Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO

Star Wars: Droids &mdash; The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO is an animated television series set in the Star Wars galaxy. It features the exploits of R2-D2 and C-3PO&mdash;the famous droid duo who have appeared in all six Star Wars films. The series, which lasted fifteen episodes, takes place in 15 BBY&mdash;which is between the events depicted in the Star Wars films: Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The series' opening theme&mdash;"Trouble Again"&mdash;was performed by Stewart Copeland from the band The Police.

Throughout the series, the droids face off against gangsters, pirates, Boba Fett, IG-88, the Galactic Empire, and other threats. During their adventures, the droids always find themselves with new masters and new difficult situations as a result. Throughout the series, the droids team up with four different sets of masters. The first season is divided up into cycles, in which at the beginning of each, the droids usually run into their new masters in an accidental way, and at the end of each cycle, they usually are forced to leave their masters for one reason or another. The Great Heep, a television special following the first season, serves as a prequel to one of these cycles. It tells the adventures of the droids before they joined up with Mungo Baobab in The Adventures of Mungo Baobab Cycle. After the show ended, all of the episodes were re-played along with new episodes of Star Wars: Ewoks as part of the Ewoks and Star Wars Droids Adventure Hour.

Chronological order
The series was meant to tell the adventures of the droids in a chronological order, based on cycles, or groups of episodes. Though sometimes released out of order, this is the correct order to view the series, chronologically:

The Trigon One Cycle:
 * "The White Witch"
 * "Escape Into Terror"
 * "The Trigon Unleashed"
 * "A Race to the Finish"

The Mon Julpa Cycle:
 * "The Lost Prince"
 * "The New King"
 * "The Pirates of Tarnoonga"
 * "The Revenge of Kybo Ren"
 * "Coby and the Starhunters"

The Mungo Baobab Preface Cycle:
 * "The Great Heep (part 1)"
 * "The Great Heep (part 2)"

The Adventures of Mungo Baobab Cycle:
 * "Tail of the Roon Comets"
 * "The Roon Games"
 * "Across the Roon Sea"
 * "The Frozen Citadel"

Characters

 * Mungo Baobab
 * Ogger Baobab
 * Bix
 * BL-17
 * C-3PO
 * Coby
 * Doodnik
 * Jord Dusat
 * Boba Fett
 * Sise Fromm
 * Tig Fromm
 * Gaff
 * Gerin
 * Great Heep
 * Greej
 * IG-88
 * Thall Joben
 * Mon Julpa
 * Kea Moll
 * Keeper of the Tower
 * Governor Koong
 * KT-10
 * Gee Long
 * Jessica Meade
 * Jyn Obah
 * Proto One
 * R2-D2
 * Gir Kybo Ren-Cha
 * Admiral Terrinald Screed
 * Sollag
 * Toda
 * Gundy Tosh
 * Jann Tosh
 * Vinga
 * Vlix
 * Noop Yeldarb
 * Auren Yomm
 * Bola Yomm
 * Nilz Yomm
 * Yorpa
 * Zatec-Cha
 * Kleb Zellock

Creatures

 * Binjifant
 * Cracian Thumper
 * Durkii
 * Jugaloo
 * Miridon sea monster
 * Sand Sloth
 * Sungwa

Droid models

 * Android
 * Assassin Droid
 * Astromech droid
 * BL-series Battle Legionnaire
 * Fromm Tower Droid
 * Medical droid
 * Protocol droid
 * Work Droid

Events

 * Battle of Tammuz-an
 * Boonta Race
 * Colonial Games

Locations

 * Annoo
 * Biitu
 * Bogden
 * Boonta
 * Borga
 * Dandelo
 * Ingo
 * Manda
 * Roon
 * Tammuz-an
 * Tarnoonga
 * Tatooine
 * Tyne's Horky
 * Zellakesh

Organizations and titles

 * Alliance to Restore the Republic
 * Annoo Resistance
 * Fromm Gang
 * Galactic Empire
 * Pirates of Tarnoonga

Sapient species

 * Annoo-dat Blue
 * Biituian
 * Fuzzum
 * Gamorrean
 * Human
 * Kobok
 * Tammuz-an (species)
 * Kitonak
 * Ortolan
 * Pa'lowick
 * Unknown species of Doodnik
 * Unknown species of Greej
 * Unknown species of Kleb Zellock
 * Unknown species of Yorpa
 * Unknown species of Zebulon Dak

