Classics Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO

I was just looking at a picture of a Droids artist model cel on eBay depicting a Stormtrooper seargent. I have watched the Droids episodes with Stormtroopers in them several times, but I don't remember ever seeing any troopers that look like this. I wonder if the character was supposed to be in one of the Mungo episodes but never actually made it in, or if he was going to be in a cancelled episode that never aired? Here's a link to the picture:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-D...ollectibles_Animation_Art&hash=item566a21886a
Edit: I see it faintly says: "Great Heep" at the bottom of the cel, so I guess he wasn't from a cancelled episode. Did this guy actually make it in there though?

 

Any news on a Droids blu ray release? It's unlikely, but I still want it to happen.

 

No news on a home video (DVD/Blu) release of either Droids or Ewoks, unfortunately. Note that about two years ago (August 2012) it was announced at the SW celebration that both shows would be remastered & available for streaming at some point on the official SW website. However, a couple of months later (October), it was announced that Disney bought Lflm., and that they would be making three new SW films - so, obviously the focus from then on was Disney taking over the franchise, as well as obviously all of the work needed on the ST. So, your guess is as good as mine as to when (or if) these cartoons will ever be available on home video......or even streaming on the official website...

As I've mentioned earlier, the problem these days is that there is quite a lot of older material that still hasn't made it's way to DVD/Blu-ray. You would think the SW name would be enough to justify these cartoons coming out, but they still haven't been released. With the popularity of streaming video growing day by day, I'm guessing that these shows may fall by the wayside when it comes to a physical format release...Note I have no issues with streaming (especially if the picture quality is decent), but prefer to have an actual DVD/Blu set...

IMHO, Droids is far superior to Ewoks; Droids reminds me more of the OT, and has interesting tech/robots/aliens - the animation also strongly reminds me of the art drawn by the French comic book artist Moebius (possibly intentional), and I was a fan of his artwork.
Conversely, while Ewoks is interesting & worth seeing, IMHO it's much more juvenile & obviously oriented towards kids. Ewoks is also much more limited than Droids; while Droids takes place all over the galaxy & involves many different characters, Ewoks takes place one one planet (the moon of Endor), and has basically the same characters throughout (Ewoks & Duloks). Note I haven't seen Ewoks for years, so may be mis-remembering some of this...

That all being said, I still want both cartoons released on DVD/Blu....sooner rather than later...

 

From what I can recall, plenty of Stormtroopers showed up in "The Great Heep," but none were wearing any rank pauldrons.

I think it's interesting that the cel attributes the rank of Sergeant to a Stormtrooper wearing an orange-colored pauldron (which should properly denote a trooper with the rank of Commander), but perhaps this was before the colors were settled upon (or the artist simply was unaware?).

Either way, nice find!

 

I thought single orange pauldron denotes Sandtrooper sergeants?

 

You have obviously not met me yet. Not that I didn't join ten days after you posted that, but yeah.

Droids are cool, but Ewoks are downright incredible. While the series impacted me a lot as a seven-year-old already, from teaching me to worship trees to figuring out how I may appear to other people, being somewhat neurotic, artistic and not necessarily the life of the party; as an adult, I appreciate it much more and I try to introduce my friends' children to it. What comes as a huge surprise is that, while my success rate is about 50%, the children's parents, who were too old to watch it when it originally aired, seem impressed and wonder why there are no such clever cartoons anymore.

The series has surprising depths for something that was aimed at school children. The creators respected their audience instead of just doing the classic hit-and-run that seems to be the case with so many cartoon series of today. The animation is so lush and classic that a person who grew up with the stuff from the golden age of animation (as opposed to Peppa Pig, strange 3D characters and whatever else kids of that age watch nowadays) simply has to appreciate it. The characters are incredible - the leading two are a bit of Mary Sue types and not my cup of tea; but all of the support cast other than Chief Chirpa (what's his purpose other than...saying stuff in a dramatic manner?), has been written perfectly. You have a truly powerful villain who knows no boundaries, the stupid villains with a cowardly leader and a blunt example of a con-artist who does not have a single magical power, a precocious child who can get very dangerous when something's not going her way, the strong contrast of a macho show-off and a sensitive bohemian type serving as the lead character's best friends, a snarky girl with dreams of becoming a star and an cool old dude who does not judge the youngsters. And each and every one of them has different facial expressions, unique body language and whatnot.

Some one-time characters are just too cute to be true - e.g. Umwak's nephew and the Skandits. And Morag as the lava and then stone monster is downright scary.

The characters' relationships and rivalries are complex and subtle - if you watch the first season a couple of times, carefully, a lot of things will be popping up each time you do. Siblings, crushes, family members, written the way they would be in real life, as opposed to cartoon logic.

Some of the themes throughout the show are more suitable for slightly older audience - spirituality for one; but there are traces of feminism, clever comedy, growing pains, occult-like stuff...even sexuality (the Jindas males chasing the females who are, well, very seductive). Each of the seasons features one onscreen and one offscreen death and there's even some blood in one of the episodes.

I even find myself appreciating some aspects of the second season; which may not have the depths I just gushed about, but it has its moments.

