All 9 ‘Star Wars’ Animated Shows, Ranked

The Big Picture

• Animated shows bring new life to Star Wars with unique storylines and characters for a new generation of fans to enjoy.
• The Bad Batch explores the aftermath of the Clone Wars, showcasing appealing characters and fascinating plots within the galaxy.
• Star Wars: Visions offers a fresh look at the franchise through Japanese animation studios, reimagining familiar worlds in unique ways.

Star Wars has become richer thanks to its animated fare. Despite the franchise’s rocky start in animation in the 1980s, George Lucas and the team found their way back to animation in the early 2000s with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The film may not have won over a ton of fans, but the subsequent animated shows have brought Star Wars to a whole new generation. We now have an expansive and gorgeous new world (and worlds) through the animated series. With Star Wars: Rebels now tying into the live-action, Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s three seasons completed, and many more installments into the franchise, let’s look at the Star Wars animated series that we’ve enjoyed so far, ranking them on the basis of style, animation, story, and the roster of characters.

9. ‘Star Wars: Droids’ (1985–1986)

Starring: Anthony Daniels

Star Wars: Droids was the franchise’s early foray into animation and the show is definitely much rougher than the style we would expect now. This is a cartoon, and it is made for children. Anthony Daniels returns to voice C-3PO, as he and R2-D2 are swept into a series of adventures. They wind up battling gangsters, bounty hunters, and intergalactic criminals of all sorts — at one point, they even go up against the Galactic Empire.

The 13 half-hour episodes feature multi-arc stories culminating in an hour-long special. The series is silly and fun, leaning into C-3PO’s over-dramatic outlook. The supporting characters feel like poor imitations of the original trio. Droids isn’t all bad. The theme song, “In Trouble Again” performed and co-written by Stewart Copeland of the Police is catchy. Familiar faces from the films reappear on the show, tying the proceedings to the original trilogy. This is a kid-friendly show where you can turn off your brain and just enjoy the adventures.

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8. ‘Star Wars: Ewoks’ (1985-1987)

Starring: Jim Henshaw, Denny Delk, Cree Summer, Jeanne Reynolds, James Cranna

Alongside Droids, Lucasfilm debuted the show Ewoks. Centering on Wicket Wystri Warrick, the most recognizable Ewok from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and his friends and family, Ewoks is a series of adventures, or rather misadventures on the forest moon of Endor. The show is set prior to the original trilogy, so this is a world that has not yet faced a big battle.

Ewoks is a little more entertaining in parts than its sister show Droids, though it is a bit dated. Also, the Ewoks speak English here — don’t ask why just go with the flow. I don’t think any of us could sit through an entire season of Ewok talk! The animation isn’t as rudimentary as Droids. In fact, some Ewoks are rather adorable to look at on the show. There are a lot of characters here, which is understandable since it’s meant for children. Ewoks isn’t a game-changer, but Star Wars completionists will definitely want to give it a watch.

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7. ‘Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures’ (2023-Present)

Starring: Jamaal Avery Jr., Jecobi Swain, Emma Berman, Juliet Donenfeld, Dee Bradley Baker

Young Jedi Adventures is unlike other Star Wars shows. Set long before the rest of them, the series follows a group of younglings training to become Jedi during the High Republic Era. This is a slice-of-life style series, where the characters train to be Jedi long before the galaxy experiences widespread conflict, allowing for a much lighter story. Aimed towards an even younger audience than the other animated shows, the series is perfect for what it is, though it has little relevance to the greater Star Wars universe. Young Jedi Adventures fills a niche, but it does not include the world-building or epic stories that Star Wars fans have come to expect.

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6. ‘Star Wars Resistance’ (2018-2020)

Starring: Christopher Sean, Josh Brener, Scott Lawrence, Suzie McGrath, Justin Ridge

Star Wars Resistance captures the wonder and spectacle of the franchise. Hotshot pilot Kazuda Xiono (Christopher Sean) is enlisted by Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to stake out a refueling tower and investigate the growing threat of the First Order. Kaz embeds himself with Team Fireball and has to keep up the ruse of being a mere mechanic to complete his mission. The only problem is that Kaz is a terrible spy and a worse mechanic, leading to much of the humor throughout the show.

Despite being only two seasons long, Resistance packs in a sizable cast of diverse characters, all of whom have winning personalities. The show leans towards younger audiences, but Star Wars fans will love it. The animation style is simpler than its predecessors, but gorgeous all the same. This is a world far removed from the Jedi and the Force but still enriches the universe. Most of the stories are episodic in nature, with a hint of Kaz’s overarching mission underlining the main plot. The second season is darker than the first but continues to have a vibrant thread running through it. Resistance is an effervescent and optimistic return to the franchise, and it continues to be an underrated but charming addition to the canon.

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5. ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ (2021-2024)

Starring: Dee Bradley Baker, Michelle Ang

After debuting in the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Clone Force 99 got to headline their own show in 2020. The clone squad, nicknamed the Bad Batch for their genetic mutations, must fight to survive after the events of Order 66. Instead of turning into automatons like the rest of the clones, the Bad Batch ends up on the run and taking in the clone child, Omega (Michelle Ang).

