I was watching a show called Toy Hunters and...

[s-man]

I found out something that I didn't know and now that I do it makes me want to slap George Lucas upside the head about!

 

WOOKIES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BATTLE OF ENDOR, NOT EWOKS!!!

 

Apparently Lucas thought Ewoks would be more "family friendly". What an idiotic move! Think of how much better the ending would've been with a Wookie war!

[Conan_Aficionado]

As a 10 year, it was better than any other Star Wars movie I had seen, as an adult, it pretty much stinks. I think that for the age demographic that the movie was targeted for, that the choice to use the ewoks was the better choice.

[plady69]

I happened to catch this show as well.

 

Seems like prices were pretty weak on the toys he bought then sold. Seems like they were NM on card. Of course I know nothing about the market!

[s-man]

As a 10 year, it was better than any other Star Wars movie I had seen, as an adult, it pretty much stinks. I think that for the age demographic that the movie was targeted for, that the choice to use the ewoks was the better choice.

 

Certainly an Ewok is not as scary as a Wookie, but a battle with the Wookie's would've made the movie a much better follow up to the masterpiece that was ESB.

[gcwatson94]

I thought it was a pretty well known fact he had thought about using wookies on endor. I had always heard a different reason for not using them than they wanted it to be kid friendly, what that is reason is I can't recall anymore, but wanting it to be kid friendly certainly isn't an awful reason. We got the wookie battle on kashyyk in revenge of the sith so don't be too upset.

[s-man]

I never heard it, so when I did I was all like

[ComicConnoisseur]

As a 10 year, it was better than any other Star Wars movie I had seen, as an adult, it pretty much stinks. I think that for the age demographic that the movie was targeted for, that the choice to use the ewoks was the better choice.

Just about everything we liked at 10 disappoints us as an adult. I thought Steranko and Neal Adams were great artists as a child only to look at them differently after being exposed to the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Picasso and other great masters of art in college. Same with watching childhood favorite tv shows on DVDs, as I didn`t realize or remember how cheesy the plots or how bad the special effects were back then.

The only collectibles that don`t disappoint my remembrance of them are action figures. Action figures rule! Give me a Star Wars 12 back any day!

[Jeffro.]

Yeah, Ewoks are annoying. However, watching a bunch of little furballs with spears and bows help take out the empire was funny as hell. It's still funnt as hell.

 

However, I'm intrigued by the overwhelming coolness that would have been a planet full of Wookies taking on the empire.

[supapimp]

I found out something that I didn't know and now that I do it makes me want to slap George Lucas upside the head about!

 

WOOKIES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BATTLE OF ENDOR, NOT EWOKS!!!

 

Apparently Lucas thought Ewoks would be more "family friendly". What an idiotic move! Think of how much better the ending would've been with a Wookie war!

 

and in other news the sky is blue and water is wet.

[Brian48]

I have one of the ST specials/documentaries on DVD from one of the box sets. Being family friendly may have been an added plus in regards to the use (and marketing) of the Ewoks, but the reason Lucas gave as to why they nixed the Wookie idea was very different. The story needed a primitive, but fierst race of animal-like warriors overcoming a more technologically advanced enemy, the whole David vs Goliath thing. The natural choice was the Wookies, but since the Wookies had already mastered space travel, that didn't really make sense. It was then decided to come up with the Ewoks.

 

Pretty lame either way. Thought it was a terrible movie and is no better than any of the recent efforts.

[Mephisto]

I found out something that I didn't know and now that I do it makes me want to slap George Lucas upside the head about!

 

WOOKIES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BATTLE OF ENDOR, NOT EWOKS!!!

 

Apparently Lucas thought Ewoks would be more "family friendly". What an idiotic move! Think of how much better the ending would've been with a Wookie war!

 

Why do you think they used Wookies in Revenge of the Sith...although it didn't help that movie any.

