Ewok
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| Attributes | |
|---|---|
| Home world | Forest Moon of Endor |
| Distinctions | Primitive, curious, friendly, courageous, intelligent |
Ewoks are a fictional race of small, mammaloid bipeds that appear in the Star Wars universe. They are hunter-gatherers resembling teddy bears that inhabit the forest moon of Endor and live in various arboreal huts and other simple dwellings. They first appeared in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi and have since appeared in two made-for-television films, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985), as well as a short-lived animated series and several books and games.
George Lucas created the Ewoks because he wanted Return of the Jedi to feature a tribe of some primitive creatures that bring down the technological Empire. He had originally intended the scenes to be set on the Wookiee home planet, but as the film series evolved, the Wookiees became technologically skilled. Lucas designed a new species instead, and as Wookiees were tall, he made Ewoks short. In addition, he also based the Ewoks' defeat of the Galactic Empire on the actions of the Viet Cong guerrillas who menaced American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The Ewoks are named after the Miwok, a Native American tribe, indigenous to the Redwood forest in which the Endor scenes were filmed for Return of the Jedi, near the San Rafael location of Lucas' Skywalker Ranch.
Using the image of the Griffon Bruxellois, a dog breed which Lucas owned, the Ewok was developed by renowned make-up artist Stuart Freeborn. As presented in the films, Ewoks appear as stocky, sapient bipeds which stand about one meter tall. They have flat faces, are completely covered in fur, and have large jewel-like eyes. Both their fur and their eyes come in a variety of earth tones, primarily brown, white, grey, gold, and black. Despite their small size, Ewoks are strong; in the climactic battle scene of Return of the Jedi, they are shown physically overpowering and once even throwing Imperial Stormtroopers, though this detail is not consistent throughout the film. Ewoks live high among the trees of their home moon's forests, in villages built on platforms between the closely spaced trees.
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