Star Wars: Blogs | Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!

Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!

by: Halagad

date posted: Jul 16, 2006 7:05 PM | updated: May 07, 2008 8:48 PM

I, Ewok

If you check out the "The Way We Were" section of Bantha Tracks in this month's Star Wars Insider #88, you'll find a picture of me from 1983, when I was four years old, costumed as Wicket the Ewok. (You can also see me unmasked in a photo here).

It was long thought, perhaps erroneously, that in the war of the sci-fi franchises, of all things to be a fan of, Star Wars was the one that was cool. By contrast, if you were a Star Trek fan, you were immediately labeled a social outcast. Of course, when the throngs came out for the re-release of the Special Editions and The Phantom Menace, that illusion was dashed as labels of geek and nerd started flying.

That was nothing new to me, though. Because it was way back in the early 90s that I discovered I was a loser even by Star Wars fans' standards.

I was an Ewok lover.

It's true. As a kid, I owned at least three Wicket W. Warrick shirts, all with the same print, similar to the photo above, with the cloth color varying shirt to shirt. I tape-recorded the Ewoks telemovies and fell hopelessly in puppy love with Aubrey Miller, a.k.a. Cindel Towani, and as an avid viewer I helped keep the Ewoks cartoon on the air when Droids petered out after just one season.

Then Star Wars began to gain momentum again in the early 90s, and pockets of folks were starting to talk about how cool Star Wars was again... except for Return of the Jedi. Perhaps, when I was courageous, I ventured to at least say that "Ewoks aren't that bad."

No longer.

Yes, I love Return of the Jedi. It is the Star Wars movie that I have watched the most. When Star Wars was re-released on VHS in 1992, after not having seen any of the films in years, it was the one I watched first. Ewoks are not the worst part of Return of the Jedi, but are in fact the BEST part of Return of the Jedi. I was shattered by the removal of the Ewok victory song from the special edition of Return of the Jedi, and elated to find it back in with the unaltered original trilogy DVD re-release.

Why do I like Wicket? Well, without putting too fine a point on it, he reminds me of me. Hairy, small, tough, and, if I may intimate, cute. And overall, good-natured.

I strongly suspect there are many other Ewok lovers out there (Ewok Gospel, anyone?), particularly among my overlooked "generation" of Star Wars fans, those born in the late 70s or early 80s, who may or may not have seen any of the original trilogy movies in theaters, but had their primary exposure to Star Wars as kids on television. In any case, as I look at my recently purchased, bad*ss little Wicket Attakus statue, the most expensive Star Wars collectible I've ever purchased, one thing remains certain: if Star Wars is forever, then Ewoks are too.

Yub nub. ~ Abel G. Pe�a

BLOG INDEX

MYSPACE PROFILE

http://blogs.starwars.com/abelgpena/65

Click here to hide comments for this entry

rj_peters
Memos from the Imperial Finance Department

date Posted: Jul 16, 2006 7:41 PM

I was born in '73, so I'm a little older than your group of fans. I'm told I saw ANH and ESB in the theaters, but really only remember having the toys for those two movies. Now, ROTJ I vividly remember. I was nine when that came out. The previews rocked my world (red stormtroopers!) and I remember how shocked I was that my parents allowed us to stand in line for a couple hours to see it. And I loved Ewoks. The two Ewoks movies were monumental. To me they were new Star Wars movies. I may not have worn the shirts, but I definitely loved those Ewoks. The Ewok play village was one of my cherished toys.

	Arf Maul We'll Blow Your Planet Up!
date Posted: Jul 16, 2006 9:39 PM Being born in '79 and raised on the OT, ROTJ was easily my favorite film for many years. ESB eventually took its place though. My love for Ewoks dwindled as I grew older, though that's not to say that I ever disliked them. Having a hand in the Leektar databank entry has certainly restored my love and respect for Ewoks

	eddie Obsessive Fanboy Eddie and his Timeline Chronicles
date Posted: Jul 16, 2006 9:52 PM I am from 1969, and I too loved the Ewoks and their appearance in the two movies (which were released theaterically over here). I still love them, as I do Jar Jar, and recently purchased my last Ewoks Star comic (to make the collection complete!) Go Ewoks!!!!

jSarek
jSarek's Infonet

date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 2:18 AM

Ewoks were never my favorite part of Return of the Jedi (that always fell to the brave pilots over Endor), but I've never understood the bile many fans had for them. Yes, I know, they were a somewhat inferior substitute for the Wookiees that should've been there, but they're not objectionable to me in any way.

