It’s fashionable to dislike Return Of The Jedi these days, and dismiss it as the weakest of the original trilogy. That’s unfair. Without Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back has no ending, and Han remains frozen in carbonite forever. The trilogy closer has many elements that everyone agrees are outstanding, from the cross-cutting between the three battles that finish the film to the escape from Jabba’s sail barge to any scenes involving Leia’s bikini.

The sticking point, it seems, are the Ewoks. They’re second only to Jar Jar Binks in the list of many Star Wars fans’ pet peeves. But it’s time to cut the cuddly critters a break because they really did take down the Empire.

For those who have forgotten, or tried to forget, the teddy-bear like Ewoks live on the forest moon of Endor. Perhaps three feet tall and noticeably roly-poly, they are hunters with a relatively primitive society, threatened by endless, bigger monsters and, in the years just before we meet them, the Galactic Empire.

They teamed up with the Rebel heroes of Star Wars after befriending Princess Leia and under the impression that C-3PO was one of their gods, and then played a key role in bringing down the shield around the second Death Star and, in turn, the Empire.

Some of the hatred of Ewoks stems from that unlikely-seeming victory. How could the all-powerful Empire be brought down by these tree-dwelling teddies? How can sticks and rocks trump blasters and speeder bikes? It seemed an insult to every fan who had come to see the Empire as the ultimate evil in the Star Wars universe.

Of course, that’s one important reason for George Lucas to invent these creatures in the first place: the Ewoks help us to believe in the Rebellion. If the Empire had been beaten solely by a similarly organised force aboard their own massive starships, one would have to wonder if the system had truly changed, or if it was more a case of The Emperor is Dead, long live the Emperor (Emperor Mon Mothma? Emperor Ackbar?).

The Ewoks’ involvement is the best evidence we have that the Rebellion is fundamentally different in character from its enemy, and that they might offer a more inclusive government for the galaxy.

Narratively, if the Empire had been brought down by the equally organised, similarly technological Rebellion, there would be nothing to truly cheer. It’s the underdog that truly inspires us – and Ewoks are almost literal underdogs given their furriness and short stature.

There’s a poetry to their story, that of a put-upon people rising up against their oppressor with no weapons beyond their immediate environment. It’s a story that’s come up again and again in human history, albeit with often tragic results.

Still, the Ewoks’ victory is not quite as unlikely as it seems. From the Battle of Britain to Rorke’s Drift, there’s a long and glorious history of determined but tiny groups out-fighting their opponents. One such was an explicit reference for the whole Battle for Endor. If the first film’s space battle was inspired by World War II dogfights against the Nazis, Return Of The Jedi takes its model from the Vietnam War.

The Ewoks are – stay with us here; Lucas is on the record about this – a fuzzy, furry version of the Vietcong. Theirs is a hardwood forest rather than a true jungle, but like the Vietcong they face a more technologically advanced enemy who fatally underestimates their ability to use the environment to their advantage.

The parallel to that war goes even further: the Emperor even has an oval-shaped headquarters. And if you want to really stretch the comparison, he’s keeping secrets from those around him like Nixon, and spying secretly on those he thinks are working against him. It all adds up!

Admittedly, any real-world parallels run into the most legitimate criticism of the Ewoks, that they perpetuate a rather patronising attitude to ‘noble savages’. Their name was inspired by the Miwok tribe who once inhabited the area of Redwood National Park where their scenes were shot, and elements of their behaviour (including whispers of cannibalism) are clearly inspired by other Earth cultures – which makes the often condescending attitude of the three main heroes arguably racist by proxy.

But only the terminally politically-correct object to Ewoks on that basis. Their real dislike is prompted by something, or someone, else.

A shot from the Ewoks spin-off movie Battle for Endor

Most people who dislike Ewoks are grown men, big Star Wars fans, and most claim they hated the teddy-bear like savages even when they originally saw the film as kids. This is almost always total nonsense. It would be hard to imagine anything less likely to dismay children.

Ewoks are irrepressible and ridiculous, squabbling like toddlers themselves and cheering each other along. Through two spin-off TV films – Caravan Of Courage and Battle For Endor, both of which saw the Ewoks save two tow-haired kids from evil magicians – and a cartoon series, the Ewoks became breakout stars. Kids almost universally love them on first viewing, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying.

What these hardcore fans really object to is the fact that the Ewoks are designed to appeal to kids, and that, as kids, they fell for it. The Ewoks are proof that these grown fans were once susceptible to George Lucas’s more whimsical inventions – and that became unthinkable on May 19, 1999.

The dislike of Ewoks mushroomed into hate with The Phantom Menace, and it’s inextricably tied to the universal fan hatred of Jar Jar Binks. Like the Ewoks, Jar Jar was clumsy and spoke in a nonsensical, sing-song tone. He had the same knack for defeating vast numbers of technologically-superior enemies (at least the Ewoks did it on purpose) and spent time with the film’s main characters when they could, presumably, be better engaged in discussing the taxation of trade routes or whatever.

It was as if a million voices cried out in horror as they realised that the films they loved had always been aimed at children, and were suddenly silenced as they reassessed their lives. If Jar Jar Binks was terrible, and their children loved him, had they once been equally lacking in taste?

Would they, too, have fallen for Jar Jar if the Gungans had appeared instead of Ewoks? Did Lucas manipulate them as he did the next generation? Such fans had to hate the Ewoks. It was the only logical way to comprehensively reject Jar Jar.

The fact is that the Ewoks would eat the Gungans for breakfast. Despite inflexible eyes and mouths they’re better designed, and Warwick Davis’ charmingly awkward Wicket is vastly more appealing that the mutant combination of Ahmed Best’s voice and ILM’s then-groundbreaking Gungan effects. And serendipity played a role in that character’s success.

A huge Star Wars fan, the 11 year-old Davis had replied to the casting call for small actors to fill the heavy, hot Ewok costumes. His boundless energy put him first in line when Kenny "R2-D2" Baker got sick on the day set for the big scene with Leia, and Wicket got a sudden promotion (Baker still played reckless Ewok Paploo).

Credit should go to all the 66 actors who played the Ewoks in Elstree Studios, for the village scenes, and in action in the redwood forests of California. The costumes were essentially personal saunas, so assistants stood by with fans and drinks between every take. By the end of the day only the irrepressible Davis was still bouncing, kept lively by the mere presence of his hero, Luke Skywalker.

A 'wokling'

Amid that heat and chaos, the performers gave the Ewoks a vivid, realistic energy. While they’re adorable – watch out for the baby "woklings"– they’re also nervous, sensitive creatures . In fact, their mixed-up psychology gives a clue that the Ewoks are more than just teddies. They are hunters, trappers and schemers of some skill (witness their cunning efforts to draw the guards away from the bunker that the rebel troops need to infiltrate) but have the twitchiness you might expect of prey animals.

Those highly-strung nerves are the result of years or even decades under threat from the Imperial forces. Wider Star Wars lore has it that Ewoks have been captured and sold into slavery by the Empire. These sentient creatures have even been hunted for meat; the Clone Wars TV series showed one diner offering “Ewok jerky” on its menu. That may explain the never-confirmed rumours that they return the favour and eat some of the dead Stormtroopers at the end of Jedi.

So maybe the fans should cut the Ewoks some slack. They were enslaved, abused and even eaten by the Empire; they have gone from predators to prey and back. As characters, and in the wider story, they earned their place in the Star Wars pantheon. After all that, they deserve to use Stormtrooper helmets as bongos – and to a little more respect from fans.