Retrospective: 1980’s Star Wars Children’s Audio Dramas: ‘Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell’ & ‘Planet of the Hoojibs’

Star Wars

Sep 24

While most Star Wars fans are aware of NPR’s fabled radio drama adaptations of the Original Star Wars Trilogy, some children growing up in the 1980s, such as myself, might have also been exposed to some shorter and lesser-known Star Wars stories released as audio dramas on record and cassette tapes as part of Disney’s Buena Vista Records Read-Along-Adventures. These hidden gems that will be covered in this article include the titles, Rebel Mission To Ord Mantell and Planet of the Hoojibs.

Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell (1983)

Synopsis: Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell is set between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back (3 ABY), as the story reveals that the Rebels are transitioning from their jungle base on Yavin 4 to Hoth. After Han and Luke return from a mission patrolling another jungle planet in X-Wings in order to throw the Empire off of the Rebel’s plans to set up the Hoth base, Leia informs Han and Luke that some money previously belonging to the Royal House of Alderaan before its destruction in A New Hope is scheduled to be transferred to the Empire from Ord Mantell.

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The team plans to hijack the shipment to help fund the Rebellion. The plan is complicated by Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 getting held at blasterpoint by a bounty hunter they thought was an ally. As such, they are unable to release the docking cable from the escape shuttle being hijacked by Luke and C-3P0. However, Han manages to kill the bounty hunter and, with the help of the Falcon, is able to help Luke and C-3P0 get the money loaded onboard the Falcon and transport it safely back to the Rebellion.

Cast & Crew: Chuck Riley narrates the story, veteran voiceover actor, Corey Burton, portrays Luke, Pat Parris portrays Leia, Tony Pope portrays C-3P0, and the bounty hunter, Phoedris (Cypher). Curiously, it is unknown whose voice is behind Han Solo and the tower operator. The audio drama uses Star Wars sound effects and music, some of it being from The Empire Strikes Back, including the appearance of Yoda’s Theme. Darth Vader is absent from the story, however, is briefly mentioned.

Canon Status: Since this story was released in 1983 and was not included by Lucasfilm in its approved canon, it is presumed to be Legends.

Trivia: The story was written by Brian Daley, who also adapted the Original Trilogy radio dramas for NPR and penned several Star Wars novels, including most notably, his Han Solo book trilogy. Ord Mantell is currently an established Canon location in Star Wars. Also, Han’s line in The Empire Strikes Back about encountering a bounty hunter on Ord Mantell could have originally been construed to be referring to the incident in this story, although there have been other stories where Han has run into other bounty hunters there.

Star Wars The Further Adventures: Planet of the Hoojibs (1977, 1983)

Synopsis: Planet of the Hoojibs is set in 3 ABY between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Scouting for a new Rebel base after the destruction of the Hoth base, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3P0, and other Rebels encounter a race of furry telepathic rodents called Hoojibs on the planet Arbra and help them defeat a creature, called a Slivilith, which has taken over their cave of geothermal crystals, preventing them from their food source (crystals). They ultimately defeat the Slivilith and form an alliance with the Hoojibs, who allow them to establish a base on the planet.

Cast & Crew: No information is currently available on cast. Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3P0 appear in this story.

Canon Status: Since this story was released in 1983 and was not included by Lucasfilm in its approved canon, it is presumed to be Legends. However, Cavan Scott introduced Hoojibs into Canon in the Star Wars comic, The Hoojib Menace in 2021.

Trivia: This story was adapted from a 1977 comic written by David Michelinie. The Slivilith was later retconned as a creation of the Yuuhzan Vong from the New Jedi Order series that somehow happened to have ended up on Arbra long before their invasion of the New Republic. Later Star Wars stories featured Plif aiding the Rebellion against the Empire and he later became a representative to the New Republic.