After the release of the first episode The Mandalorian, everyone was talking about one thing: Baby Yoda. This puppet has stolen the hearts of fans and filmmakers alike, and in just a month, he's reigned dominance over the internet thanks to countless memes and GIFs. However, Baby Yoda is not the first adorable Star Wars creature from a galaxy far, far away.
36 years ago, the Ewoks, teddy bear-like aliens, took to the big screen in Return of the Jedi. While being delightful and deadly, they did not receive the same love as Baby Yoda. In fact, these days the creatures are often used as one of the marks against the finale of the original trilogy. Believed to be a marketing ploy to appeal to more kids, the Ewoks were accused of slowing down the plot and were questioned for their ability to take down Imperial soldiers. Still, while the Ewoks are not seen as the best addition to Star Wars by some fans, there is no denying that they are cute.
While cuteness is subjective, there seems to be a basic formula to it, as seen in many of the most adorable creatures of the modern-day: take something familiar, make it smaller, increase the eye size, adjust the voice so it's higher pitched and give it a clumsy walk as well as a curious nature. Completing this formula has led to peak cuteness in characters like Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Jack-Jack from The Incredibles and of course Star Wars' Baby Yoda and the Ewoks.
Despite this, fans have not taken to the Ewoks as they have to Baby Yoda. This very much could be because Ewoks came out in an age without memes. Baby Yoda's popularity is not just related to how good The Mandalorian is; it is also related to how memeable he is, as seen in the countless amount of fan content posted on social media.
If the Ewoks were introduced today, they would've been perfect for meme culture, and not just because they are adorable space teddies. What makes a strong meme is being relatable, as demonstrated in the Baby Yoda memes. The Ewoks are just as relatable to contemporary audiences as the little green alien. They're driven by food, they flail around until something sticks, they look for a good excuse to party, and they want to fight but also be hugged. They encapsulate the spirit of many memes, including the "looks like a cinnamon roll but can kill you" meme and the "you're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation" meme.
Despite the power of memes, there is more to being loved by the masses than just having a prominent social media presence and an adorable face. Fans are also fixated by powerful characters that have limits. For example, Baby Yoda has the potential to be one of the strongest force users, but he is also an infant with much room to grow.
The Ewoks are further similar in this sense. They're small, lack military training and rely on outdated weapons; however, they are key in the Rebels' win against the Empire. What they lack in resources and strength they make up for in spirit, cunningness, and teamwork, making them that much more endearing, like Baby Yoda.
Both of these characters are adorable and oddly capable, so it would be expected that they are similarly popular amongst the fans; however, Baby Yoda comes from a more positively received story. The Mandalorian gives Star Wars fans what they've been looking for in the franchise for years while Return of the Jedi is seen by some as the lesser of the three original films, which taints the cute image of the Ewoks.
It's unfair that the reputation of Return of the Jedi hits the Ewoks as hard as it does given that critically bad and unpopular entertainment has found a niche on social media platforms. This has led to mass popularity amongst characters that would've been lauded at in the years before the Internet.
Take for instance the absurdity that is The Bee Movie, which has resurfaced this decade through memes. Cats, another absurd film, is doing poorly at the box office, yet it already has the signs of a cult following. Then the Minions, the overplayed side characters of the Despicable Me franchise, have earned their own movie and continue to swarm Facebook in droves. These are not the best films, but their characters found popularity through social media. Return of the Jedi isn't a bad movie, yet characters introduced in it, like the Ewoks, have not had the same fame as characters from the movies above, which are critically worse than Episode Six according to Rotten Tomatoes.
The Ewoks could've been more popular than these characters and Baby Yoda if memes were around in the 80s. What's popular online is something that can be memed again and again, whether that's something adorable or absurd. The Ewoks are both. Cute disasters that they are, they deserve more love, for they would've made for some wholesome online content if they were only introduced during the age of the Internet.