 

Ewok Poet, I have read a couple of your earlier posts including your intro post where you stated your was an Ewok fan (I believe) so at one point I did wonder when you was gonna show up here.

Anyway, I never saw Ewoks as that of a deep show like you do (but I won't deny it dealt with it's character relationships, themes and more rather well), but it had several good characters and solid aspects that helped build the Endor mythology (magical items and all) and it's catalog of wildlife including various more or less wierd beings and creatures (It also explored the Ewoks and their spiritual nature & way of life which was nice too).

 

Tee-hee, I guess I should take that as a compliment. The search function on most message boards is flawed, so I just...didn't see the thread until yesterday.

I do not claim that it's the deepest show ever or anything, but in its format (~20 minute cartoon series), yes, out of the things I have watched and I have watched a lot, it's my favourite. Perhaps it depends on what one is looking for. I had a problem with a lot of cartoons as a child, because they were either too boyish or too girly, and it was hard to find any character to relate to, as they were either classic heroes, little princesses or one-dimensional villains. And to me, those things matter as much as the artistry.

Now I'm curious about the examples of those good characters, your favourite weird wild life items and what you particularly liked about spirituality.

And I got an e-mail from the man who did the storyboard for my favourite episode of Ewoks and also directed the plot episode of Droids earlier today; after we accidentally bumped into each other on YouTube. A great guy, he is.

 

Well, I'm not a superfan of the show, but I do remember having seen most of it (on the 2004 Star Wars Ewoks DVD and otherwise) and have some knowledge so I might as well give you some examples of what I like: I think Morag was a pretty great villain for a show aimed at small kids (she was a rather big threat and not a humorous character in the slightest which separates her from the majority of the baddies), those dandelion warriors were pretty cool in a way (vicious, barb-flinging humanoids disguised as giant dandelions is a fun idea) and I do like the Soul Tree concept.

(And who's this mystery man you bumped into on YT, if I may ask?)

 

I've seen the latest episode of Rebels and it's good to see our favourite droids having another adventure. I'm hoping that at some point Rebels will in some way acknowledge or at least mention some of the events of the Droids cartoon. In a way Rebels already seems a little reminicient of Droids with some of the more pinky looking hair styles, the outer rim locale and minimal movie characters. I like it!

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Joben_T-85_speeder_bike

They also list Dusat for the armament

 

Is that from the visual guide?

 

Yes and Rebels facebook page

 

I never understood why people from the anglosphere are so keen on villains, could be a cultural difference. Then again, my preference in characters has always been pretty narcissistic as I was relating to those who were like me, so I guess we all have our own unwritten methods.

Not quite sure if the dandelion warriors are masked or if that's their actual appearance, but the idea is definitely cool, I agree.

Regarding everything else - I shall message you.

And I kinda wish these were three separate threads, for each of the three things discussed.

 

Well, I don't think it's that much of an regional/cultural difference and to be honest, in many cases villains do tend to be some of the most interesting characters . As for myself, I don't prefer villains overall since among the many characters I like (and not just Star Wars-related ones) there are good guys.

 

The Droids references in the Visual Guide are certainly cool, but I'm really hoping that the show in some way acknowledges the Droids stories. If some characters who have so far only been seen in Droids show up in Rebels I'll be a happy camper!

 

From my experience, this is a slightly lesser known series depicting the exploits of the famous droids R2-D2 and C-3PO set between the events of ROTS and ANH.

Don't hate me for saying this was my favorite tv series. I just remember being a wee lad going to work with my father, and re-watching that DVD over and over again on that old DVD player in his office.

What did you think of it?

 

I think it's a lot of fun. I actually used it to introduce my daughter (nearly 3 at the time) to the world of Star Wars. Through the eyes of funny silly droids. Then when I put on ANH, she already loved Artoo and Threepio going in. It worked! Now she's almost 5, has seen all 6 films, every episode of the Clone Wars, and is soaking up every episode of Rebels.

All started with Droids.

 

I love it. Better then Ewoks.

 

The Pirates and the Prince arc was my start to SW in the 90's. Love those episodes.

 

You know, that series boasted such wonderful, 1980's Saturday morning cartoon fun, all dressed up in Star Wars-y goodness!

I adore Droids.

More, I'd love to see some of the series' original characters show up again one day, whether it be in Rebels, a novel, comic or what have you.

 

I'd love to see Jan Tosh, Mon Julpa, Jessica Meade, Kybo-Ran etc again.

 

Me, too!

And more:

- Mungo Baobab? He has the qualities of leadership about him.

- Thall Joben? I'd like to see him still with that lightsaber. Maybe he finds himself in some hot water over possessing a "Jedi weapon" during the Imperial Period?

- Kea Moll? She seems to have Rebels written all over her!


There are a whole bunch of interesting characters who could be put to even greater use, minus the restrictions ABC was said to have saddled the production team with.

- The Fromm Gang?

- Admiral Screed?!?


Ah, there's a hundred of them and I want to see them all!

 

Sounds like exactly what my father did with me. I was five years old back when the remastered DVD came out in 2004, and remember watching that thing so much that it broke the disc. It was my first Star Wars experience.

 

I'd love to see Screed or Kea.