Disney Launches ‘Star Wars’ Digital Animated Series to Turn Kids Into Fans

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In the latest addition to the ever-expanding Star Wars universe, Disney and Lucasfilm are launching a new series of free animated shorts — designed to introduce youngsters on the storylines of the space-epic franchise and bring them into the fandom.

The new “Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures” series is set to premiere Friday (Nov. 30) on the newly launched StarWarsKids.com site and the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel . It’s described as a sort of training-wheels intro to Star Wars lore: The first six shorts in the series launching this week will introduce “the classic themes, pivotal moments, and iconic characters,” , according to , such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Han Solo and Chewbacca — and, of course, droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Lucasfilm plans to release additional shorts featuring other popular characters in December, with regular releases to follow in 2019.

The launch of Star Wars Kids and the animated series comes more than a year before “Star Wars: Episode IX” is set to hit theaters in December 2019, bringing the Skywalker saga to its end.

“With ‘Galaxy of Adventures,’ we wanted to craft something that allowed parents to help their kids take their first step into a much larger world whether they were ready to show their kids the films or wanted to find new ways to explore the content,” James Waugh, Lucasfilm’s VP for franchise content and strategy, said in a statement.

Among other kid-targeted Star Wars projects, Channel currently airs the animated half-hour “Star Wars Resistance” series on Sundays.

The new “Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures” series comes from studio Titmouse Animation and is directed by Titmouse’s Barry Kelly. Watch the trailer: