For a while Star Wars was seen as something that would only ever produce things in live action as that's all we got and heck even the first time that Star Wars appeared on television it was in live action with THAT holiday special. Yet people seem to forget that when Star Wars was at it's height in the eighties we actually had some animated shows and since it's been a long while since I last reviewed anything from this show I thought that now was the right time to delve back into the world of this show and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Wicket trying to rescue a giant baby with the episode in question being called simply just ""Rampage Of The Phlogs" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when a member of tribe of giant beings known as Phlogs is kidnapped and his kidnapping is blamed on the Ewoks it's to Wicket and friends to prove there innocence and return this lost baby to his own people. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about thew actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it was the kind of typical kids animated show plot that you would find in a typical eighties kids animated TV show but at the same time tho it's done with a unique Star Wars type twist that it makes what could have been seen as being a tired and worn plot with the villain kidnapping someone kind of important and then blaming it on the good guys seem new and fresh again but at the same time tho there's really nothing new added to this episodes plot either and as such you really do know where the plot of the episode is going the second that it starts which does make this episode feel rather pointless as who ants to watch an episode where you can predict what's going to happen in it's plot and while this isn't always a bad thing it is something that does make this episode stand out as this franchise normally doesn't do predictable plots at all with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Jim Henshaw as Wicket Wystri Warrick , Melleny Brown as Urgah and Jackie Burroughs as Morag. Also starring in this episode is George Buza as Chirpa and Nahkee , Doug Chamberlain as Logray , Alyson Court as Malani , Don Francks as Umwak , Dan Hennessey as Gorneesh , Taborah Johnson as Latara , Joe Matheson as Zut , Eric Peterson as Teebo , Diane Polley as Dobah , John Stocker as Hoom and Cree Summer as Kneesaa A Jari Kintaka.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the actors that you expects a good performance from like Cree Summer , George Buza and Alyson Court to name but a few giving us exactly that and that is something that really does go to show you not only how good these actors are in this show but also in general as they knock it out of the park every single time with it really being hard to say just who the true standout performer is for this episode as realistically anyone f this episodes actors could lay claim to that title and it would totally make sense and whole this episodes acting is on the overall really high there were some performers like Jim Henshaw as Wicket Wystri Warrick and Eric Peterson as Teebo for example who really just felt a bit off not that they were bad because they weren't it's just that they were better in other episodes of the show with the acting in this episode feeling like it was the first episode to be produced and so the actors were still trying to find there character with the acting that's i this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episode actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does effect the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is Nelvana , Cuckoo's Nest Studios and Wang Film Productions Company. Now then inters if what I personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it does does look a lot better then the animation that you'd typically find in a kids animated TV show for the eighties but at the same time tho it's lacking that extra something that alot of animated shows from the eighties seem to have and it's something that really is hard to pin point as while yes granted the episodes animation does look really good with there being no animation errors there's also no charm to it with the episodes animation coming across as being bland and boring instead of grand and spectacular and while it does make sense this episodes animation is really good as both Nelvana and Wang Film Productions Company are known for turning in either really good animation or animation that's so weird and out there thar you kind of have to respect for at the very least trying to be different and trying to be new where as here it felt like that they were playing it to safe and granted there's not much that you can do to make your animation in a weekly show seem good each and every week but there could some attempt to at the very least be different and unique instead of just playing it safe like they do in this episode.
For some strange reason even the Dulok race are meant to be the sworn enemies of the Ewoks here in this episode they have them just babysitting. Which given that this is a kids show does somewhat make sense but the same time tho in the context of the story you do want them to be acting more sinister as while there plan does make sense as having a Phlog believe that the Ewoks took one of there own is a good idea it doesn't really make them all that threatening as villains when you take into account that the spend the rest of the episode just looking after this baby when that's not in there character to do so and while you can't really show them being abusive to the kid there could have been a work around that allowed them to be threatening villains and still allow them to be fun and goofy characters as that's what alot if not all of the villains in kids eighties animated TV shows where they were characters that could be fun and goofy when they needed to be but also be really serious when they had to be as well and that is something that did make them believable as villains and yet here with these characters while there believable enough to be goofy characters with them even making a joke about who's going to change the baby there not believable as villains and that is something that does make them seem less of a threat which wouldn't be a bad thing if they where just villains for this episode but there the villains for the whole show and so they should have some menace to them just to make them seem alot more believable as villains.