[MrBedrock]

As a 10 year, it was better than any other Star Wars movie I had seen, as an adult, it pretty much stinks. I think that for the age demographic that the movie was targeted for, that the choice to use the ewoks was the better choice.

 

Certainly an Ewok is not as scary as a Wookie, but a battle with the Wookie's would've made the movie a much better follow up to the masterpiece that was ESB.

A battle of Gungans would have been even better.

[The Troll King]

I have one of the ST specials/documentaries on DVD from one of the box sets. Being family friendly may have been an added plus in regards to the use (and marketing) of the Ewoks, but the reason Lucas gave as to why they nixed the Wookie idea was very different. The story needed a primitive, but fierst race of animal-like warriors overcoming a more technologically advanced enemy, the whole David vs Goliath thing. The natural choice was the Wookies, but since the Wookies had already mastered space travel, that didn't really make sense. It was then decided to come up with the Ewoks.

 

Pretty lame either way. Thought it was a terrible movie and is no better than any of the recent efforts.

 

This is more or less correct. By the time Empire was made it was already established that Chewbacca and any other Wookies would have been far too advanced for being the "primitives" living in the trees. After all, he was the co-pilot of the Falcon.

 

Since Chewbacca was tall, the extreme opposite was used of smaller "furry" creatures instead.

 

Of course, the Star Wars Holiday Special is thrown out the window because it clearly depicted the Wookies living in a much more primitive, "Ewok" style.

 

I have defended ROTJ more than once on these boards as to the significance of the story-line going on between father and son (and daughter in some respect) which I will not rehash again. To sum it up, ROTJ (even with the Ewok battle filler) IMO is the best written of the originals based on its thought provoking dynamic of a family relationship.

 

What's interesting too is that many of us were somewhere between the age of 5-10 when Star Wars was first released. Empire was released 3 years later and Jedi 3 years after that. The difference, especially in the late 70's and early 80's as our world was starting to change rapidly with computer technology, in 6 years is quite significant. Someone who was 5-6 when they saw the first one was now 11-12 and if you were 10 when you saw the original you were now 16 when Jedi came out. The mental differences between those ages is tremendous and most 16 year olds were going to immediately reject the Ewoks as being too "childlike".

 

If anything, the major failing of the original films is that they didn't mature with their audience over that given time frame. I don't expect anyone to agree with me on the matter of ROTJ being the better film, as far as storyline and structure, because far too many people made up their minds when they were kids and haven't ever looked at it objectively since. As an adult, I can see past all the space battles and explosions and focus more on the story, ROTJ is the one that keeps me most interested.

[ComicConnoisseur]

I have one of the ST specials/documentaries on DVD from one of the box sets. Being family friendly may have been an added plus in regards to the use (and marketing) of the Ewoks, but the reason Lucas gave as to why they nixed the Wookie idea was very different. The story needed a primitive, but fierst race of animal-like warriors overcoming a more technologically advanced enemy, the whole David vs Goliath thing. The natural choice was the Wookies, but since the Wookies had already mastered space travel, that didn't really make sense. It was then decided to come up with the Ewoks.

 

Pretty lame either way. Thought it was a terrible movie and is no better than any of the recent efforts.

 

This is more or less correct. By the time Empire was made it was already established that Chewbacca and any other Wookies would have been far too advanced for being the "primitives" living in the trees. After all, he was the co-pilot of the Falcon.

 

Since Chewbacca was tall, the extreme opposite was used of smaller "furry" creatures instead.

 

Of course, the Star Wars Holiday Special is thrown out the window because it clearly depicted the Wookies living in a much more primitive, "Ewok" style.

 

I have defended ROTJ more than once on these boards as to the significance of the story-line going on between father and son (and daughter in some respect) which I will not rehash again. To sum it up, ROTJ (even with the Ewok battle filler) IMO is the best written of the originals based on its thought provoking dynamic of a family relationship.