I did mourn the passing of the celebration, though, and took comfort from the fact that the scene did happen (it's well referenced by the EU and not contradicted by the new ending) even if it wasn't depicted onscreen.

	Halagad Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!
date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 3:01 AM I watched the Ewok movies quite a number of times. Chuka-Trok is cool. eddie: I also recently completed my Ewoks Star Comics collection. That took forever!

	janlomona Smugglers Rants
date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 3:56 AM Chuka-Trok rules, he was THE ultimate Ewok! Shame he died though, he deserved his own series Neat picture of the Abel-wokling, I shall have to work that into the interview questions I am putting together for our interview! Oh, and any chance of getting on your blog roll? I noticed I have 4 interview guests on there already! (Leah, Arthur, Dan and Joe)

	mavrick889 Here's where the fun begins - timelines, continuity and that sort of thing
date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 11:42 AM Do I smell a "whatever happened to Wicket and his pals?" article in a future issue of Insider? If so -- beechawawa!

	mavrick889 Here's where the fun begins - timelines, continuity and that sort of thing
date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 11:43 AM Or would "Dengaaaaaar!" be more appropriate (and why is it that they yell the name of a Corellian bounty hunter when leaping into battle)?

Halagad
Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!

date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 12:23 PM

Chuka-Trok rules, he was THE ultimate Ewok!

It's true. Years ago I turned my younger cousin into a Chuka-Trok fan. To this day, you can still hear a hint of reverence when he talks about him.

Neat picture of the Abel-wokling, I shall have to work that into the interview questions I am putting together for our interview!

Oh, Mark it's you! This should be interesting.

Oh, and any chance of getting on your blog roll? I noticed I have 4 interview guests on there already! (Leah, Arthur, Dan and Joe)

I just did a new rotation a few days ago, so maybe in the next switch up.

Halagad
Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!

date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 12:27 PM

Do I smell a "whatever happened to Wicket and his pals?" article in a future issue of Insider? If so -- beechawawa!

We are the E-e-e-e-Eeeee-woks...!

Maybe if LFL decides to release the full run of Ewoks cartoons on dvd.

Or would "Dengaaaaaar!" be more appropriate (and why is it that they yell the name of a Corellian bounty hunter when leaping into battle)?

You know those Ewoks, they'll proclaim anybody with some shiny to them a god.

The Professor
The Professor's Star Wars Blog

date Posted: Jul 17, 2006 9:48 PM

I agree about Ewoks. I never understood the general dislike about them. My taped copies of the two Ewok movies enjoyed many viewings and have only been replaced by the DVD. I was born in 1985, aka. the dark years of Star Wars, just as the movies were fading out of popularity, and there wasn't much out there. I first saw Return of the Jedi at the tender age of 3 and have been hooked on Star Wars since then. Ewoks definitely played a huge role in this, and were among my first action figures.

Yub Nub!

	Sompeetalay Sompeetalay's Source Blog
date Posted: Jul 18, 2006 5:21 AM I never understood the hatred for Ewoks. If aliens can be 'ugly', why can't they be 'cute'? The Vintage Playskool line was an excellent example how cute Ewoks could be And the cartoon is another prime example of our cartoon childhood memories from the '80 (along with Masters of the Universe).

	Halagad Only Sith Deal In Absolutes!
date Posted: Jul 18, 2006 11:49 AM Some folks just don't do cute, I suppose. He-Man rules.

exarxan
The chronicles of a writer

date Posted: Aug 24, 2006 7:56 AM

I was also born in '85, the dark years of Star Wars so I never became a fan until TPM came out. After a quick catching up I must say I really like the Ewoks too.

And the actor of Wicket (Warwick Davis) is a great guy too. When I was going to my first convention 5 years ago he gave me a picture (postcardsize version of the picture posted in this blog) with his autograph for free after he heard that I didnt had any money left since I didnt knew autographs werent for free. For more SW Convention stories you can visit my blog (shameless plug, but it was relevant to this

exarxan
The chronicles of a writer

date Posted: Aug 24, 2006 7:56 AM

And I thought I would never say this of someone from my own gender but you look cute as an Ewok mr Pena. Nice costume. And if there will be an article about Ewoks: I am dying to find out more about that 1 Ewok Jedi who wore clothes simmilar to Luke and is seen attacking a group of Marauders who have an Ewok captive. It came from RPG source book that I cannot remember the name off.

Please log in to post comments