- "The animation is adorable and I'm over the moon that I get to voice this helpful droid & supporter of all your favorite galactic creatures. Seriously a dream come true."
- ―Mo Beatty describing Star Wars Galactic Pals
Star Wars Galactic Pals is an animated micro-series that premiered on April 12, 2022, on StarWarsKids.com and YouTube.
Official description[]
A spinoff of the adventures of the droid SF-R3 ("Aree") in Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures, Galactic Pals joins M1-RE ("Miree"), another member of the Galactic Society of Creature Enthusiasts, as she looks after and studies ornery Ortolans, fussy Hutts, scavenging Jawas, and more creatures and aliens aboard the Youngling Care Space Station.[1]
Development[]
- "Caring for such a group of young creatures and aliens poses particular challenges that required a specialized member of the Galactic Society of Creature Enthusiasts to handle them, leading to the creation of Miree and her camera droid Cam-E."
- ―Jason Stein
Building off of the success of Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures, Jason Stein, the creative executive in Animation Development and Production, and the production team saw an opporunity to show younglings in a new series. They decided that caring for young creatures and aliens would require a specialized member of the Society to handle them, and this led to the creation of Miree and her camera droid CAM-E.[1]
Miree was voiced by voice actor Mo Beatty.[3] She finished recording for the series the week before March 10, 2022.[6] Beatty said that voicing Miree was a dream come true, and she was very happy that she got to voice her.[5]
Release[]
On April 14, 2022, the show was announced, and the first two episodes, "Wookiee" and "Ewok," were released on YouTube and StarWarsKids.com. Two episodes premiered on April 19 and April 26. The series then took a hiatus until later in the year to continue the other six episodes until the series met its 12-episode season.[1] A compilation of the first six episodes was released on Youtube on May 4.[7] The first six episodes were also released on Disney Kids and Disney Junior on May 4.[5]
Merchandise[]
- "We really pushed ourselves towards a look that was cute, as well as being inviting and endearing, in addition to being authentically Star Wars."
- ―Brian Merten
StarWars.com announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Mattel Plush collaborated to create a line of plush toys to debut alongside the premiere of the series. Denise Wong, the senior manager of Mattel Plush, said that from the beginning, they knew they wanted to create a styling that was cute and provided a fun play pattern. The main goal was to make the plush toys feel as lifelike as a real youngling and to enable kids and fans to form relationships with the plush toys that focus on caring and caretaking. Brian Merten, the senior manager of Product Design of Disney Consumer Products, said that they pushed themselves towards plush toys that looked cute, as well as appearing inviting and endearing, in addition to feeling authentic to Star Wars. Wong said that they tried several approaches before they settled on a look that they were satisfied with and they believed would work with the wide range of Star Wars characters. The design team came up with almost 80 sketches before they settled on a look that everyone liked, and the design was tweaked during the prototyping phase.[8]
The team fine-tuned the scale and proportions of the several iterations, and they imagined how each plush would feel in a child's hand or when being cuddled. The design team decided to use soft plastic or fabric for the heads and they settled on the best overall size and body proportions. Merten said that getting the eyes right was one of the hardest and worthwhile struggles. The final aesthetic blended chibi and cartoonish styles and featured expressive eyes and warm smiles. Lucasfilm and Mattel wanted fans to form a caretaker-like connection with their plush, so each plush comes with a satchel.[8]
Episodes[]
| Episode | Image | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
"Wookiee"[9] | April 12, 2022[1] |
| 2 | 
|
"Ewok"[10] | April 12, 2022[1] |
| 3 | 
|
"Jawa"[11] | April 19, 2022[11] |
| 4 | 
|
"Rodian"[12] | April 19, 2022[12] |
| 5 | 
|
"Gamorrean"[13] | April 26, 2022[13] |
| 6 | 
|
"Huttlet"[14] | April 26, 2022[14] |
| 7 | 
|
"Tauntaun"[15] | October 18, 2022[15] |
| 8 | 
|
"Rancor"[15] | October 18, 2022[15] |
| 9 | 
|
"Porgs"[16] | October 25, 2022[16] |
| 10 | 
|
"Ortolan"[17] | October 25, 2022[17] |
| 11 | 
|
"Gungan"[18] | November 1, 2022[18] |
| 12 | 
|
"Loth-Cat"[2] | November 1, 2022[2] |
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
Learn to Care for Creatures and Aliens in Star Wars Galactic Pals on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
Loth-Cat | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
Mo Beatty (@MoBeatty) on Twitter: "AHEM. Presenting moi as M1-RE aka Miree a member of the Galactic Society of Creature Enthusiasts! I'm so stoked to officially be a droid in the Star Wars World!! @MarciPolzin" (backup link)
- ↑ Learn to Care for Creatures and Aliens in Star Wars Galactic Pals on StarWars.com (backup link) places Star Wars Galactic Pals after the events of Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures. The Galaxy of Creatures book depicts all episodes of Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures taking place a relatively short time apart.
Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures — "Porgs" features porgs on Batuu, a species that Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge establishes were not present on the planet Batuu until the Resistance brought them there between the events of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Therefore, porgs must have been introduced to Batuu between those stories, which corresponds to 34 ABY per this reasoning, meaning that the events of Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures take place during or after 34 ABY.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2
Mo Beatty (@MoBeatty) on Facebook: Mo Beatty announces she voiced M1-RE on Facebook (April 16, 2022): "The animation is adorable and I'm over the moon that I get to voice this helpful droid & supporter of all your favorite galactic creatures. Seriously a dream come true. The episodes are two minutes long & PERFECT for all those new babes & pre schoolers out there! Officially coming to Disney Kids & Disney Junior May 4th!!!" (backup link)
- ↑
Mo Beatty on Instagram: Mo Beatty announces she recorded an animated series on Instagram (March 10, 2022): "Last week, I finished recording an animated series I'm oh so excited to share with you very soon. Something this journey has taught me: the risk you should be taking with your art is amusing yourself. If you're amused, others likely will be too." (backup link)
- ↑ Episode Compilation, Part 1 | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Star Wars Galaxy Gets Adorable on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Wookiee | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ Ewok | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jawa | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Rodian | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Gamorrean | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Huttlet | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Head Back to the Youngling Care Space Station with New Galactic Pals on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Porgs | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Ortolan | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Gungan | Galactic Pals on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (backup link)