 

What's interesting too is that many of us were somewhere between the age of 5-10 when Star Wars was first released. Empire was released 3 years later and Jedi 3 years after that. The difference, especially in the late 70's and early 80's as our world was starting to change rapidly with computer technology, in 6 years is quite significant. Someone who was 5-6 when they saw the first one was now 11-12 and if you were 10 when you saw the original you were now 16 when Jedi came out. The mental differences between those ages is tremendous and most 16 year olds were going to immediately reject the Ewoks as being too "childlike".

I agree,and that was my theory with the recent Spider-man trilogy. My nephews seen the first movie when they were 10 and 11 and loved it, but by the time the third one came out they were 16 and 17 had grown up and thought the third Spider-man movie was campy and lame. (thumbs u

[joe_collector]

ITo sum it up, ROTJ (even with the Ewok battle filler) IMO is the best written of the originals based on its thought provoking dynamic of a family relationship.

 

What's interesting too is that many of us were somewhere between the age of 5-10 when Star Wars was first released. Empire was released 3 years later and Jedi 3 years after that. The difference, especially in the late 70's and early 80's as our world was starting to change rapidly with computer technology, in 6 years is quite significant. Someone who was 5-6 when they saw the first one was now 11-12 and if you were 10 when you saw the original you were now 16 when Jedi came out.

 

If anything, the major failing of the original films is that they didn't mature with their audience over that given time frame.

 

Sorry, but this is absolute BS and somehow assumes that no children were born since 1970 or so.

 

In the real world, every year kids, pre-teens and teens got a year older, and this recycling nature of the human race ensured there would also be an ample target market at all age groups. Lucas created the Ewoks to sell toys and other licensed paraphernalia to the little kids, some of whom weren't even born when SW was released.

 

You are looking at it from an extremely insular view, as is Lucas created the original Star Wars *only* for the 5-6 year old audience, and the sequels can only be viewed from that single point in time.

 

I remember going nuts over Star Wars, then ESB, and by the time ROTJ (the weakest of the OT - or as Fincher (who worked on it) called the movie, " a steaming pile of sheit") rolled around there was a whole new generation of SW fans filing into theaters.

 

I was amazed at how many "little kids" went to ESB and ROTJ with lightsabers in hand - I also had younger siblings, and kids still wanted SW toys (I still remember my sister buying ROTJ SW figures for some boys in her class) and the fad was still going strong in 1983.

[The Troll King]

ITo sum it up, ROTJ (even with the Ewok battle filler) IMO is the best written of the originals based on its thought provoking dynamic of a family relationship.

 

What's interesting too is that many of us were somewhere between the age of 5-10 when Star Wars was first released. Empire was released 3 years later and Jedi 3 years after that. The difference, especially in the late 70's and early 80's as our world was starting to change rapidly with computer technology, in 6 years is quite significant. Someone who was 5-6 when they saw the first one was now 11-12 and if you were 10 when you saw the original you were now 16 when Jedi came out.

 

If anything, the major failing of the original films is that they didn't mature with their audience over that given time frame.

 

Sorry, but this is absolute BS and somehow assumes that no children were born since 1970 or so.

 

In the real world, every year kids, pre-teens and teens got a year older, and this recycling nature of the human race ensured there would also be an ample target market at all age groups.

 

I remember going nuts over Star Wars, then ESB, and by the time ROTJ (the weakest of the OT - or as Fincher (who worked on it) called the movie, " a steaming pile of sheit") rolled around there was a whole new generation of SW fans filing into theaters.

 

I was amazed at how many "little kids" went to ESB and ROTJ with lightsabers in hand - I also had younger siblings, and kids still wanted SW toys (I still remember my sister buying ROTJ SW figures for some boys in her class) and the fad was still going strong in 1983.

 

You're missing the point. The younger kids that weren't old enough to see Star Wars in the theater and only saw ROTJ accepted the Ewoks and loved them! It wasn't until they got a little older when it wasn't "cool" to like Ewoks any more.

