Star Wars Celebration kicks off in Tokyo, Japan Friday morning. One of the first panels of the day features the first ever Celebration appearances by Nelvana co-founders Michael Hirsh and Clive Smith, the men responsible for The Tale of the Faithful Wookie, the animated short from 1978’s infamous Star Wars Holiday Special that introduced the character of Boba Fett. Hirsh and Smith were also the creators of the first Star Wars Saturday morning cartoons– Ewoks and Droids.
Cherry the Geek TV spoke with Hirsh and Smith about the founding of their animation company, Hirsh’s meeting with George Lucas, and the production of these animated classics. You can watch the full interview by clicking on the link below:
The Tale of the Faithful Wookie, Droids, and Ewoks are all available to stream on Disney+.
You can read more about the Star Wars cartoons as well as Hirsh’s other cartoon classics like Franklin, Babar, The Magic School Bus, and Beetlejuice in his memoir Animation Nation: How We Built a Cartoon Empire. You can purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Animation-Nation-Built-Cartoon-Empire/dp/1990823696.
You can preorder Clive Smith’s upcoming book The Rather Unusual Adventures of Ice Cream Girl and Mr. Licorice here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Clive+Smith+Ice+Cream+Girl&i=comics-manga&ref=nb_sb_noss
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