- Source: Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures is an American animated children's television series created for the streaming service Disney+ and the television network Disney Jr. It is part of the Star Wars franchise and follows a group of younglings as they learn to become Jedi Knights during the High Republic era, centuries before the main Star Wars films. The series is produced by Lucasfilm Animation and Wild Canary Animation, with Michael Olson as showrunner and Elliot Bour as supervising director. It is the first full-length animated Star Wars series targeted at young audiences.
The series stars Jamaal Avery Jr., Emma Berman, Juliet Donenfeld, Dee Bradley Baker, Jonathan Lipow, and Piotr Michael. It was announced in May 2022, with Olson and Bour already attached to the project. Casting was revealed in February 2023. Six shorts were released on YouTube ahead of the series premiere, before also becoming available on Disney+.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures premiered on May 4, 2023, and was positively received, with critics praising the show for being an engaging first Star Wars experience for young viewers. The second season premiered on August 14, 2024.
Premise
Set during the High Republic era, centuries before the events of the main Star Wars films, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures follows a group of younglings as they learn the ways of the Force, including compassion, self-discipline, teamwork and patience, to become Jedi Knights.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Jamaal Avery Jr. and Jecobi Swain as Kai Brightstar: a Jedi youngling who hopes to follow in the footsteps of Jedi Master Yoda and become a Jedi Knight
Emma Berman as Nash Durango: a pilot who is friends with Kai and the other younglings, and teams up with them to go on adventures
Juliet Donenfeld as Lys Solay, a Pantoran Jedi youngling who is Kai's best friend
Dee Bradley Baker as Nubs, a Pooba Jedi youngling who is Kai's other best friend
Jonathan Lipow as RJ-83, a droid friend of the younglings
Piotr Michael as Yoda, a Jedi Master
Nasim Pedrad as Zia Zanna, a human female Jedi Master who serves as a teacher to the Jedi younglings studying on planet Tenoo
Trey Diaz Murphy as Cyrus Vuundir / Taborr Val Dorn, a prince of Vuundalla and a pirate
Marcus Scribner as Bell Zettifar
Justine Lee as Lina Soh, Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic
Liam O'Brien as Estala Maru, a Jedi Master
Gunnar Sizemore as Wes Vinik, Jedi Master Zia's new Padawan
Production
= Development
=Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, the first full-length animated Star Wars series targeted at young audiences and their families, was announced at Star Wars Celebration in May 2022. It is set during the High Republic era, centuries before the events of the main Star Wars films, which was already being explored through a series of books and comics at the time. The series was announced by executive producer James Waugh, executive producer and showrunner Michael Olson, supervising director Elliot Bour, and consulting producer Lamont Magee. Lucasfilm's Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes are also executive producers. Waugh said the creative team were aware that the series could be the first introduction to Star Wars for some children. Though they wanted the "characters, tone, and the life lessons" in each episode to be aimed at the younger audience, they also wanted to stay true to the expectations of people familiar with Star Wars.
The series' second season was produced by Lucasfilm in collaboration with Wild Canary while Icon Creative provided production services. Lamont McGee also joined as consulting producer for the series.
= Casting and voice recording
=At the D23 Expo in September 2022, Jamaal Avery Jr. and Emma Berman were announced as cast in the series' lead roles of Kai Brightstar and Nash Durango, respectively. In February 2023, it was announced that Juliet Donenfeld was cast as Lys Solay, Dee Bradley Baker as Nubs, Jonathan Lipow as RJ-83, and Piotr Michael as Yoda. In January 2024, Marcus Scribner, Justine Lee and Liam O'Brien were announced as new cast members for the roles of Bell Zettifar, Republic Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh and Jedi Master Maru for the final batch of the first season episodes released on February 14, 2024. In addition, JeCo Swain was announced to be playing Kai Brightstar alongside Avery Jr.
The actors recorded their lines remotely with the screenwriters and showrunners bringing together their voice performances at the studio. Baker, who voiced a non-English speaking character Nubs, said his fellow protagonists Kai and Lys reinforced what their friend was saying in the series in a similar way to the relationship between Han Solo and Chewbacca. Baker also recorded multiple options for Nubs' lines for the showrunners to select for each scene. Since the series was aimed at the preschooler demographic, the showrunners ruled out the use of subtitles for Nubs' vocalizations.
In June 2024, Gunnar Sizemore was cast as Wes Vinik, Jedi Master Zia's new Padawan for the second season.
= Music
=Matthew Margeson was hired to compose the score for the series by late July 2022.
Release
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures premiered on the streaming service Disney+ and the television network Disney Jr. on May 4, 2023, Star Wars Day. The first two episodes premiered at Star Wars Celebration Europe on April 8, 2023. Three animated shorts introducing the characters of the series premiered on the Disney Jr. YouTube channel on March 27, 2023, with an additional three releasing by April 24, before all six were released on Disney+ on April 26.
Six more episodes were released on Disney+ and Disney Jr. on August 2, 2023; further episodes were released on November 8, with the final six episodes being released on February 14, 2024. The first season consisted of 25 episodes.
An additional set of shorts were released on August 2, 2024, while the second season premiered with its first half on August 14.
Reception
= Viewership
=According to market research company Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures ranked as the fifth most in-demand series on Disney+ during the week of January 16-22, 2023. It ranked second among the most in-demand breakout shows, achieving 23.1 times the average series demand during the week of April 29-May 5, 2023. This represented a 69% increase in demand from an earlier period.
= Critical response
=Arezou Amin of Collider gave the series an "A" rating, stating that it "captured the Star Wars spirit for younglings of all ages". She described the main cast members as being relatable to children and praised the series for relying on a character-focused approach, which explored new characters as opposed to depending on long-established characters to advance the story. Brett White at Decider gave the series a positive review, describing it as a "fun show and a fine introduction to Star Wars" for the preschooler demographic. While noting its low stakes plots, White praised the series for emphasizing life lessons and described the action sequences as "feeling like Star Wars" rather than a "preschool approximation" of the franchise.
= Accolades
=Tie-in media
An accompanying digital series, titled Fun with Nubs, was released from June 14, 2024.
Notes
References
External links
Official website
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures at IMDb
Young Jedi Adventures on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
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