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is a tense look at the aftermath of the Clone Wars. Suddenly, all the heroes from previous shows have turned into villains, and the only heroes left for viewers to root for is the Bad Batch. The main squad is full of appealing characters with their own eccentricities. Dee Bradley Baker voices the main cast and gives each character a unique voice and personality. Returning characters from previous animated series hint at the grand world beyond the protagonists.

While the show is engaging, The Bad Batch falls into a few traps, especially retreading the father-child dynamic that was a winning formula in The Mandalorian. However, the series has several fascinating plots as the Empire takes control, inspiring the Rebellion to grow. The Bad Batch is unfocused at times, but when it delves into the central conflict of the galaxy, it excels, improving some of the franchise’s weakest plots.

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4. ‘Star Wars: Tales’ (2022-Present)

Starring: Ashley Eckstein, Corey Burton, Diana Lee Inosanto, Meredith Salenger

Tales of the Jedi, or Tales of the Empire as Season 2 is called, is reminiscent of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but it has a slight twist. The series consists of shorts following characters throughout different times in their life. Season 1 featured Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton), showing Ahsoka as a baby, a padawan, and after Order 66 and Dooku with his padawan, on a mission for the Jedi, and being discovered as a Sith. Meanwhile, Season 2 shows Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and former Jedi Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger).

This series has the chance to do a lot with the individual characters it follows and even expands the timeline of their stories, helping the audience to know more about these fascinating characters from other parts of the franchise. However, the limited time prevents Star Wars: Tales from being too ambitious. Offering beautiful visuals but no opportunity for new characters to develop, Star Wars: Tales is imperfect but a quick watch and well worth it for any fans of the characters featured.

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3. ‘Star Wars: Visions’ (2021-Present)

Starring: Michael Sinterniklaas, Neil Kaplan, Adam Sietz, JP Karliak

Brought to our screens by seven Japanese animation studios, Star Wars: Visions gives fans a fantastic new look at the franchise. The anthology series of nine short films reflects the inspiration behind George Lucas’ vision of Star Wars, which has always borrowed heavily from Asian cultures. The show reimagines Star Wars using known anime archetypes.

Visions is unhindered by timelines and canon, making every story unique. The stand-alone storytelling emphasizes characters and interpersonal dynamics over a grander narrative. The episodes are a mix of new takes on Star Wars and different perspectives on familiar worlds. We return to Tatooine in one episode, while another features a little droid with big dreams, and others follow different versions of Jedi Knights. There are warriors with dark pasts, wise old sages, and young upstarts expanding the mythos of Star Wars.

Every studio brings their own distinctive style to the series, and the animation is truly the MVP in Visions. Add to that a star-studded voice cast, in both the Japanese and English versions, and this show is a refreshing anthology of self-contained stories set in a beloved galaxy.

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2. ‘Star Wars Rebels’ (2014-2018)

Starring: Taylor Gray, Vanessa Marshall, Freddie Prinze Jr., Tiya Sircar, Steven Blum

Set five years before the events of the original trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels follows the motley crew aboard the Ghost as they valiantly try to help as many worlds as they can under Imperial rule. The series debuted in 2014 after the untimely cancelation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Rebels shifted away from the galactic core to focus on characters with a tenuous link to the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance. The series was unafraid to take a darker tone — the Empire is obsessed with hunting down the last of the Jedi, which puts the crew of the Ghost in danger. But the show also explores other aspects of the Star Wars galaxy, mainly the guerilla warfare and the resistance cells that crop up to fight the Empire. This is war and the characters face the consequences of being a part of it.

The main characters have unique personalities that buoy the entire series, and the show has one of the best redemption arcs in the franchise. Rebels informs a large part of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka as well, with many of the characters having critical roles in the latter. This proves what an indelible mark the series has left on the franchise.

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1. ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ (2008-2020)

Starring: Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker

Star Wars: The Clone Wars emerged from the animated film of the same name, but the series took on a life of its own over seven seasons. It expanded the known lore of the films, filling in the gaps of what went on between the prequel trilogy and the original films. Viewers got an insight into the inner workings of the Jedi, the Senate, and the Trade Federation. Most importantly, supporting characters from the franchise, especially the titular clones of the series, became characters unto themselves, evolving from blank slates to characters with full lives and story arcs.

The Clone Wars took its time to find its groove, but soon the bureaucracy and political machinations and their eventual fallout became a mainstay in the series. The multi-episode storylines were especially exciting, but even the fillers were fun to watch. A stellar voice cast that captured the live-action actors’ cadence while adding their own panache brought the characters to life.

The series has become a fan favorite, giving the world the version of Ahsoka Tano that so many Star Wars fans love. As more live-action series come to life from Lucasfilm, we begin to see more and more characters bleed into the live-action from Clone Wars. The animation is particularly striking and improves with each season. The Clone Wars showcased the expansive universe of the franchise, culminating in a heartbreaking series finale that tied directly into the films.

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