Disney Shifts Priorities, Gives New ‘Star Wars’ Show a Record-Breaking Episode Count

in Disney, Star Wars

Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) in 'Tales of the Jedi'

Credit: Lucasfilm

After the unprecedented box office bomb of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Lucasfilm is deciding to go in a drastically different direction, course-correcting by giving a lesser-known Star Wars show a record-breaking episode count for its first season—and odds are, it isn’t what you’d expect.

Anakin Skywalker (Mat Lanter) and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) talking in 'Tales of the Jedi'
Credit: Lucasfilm

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It’s shaping up to be a tumultuous year for Disney and one of its most lucrative subsidiaries, Lucasfilm. For one, its ill-fated Willow series was removed from Disney+ in March after mere months on the streaming platform as part of the company’s recent cost-cutting initiatives. Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation haven’t fared much better, with the live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid (2023) and director Peter Sohn’s Elemental (2023) failing to strike much of a chord with audiences.

This is in addition to the ongoing WGA strike, which began in May after the union’s contract negotiations with major Hollywood studios fell through. The protest is only gaining momentum now that SAG-AFTRA has joined the picket line, with both actors and writers withholding labor for the first time since 1960 in the fight for fair compensation, job security, and steaming residuals.

Picketers outside Disney Studios
Credit: USA Today

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With so much uncertainty going on, it’s no wonder that Disney and Lucasfilm are diving nose-first into crisis mode. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has already admitted that high-budget Disney+ shows from franchises like Marvel and Star Wars ultimately lost the studio money, which comes in the wake of a string of less-than-impressive releases such as Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Because of this, Lucasfilm knows it can’t afford another flop.

Now, according to an official press release, it seems like Lucasfilm is putting all of its eggs in one basket. The studio’s newest animated Star Wars series, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, has received a record-breaking 25-episode count, unheard of ever since Disney took the streaming route with the galaxy far, far away.

Master Yoda (Piotr Michael), Jedi younglings Kai, Lys, and Nubs (Jamaal Avery, Jr., Juliet Donenfield, Dee Bradley Baker) and their friends Nash and RJ-83 (Emma Berman, Jonathan Lipow) on planet Tenoo in 'Young Jedi Adventures'. Credit: Lucasfilm
Credit: Lucasfilm

The series, which is generally geared towards younger audiences, began airing on the service in May and will release its next batch of episodes on August 2. Seemingly confident in Young Jedi Adventures, Disney giving the show a 25-episode run in its first season is a pretty remarkable feat, as this is higher than any season of any live-action or animated Star Wars projects to date—even other animated shows such as The Clone Wars or The Bad Batch.

For comparison, live-action Disney+ series like Dave Filoni’s upcoming Ahsoka and The Mandalorian have come in with eight-episode seasons. At the same time, The Book of Boba Fett had seven episodes, and Obi-Wan Kenobi had just six. These short seasons have garnered their fair share of controversy, with audiences expressing a return to cable TV form when cartoons used to run for upwards of 25 episodes a season, if not more.

So, does this mean this episode count trend will continue in future Star Wars projects? Not exactly. There’s a chance this could be a one-off instance, considering Young Jedi Adventures, to an extent, exists in its own realm outside of mainstream Star Wars shows like The Mandalorian. However, Young Jedi Adventures is technically our first look into the High Republic Era, which will be explored further down the line in live-action.

Lys, Kai, and Nubs (L to R: Juliet Donenfield, Jamaal Avery, Jr., Dee Bradley Baker) during a training sequence in 'Young Jedi Adventures'. Credit: Lucasfilm
Credit: Lucasfilm

Because of this, maybe a lengthy 25-episode season is necessary for showrunners to tell the full story of Young Jedi Adventures, as it does add a never-before-seen expansion to the Star Wars timeline. Or maybe, this is a sign of good things to come for longer seasons of Star Wars series moving forward.

What do you think of Young Jedi Adventures getting the longest season of Star Wars TV to date? Let us know in the comments below.

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