Vehicles and vessels

 * 48 Roller wheel bike
 * Caravel
 * Defender starfighter
 * Desert Sail-20 Skiff
 * Demolisher
 * Dianoga
 * H-60 Tempest bomber
 * IG-2000
 * Imperial Sniper Vehicle
 * R-22 Spearhead
 * Roon Clipper
 * Sand Sloth
 * Silver Speeder
 * Trigon 1
 * Voor Viper
 * White Witch
 * The 'new' Umboo light station

Weapons and technology

 * Lightsaber

Miscellanea

 * Artoo's favorite program
 * Circuit cider
 * Giva Jumbo
 * Jukebox
 * Keschel
 * Nergon-14
 * Photon Fizzle
 * Roon Stone
 * Supernova
 * Tammuz-an Royal Scepter

Cast and production
The series featured Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, who also portrayed the character in the films, along with the voice talents of Graeme Campbell, Rob Cowan, Don Francks, Peter MacNeill, John Stocker and Winston Rekert. Several episodes of the series were written by Ben Burtt. The series was produced by Nelvana on behalf of Lucasfilm and broadcast on ABC. The cartoon series lasted one season and was made up of 13 regular episodes in 1985. There was also a two-part TV special entitled, The Great Heep in 1986. Following the original run of the complete series, the entire show was rebroadcast as part of The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour the same year, along with its series counterpart, Star Wars: Ewoks.

Cast listing (voice work)

 * Don Francks as Jann Tosh
 * Winston Rekert as Sise Fromm, Mungo Baobab
 * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
 * Graeme Campbell as Proto One
 * Peter MacNeill as Jord Dusat
 * John Stocker as Vlix
 * Rob Cowan as Thall Joben
 * Stephen Ouimette as Narrator
 * Dan Hennessey as Jord Dusat (ep4), Uncle Gundy, [Jyn Obah, Vinga and Yorpa

Crew
Several people who worked on the original trilogy returned to lend thir talents to the series:

Credits
Feature Edition
 * Executive Producers: George Lucas, Miki Herman
 * Produced by: Clive A. Smith, Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert
 * Supervising Producer: Lenora Hume
 * Based on the characters by: George Lucas
 * Directed by: Raymond Jafelice, Clive A. Smith, Ken Stephenson
 * Music by: Stewart Copeland
 * Story Editors: Peter Sauder, Ben Burtt
 * Unit Director: David Thrasher
 * Assistant Director: Scott Glynn
 * Animation Directors: Mike Fallows, Gord Stanfield, John Laurence Collins
 * Voice Director: Rob Kirkpatrick
 * Recording Assistant: Susan Phillips
 * Casting Director: Arlene Berman
 * Casting Assistant: Deborah Patz
 * Production Designers: Jim Craig, Frank Nissen
 * Designers: Charles Bastien, Richard Livingston
 * Design Coordinators: John Pagan, Tony Eglill
 * Design Assistants: George Elliott, Ross Campbell, Brian Foster, Mark Romza, Faye Hamilton, Steven Manning, Mark Harris
 * Storyboard Supervisor: Arna Selznick
 * Storyboard Artists: Scott Caple, Jim Caswell, Sam Dixon, Jim Craig, Sam Agro, Laura Sheperd, Jim Miko, Dave Cox, Joe Holdor
 * Assistants: Ted Ravn, Nicholas Campbell
 * Layout Artists: Rick Allen, Roger Jakublec, John Alrd, Brian Lee, Rick Bentham, Dawn Lee, Peter Biellold, Mark Marren, Eric Chu, Chris Minz, Rick Corriganm Tom Nesbitt, Nancy Easun, Dave Pemberton, John Flagg, Rob Sadler
 * Character Posting: Shane Doyle, Paul Riley, Mike Girard, Shawn Seles, John Hooper, Linda Williams, Ronald Migliore, Lynn Yamazaki, Rolf Zondag
 * Background Stylist: Barry Atkinson
 * Assistants: Keith Slache, Judy Mathews
 * Special Effects Director: David Marshall
 * Special Effects Designers: Trevor Davies, Jan Steel Moffati, Alexis Wallrich, Peter Yamasaki
 * Graphics: Kim Cleary
 * Color Designers: Jan Leitch, Eileen Middleton, Carol Bradbour, Margaret Rol, Parker McIntyre
 * Associate Producers: Dana Orlando, Peter Sauder, Paul Dini
 * Associate Supervising Producer: Peter Hudecki
 * Production Coordinators: Heather Walker, Judy Nelson
 * Production Manager: Barbara Fish
 * Production Assistants: Steve Chadwick, Paul Hogarth, Julie Fener, Garth Roerick, Barbara Bjarhasan
 * Production Secretaries: Joy Folla, Nancy Shenton
 * Quality Control: Evelyn Baker, Rose Nangle, Brenda Kelly, Betty Oldham, Diana Lyle, Lisa Ratke, Rhyette Zazinski
 * Supervising Editor: Rob Kirkpatrick
 * Coordinator: Steve Fraser
 * Pre-Production: John Broughton
 * Editors: John Baktis, Gordon Kidd, Richard Bond, Paul McGowan, Peter Goodale, Michele Moses, Mac Holyoke, Sheila Murray, Stephen Hudecki, Philip Stilman, Chris Hutton, Keith Traver
 * Assistants: Dave Allman, Ian Jeans, Mike Bass, Al Maciulis, Peter Branton, Kathy Nicholaichuk, Stephanie Crawford, Mike Reid, Steve Fitch, Cindy Romanovich, Tim Griffin, Jamie Whitney, Eric Hurlbut
 * Additional Production: Hanho Heung Up Co. Ltd, Minan Inc.
 * Producer: Rick McCallum
 * Editor: T.M. Christopher
 * Main Title Sequence: Kirk Henderson
 * Assistant Editor: Mike Jackson
 * Music Editor: Robin Lee
 * Re-Recording Mixer: Gary A. Rizzo
 * Machine Room Operator: Al Nelson
 * Lucasfilm Ltd: Tim Fox, Des Carey

