Unwrapping the Star Wars LEGO Advent Calendar: Day 15
By Eric Clayton
I bet you, like my kids and me, opened up that little cardboard door marked 15 of the 2023 Star Wars LEGO Advent Calendar, pulled out the little baggie of forest-colored pieces, studied the terribly unhelpful instructions, and exclaimed, “Finally! A build from the classic 1984 George Lucas made-for-television film, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure! The one that made the forest moon of Endor famous! The one that put Bright Tree Village on the map!”
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news for you: Yes, this tiny, tiny assortment of brown and green pieces does result in an Ewok village. Sorta. Yes, it is most likely everyone’s favorite Ewok village—namely, Bright Tree. But I hate to break it to you, based on all the evidence at hand, I think this build is supposed to be from Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi.
After all, next year is the 40th anniversary of Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. We’ll have to wait until then for the Ewok-focused Advent calendar. For now, we’re still celebrating that Star Wars film from 1983.
Listen: This is a cute little build. How much can you really expect from a handful of pieces? If you’ve been amassing a variety of forest moon builds, this one will fit in nicely—especially if you stand at a distance and squint. My kids thought it was just fine and were apparently unbothered by the fact that Princess Leia was the same height and width as the entire village.
At least, that’s what I thought until I remembered this 1,990-piece LEGO Ewok Village existed. Now that’s a village you can really worship a golden god in.
These killer teddy bears have been a Star Wars staple since their first appearance in 1983. The mid-80s were full of them, as we returned to the forest moon of Endor again and again in two live-action films—Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor—the animated series, Star Wars: Ewoks, as well as a Marvel comic run.
We’ve, of course, seen Ewok villages pop up in Star Wars content throughout the Disney era as well—Warwick Davis himself reprised the role of Wicket to celebrate the end of the First Order in the final installment of the Skywalker Saga. And I’ve got a whole bunch of killer teddy bears ready to do my bidding in my favorite mobile game, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes. Which is just fine for me.