I imagine you're asking yourself...what could the subject be about?
Well,
I suppose some of you might be thinking that I'm going to be talking
about the infamous Star Wars Christmas Special. As someone who has
seen the special, I admit that the program made a huge impression –
for all the wrong reasons. But talking about a Christmas special in
the middle of June? I don't think so.
Or,
maybe some of you might be thinking that I will be talking about the
series of children's books that were based on the Star Wars series.
I'll admit that I had one of those books on tape in which Han Solo
and Chewbacca taught the reader all about shapes and colours that I
totally could have done a blog entry on. We're starting to get on
the right track, but no, this entry is not on books.
Well,
how about toys and playsets? Lego came out with Star Wars kits,
there were playsets that were based on key settings and vehicles
shown in the Star Wars series, and I imagine that if you grew up in
the early 1980s, you likely may have played with a Luke Skywalker or
Darth Vader action figure in your youth?
But,
this entry is not about toys.
Rather,
this entry will be about a Saturday morning cartoon. And, naturally,
this was a show that I used to watch every Saturday for the longest
time.
What
was interesting about today's cartoon spotlight was that it was one
half of a one hour program (well, okay, in actuality, the one-hour
showcase was really two 30-minute programs back-to-back).
One
cartoon featured those wonderful Droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, who
embarked on a series of adventures together in an animated series.
And, to be completely honest, I preferred to watch the Droids over
the other cartoon that was paired with it. For one, the theme song
(performed by Stewart Copeland of The Police) was a lot more
catchier, and unlike the other show, the Droids actually had the real
voice of C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). And, I thought that the plotlines
of the Droids series were much more interesting than the other show.
Of
course, that's not to say that I hated the other show. I enjoyed
watching that program as well...just maybe not as much as the Droids.
Though
I will admit...those cuddly “Ewoks” were kind of cute.
So,
Bailey...you suggested that I do a blog on the “Ewoks”, and
“Ewoks” is the blog topic that I will do.
(Wow...that
last sentence was kind of Yoda-esque. I like it!)
Okay,
so as I mentioned before, Ewoks and Droids aired back to back on ABC
between September 1985 and December 1986 in an hour long series
entitled “The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour”. And, did you
know that the cartoon series was a joint production between America's
“Lucasfilm” and Canada's “Nelvana Studios”? No wonder the
program aired on Global Television for what seemed like almost five
years in a row every Saturday afternoon at three!
(I
still can't believe I remember the timeslot the show aired in all
these years later. That's freaky!)
Thirty-five
episodes were produced, and the stars of Ewoks were obviously the
cute looking Ewok characters that were introduced in the movie “Star
Wars: Return of the Jedi”. In fact, if you want to get specific,
the cartoon series acts as a bit of a prequel to the events that took
place in “Return of the Jedi”. The series takes place on Endor,
a moon that unlike the moon in our sky, is filled with lush, green
forests.
The
main character of “Ewoks” is a young Ewok named Wicket W. Warrick
(Jim Henshaw/Denny Delk), who wants nothing more than to be a great
warrior. His desire to be a hero outweighs everything else in his
life, and his headstrong attitude towards life makes him a natural
born leader.
Unfortunately,
his quest to become a leader often leads him straight into the arms
of trouble, as he often finds himself fighting against the Duloks,
and Morag, the Tulgah Witch (Jackie Burroughs). He is the son of
Deej and Shodu, and he is the brother of Weechee, Willy, and Winda.
(And,
yes...all the members of the Warrick family are prominently featured
in the cartoon series.)
Let's
see...who else do we have? Oh, yes, we have Princess Kneesaa a Jari
Kintaka (Cree Summer/Jeanne Reynolds), the daughter of Chirpa, the
Chief of the Ewok tribe.
(TRIVIA:
For years, I always wondered why Princess Kneesaa's voice sounded so
familiar. Then again, Cree Summer also voiced Penny from Inspector
Gadget and Elmyra Fudd from Tiny Toon Adventures, so I suppose that
would explain a lot there.)
Anyway,
Princess Kneesaa may appear to be one of the kindest, most gentlest
Ewoks in the entire Ewok community, and she may appear to be the one
Ewok who seems to have everything together. But Kneesaa's early
childhood (which in the Ewok world was known as experiencing the joys
of being a 'wokling') was filled with tragedy.
It
was very rare for a cartoon to showcase death, especially during the
period known as the 1980s, but Princess Kneesaa's mother met a rather
grisly end. She was trying to protect Kneesaa and Kneesaa's older
sister, Asha from a deadly Hanadak, but she ended up losing her life
in the attack. Worse, Kneesaa thought that Asha had met a similar
fate when she went missing during the Hanadak attack.
So,
imagine everyone's surprise when Asha turned up alive! Here, I'll
post that episode below. This episode originally aired on November
30, 1985.
TRIVIA:
I guess this is as good a time to explain why Princess Kneesaa
always wore that pink hood with the blue gem attached to it. That
gemstone was the last present that Kneesaa received from Asha shortly
before her disappearance.
Other
characters of the show included Teebo (Jim Cranna), Wicket's best
friend, who wanted nothing more than to listen to tales involving
sorcery and magic, even becoming the apprentice of Master Logray.
Teebo's younger sister, Malani (Alyson Court) also appears in the
series. We also have the flute playing Latara, who is Kneesaa's best
friend, and who just wants to play music all day and all of the
night. Rounding out the cast is Kneesaa's cousin, Paploo, who may
appear to be older than the other Ewoks...but not necessarily the
wisest.
Now,
you might be wondering why in some cases, there are two different
voice actors credited for the same role. Well, although the series
did last two seasons, there was a major change in the style of the
series in between seasons. The writing in the first season was a lot
more sophisticated, as compared to the second season, which to me
appeared to be slightly dumbed down. As a result of the changes,
some of the voice cast was also replaced. I didn't particularly like
the second season of the Ewoks...I much prefered the first. But,
that was just me, I guess.
At
any rate, the show did spawn some merchandising opportunities. A
line of action figures based on the cartoon series was launched in
1985, which also included play sets and vehicle/spaceship models.
There was even a comic book adaptation that ran for fourteen issues
produced by Marvel Comics between 1985 and 1987.
And,
as I close this chapter on the Ewoks for All-Request Wednesday...why
not post another episode for you to watch? After all, I feel that
while I could talk for ages about the Ewoks...a video link from
YouTube is worth a million words.
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