Star Wars: Droids facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Star Wars: Droids |
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| Genre | Animation Adventure Science fiction Action |
| Developed by |
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| Directed by |
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| Voices of | Anthony Daniels |
| Opening theme | "In Trouble Again" by Stewart Copeland |
| Country of origin |
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| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 + 1 Special |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Miki Herman
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| Running time | approx. 22 minutes (per episode) |
| Production company(s) | |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | September 7, 1985 – June 7, 1986 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Ewoks |
Star Wars: Droids – The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO is a cartoon TV show from 1985. It's a spin-off from the original Star Wars movies. The show follows the exciting adventures of the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. Their story takes place between the movies Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
The company Nelvana made the series for Lucasfilm. It was shown on ABC along with another cartoon called Ewoks. They were part of a show called The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour.
The series had one season with 13 episodes. Each episode was about 22 minutes long. There was also a special hour-long episode in 1986, which was the final part of the story.
The main song for the show, "Trouble Again," was sung by Stewart Copeland from the band the Police. During their journeys, the droids meet many new owners. They also run into characters from the movies, like Boba Fett and IG-88.
Contents
What the Show is About
Droids tells the story of R2-D2 and C-3PO as they face many dangers. They go up against bad guys like gangsters, criminals, and bounty hunters. They also deal with the powerful Galactic Empire.
The droids often find themselves working for new masters. This usually leads them into tricky situations.
The show's timeline fits between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. In A New Hope, C-3PO says that his "last master was Captain Antilles." At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Bail Organa gives the droids to Captain Antilles. The show explains this by saying the droids accidentally got separated from Antilles during their adventures.
Meet the Characters
Main Characters
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO; Anthony Daniels also played C-3PO in the Star Wars movies.
- R2-D2
Other Characters You'll See
- Don Francks as Jann Tosh, Boba Fett, Kybo Ren-Cha
- Winston Rekert 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 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 as the Great Heep
- Lesleh Donaldson as Kea Moll
- Chris Wiggins as Mon Julpa
- Stephen Ouimette as the narrator
- Winston Rekert as Tig Fromm
Other guest voices included George Buza, Andrew Sabiston, Eric Peterson, Jamie Dick, Donny Burns, Alan Fawcett, Don McManus, and Gordon Masten.
Episode Guide
In the series, R2-D2 and C-3PO team up with three different groups of masters. The show is split into three main story parts, or "arcs." The droids usually meet their new masters at the start of each part. They then have to leave them at the end.
There was also a 48-minute TV special called The Great Heep. This special takes place before the last story arc.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | ||||||||
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| 1 | "The White Witch" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | September 7, 1985 | ||||||||
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C-3PO and R2-D2 are left in the desert. speeder bike racers Jord Dusat and Thall Joben find them. Kea Moll sees them enter a forbidden area. She helps protect them from dangerous droids. A droid from the bad guy Tig Fromm kidnaps Jord. The droids help Thall and Kea save Jord from Fromm's secret base. They also destroy many of his droids.
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| 2 | "Escape Into Terror" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | September 14, 1985 | ||||||||
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C-3PO accidentally lets a part of Kea's spaceship float away. The droids, Jord, and Thall stay with Kea and her mother, Demma. They try to get a new part. The droids learn that Kea is part of the Rebel Alliance. Thall, Kea, and the droids sneak onto the Fromm gang's ship. They want to get into their secret base. There, they capture the Trigon One. This is a powerful weapon made by the Fromm gang.
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| 3 | "The Trigon Unleashed" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder & Richard Beban | September 21, 1985 | ||||||||
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The Fromm gang attacks the speeder shop. They capture Thall, Kea, and the droids. Tig says he has kidnapped Jord and Demma. He will only let them go if Thall tells him where the Trigon One is. Thall tells him, but the group is put in prison with Jord. The droids trick the guard and they escape. Tig flies the weapon back to his father Sise's base. He finds out the controls were changed to crash into the base. Jord gets an escape ship. Thall and Kea save Demma. The droids do their best to help.
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| 4 | "A Race to the Finish" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder & Steven Wright | September 28, 1985 | ||||||||
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The team goes to Boonta for a speeder race. The Fromm gang chases them, and they crash. Sise hires Boba Fett to get revenge. Tig puts a thermal detonator on their ship, the White Witch. Fett chases Thall into the race. The explosive is used to destroy Fett's speeder. Boba Fett captures the Fromms to take them to Jabba the Hutt. Thall, Jord, and Kea are offered jobs. But they would have to reprogram R2-D2 and C-3PO. They refuse. The droids leave their masters so they can take the job.
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| 5 | "The Lost Prince" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | October 5, 1985 | ||||||||
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C-3PO, R2-D2, and their new master, Jann Tosh, meet a strange alien. The alien is disguised as a droid. A bad guy named Kleb Zellock captures them. They are forced to mine Nergon-14. This is a dangerous mineral used in proton torpedoes. Zellock plans to sell it to the Empire. In the mines, they meet Sollag. He says their friend is Mon Julpa, the Prince of Tammuz-an. They work together to defeat Zellock. They escape the mines before they explode.
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| 6 | "The New King" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | October 12, 1985 | ||||||||
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The droids, Jann, Mon Julpa, and Sollag travel to Tammuz-an. They are with freighter pilot Jessica Meade. They want to stop Ko Zatec-Cha. He is an evil advisor who wants to be king of Tammuz-an. Zatec-Cha hires IG-88 to capture Mon Julpa and his royal scepter. But the heroes get the scepter back. Mon Julpa becomes king of Tammuz-an.
