That is where I give credit to Lucas for atleast staying consistent throughout the OT in the overall characters and their arc. With the exception of Yoda, most characters appear for a reason, and stay true to the story til its end. In the PT, you have this supposed backstory of Boba Fett in AOTC, and it shows him see his father die right in front of his face and then you don't see him til ESB, what was the point? MERCHANDISING!!!!! Chewbacca & Kashykk is another example of a character and terrain used for 10 minutes for eye candy and appeasment to the OT fans, and then poof, its gone!

Say what you want about the Ewoks in ROTJ, but atleast you get an hour of development of their terrain. You see their tribe, you see how they live, that is called character development! The Ewoks are key to the victory for the rebels, so they serve a purpose in the movie, the only problem with them is that they are too kiddy!