''Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO'' is a 1985 animated television series spin off from the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy. It focuses on the exploits of droids

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...

and between the events of ''

Revenge of the Sith Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'' and '' A New Hope''. The series was produced by Nelvana on behalf of Lucasfilm and broadcast on ABC with its sister series '' Ewoks'' (as part of ''The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour''). The series ran for one season of 13 half-hour episodes; an hour-long special broadcast in 1986 serves as the finale. The opening theme, "In Trouble Again," was performed by

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

. During their adventures, the droids find themselves in the service of successive new masters. The original trilogy characters Boba Fett and IG-88 appear in one episode apiece. Since then the animated series has become a cult classic.

Premise

''Droids'' follows the adventures of

and as they face off against gangsters, criminals, pirates, bounty hunters, the

Galactic Empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...

and other threats. During their adventures, the droids find themselves in the service of successive new masters and in difficult situations as a result. The series was retroactively placed four years after ''

'' and fifteen years before the events of '' A New Hope''. In the latter film, tells

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The E ...

that his and R2-D2's "last master was Captain Antilles." The droids are placed in Antilles' care by

Bail Organa This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...

at the end of ''Revenge of the Sith'', creating an apparent continuity error. This is explained by the droids being accidentally separated from Antilles during the events of the animated series.

Cast and characters

Main

Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 10 '' Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and ...

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to assis ...

; Daniels also portrayed the character in the films. *

Ben Burtt Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director and editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series, ''Invasion of the Body ...

(uncredited)

Recurring/guest

* Don Francks as Jann Tosh, Boba Fett, Gir Kybo Ren-Cha / Kybo Ren *

Winston Rekert Winston Houghton Rekert (June 10, 1949 – September 14, 2012) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Adderly'' and '' Neon Rider''. Career A Vancouver native, Rekert started acting at age 12, appearing ...

as Sise Fromm, Mungo Baobab * Graeme Campbell as Proto One, Admiral Terrinald Screed, and Lord Toda * Peter MacNeill as Jord Dusat * Taborah Johnson as Jessica Meade * John Stocker as Vlix Oncard, Greej, Zatec-Cha, and Sollag * Rob Cowan as Thall Joben *

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

as Jord Dusat (episode 4), Uncle Gundy, Jyn Obah, Vinga, Yorpa, Governor Koong, and Captain Cag * Cree Summer as Princess Gerin * Jan Austin as Auren Yomm *

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...

as the Great Heep, Roto * Lesleh Donaldson as Kea Moll *

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

as Mon Julpa *

Stephen Ouimette Stephen Ouimette is a Canadian actor and director. Although mostly known for his stage work, particularly at the Stratford Festival of Canada and recently on Broadway in '' La Bete'', he achieved TV fame (and a Gemini Award) as the ghostly Olive ...

as the narrator *

as Tig Fromm Other guest stars include

George Buza George Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the '' X-Men Animated Series''. Personal life Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. C ...

Andrew Sabiston Andrew Sabiston is a multi-award nominated Canadian children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning a ...

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (2004–2009), and '' This is Wonderland'' ...

, Jamie Dick, Donny Burns, Alan Fawcett,

Don McManus Don McManus (born November 8, 1959) (sometimes credited as Don R. McManus) is an American character actor of film and television. He became better known after his performance as Duncan in the ''Seinfeld'' episode “The Race”. Born in San Dieg ...

, and Gordon Masten.

Production and broadcast

The series was produced by the Canadian company Nelvana for Lucasfilm. Several episodes were written by ''Star Wars'' sound designer

. Hanho Heung-Up Co. was the Korean company hired to animate the series. In the UK, BBC Television bought rights to screen the series in its entirety between 1986 and 1991 as part of the

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chi ...

programming strand. The entire series was shown twice within this time (in 1986 and 1988 to coincide with the full release of the ''Star Wars'' trilogy as well as Droids on VHS). ''The Great Heep'' only made one showing in 1989 on BBC's ''

Going Live! ''Going Live!'' was a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip ...

'', which was a Saturday morning children's show—it was split into two parts over two weeks. Different episodes from different cycles were also screened across the five-year licence, with the Trigon cycle being shown in full in early 1991 on another Saturday morning children's show called '' The 8:15 from Manchester''. The opening theme, "In Trouble Again", was performed by

and written by him and Derek Holt. The series was broadcast on ABC with its sister series '' Ewoks'' (as part of ''The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour''). It debuted in 1985 as part of a fitness special hosted by Tony Danza and live-action versions of the droids. It ran for one season of 13 half-hour episodes; an hour-long special broadcast in 1986 serves as the finale. ''Droids'' and ''Ewoks'' were later shown in reruns on

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...

Cartoon Quest Cartoon Quest was the name of a block of mostly animated television shows that aired on the Sci Fi Channel starting in 1992. Similar to USA's '' Cartoon Express'', it featured reruns of various older cartoons interspersed with interstitial segm ...

in 1996, although somewhat edited for time. In the UK this series, along with Ewoks, was released on VHS as part of a promotion with Dairylea Cheese. Families could send in empty packages of the Cheese and in return get one of 6 VHS tapes. These videotapes are rare and sought after amongst collectors

Episodes

Over the course of the series, the droids team up with three different sets of masters. The series falls into three cycles or arcs; the droids usually run into their new masters at the beginning of each, and at the end are forced to leave. ''The Great Heep'', a 48-minute television special following the series, is set before the final arc.

Merchandising

In 1985,

Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...

produced a toy line based on the series, including

action figures An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mar ...

