Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure

  • Caravan of Courage:
  • An Ewok Adventure
Also known as The Ewok Adventure
Genre
Screenplay by Bob Carrau
Story by George Lucas
Directed by John Korty
Starring
Narrated by Burl Ives
Theme music composer Peter Bernstein
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) George Lucas
Producer(s)
  • Thomas G. Smith
  • Patricia Rose Duignan
Cinematography John Korty
Editor(s) John Nutt
Running time 97 minutes[1]
Production company(s)
Distributor Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network ABC
Original release
  • November 25, 1984 (1984-11-25)
Chronology
Followed by Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (originally broadcast as The Ewok Adventure) is a 1984 American television film based in the Star Wars universe. It is the first of two spin-off films featuring the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi. The film, which is set on the moon of Endor some time after the Ewoks animated series but before the events of Return of the Jedi,[2] focuses on the struggles of a brother and sister trying to locate their parents who have been kidnapped by a monster known as the Gorax.

Plot

On the forest moon of Endor, the Towani family starcruiser lies wrecked. The Towani family (Catarine, Jeremitt, Mace, and Cindel) are stranded. When Catarine and Jeremitt vanish (having been captured by the Gorax), the children are found by the Ewok Deej. After Mace tries to kill them, the Ewoks subdue him and take both children to the Ewoks’ home. There, Cindel and Wicket become friends. Shortly thereafter, the Ewoks kill a beast only to find a life-monitor from one of the Towani parents with the creature.

They seek out the Ewok Logray who informs them that the parents have been taken by the monstrous Gorax, which resides in a deserted, dangerous area. A caravan of Ewoks is formed to help the children find their parents. They meet up with a wistie named Izrina and a boisterous Ewok named Chukha-Trok before finally reaching the lair of the Gorax. They engage the Gorax in battle, freeing Jeremitt and Catarine, but Chukha-Trok is killed. The Gorax is thought destroyed when it is knocked into a chasm, but it takes a final blow from Mace (using Chukha-Trok’s axe) to kill the creature, which tries to climb back up after them. Thus reunited, the Towanis decide to stay with the Ewoks until they can repair the starcruiser, and Izrina leaves to go back to her family.

Cast

Production

Inspiration and creative control

The original impetus for Caravan of Courage was an idea George Lucas had for a one-hour television special dealing with the Ewoks, but this was eventually expanded into two hours. Lucas had allowed his Star Wars universe to be produced for television six years earlier with the Star Wars Holiday Special which, although economically successful for the most part, had proved an embarrassment to Lucas. With The Ewok Adventure, Lucas assumed full control over the content and production of the film, to ensure a film of good quality.

The film's producer was Thomas G. Smith, at the time an employee at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Smith had intended for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to be his last project for ILM, wanting to make his own movies, however Lucas convinced him to stay by offering the producer role for a half-hour Ewok film he was developing.[3] When shopping the film around Smith discovered that none of the TV networks at the time were interested in airing a movie with short runtime.[3] ABC showed interest, however under the condition that the movie be fleshed out so that it could fit in a two-hour movie of the week slot as such the movie was expanded to fill the request [3]

Crew

Working from a story written by George Lucas, and a screenplay by Bob Carrau, director John Korty transformed the scenic northern California redwood forests into the forest moon of Endor. Joe Johnston, an art director at ILM for years and one of the key concept artists of the classic Star Wars trilogy, acted as production designer. Prior to this movie, Johnston had written and illustrated a book about Ewoks, The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense. This gave him a background to the arboreal aliens that was crucial in designing new Ewoks and their surroundings.

Effects

Both Ewok films were some of the last intensive stop-motion animation work ILM produced, as by the early 80s, the technique was being replaced by go-motion animation, a more advanced form with motorized articulated puppets that moved while the camera shutter was open, capturing motion blur in the otherwise static puppet, eliminating the harsh staccato movement often associated with stop-motion. However, the budgets of the Ewok films were such that go-motion was simply too expensive for the projects, so stop-motion was used to realize creatures such as the condor dragon, the blurrgs, and the boar-wolves.

The Ewok movies proved an opportunity for ILM to hone a technique from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The technique, used in photographing matte paintings, is called latent image matte painting. In this technique, during live action photography, a section of the camera's lens is blocked off, remaining unexposed, and a painting is crafted to occupy that space. The film is rewound, the blocked areas reversed, and the painting photographed. Since the painting now exists on the original film, there is no generational quality loss.