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| 7 | "The Pirates of Tarnoonga" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | October 19, 1985 | ||||||||
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Jann, Jessica, and the droids are delivering fuel. The pirate Kybo Ren-Cha captures them. He takes them to the water planet Tarnoonga on his stolen Star Destroyer. The heroes escape a giant sea monster. Jann and the droids trick the pirates with a fake plan. Jessica gets the real fuel back. After Jann and the droids escape, Mon Julpa sends forces to capture Ren.
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| 8 | "The Revenge of Kybo Ren" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Peter Sauder | October 26, 1985 | ||||||||
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Kybo Ren escapes from prison. He kidnaps Gerin, the daughter of Lord Toda. Lord Toda is Mon Julpa's rival. The droids, Jann, and Jessica go to Bogden. They want to rescue Gerin before Mon Julpa is given as a ransom. Ren's men arrive with Julpa. But Lord Toda and soldiers from Tammuz-an are hiding on Ren's ship. Ren is sent back to prison. Julpa and Toda become allies. Jessica decides to go back to her freighter business. She says goodbye to her friends.
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| 9 | "Coby and the Starhunters" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Joe Johnston & Peter Sauder | November 2, 1985 | ||||||||
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C-3PO and R2-D2 are asked to look after Lord Toda's young son, Coby. But smugglers capture them. Jann rescues them. Then the droids learn that Jann has joined the Imperial Space Academy. This leaves them without a master again.
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| 10 | "Tail of the Roon Comets" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Story by : Ben Burtt Teleplay by : Michael Reaves |
November 9, 1985 | ||||||||
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Mungo Baobab, with R2-D2 and C-3PO, starts looking for the powerful Roonstones. But he runs into trouble with the Empire.
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| 11 | "The Roon Games" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Story by : Ben Burtt Teleplay by : Gordon Kent & Peter Sauder |
November 16, 1985 | ||||||||
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Mungo, C-3PO, and R2-D2 escape. They head for the planet Roon again. But they haven't seen the last of General Koong. He is a governor who wants to win the Empire's support.
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| 12 | "Across the Roon Sea" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Story by : Ben Burtt Teleplay by : Sharman DiVono |
November 23, 1985 | ||||||||
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Mungo is about to give up on finding Roonstones. He and the droids are ready to go back to his home planet, Manda.
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| 13 | "The Frozen Citadel" | Ken Stephenson & Raymond Jafelice | Story by : Ben Burtt Teleplay by : Paul Dini |
November 30, 1985 | ||||||||
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Mungo and the droids keep looking for the Roonstones. But Koong causes more problems for them.
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| SP | "The Great Heep" | Clive A. Smith | Ben Burtt | June 7, 1986 | ||||||||
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C-3PO and R2-D2 go to Biitu with their new master, Mungo Baobab. They meet a giant droid named the Great Heep. This droid builds itself bigger by using parts from other droids.
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Toys and Comics
Toys
In 1985, Kenner made toys based on the show. These included action figures, spaceship models, and other items. Two action figures, Boba Fett and A-wing Pilot, were actually old figures from the main Star Wars toy line. The toy line was stopped after the first 12 figures. This was because Star Wars toys were not as popular anymore.
Later, in 1987 and 1988, a company called Glasslite in Brazil sold the remaining Kenner toys. They also made a few new Return of the Jedi and Droids toys. Some vehicles and figures were put in new packages. A special action figure of the character Vlix was made only by Glasslite. Very few of these were made or sold. The Vlix figure became very valuable to collectors.
Books and Games
A book based on the episode "A Race to the Finish" was released in the UK. Other books were planned but not released.
A computer game was released in 1988. It was for computers like the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64. The game was made by Mastertronic. It was not very well known and was stopped because of problems with music rights.
Comic Books
In 1986, Marvel's Star Comics made a Star Wars: Droids comic book series. It was based on the cartoon. The comics came out every two months and had eight issues. The artist John Romita, Sr. drew four of the issues. One story from Droids #4 continued in an issue of Ewoks comics. The last three issues of the Droids comic series retold the first Star Wars movie from the droids' point of view.
How it Influenced Other Star Wars Stories
Ben Burtt, who helped create the show, wrote notes for the Shadows of the Empire music. He mentioned the Roonstones, which he wrote about in Droids. Ben Burtt also appeared briefly in Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He named his character after the Baobabs from the show.
Several things from the Droids cartoon are seen in the Star Wars prequel movies:
- The Boonta Eve Classic race in The Phantom Menace.
- The planet Bogden and a four-armed cook in Attack of the Clones.
- General Grievous's wheel bike design in Revenge of the Sith.
Genndy Tartakovsky made C-3PO's eyes move and show feelings in the Clone Wars cartoon (2003). He did this to honor how C-3PO looked in earlier cartoons like the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and Droids.
In 2014, Droids was not included in the new official Star Wars story timeline, called "canon." However, a bad guy from Droids, Admiral Screed, still appears in new Star Wars books. He is called "the Emperor's right-hand man." You can find him in books like Tarkin (2014) and Aftermath: Life Debt (2016). Also, some people think that the main characters Rey and Kylo Ren from the sequel movies might have been inspired by characters in Droids.
See also
In Spanish: Star Wars: Droids para niños