Alleged continuity issues
Star Wars: Droids is set in the 19 year long time period between the rise of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Many times during the show, agents of The Empire were shown to enforce this idea. The show was set approximately 15 years before the droids ran into Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. This sets the series at around 15 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) or 15 BSW4 (Before Star Wars 4). This also tells us that the show must be set around four years after the events of the film, Revenge of the Sith, as it was set at 19 BBY or 19 BSW4.

There is some controversy in Star Wars fandom as to whether the "Droids" cartoon series should be considered canon in the Star Wars timeline. Though officially released by Lucasfilm Ltd. and endorsed by Star Wars creator George Lucas as taking place about 15 BBY, the overall premise of the series was initially not fully explained within the storyline and consequences of the two films, Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, therefore the series seemingly does not mesh well.

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Senator Bail Organa (adoptive father of Princess Leia Organa) tells Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV consular ship, "I'm placing these droids in your care. Treat them well. Clean them up. Have the protocol droid's mind wiped." In A New Hope, C-3PO tells Luke Skywalker that their last master was Captain Antilles. However, in the Droids series, the droids have numerous masters before Captain Antilles is shown to have or regained care of them in A New Hope, while the setting is after the (later conceived) Revenge of the Sith where they are entrusted to him. Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide gives an official explanation for this continuity issue, mentioning that the droids were "accidentally separated" from Antilles, which is when the Droids cartoon happens, "before returning to Captain Antilles' ship, the Tantive IV." This explanation was further detailed when Corla Metonae's backstory was developed by Billy Buehler (AKA The2ndQuest) for Hyperspace's What's The Story? feature, according to which, she was the responsible for this separation.

In A Race To The Finish, C-3PO claims that another droid graduated from the same "production academy" as he had. This may be a continuity issue, as in Episode I it is revealed that C-3PO was built by Anakin Skywalker, although this contradiction could be explained by the fact that his memory was erased at the end of Revenge of the Sith.

Another continuity problem that seems to stand out is the fact that Jann Tosh is flying an A-Wing, which was not introduced in the films until Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and according to Expanded Universe sources, not developed until after the events of A New Hope. In-universe, the A-Wing along with the B-Wing were not developed until well after the Battle of Yavin. The A-Wing and B-Wing don't show up in the films until the space fight in Return of the Jedi. The intermediate, but very similar R-22 Spearhead was later invented to explain this discrepancy.

