Retro forest moon illustration with small creature silhouettes facing armored marauder silhouettes, with text “OTD 1985 Battle for Endor Aired on ABC.”

OTD in 1985: Ewoks – The Battle for Endor Brought Chaos, Blasters, and Unexpected Darkness to ABC

gingetattoo OTD, Star Wars Movies

On November 24, 1985, American TV audiences tuned into ABC expecting a cozy Sunday-night Star Wars adventure…
and instead got one of the darkest openings in Star Wars history.

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, the second of the made-for-TV Ewok movies, aired 39 years ago today — and if you haven’t revisited it in a while, you may have forgotten just how dramatically unhinged it is.

Cute teddy bears? Yes.
Family-friendly? In theory.
Traumatizing? Absolutely.

Let’s take a trip back to this very odd corner of Star Wars canon.

A Sequel That Pulls Zero Punches

The story picks up right after Caravan of Courage, following young Cindel Towani (Aubree Miller) as she and her family continue to survive on the forest moon of Endor.

…for about ten minutes.

Because in one of the most surprising tonal shifts ever approved by Lucasfilm, the entire Towani family except Cindel is killed early in the film. Yes — in an Ewok movie. On ABC. In 1985.

From there, the film becomes a survival chase as Cindel and her Ewok companion Wicket (played by a teenage Warwick Davis) flee from:

  • Terak – a warlord with strong “discount Skeletor” energy
  • The Marauders – his chaotic biker-bar-meets-Ren-Faire army

It’s weird, it’s intense, and it’s absolutely a product of its era.

The Wild Fantasy Side of Star Wars

What makes The Battle for Endor so fascinating today is how un-Star-Wars it feels — at least compared to the films.

It leans hard into 1980s fantasy storytelling:

  • Weird magic
  • Evil witches
  • Crystal MacGuffins
  • A shape-shifting forest creature
  • A grizzled hermit-warrior who takes Cindel under his wing

It’s Star Wars filtered through Willow, The Dark Crystal, and Saturday-morning TV energy — a strange, charming mashup that could only exist in the mid-80s.

A Showcase for Warwick Davis

This movie is also where Warwick Davis, who had played Wicket only two years earlier in Return of the Jedi, really got to shine.

As the lead Ewok, he carries much of the emotional weight, physical performance, and surprisingly intense action. Considering he was still a teenager, it’s impressive just how much the character depends on him.

Without Warwick Davis, this project wouldn’t work at all.

Why Fans Still Talk About It Today

Even fans who jokingly call the Ewok films “odd little relics” admit The Battle for Endor has charm. It’s one of the earliest attempts to expand Star Wars outside the Skywalker timeline — something Disney now does regularly.

It also holds a special place as:

  • A childhood nostalgia bomb for 80s and 90s fans
  • A showcase of practical effects wizardry
  • A reminder of how experimental Lucasfilm used to be
  • A bridge between Return of the Jedi and later fantasy projects

And honestly, where else in Star Wars history are you going to see a witch, a magic crystal, and an Ewok riding a glider into battle?

Nearly Four Decades Later, It’s Still Delightfully Weird

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor may not appear on many “Best Star Wars Films” lists… but it is undeniably memorable. It’s bold, bizarre, and far darker than anyone expected from a movie starring fuzzy forest creatures.

On this day in 1985, ABC viewers were treated to one of the strangest, most ambitious Star Wars stories ever televised — and nearly 40 years later, it remains a cult favorite among fans who appreciate the saga’s weirdest corners.

Happy anniversary, Battle for Endor.
You beautiful, chaotic, Ewok-powered fever dream.

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