Jon Favreau Confirms Star Wars: The Mandalorian Has Ewok Movies Easter Eggs

Star Wars: The Mandalorian is set between the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, allowing the series to feature references to various familiar corners of the galaxy far, far away, with producer Jon Favreau even admitting there are references to the made-for-TV films Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. The events of both narratives are no longer considered canonical as far as Lucasfilm is concerned, but these stories clearly hold a place close to the producer’s heart, with The Mandalorian allowing him to honor creatures that appeared in the two films.

“For The Battle for Endor, we got you too,” Favreau shared with MTV News. “We were inspired by that one. We got blurrgs, you know what blurrgs are? The blurrgs are these big, bi-pedal, huge piranha-like pack-animals that were stop-motion in Caravan of Courage and I think Battle for Endor. And they only appeared there and they were the most awkward-looking creatures and we decided, ‘That’s gotta be in our show.’ So we have an Ugnaught riding a blurrg, you will see that. You will see that on The Mandalorian, that’s an exclusive.”

Favreau’s comments aren’t entirely accurate, as the creatures also appeared in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, but he is correct in that their only live-action appearances were in that movie.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

Caravan of Courage debuted in 1984 while Battle for Endor premiered in 1985, with George Lucas himself helping craft the stories for the adventures, with both films helping satiate audiences who were desperate for more Star Wars content after the release of Return of the Jedi.

Caravan of Courage takes place between the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, depicting a family who became stranded on the Forest Moon of Endor. The family’s two siblings are separated from their parents, with the Ewoks stepping in to help the family reunite and leave the moon.

Battle for Endor begins with the young Cindel abandoning her family as they are killed, with the Ewoks helping care for her until her path crosses with Noa, with the pair finding themselves stuck in the middle of a massive battle between the natives of the Forest moon of Endor.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian debuts on Disney+ on November 12th.

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