Star Wars Galactic Pals is the perfect entry point for younglings across the galaxy

At its core, Star Wars will always be suitable for children. Fans of all ages can and do enjoy the stories of hope, compassion, and perseverance told in a galaxy far, far away. But George Lucas’ original intent remains: If kids aren’t the focal point of the narrative, Star Wars isn’t doing its job.

Now, Lucasfilm is taking this idea even further with the launch of Galactic Pals, a series of animated micro-shorts that focuses on showing young children how to care for the youngling creatures of the galaxy.

The series can serve as an ideal entry point for young children who might not be quite ready to watch other Star Wars media just yet (but this will definitely convince them it’s worth it). The style of these short episodes can be seen in the trailer below.

Because it wouldn’t be Star Wars without project-related merchandise, Lucasfilm and Mattel also came together to create plush versions of some of the youngling “pals” — including an Ework, Wookiee, Rodian, and Jawa. You can purchase one or all of these cute creatures now at Target.

Speaking with StarWars.com, Brian Merten, senior manager of Product Design at Disney Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, emphasized the importance of empowering young children to learn to care for others.

“We made conscious efforts to keep Galactic Pals in a place where kids and fans can form relationships with and care for a being that is very different from them. Sort of like the relationship that we see between Grogu and the Mandalorian,” Merten says. “We wanted to focus on enabling kids and fans to form relationships that first focus on caring, then on caretaking.”

Episodes of Star Wars: Galactic Pals can be viewed on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel and StarWarsKids.com.

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