 

I say this from the experience of having sold the vintage toys for many years. The Ewoks had more figures, vehicles, playsets, stuffed dolls, etc. made for them than any other single focus from any of the movies. That is a simple fact. People loved those damn furry beasts!

 

Regardless of the Ewoks, it doesn't have anything to do with the strength of the story in ROTJ. If you were following properly you would have seen that I said that. The story remains strong despite the Ewoks. I feel that there is such hatred of them that it prevents open-mindedness for the rest of the film, that's all.

[joe_collector]

I agree,and that was my theory with the recent Spider-man trilogy. My nephews seen the first movie when they were 10 and 11 and loved it, but by the time the third one came out they were 16 and 17 had grown up and thought the third Spider-man movie was campy and lame. (thumbs u

 

, my youngest kid watched Spidey 3 on the Movie Channel one afternoon, and couldn't stop laughing at how stupid it was. She must have repeated "Berneeeerd! Make me a sandwich" (or whatever the exact comment was) for months.

 

Spidey 3 is just a horrible movie, no matter if you're 4 or 94, and anything else is just fanboy rationalization.

[The Troll King]

Interesting edit you added there while I had quoted yoru post.

 

[joe_collector]

You're missing the point.

 

Instead of saying this fanboy cliche, why not just say what you think:

 

I am sooooo angry you don't agree with meeee!!

 

And once again, I was replying to this insular comment:

 

If anything, the major failing of the original films is that they didn't mature with their audience over that given time frame.

 

Get it? "Their audience" in terms of the films, was *not* solely 5-6 year olds, but anyone from 4 to 94 who wanted to see the film, so since humanity recycles itself, there was no reason to "mature" for one single year of children.

[ComicConnoisseur]

ITo sum it up, ROTJ (even with the Ewok battle filler) IMO is the best written of the originals based on its thought provoking dynamic of a family relationship.

 

What's interesting too is that many of us were somewhere between the age of 5-10 when Star Wars was first released. Empire was released 3 years later and Jedi 3 years after that. The difference, especially in the late 70's and early 80's as our world was starting to change rapidly with computer technology, in 6 years is quite significant. Someone who was 5-6 when they saw the first one was now 11-12 and if you were 10 when you saw the original you were now 16 when Jedi came out.

 

If anything, the major failing of the original films is that they didn't mature with their audience over that given time frame.

 

Sorry, but this is absolute BS and somehow assumes that no children were born since 1970 or so.

 

In the real world, every year kids, pre-teens and teens got a year older, and this recycling nature of the human race ensured there would also be an ample target market at all age groups.

 

I remember going nuts over Star Wars, then ESB, and by the time ROTJ (the weakest of the OT - or as Fincher (who worked on it) called the movie, " a steaming pile of sheit") rolled around there was a whole new generation of SW fans filing into theaters.

 

I was amazed at how many "little kids" went to ESB and ROTJ with lightsabers in hand - I also had younger siblings, and kids still wanted SW toys (I still remember my sister buying ROTJ SW figures for some boys in her class) and the fad was still going strong in 1983.

 

You're missing the point. The younger kids that weren't old enough to see Star Wars in the theater and only saw ROTJ accepted the Ewoks and loved them! It wasn't until they got a little older when it wasn't "cool" to like Ewoks any more.

 

I say this from the experience of having sold the vintage toys for many years. The Ewoks had more figures, vehicles, playsets, stuffed dolls, etc. made for them than any other single focus from any of the movies. That is a simple fact. People loved those damn furry beasts!

 

Regardless of the Ewoks, it doesn't have anything to do with the strength of the story in ROTJ. If you were following properly you would have seen that I said that. The story remains strong despite the Ewoks. I feel that there is such hatred of them that it prevents open-mindedness for the rest of the film, that's all.

I like Ewoks. I am not one of those dark n gritty all serious Watchmen fans. (thumbs u