[7.4/10] It can be tricky to approach movies and television shows aimed at children but from before your time. Revisiting something from your own childhood comes with an easier ability to slip in that kid sensibility once again, appreciating what your past self felt for those well-loved stories, even if it’s tougher to feel the same thing as a crusty old grown-up. Even unseen family films from the time period of your childhood can be easier to connect with, since they’re built around a style and vision that will be more familiar. But the further back you go, the harder it is to forge those connections for movies targeted at another age group and another time.

Then a movie like *Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure* comes along. (Read: debuted almost forty years ago.) And it’s not for me exactly, but it’s surprisingly easy to understand how a ten-year-old watching in 1984 could fall completely in love with it.

The reasons this might not be especially accessible to adults are myriad. The story is basic to the point of being stock. Mace, a young boy, and his sister, Cindel, are separated from their parents after crash-landing on the forest moon of Endor. They must band together with the Ewoks from a local village to rescue their mom and dad from the evil Gorax, a gnarly monster holding Mace’s parents captive in a faraway land from which no Ewok has ever returned.

It’s the closest Star Wars has come to *Lord of the Rings*. The story dispenses with all but the barest trappings of science fiction and goes full high fantasy. An eclectic group of brave moppets, wizards, and warriors goes on a grand journey to save the day, fending off feral beasts, traversing great gaps, tangling with evil spiders, and pushing fearsome monsters in large chasms. There’s a raft of magic at play, with visions of faraway lands and enchanted objects, and even a Tinkerbelle-esque fairy to aid our heroes at a choice moment. Experienced viewers will recognize the familiar tropes at play, deployed without much in the way of twists.

But there’s a charm in the simplicity. The story is accessible, easy for young men and women to place themselves into. The stakes are clear, with the lives of Mace and Cindel’s parents on the line. And a tale of a young boy showing bravery, banding together with a group of people who don’t know him or his family, but risk everything to help save them anyway, amounts to the right mix of adventure and aspiration to fuel imaginations at home.

Granted, some of this could only work through the eyes of the child. The young performers who play Mace and Cindel are, god bless them, pretty terrible, and a script full of repetitive dialogue and extreme reactions to seemingly every development does them no favors. The vast majority of the cast is made up of Ewoks who don’t speak English, relying on mascot gestures and tone to communicate to the audience. (Though a narrator -- none other than Burl Ives! -- helps avoid the nonstop Wookie growl problem from *The Star Wars Holiday Special*.) And the movie’s middle is flabby, filled with random interludes of Mace getting trapped in an enchanted pond, Cindel getting caught on a runaway horse, and an extended interlude where they have a giggle-fest with a fairy. It plays like fluff at best and filler at worst.

But some of the material here is transcendent. The production design work of Joe Johnston (one of the first people to play Boba Fett) and his team is remarkable. Part of why it’s easy to understand the appeal of a film like *Caravan of Courage* for youngsters is how inviting and detailed this world is. The homey yet rustic nature of the Ewok’s homes, the imposing architecture of the Gorax’s lair, the bucolic settings our heroes traipse through all have a lived-in quality that makes them feel real at the same time they seem utterly fantastical.

The character and creature design work is also stellar. In truth, most of the Ewoks are kind of ugly. Something about teddy bears with human-like eyes and big teeth detracts from the alleged cuteness. But performers like Warwick Davis inject such life into them in a way that makes the little fluffballs endearing. Without the benefit of dialogue, the performers have to rely on gestures and tone to convey meaning, and it’s a tribute to their talent and professionalism that each feels like full-fledged characters, connected and bonding with the humans in the story, instead of furry appendages.

In the same vein, there’s a real menace to the larger fauna our heroes encounter. A giant rat-dog chasing the titular caravan inspires a fearsomeness in his gait and snapping jaws. A large spider is a little more evident as a puppet, but has an appropriately grotquese look. The Gorax is an achievement in and of itself, sharing an ugly-yet-terrifying aesthetic with some superb movement and effects work to create the impression of a lumbering giant threatening the despite their best-laid plans. Much of *Caravan of Courage* shares a vibe with Jim Henson’s fantasy productions like *Labyrinth* and *The Dark Crystal*, and the sharp use of puppetry only helps add to that.

At the same time, the film’s score helps make a fairly simple tale feel like an epic adventure. Peter Bernstein’s theme is oddly reminiscent of the theme song to the 1960s *Star Trek* series, but also hits the right swells and sweetness whether the kids are palling around with teddy bears and sprites or going toe-to-toe with some burly beast. Alongside the sonic beauty of the piece, sweeping shots of the countryside or intimately lit, misty scenes at an Ewok home capture the eye as well as the ear. *Caravan of Courage* looks and sounds remarkably good for a 1980s made-for-T.V. movie. The exquisite texture is something all ages can appreciate.

All of that excellence in craft aids a resonant theme -- that for however different humans and Ewoks may seem in the world of Star Wars, there is a familial loyalty and love that unites them. Boundaries of language and culture fade away when lost children search for their parents, whether they’re fluffy or furless. Leaning into the universality of ideas like caring for children, wanting to be a good kid despite mistakes, and a central curiosity. values that cut across different cultures, are an appropriate set of ideas to build this kid-friendly adventure around.

Those ideas are admittedly basic. So is the plot. So are the emotions. But in that simplicity rests something welcoming to kids, goosed with the fun of this elegantly-constructed world filled with warm and charming figures to help children like them through unimaginable dangers. Such elementary tales may not appeal to grumpy adults in the same way. Yet there’s a beauty here, an appeal to the universal amid furry sages and whiny tots, that makes it easier for grown-ups to understand why all of this would tantalize a young mind, and feel their own inner child drawn to it too, if only for a moment.

A spin-off from the 'Star Wars' franchise: 'The Ewok Adventure'. It's not good, but holds a little bit of charm to it.

There isn't really any acting in this to praise, it's all rather lame and forgettable - as you'd possibly expect given two of the leads are child actors, who are likeable if nothing else. The effects are bang average.

The most important part, the plot, is something I found very uninteresting; I was never invested or intrigued. I guess it is made for the younger audience, but they still coulda done a better job with this.

I actually did it. I watched the Ewoks again. Let's look at this practical.

- It is NOT a Star Wars movie. It's a fairy tale using the background of Star Wars. There's a difference.
- They had the abysmal budget of 2 mil $. By comparison RotJ, released a year earlier, had 32.5 mio $. That's why it looks 15 years older. They had to use age old movie tricks to get what they wanted. Take that into consideration before saying it's rubbish. The HD version is adding on top of that. It really shows the effects for what they are.
- Lucas wanted to make a movie for his daughter who loved Ewoks.
- The children were in over their heads. They seem to be casted because of their looks and not because of their talent. Walker especially is a clear Hamill/Skywalker lookalike. Both kids didn't had an acting carreer afterwards.
- There is little plot beside finding the parents. It's a string of events happening to get there that are supposed to add suspense.
- Yes, it could be considered as an attempt to make more money from the cute Ewoks. But even with the low budget that didn't happen. I guess many people were expecting a full-on Star Wars movie and simply were dissapointed.
- The children for whom this movie was supposed to be doesn't care for anything of the above.

Don't take it too serious.