Prequel trilogy references and similarities
In several places, the prequel trilogy films reference and/or resemble elements from the Star Wars: Droids animated series. Most likely, this was due to Ben Burtt's large involvement in both story elements for the animated series, and his involvement in the prequels.


 * In the fourth episode of the series "A Race to the Finish", the Droids end up at a race known as the "Boonta Race." A similar name was used for the podrace in The Phantom Menace, which was known as the "Boonta Eve Classic".


 * On a related note, a two-headed announcer simliar to the Pod Race annoucers Fodesinbeed in The Phantom Menace apperaed in an episode of the series. One speaks basic and one speaks an unidentified alien language.


 * The swamp planet of Bogden is a planet visited by the droids in the series. In Attack of the Clones, Jango Fett says that he was "hired by a man named Tyranus on the moons of Bogden."


 * As confirmed by StarWars.com, the wheel bike, which was Jann Tosh's vehicle, and was seen in the animated series, was also the type of vehicle that was the vehicle of choice for General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith, when in a chase with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau.


 * The diner in an episode of the series has a strong similarity to Dex's Diner as seen in Attack of the Clones. The cook/owner of the Diner also resembles Dex.


 * Toong from the series made an appearance in the prequels. also mention the Toong system.


 * In the episode, "The Pirates of Tarnoonga", the pirate caves on Tarnoonga bear a striking resemblance to the sinkhole grottos of Utapau as seen in Revenge of the Sith. Tarnoonga is also a planet completely covered by water, with a few synthetic structures. This is later reflected in the planet Kamino in the prequels.


 * During a scene in Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and R2-D2 are captured by General Grievous' forces. To allow Anakin and Obi-Wan to retrieve their lightsabers, R2-D2 creates a distraction by opening all his panels, extending his tools, and "screaming" while moving wildly about. R2 performs this same maneuver several times during the series.


 * The Naboo sea creatures in The Phantom Menace seem to be reminiscent of the Miridon sea monster, as seen in the episode "The Pirates of Tarnoonga".


 * In the series, the area of space known as the Cloak of the Sith is mentioned and seen. Although not a direct reference, the dark force-users known as the Sith play a large role in the prequel films.


 * In the episode "A Race to the Finish", R2-D2 is shown wheeling himself around on the outside of the ship in order to repair it. He also does this in The Phantrom Menace.


 * The yellow speeder that Anakin and Obi-Wan on Couruscant in Attack of the Clones resembles a speeder from the series.


 * The Sith Probes in The Phantom Menace resemble similar probe droids seen in the series.


 * R2-D2 uses s flashlight/searchlight in Attack of the Clones that he first used in the series.


 * The Tusken Raiders' huts in Attack of the Clones resemble similar huts seen in the series on Tyne's Horky]].


 * Cliegg Lars's Hover Chair that he uses in Attack of the Clones resembles a similar hover chair from the series.


 * The Geonosians in Attack of the Clones resemble Gaff's species in the series.


 * In Attack of the Clones, exploding asteroids are seen. They were first seen in the series.


 * R2-D2 uses a magnet tool of his to pull C-3PO's head in the arena in Attack of the Clones. R2 uses a hidden suction magnet of his in the series on 3PO.


 * A weapon used in Attack of the Clones resembles a similar weapon used in the series.

Later EU appearances

 * The New Jedi Order (1999-2003) At the beginning of Balance Point, New Republic forces engaged the Yuuzhan Vong over Kalarba. The Yuuzhan Vong use the Yo'gand's Core tactic on Hosk Station, using it to devastate Kalarba. Hosk Station originally appeared in Droids. Also, Kalarba was the subject of some of the Droids comics.
 * HoloNet news In several issues of the HoloNet news, Terrinald Screed makes an appearance.
 * New Essential Chronology Screed makes a significant appearance in the Siege of Foerost, a battle created specifically for the NEC.
 * Star Wars: Rebellion In this strategy video game, Admiral Screed makes another appearance.
 * Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive (2002) involves the planet Bogden, as seen in Droids.
 * Ben Burtt references in-universe the Baobab Archives regarding the source which the lyrics of Dha Werda Verda (also written by Burtt) were discovered.
 * Admiral Screed was referred to in passing in The New Essential Guide to Characters and Force Heretic I: Remnant. In the latter, it was established that he was executed by Warlord Zsinj shortly after the Battle of Endor, which explains his absence from the post-Return of the Jedi EU.
 * The planet of Bogden was seen in the video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.
 * Michael P. Kube-McDowell based the Defender starfighter off of the ATL Interceptor that appears in the series when writing his The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy of novels.

