Thie article incorporates delicate spoilers for “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.”
“Skeleton Crew” is the most effective factor to occur to “Star Wars” since Tony Gilroy turned the franchise into the most effective political thriller on TV this decade with “Andor.” A pleasant homage to ’80s Amblin motion pictures, “Skeleton Crew” can be the live-action “Treasure Planet” adaptation a few of us have been clamoring for. It is a present full of caprice and has a way of marvel and peril that is been lacking from “Star Wars” recently. Most of all, it is a true swashbuckler that unfolds in a world of pirates (therefore the “Treasure Planet” comparability).
Among the finest points of the present from a technical perspective is its creature work. Not because the well-known cantina scene in “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” have there been so many various creatures and aliens so prominently displayed abruptly in a “Star Wars” mission. Past the unbelievable mixture of digital and sensible results to carry greatest boy Neel (voiced by Robert Timothy Smith) to life, there are dozens of various alien pirates in addition to new species like Neel’s, together with that of his college cruch Roona and Kh’ymm (voiced by Alia Shawkat), Jod Na Nawood’s (Jude Regulation) buddy whom we meet in episode 3, “Very Fascinating, as an Astrogation Downside.”
Kh’ymm belongs to an unidentified owl-like species and is a librarian Jod and the present’s younger heroes hunt down to search out extra info on their mysterious residence planet of At Attin. She instantly tries to save lots of the youngsters from Jod — whom she is aware of as a infamous pirate named Crimson Jack — whereas additionally narrowing down the seek for At Attin significantly. Most significantly, Kh’ymm is a giant ol’ reference to an animated Disney traditional: the 1963 fantasy movie “The Sword within the Stone.”
Skeleton Crew is a treasure trove of reference to traditional Disney tales
Kh’ymm is a transparent reference to Archimides, Merlin’s pet owl from “The Sword within the Stone,” a personality who’s grouchy, sarcastic, and really simply offended. Very similar to Kh’ymm, Archimedes lives in a giant library with piles of books in every single place, and he says “What, what!” in the identical method as Kh’ymm.
It is the form of reference that is straightforward to overlook, however makes “Skeleton Crew” stand out from different Disney+ exhibits. Although the sequence is far much less reliant on references and cameos than earlier “Star Wars” exhibits ( you, “The Mandalorian”), there are nonetheless loads of callbacks. The distinction is the esoteric nature of those allusions, which really feel each extra particular and fewer apparent. Contemplate the Nick Frost-voiced droid SM-33 (like Smee from “Peter Pan”) or the homage to the Pirates of the Caribbean journey at Disney’s theme parks. There’s additionally no denying that the present, like “Treasure Planet,” was clearly instantly impressed by “Treasure Island.” The truth that “Skeleton Crew” pays its respects to greater than merely different “Star Wars” motion pictures, along with taking cues from well-known ’80s Amblin titles like “The Goonies,” makes for a refreshing change of tempo. That it presents the “Star Wars” universe as a world crammed with fantastically bizarre creatures is the icing on the cake.
New episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.
