I'll take the Ewok battle over the Wookiee battle in Episode III anyday. That looked like a frickin video game.
The cost of manufacturing more than one Costume and getting a bunch of tall actors back in the oot was cost prohibitive. at least according to Lucas.
His general idea survived into return of the jedi. He basically outlined the bonfire thing with Wookiees celebrating around it for winning the great battle back in 1977 in a rolling stone interview.
One reviewer pointed out though that that the little guy did not win that battle with sticks and rocks, it was not won until they used Imperial weapons against the strormtroopers by capturing an AT-ST.
Do the ewoks and the wookiees share a similar evolutionary history in the star wars galaxy? Or was Lucas using the same concept twice? Kashyyk and Endor are virtually one and the same. They live in the same kind of tree houses. Are a primitive and warrior race.
Except Chewbacca is the first mate of the Millenium Falcon, is relatively intelligent and can fix spaceships as well as be a starpilot when necessary.