Music

The musical score for Caravan of Courage was composed by Peter Bernstein. Selections from the score were released on LP by Varèse Sarabande in 1986.[4] The release was known simply as Ewoks and also contained cues from Bernstein's score to the sequel Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

Documentaries and commentary

During the production of Caravan of Courage, the children in the cast had to balance their school work with acting in the film. During their time on the set, Lucasfilm decided that it might be an educational and rewarding experience for the older children, Eric Walker (Mace) and Warwick Davis (Wicket), to be given their own camera to use between takes. So, calling themselves W&W Productions, Eric and Warwick shot a documentary of the making of the film, which was released to Eric's YouTube-channel in 2014.[5]

When the film was released on DVD in 2004 it contained nothing but the film itself. Eric Walker and Warwick Davis stated in interviews that they would be happy to record a cast commentary for another future DVD release, if Lucasfilm someday allowed a more detailed release of the films.

Adaptations

In 1985, Random House released a children's book adaptation of The Ewok Adventure by Amy Ehrlich, titled The Ewoks and the Lost Children, and utilized the story presented in the film, along with stills from the film.

Sequels

The sequel film, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, was released in 1985. It was originally intended to be released as "Ewoks II".

Later expanded universe appearances

Since the release of The Ewok Adventure in 1984, several elements from the film have gone on to appear in other works from the Star Wars expanded universe. Many of the characters, locations, or other elements are elaborated on in greater detail.

Release

The Ewok Adventure was first shown on American television November 25, 1984. In its overseas theatrical release, it was rechristened Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1990 through MGM under the original title.

The film was released on DVD as a double feature collection with its sequel, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, on November 23, 2004. The release was a single double-sided disc, with one film on each side. For this release, the film bore theatrical release title, Caravan of Courage.

Reception

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure was one of four films to be juried-awarded Emmys for Outstanding Special Visual Effects at the 37th Primetime Emmy Awards.[6] The film was additionally nominated for Outstanding Children's Program but lost in this category to an episode of American Playhouse.[7]

In his review for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor noted the film's story as being almost "aggressively simple" and that "Mr. Lucas and crew do not come up with anything terribly astonishing."[8] With Marin County serving as the backdrop, looking "like some never-never land east of the Sun and west of the Moon," O'Connor recognized most of the interactions as following well-established cinematic tropes, the notable ones being between Cindel "looking like one of those little blond [sic] angels used to top off Christmas trees" and Wicket, a performance by the-then 14 year-old Warwick Davis, whom O'Connor called "the cleverest of the lot."[8]

Comparison to the original Star Wars trilogy

Writers Douglas Brode and Leah Deyneka distinguish both the Battle of Endor and its predecessor Caravan of Courage from the original Star Wars trilogy. Pointing to the main characters, tropes and plot elements, they conclude both films are fairy tales and children's fantasies despite occurring in a science fiction setting. They also point to unexplained magical/supernatural phenomena in both films, which are never explained and are considered fantasy instead of science fiction.[9]

They argue that in a science fiction story, the hero wants to disrupt or challenge the hierarchy of a supposed "utopian" society; whereas in both Ewok Adventure films, society is not challenged or disputed. Additionally, they argue, that while the Star Wars saga also has tropes from fairy tales, it adhered more towards science fiction tropes.[9]

Likewise, Eric Charles points out that the television films Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985), intended for children, are "fairy tales in a science fiction setting", featuring magic and other fairy tale motifs rather than the Force and science fiction tropes.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Caravan of Courage - An Ewok Adventure". British Board of Film Classification.
  2. ↑ Windham, Ryder; Lucas, George; Kasdan, Lawrence (2004). Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. Scholastic. pp. 102–103. ISBN 043968126X.
  3. 1 2 3 Alter, Ethan. "'Star Wars': How the Ewoks Came to TV 31 Years Ago". Yahoo. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Osborne, Jerry (2010). Movie/TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide. Port Townsend, Washington: Osborne Enterprises Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 0932117376.
  5. ↑ Walker, Eric. "Star Wars Ewok Adventures Making Of Teaser". YouTube. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Leverence, John. "Outstanding Special Visual Effects - 1985". 37th Primetime Emmy Awards, September 22, 1985. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Outstanding Children's Program - 1985". 37th Primetime Emmy Awards, September 22, 1985. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  8. 1 2 O'Connor, John J. (November 23, 1984). "TV Weekend; 'The Ewok Adventure,' Sunday Movie on ABC". The New York Times (Vol. 134, No. 46,237). NYTimes Co. p. C34. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  9. 1 2 Douglas Brode; Leah Deyneka (14 June 2012). Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars: An Anthology. Scarecrow Press. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0-8108-8513-4.
  10. ↑ Charles, Eric (2012). "The Jedi Network: Star Wars' Portrayal and Inspirations on the Small Screen". In Brode, Douglas; Deyneka, Leah. Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars: An Anthology. Scarecrow Press. pp. 129–131. ISBN 978-0-810-88513-4. Retrieved May 20, 2016.

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