What is something that both does and doesn't work for this episode is the fact that they gave Wicket kind of subplot. Which is something that doesn't work in the fact that given that he's the main character he should really only be involved with the main plot of the episode we don't need to see him taking on a subplot where he has to learn not to be so mean to one of the Ewoks as that's a spot that could have been used for one of the characters and it does work in the way that given that he is the main character of the show or is at the very least the mist well know character coming into the show it does make sense to have him be a huge part of both plots as he's the character that alot of the audience that are watching this show know the best thanks to his appearance in Return Of The Jedi and the two live action Ewok films that came out both before the during the run of this show and in that regards it does make sense for him to have a bit more screen time but at the same time tho that does mean that alot of the other Ewok characters can't be fully developed when Wicket doesn't really nee to be due to the fact that he's already appeared in three live action films and these characters are just making there debut in the world of Star Wars it would be like if either R2D2 or C3-PO took part in both the subplot and main plot of there own animated show "Droids" when they really wouldn't have needed the extra screen time either due to them being in all of the Star Wars films sometimes less is more and that would have very much have been the case with the Wicket character in this episode.
For those of you who have no idea what a Phlog even is in the first place to put it simply they are giant humanoid creatures who mostly wear no shirt and a loin cloth and that's really it. As we get to find out next to nothing about these creatures that the Ewoks are supposed to be afraid with the only reason that the Ewoks are afraid of them is the fact that there taller then the Ewoks and that's really it as none of them have nothing unique about them which is a shame as exploring what life is like on Endor for creatures that aren't the Ewoks and are actually taller then them is something that on paper could work really well but you'd have to develop the characters enough so that we the audience actually want to see more of them where as here even tho they do appear in a future episode of the show we the audience aren't left with that feeling of wanting to see more of them as there's nothing about these characters that makes them standout an that makes them unique out side of the fact that there basically giant size and that's really it and that's not enough and heck for alot of the episode there treated like the villains of the episode when in actuality it's the Dulok's who are the villains and it's the Phlogs that attack the Ewok village for no reason even tho the Ewoks are actively tryin to rescue a member of there tribe the characters aren't bad but they just needed to be written better and be put into a better story as on paper these characters could have worked alot more better then what the already do and if they were better done characters then who knows perhaps they could have been featured in a movie all there own instead of just being characters in this show.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty three minuets and forty seconds. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running tom for this show and to this episodes credit it really does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho this episode really doesn't use it's running tie all that wisely as the main conflict of the episode isn't set up all that well and Wicket's subplot of learning not to be mean to one of the Ewok's just feels tacked on as it adds nothing the overall plot of the episode and feels more like that it was there just to pad out the episode as a whole when if the makers of this episode really wanted to pad this episode out all they had to had to do was just develop the main plot of the episode and that's really it as while this episodes episodes isn't that strong of a plot by any stretch of the imagination it's more then strong enough to hold up a bogstandard twenty two minuets kids animated TV show for the eighties and that's really it and that's all the makers of this episode really had to but since thy really wanted to give Wicket a pointless subplot we are not stuck with a subplot that goes nowhere and adds nothing to the plot of the episode outside of the fact that it really gives the Ewoks a reason to go looking for one of their own after she runs off and that's really it and a plot that would have been so much more better then it already is if it was the main focus of the episode and not exactly fighting for screen time with the pointless subplot but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us n this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. AS this is a kids animated YV show after all and so with that in mind you can' really expect this episodes action to be on par with that seen in any of the live action Star Wars movies both theatrical and made for TV and to this episodes credit it does do the best that it could have done from an action point of view by showing lot of the Ewoks having to band together to survive an attack from one of the Phlogs while Morag watches on from the side and as this episode really only has the one action scene near the end of the episode it makes sense that it be that action scene that is the best one in the episode as seeing alot of the Ewoks band together is always going to a fun tie no matter who it is that there attacking and trying to survive as these characters are clever characters who are able to think on there feet and seeing them do that all the while trying to survive an attack from someone who could very easily crush them all with one his pinky toes does make for a really fun filled action scene that was a really fun to watch in this very episode and to be frank makes it alot more fun then what it really had any right to be as by all rights this episodes action shouldn't have been all that good and yet it turns to be alot more better then what it really had any right to be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this was a really good but at the same time tho it's not the best episode out of the three episodes that i've seen and reviewed as this episode just feels like that it could gave been an episode of any eighties kids animated TV show and not something that's unique to the world of Star Wars in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally use in this very review from the official Star Wars fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Star Wars fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Star Wars fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.