Originally posted by: vtpeters
I remember Lucas explaining in some ROTJ Making Of documentary that the Ewoks were at one point in the development of the script supposed to be Wookies. In Episode III we finally get to see an Empire vs. Wookies battle...

I've heard/read him say that a bunch of times. He said that Ewoks were just shrunk-down versions of Wookies (it's funny- they practically have the same letters in them) and that the tree-house habitat was exactly the same as what he had planned for the Wookies (there's some of that in the Holiday Special).