I remember thinking that a lot of the TFA behind-the-scenes stuff was Abrams talking about them constantly asking themselves if something was sufficiently Star Wars. Villeneuve is not wrong that a certain codification has sadly set in to most SW productions - and it’s a tricky line to walk. On the one hand, surely that mindset is part of the problem with the Sequels. On the other hand, you can’t tell me the art department for Andor isn’t asking some version of that question.

And besides, ROTJ has been agreed by most everyone to be the weakest of the OT for some time, and the Ewoks is one of the most commonly cited examples of the problems. I didn’t start this reply thinking I’d bring in my own pet project, but it’s relevant; the storyboards for ROTJ that involve Ewoks are often more compelling and exciting than the actual resulting footage, and I think a lot of it comes down to the fairly inexpressive faces of the Ewok costumes. I do not think they lived up to the intentions of the team making the movie, and Harrison Ford’s goofy tone in those scenes doesn’t help.