STAR WARS: FORCES OF DESTINY Animated Shorts Will Focus on The Female Heroes of the Star Wars Universe
Lucasfilm has announced a great new Star Wars project they have been developing called Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, which targeted to young girls. The whole thing focuses on the female characters of the Star Wars universe and as a father of three daughters, I'm really excited about this because they love the women heroes of Star Wars! At the end of this article you'll find a first look video and some images of what is to come.
Forces of Destiny will launch with eight new 2-D animated shorts that will debut on Disney YouTube in July, then there are plans to release eight more in the fall for a pair of TV specials airing on the Disney Channel. EW Reveals some additional details saying:
While they’ll be full of familiar characters and creatures, the central figures are Princess Leia from the original trilogy era, Padmé Amidala from the prequels, Rey from The Force Awakens, Rogue One’s Jyn Erso, and a trio from the animated Rebels series: the Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren, Force-sensitive Jedi badass Ahsoka Tano, and the avocado-hued Twi’lek pilot Hera Syndulla.
In some cases, multiple heroines will appear in adventures with each other, even though some of them have been separated by different timelines – but it’s all official canon. “One of the opportunities here was to tell the stories in between the larger moments and imagine some of the ways our characters have crossed,” says Carrie Beck, an executive producer of the shorts and a member of the Lucasfilm story group braintrust. “It’s all part of the larger swath of storytelling.”
Each of the shorts will be about three minutes long and they were written by Jennifer Muro (Justice League Action). Brad Rau (Star Wars Rebels) directed the shorts and Dave Filoni, executive producer of Rebels, helped create the storylines.
The other cool thing about these series is that Daisy Ridley will provide the voice of Rey and Felicity Jones will come back to reprise her role of Jyn Erso. On top of that, "Tiya Sircar will voice heroic bounty hunter Sabine Wren, Ashley Eckstein will return as Ahsoka Tano, a character she has been playing since the earlier Clone Wars animated series, and Vanessa Marshall will bring her flygirl swagger from the show to Hera Syndulla." Oh yeah! Lupita Nyong’o will also be back to narrate the shorts as Maz Kanata.
The report goes on to offer a brief rundown of some of the stories that will be told in these shorts which you can check out below:
One Forces of Destiny story involves Rey battling the thieving Jakku scavenger Teedo to protect BB-8 while on their way to Niima Outpost for their fateful encounter with Finn. Another involves a battle with the nightwatcher worm, a creature with glowing eyes who was seen only briefly in The Force Awakens, lifting its head out of the sand. “He eats junk on Jakku and has an appetite for BB-8,” Beck says.
Another short takes place aboard the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Finn as Rey tries to disarm an explosive tracking device hidden aboard the craft by Unkar Plutt. “What we love about Rey is her mechanical skills, and she knows this ship as well as our other heroes,” Beck says.
A Princess Leia short set just before the battle of Hoth was literally inspired by a deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back, in which she, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca face down a ferocious Wampa who’s trapped inside the Rebel ice base. “Leia saves the day and rescues Chewie, so we get to see her leadership in play,” Beck says.
Rebels will blend with the movies in Forces of Destiny as Sabine and disgruntled droid Chopper inhabit the Yavin 4 Rebel base featured in Rogue One and the original 1977 Star Wars. One of her stories involves Ketsu Onyo, an old bounty hunter friend. “She’s not yet convinced the Rebel life is for her,” Beck says. She has a change of heart when they make a discovery while on a mission to steal cargo and food to keep the Alliance supplied.
Perhaps most intriguing to movie fans will be the story set on the Ewok moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi. Although plot details are under wraps, Hera Syndulla from Rebels and Princess Leia team up for an adventure with Han Solo – and lots of little furballs carrying primitive weapons.
There will also be a line of action figures from Hasbro to accompany the Forces of Destiny animated shorts. The are being called "Adventure Figures" and I've includes some photos of them below. They are said to be inspired by classic old-school action figure and they even have action moves. For example, Rey can swing her lightsaber.
I really like what Lucasfilm is doing with this and I'm sure it's going to be the Star Wars gateway drug to a lot of little girls out there.