PHINEAS AND FERB: STAR WARS (2014)

No doubt you’ve heard, LucasFilm is vowing to ‘fix’ the STAR WARS franchise . . . again.  (Read all about in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/movies/shawn-levy-star-wars-stranger-things.html)  Picking up the mantle/albatross is producer/director Shawn Levy (NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, STRANGER THINGS, DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE, many more).  Of course, diehard Star Warriors have been demanding a return to ‘canonical principles’ since the third film (Episode #6 to true-believers), RETURN OF THE JEDI/’83, took  the saga to the toy shop; while oddly, this recent bout of hand-wringing comes hot on the heels of ANDOR/’22, the best received addition to the canon in decades.   Still, if you want to see what it’s all about, you could do worse than to watch this affectionate/deeply fun hook-up with the long-running kids’ animated series, P&F.  It’s a delirious burlesque of the original plot with only slightly more detailed animation than usual for the series, the show’s characters larded into a relatively faithful ‘New Hope’ storyline with absurd ease.  (And plenty of Easter Eggs nestled inside.  Like The Rite of Spring, less a Stravinsky than a FANTASIA homage, bumping into the classic John Williams score.)  But only those who get this on DVD will get the chance to see what’s gone wrong with STAR WARS as Disney’s stuck extended clips/trailers for a continuation to the animated CLONE WARS called REBELS*, and it’s a drab, self-serious, CGI-hideous sample of the problem.  Whereas the cartoony special is all airy, goofy fun in support of the action-oriented set pieces, REBELS is a downer.   Back in 1977, when A NEW HOPE was just called STAR WARS and in its first-run, the gasps, cheers, laughs, danger, F/X and heroics tumbled over each other cheek by jowl on the big screen to exponential effect.  Maybe instead of market research, the current LucasFilm execs could simply get this DVD.  A Disney product, I'd bet they could get a free copy via inter-office mail pouch.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Perhaps too much attention paid to Star Wars fanboys who mostly like CLONE and REBELS.  But if you want to expand the audience beyond acolytes . . .  Well, good luck, Mr. Levy.