, ship models, and other items. Two action figures, Boba Fett and

A-wing Kuat RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor are starfighters in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Designed and manufactured by the Kuat Systems Engineering, they are depicted as fast but fragile interceptors of the Rebel Alliance, conceived for high-speed surgic ...

Pilot, were repackaged figures from the main ''Star Wars'' line. The toy line was canceled after the first group of 12 figures due to decreasing popularity with ''Star Wars''. In 1987 and then 1988, Glasslite of Brazil issued remaining Kenner stock and produced a very limited run of remaining ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

'' and ''Droids'' toys from a sell off. Certain vehicles, mini-rigs and action figures were issued by the company in new packaging. The character Vlix (Tig Fromm's henchman) was an action figure exclusive from unused molds by Kenner. Like the remainder of the Glasslite line, very few were made, even less were sold and most were recycled due to the failing economy when money was tight across the country. Vlix was the most valuable ''Star Wars'' action figure (at about $6,000 carded or $1,200 loose), until a Fett figure sold for £69,000 ($USD 92,000) at an auction. Between 1985 and 1987, a number of episodes were adapted into children's storybooks. A computer game was released in 1988 for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

and Commodore 64 by

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved by ...

. In 2021, for Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary,

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

released a Target-exclusive line of action figures based on the series, featuring the titular droid duo and Boba Fett. Fett was also released as a larger Black Series figure.

Comic book series

In 1986,

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

imprint published a ''Star Wars: Droids'' comic series spun off from the cartoon. The series ran for eight issues. Four issues and issue 5's cover of the series were drawn by

John Romita, Sr John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine. He was inducted into the Will Eis ...

. The "Lost in Time" crossover story from ''Droids'' #4 was continued in an issue of ''Ewoks''. The last three issues are part of an arc recounting the original ''Star Wars'' film from the droids' point of view. Additionally, Spanish comics publisher Editorial Gepsa produced two-page ''Droids'' comics as part of an anthology series.

Home media

Almost all episodes of the series (except "Coby and the Starhunters") were released on VHS in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably the UK PAL releases over four cassettes (''Droids'' 1–3 and ''The Great Heep''), which had the opening sequences and credits edited out. In 1996, Rick McCallum produced ''The Pirates and the Prince'', a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

film compiled from four episodes. In late 2004, McCallum and Lucasfilm produced a DVD titled ''Star Wars: Animated Adventures – Droids'', which featured ''The Pirates and the Prince'' and ''Treasure of the Hidden Planet'', a new compilation film including narration from Mungo Baobab (voiced by Alex Lindsay). This was released by 20th Century Fox in 2005. Both titles included some soundtrack changes. On April 2, 2021, it was announced that the entire series would be released on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

later in 2021. All 13 episodes, along with the special, were added on June 18, 2021.

Reception

According to David Perlmutter, compared with ''Ewoks'', ''Droids'' "was rudimentary, with short enough story lines for as many as four narratives in a single episode. Obviously, neither Lucas nor the animation studio had enough faith in the characters to trust them as anything other than second bananas."

SyFy Wire Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

writes that "''Droids'' struggles to find a way to make the duo's live-action antics as entertaining on the small screen as they are on the silver one; the show tries to serve up a very, very kid-friendly take on that galaxy far, far away and it doesn't always hit the mark." ComicBook.com calls it a "must-watch".

Legacy

Ben Burtt wrote liner notes for the ''Shadows of the Empire'' soundtrack, which referenced the Roonstones he had written about in ''Droids''; Burtt made a cameo appearance in '' Episode I – The Phantom Menace'', and named his character after the Baobabs. Several references to the animated series are made in the prequels, such as the Boonta Eve Classic in ''The Phantom Menace'', the planet Bogden and a four-armed cook in '' Attack of the Clones'', and General Grievous' wheel bike design in ''Revenge of the Sith''.

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...

gave C-3PO moving, expressive eyes in '' Clone Wars'' (2003) to pay homage to his previous animated appearances in Nelvana's ''

Star Wars Holiday Special The ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' is a 1978 American television special that originally aired on November 17, 1978, on CBS. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based ''Star Wars'' media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first ...

'' (1978) and ''Droids''. While ''Droids'' was excluded in the 2014 rebranding of ''Star Wars'' canon, recurring villain Admiral Screed—whom '' A Guide to the Star Wars Universe'' describes as "the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

's right-hand man during the early days of the Empire"—makes appearances in canon novels such as '' Tarkin'' (2014) and '' Aftermath: Life Debt'' (2016). Additionally, possible sources of inspiration for sequel trilogy main characters Rey and

Kylo Ren Kylo Ren is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. He first appeared as the main antagonist of ''The Force Awakens (2015)'', in which he is portrayed by Adam Driver. Driver reprised his role in the sequel films '' Star Wars: T ...

have been noticed.

References

External links

* ** ** **
''Star Wars: Droids''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...

The Droids Re-Animated, Part 1 - StarWars.com

The Droids Re-Animated, Part 2 - StarWars.com

A history of home video releases of ''Star Wars: Droids''

A fan "Droids encyclopedia" blog at StarWars.com
* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s 1980s American animated television series 1980s American science fiction television series 1985 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings 1980s Canadian animated television series 1980s Canadian science fiction television series 1985 Canadian television series debuts 1986 Canadian television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated space adventure television series Animated duos Animated television series about extraterrestrial life Animated television series about robots Animated television shows based on films Canadian children's animated space adventure television series Canadian children's animated science fantasy television series English-language television shows Fictional duos Space pirates Star Comics titles Droids Television series by Nelvana Television series by Lucasfilm Television series by 20th Century Fox Television