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SYFY WIRE Star Wars Holiday Special

Star Wars Holiday Special's animated Boba Fett, Ewok TV movies & Clone Wars coming to Disney+

By Josh Grossberg
Star Wars Holiday Special

Since its infamous premiere on CBS in 1978, The Star Wars Holiday Special was so painfully bad that George Lucas (who was not involved in the production) supposedly vowed never to speak of it again.

But now, Jedis rejoice! Per Variety, what many fans agree is the only worthwhile part of the first ever Star Wars spinoff is coming to Disney+: the debut of one of the franchise's most beloved characters, bounty hunter Boba Fett, in the animated short The Story of the Faithful Wookie.

Of course, with awful segments like Wookies' celebration of Life Day on Kashyyyk or the time Bea Arthur turned up as a gruff Mos Eisley cantina bartender almost universally panned as bantha poodoo, not to mention a bizarre attempt at cashing in on the Star Wars phenomenon, perhaps it's no surprise we're only getting cartoon Boba and not the whole awful variety show spectacle (though rogue copies still pop up on YouTube).

The Story of the Faithful Wookie is not the only Star Wars oddity from a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away headed for Disney's streaming network.

Included without fanfare on a list of titles it's rolling out for April, Disney+ also confirmed it's resurrecting two TV movies starring everybody's favorite cuddly Ewoks – 1984's Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and 1985's Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Other than starring Warwick Davis, who played Wicket in Return of the Jedi, the telefilms have no connection to any sort of Star Wars lore; they pretty much follow the diminutive forest dwellers on their own live-action family adventures where, in the case of the former they battle a giant, and in the latter save their forest moon from invaders.

Joining those programs will be Ewoks, the cartoon series that aired on ABC from 1985 to 1986 in which the diminutive teddy bears apparently learned English. More notably, the streamer is giving a second life to Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, the 2003-2005 animated micro-series commissioned by Lucasfilm that aired on the Cartoon Network. The critically lauded show was set between the events of 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith. It gave us our first look at Star Wars baddie General Grievous, and led Lucas and company to spin off a half-hour CGI version, The Clone Wars.

Of course, Disney and Lucasfilm are mining Star Wars nostalgia for all it's worth these days.

Aside from ending Season Two of The Mandalorian with a teaser announcing the live-action spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett, the House that Lucas Built has a slew of new Star Wars series in various stages of development. Those include Obi-Wan Kenobi, reuniting prequel stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen; Andor, bringing back Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk as the titular Rebel Spy and his quip-loving droid K-2SO; Ahsoka, featuring Rosario Dawson as the ever-fierce jedi Ahsoka Tano; and Rangers of the New Republic, following the rangers policing the Outer Rim after the fall of the Empire.

For those in need of new hope that the full Holiday Special might one day make it to Disney+, don't count on it. But there's always last Christmas' The Star Wars Holiday LEGO Special to tide you over.