George Lucas conceived the Ewok species in 1983 to populate a forest moon with primitive creatures capable of toppling a high-tech empire. He originally planned for these scenes to occur on the Wookiee home planet before reversing the decision.
The director reversed the syllables of Miwok, a Native American tribe from California's Redwood forests, to create the name Ewok. This linguistic shift mirrored the filming location where the Endor sequences were shot among actual redwoods.
The Ewok Adventure aired on ABC on the 25th of November 1984 with John Korty directing and George Lucas writing the story. A follow-up series titled Ewoks: The Battle for Endor followed on the 24th of November 1985 directed by Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat.
Sound designer Ben Burtt created Ewokese using recordings of Kalmyk speech from an 80-year-old refugee named Kosi Unkov. Voice actors including Lama Kunga Jr., Lama Kunger the Elder, M.K. Nepali, Khendup, and Dirty Daza imitated her voice in various styles.
Caravan of Courage won Emmys for Outstanding Special Visual Effects at the 37th Primetime Emmy Awards while Ewoks: The Battle for Endor also won Emmys for Outstanding Special Visual Effects at the 38th ceremony. Both films lost nominations for Outstanding Children's Program to other productions including American Playhouse episodes.