'Young Jedi Adventures' Review: For the Young at Heart with No Bad Memories
'Young Jedi Adventures' Review: For the Young at Heart with No Bad Memories
Disney Plus debuts six new animated shorts in the Star Wars universe.
Now Streaming: Before they were slaughtered by Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005), many young Jedi enjoyed many happy adventures on Coruscant.
Tenoo is not Coruscant. Created expressly for Young Jedi Adventures, Tenoo is a planet located in the Outer Rims Territory. Set during the so-called High Republic Area, in which the Galactic Empire reached its heights (some 200 years before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace), Young Jedi Adventures, therefore, can afford to be fun, playful, and juvenile for its intended audience: kids.
(It's self-rated TV-Y, "appropriate for children of all ages," per the official television industry site. Thanks to Wookiepedia, for explaining most of it, and also to the official YouTube trailer, embedded below, which notes the timeline in its description.
I wish I had known this before watching all six episodes this morning, when I kept having flashbacks to that horrific "younglings" massacre, and kept thinking dark thoughts: "All these children are doomed! How can they be shown romping through the galaxy and making friends with their good will and kind actions?" "THEY WILL ALL DIE SOON!"
Of course, a quick internet search later, I knew better, but it was still kinda traumatic.
Even so, I admired the deep-dish animation and the thoughtful variations in landscapes, from the planet-based to the reaches of outer space. Michael Olson, who has written and produced Puppy Dog Pals for Disney, is showrunner and executive producer, which might help explain why the characters are so adorable and lovable, like, er, puppy dogs.
The young Jedi are introduced as Nubs (voiced by the incredibly talented and versatile Dee Bradley Baker), Lys (Juliet Donenfeld), and Nash (Emma Berman). In the first episode, they are commissioned by Master Yoda (Piotr Michael) to go someplace and do something, which kicks off their pleasant adventures, and leads to the introduction of more friendly characters, who enter stage left and, before they can exit stage right, are already a part of the gang, which is a pretty cool message to send to kids
The show never speaks down to the intended audience. The animation and the breezy running time (5-6 minutes each) makes it enjoyable for adults to watch too, without insulting their experience and intelligence.
It's a lovely, whiz-bang show, and it's very, very cute, especially when you are not thinking that many years later, another group of Jedi kids will all be slaughtered. (Disney Plus)