Video: It’s a weird thing to admit as a Star Wars fan, but I can honestly take or leave the Jedi and Sith. They dominate the storytelling landscape of Star Wars far too much, telling the same old tales. Give me a pilot, or a smuggler, or literally anyone but yet another force sensitive with a glow stick, please!
But even still, this new Galaxy of Adventures got me quivering with excitement.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/03/how-the-studio-behind-star-wars-new-animated-shorts-brings-the-lighter-side-of-the-movies-to-life/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/vu6zhgeuwn111ajzzlc2.gif” title=”How The Studio Behind Star Wars’ New Animated Shorts Brings The Lighter Side Of The Movies To Life ” excerpt=”Galaxy of Adventures, the kids-focused line of Star Wars animated shorts, has been trucking along turning moments from the movies into delightful pieces of animation. But for Titmouse, the studio behind the shorts, they represent a chance to inject some brightness into the most iconic moments in the Star Wars saga.”]
The latest in the consistently delightful animated short series doesn’t focus on a particular character or moment from the films, but instead a throughline — arguably the most important throughline in the Skywalker Saga: The rise and fall (and rise again, later this year) of the Jedi and the Sith.
I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just the energetic animation making me want a whole goddamn movie-length version of one of these. Maybe it’s the slick transitions between moments from the films.
Maybe it’s just the inner child that will never get over the fact that lightsabers are rad as hell, as much as the critic within would align himself with Han Solo and say they and the hokey religion they come bundled with are no match for a blaster at your side (who are we kidding, Han, they’re laser swords, of course they are). Maybe it’s all those things.
So sure, I’ll stick to my deconstructionist bent that it is indeed time to let old things die, and that the Jedi and Sith shouldn’t be restored to their perpetual battle but instead burned to the ground and fundamentally rebuilt (love you, The Last Jedi, you beautiful film you).
But every once in a while I’ll still get that flicker of glee seeing the guardians of old Republics, and phantom menaces stalking them from the shadows, clashing their blades in a battle across the stars. As long as it looks as good as this, that is.
All is as the Force wills it, after all.