Comic book series
In 1986, Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint published a Droids comic book, which was based on the cartoon series. The comic also had the name Star Wars: Droids.

The comic series took place about 10-6 BBY, unlike the TV series which was placed around 15 BBY.

The bi-monthly series ran for a year, ending with issue #8. Significant issues include #4, which crossed over with the Ewoks comics series, and # 6-8, whose story was titled "Star Wars According to the Droids", retelling the original film complete with new scenes told from the perspective of the droids.

Dark Horse Comics also ran a couple of Droids mini-series in 1994 and 1995.

Toy line
In 1985, Kenner produced a toy line based on the series, including action figures, ship models, and other items. For more on the toy line, see this link.

DVD release


Star Wars: Droids was released on Region 1 DVD on November 23, 2004 as an edited compilation under the title Star Wars Animated Adventures: Droids. It contains eight episodes of the series, edited together as two full length movies. Episodes 5-8 were edited together to make The Pirates and the Prince, and Episodes 10-13 were edited together to make Treasure of the Hidden Planet.

The entire original series has yet to be released on any home video format. However, some of the original episodes were released in the eighties and nineties on VHS. Star Wars prequel trilogy and DVD producer Rick McCallum, along with Lucasfilm head of fan relations, Steve Sansweet, have reportedly stated that a future release of the series in its entirety on DVD is possible.

Notes and references

 * Star Wars: Droids 1985, George Lucas, Ben Burtt
 * Star Wars Insider 27
 * Star Wars Insider 73
 * "History of the Mandalorians" - Star Wars Insider 80
 * A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
 * The Star Wars Encyclopedia
 * The New Essential Chronology
 * The Essential Guide to Characters
 * Dungeon Magazine 111 / Polyhedron 170
 * "Star Wars Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO"
 * Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
 * Star Wars Chronicles
 * Back of the Star Wars: Droids 2004 DVD
 * Star Wars Magazine UK 53
 * Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
 * Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
 * The Star Wars Poster Book
 * Star Wars Insider 84
 * Star Wars Insider 84

Official sites

 * - Initial DVD announcment at StarWars.com
 * A Closer Look at the Ewoks & Droids DVDs - Article at StarWars.com
 * Ewoks and Droids Avatars -- Classic Animated Style on Hyperspace
 * Ewok Adventure Avatars on Hyperspace
 * Droids in Polyhedron - Article at StarWars.com
 * R2-D2's Greatest Gadgets - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Creatures of Endor - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Droids Layouts and Posing - Original artwork by a Brian Lemay, a crewmember of the show
 * "Gentle Giant Toons Out the Original Trilogy" - Article at StarWars.com
 * Droids in Polyhedron - Article at StarWars.com
 * R2-D2's Greatest Gadgets - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Creatures of Endor - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Droids Layouts and Posing - Original artwork by a Brian Lemay, a crewmember of the show
 * "Gentle Giant Toons Out the Original Trilogy" - Article at StarWars.com
 * R2-D2's Greatest Gadgets - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Creatures of Endor - Article at Star Wars Kids
 * Droids Layouts and Posing - Original artwork by a Brian Lemay, a crewmember of the show
 * "Gentle Giant Toons Out the Original Trilogy" - Article at StarWars.com

Fan sites

 * LucasFan.com - An informative fan site
 * A fan "Droids encyclopedia" blog at StarWars.com, detailing elements of the show
 * A fan's blog on the possible influences the series had on the prequel films
 * A history of home video releases of Star Wars: Droids
 * A guide to an unproduced toy line for the series
 * Star Wars: Droids at the Big Cartoon DataBase
 * "Star Wars: Droids Episode Guide" At TV Tome
 * Droids cartoon information & show opening at RetroStatic
 * Opening Theme to Star Wars: Droids

Interviews

 * An article from the Star Wars Insider on the series
 * An interview with series animator Paul Dini
 * "Star Wars: An Animated Galaxy Far, Far Away" - Article at Digitalmediafx.com
 * "An Animated Discussion with Brian Lemay" - Article at Rebelscum.com