What constitutes the original version gets kind of murky as both Ewok films played theatrically in Europe not long after they aired in the U.S. Or did they change them again for the DVD?
I’m not going to claim to be expert by any means. In the U.S., the first movie was originally titled “The Ewok Adventure.” I believe it retained that title for it’s vhs and laserdisc releases. In other parts of the world, it is my understanding that it was originally called “Caravan of Courage.” The U.S. DVD release carries this alternate title. I saw somewhere online, I forget where, that the background of the end credits was changed after the initial airing of each movie (I read they re-aired in the 90s on some other channel). My tapes are both missing the end credits (it was the 1980s and you maximized the space on your VHS tapes!). If there were any other edits or changes, I’m unaware of them and I believe they would have been minimal, IF ANY. I’ve never done a side-by-side comparison and watched them far enough apart that I don’t retain specific enough memory from one watching to the next.
I have a version of both movies I’ll call my “1.0” edits. They are first generation recordings my dad made from my local station via cable in 1984 and 1985 respectively, missing a few commercials and end credits. I got a capture card and recorded them from a standard play VHS deck. I intended to use the same method they used for the WHIO Holiday Special preservation. My S-VHS deck was under the weather and not up to the task. I’m a novice, not good with titles or menus or inserting chapters. I’d like to make my 1.0 versions available via the usual location if someone can walk me through the process to upload them, send me a PM. Or, I’ll be happy to make arrangements to supply a copy to someone who can upload them.
Another forum member was in the process of recording my tapes using an S-VHS deck. If we get a nicer recording, by all means, that recording would likely be a version “2.0” supplanting my original preservation copy. If anyone ever comes through with original recordings with the end credits or the few missing commercials intact, I’d love to splice them back in to complete them. I’m happy to share with forum members to give back and contribute to this community. I just don’t want to become known as “the Ewok guy!”
I should note, the official releases have much better picture and sound and if the best version is what you’re after, I have to refer you to those. If you are interested in seeing the original airing out of curiosity for preservation sake, then hopefully my preservation can fill that niche. It’s kind of cool to see them with commercials and my local tv station identifier to take a trip back to childhood.
May the Force be with you.