I remember loving the Ewoks cartoon as a kid but hadn't seen it in more than 30 years.
But as it is available on Disney+ now, I had to rewatch the entire series again. The closest comparison I have is Disney's Gummi Bears, although to be fair, the Gummi Bears is a much better show.
The Ewoks sport the typical 1980s animation style. Personally, I love it, though that might be because that's the sort of thing I grew up with. The Disney stuff is even better/smoother in terms of animation of course, but otherwise, I take your scruffy 80s animation over 3d renderings like the Clone Wars any day.
As for the content, I found it interesting how different seasons 1 & 2 were in terms of character development. They've really revamped their characters. In season 2, they were way more cliché than in season 1, every Ewok has his or her stick that defines them. I get what they were going for and given another season or two they might have found their voice, but it never really found its footing in the first two seasons for me.
Similarly, pretty much every episode had their bad guy of the week which eventually felt too contrived. In season 1, that was still slightly better with the evil witch Morag as the main antagonist, but unfortunately, they got rid of her at some point.
The writing is average, the characters cute, the Star Wars connection virtually non-existent save for the penultimate episode. The world building is a bit too much "out there" as in it being quite convenient that there's a place, a race, a villain, etc. Nearby for any whim the writers may have.
Ultimately, it's an average 80s cartoon with its typical episodic nature, cookie cutter characters (at least in season 2), convenient writing, etc. Definitely for kids, though for people like me there's of course also the nostalgia factor which is why I watched it to its end.
But as it is available on Disney+ now, I had to rewatch the entire series again. The closest comparison I have is Disney's Gummi Bears, although to be fair, the Gummi Bears is a much better show.
The Ewoks sport the typical 1980s animation style. Personally, I love it, though that might be because that's the sort of thing I grew up with. The Disney stuff is even better/smoother in terms of animation of course, but otherwise, I take your scruffy 80s animation over 3d renderings like the Clone Wars any day.
As for the content, I found it interesting how different seasons 1 & 2 were in terms of character development. They've really revamped their characters. In season 2, they were way more cliché than in season 1, every Ewok has his or her stick that defines them. I get what they were going for and given another season or two they might have found their voice, but it never really found its footing in the first two seasons for me.
Similarly, pretty much every episode had their bad guy of the week which eventually felt too contrived. In season 1, that was still slightly better with the evil witch Morag as the main antagonist, but unfortunately, they got rid of her at some point.
The writing is average, the characters cute, the Star Wars connection virtually non-existent save for the penultimate episode. The world building is a bit too much "out there" as in it being quite convenient that there's a place, a race, a villain, etc. Nearby for any whim the writers may have.
Ultimately, it's an average 80s cartoon with its typical episodic nature, cookie cutter characters (at least in season 2), convenient writing, etc. Definitely for kids, though for people like me there's of course also the nostalgia factor which is why I watched it to its end.