Many obscure pieces of Star Wars history will become officially available on Disney+ next month, including the original Clone Wars series from Genndy Tartakovsky.
Disney+ is pulling from the back catalog of Star Wars properties created before they acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, making some somewhat inaccessible content available officially. Most notable is the animated series Clone Wars helmed by Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky. The micro-series originally ran on the Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005, in the space between the releases of Star Wars Episodes II and III, and offered lots of action in smaller segments.
George Lucas later produced the more familiar CG series The Clone Wars after Episode III, contradicting the continuity of Tartakovsky’s series. However, the animated version of events introduces many elements that are canon, such as the reason for General Greivous’ cough, Anakin’s promotion from padawan to Jedi Knight, and the debut of the lightsaber Luke would later inherit. Many of the background Jedi from the films feature prominently here, as they did in the later series—characters that may barely speak on the silver screen, but received robust backgrounds through the combined Clone Wars tales, like Luminara Unduli and Kit Fisto. Count Dooku’s apprentice Asaaj Ventress also appears for the first time.
The rest of the Disney+ new additions are from darker and furrier niches of the Star Wars universe. Star Wars: Ewoks, the 26-episode animated series from 1985, will be available in entirety, as well as the live-action specials Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Lucas had learned from the embarrassing Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978 and took a more active role in producing these films about two human children trying to find their parents with the help of the scrappy Ewoks. Caravan of Courage is narrated by Burl Ives, and Wilford Brimley stars in The Battle for Endor, with Warwick Davis reprising the role of Wicket from The Return of the Jedi.
Speaking of the ill-fated holiday special, it will also be available on Disney+ — or rather, one segment of it. The animated tale The Story of the Faithful Wookiee will be published as a standalone short, produced by the legendary Canadian studio Nelvana. It’s notable for including the very first appearance of Boba Fett, who rescues Luke and Han from a dragon-like monster only to betray them to Darth Vader.
The addition of these Legends materials could be seen as a move toward legitimizing them for the current Canon, or just giving faithful fans a place to view these obscure pieces of history officially. Boba Fett’s appearance is the main reason to seek out the embarrassing Holiday Special, after all, so maybe the rest of it can fade further into obscurity.
These five adventures will join the rest of the Star Wars canon on Disney+ April 2.
