As previously announced, a slew of classic Star Wars content was released on Disney+ today.
This “Vintage Collection” includes several long out-of-print titles including the live-action Ewok films, the Ewoks cartoon, an animated segment from The Star Wars Holiday Special, and the 2003 Clone Wars microseries. This is the first time any of them have been available in HD on streaming or otherwise. It is worth mentioned that since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, all of these properties have been designated “Legends” status. In other words, they are no longer part of the official Star Wars continuity.
In addition to those that were added today, Lucasfilm also announced that the 1985 cartoon series Droids would be added to the service later in the year. A specific date was not mentioned.
The Ewok films- Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor– aired on ABC in the 1980s following the release of Return of the Jedi. Both films featured Warwick Davis reprising his role as Wicket and were developed from story treatments by George Lucas. The films made their home video debut on DVD in 2004 by 20th Century Fox. As of 2021, they have been long out of print.
The Ewoks cartoon, which also aired on ABC, took place before the events of Return of the Jedi and the live-action spin-offs. Premiering alongside the other Star Wars cartoon Droids, the series followed Wicket, Teebo, and several other Ewoks as they went on adventures on the planet of Endor. Despite many of the episodes being released on VHS, the full series has never been available on home video.
Star Wars: Clone Wars, the 2003 microseries, was Lucasfilm’s first attempt at bridging the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. This series was made up of short segments which originally premiered on Cartoon Network and led up to the release of Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The later CGI series used several aspects featured here, including the character of Asajj Ventress. This series was released on DVD across two volumes in 2005 and featured behind the scenes content. Those DVDs are now long out-of-print.
As somewhat of a bonus, The Story of the Faithful Wookiee, originally part of The Star Wars Holiday Special, also made its streaming debut. This short cartoon marked the debut fan-favorite character Boba Fett, who would later appear in The Empire Strikes Back. The only official home video release was as an Easter egg in the 2012 Blu-ray box set of the Star Wars saga.
Source: StarWars.com
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