Karl Puschmann: Does anthology series Star Wars: Visions offer jaded fans a new hope?

Scene from the episode Sith in the animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions. Streaming on Disney+.

For the amount of rabid fanaticism surrounding it, the quality of the Star Wars franchise is incredibly patchy. It’s almost as if it’s constantly engaged in a battle between the light and dark side of quality. It’ll knock it out of the park with a risky show like Andor and then wholly strike out on a sure thing like The Book of Boba Fett. At its best, it delivers exciting space adventures in strange new worlds. At its worst, it features teenagers riding space Vespas engaged in a slow-speed chase.

If any quote sums up what it’s like to be a Star Wars fan it’s this one from the new season of the anthology series Star Wars: Visions: “The next wave carries as much hope as it does despair.” While my lack of faith may be disturbing to some, it’s not without cause. I’ve spent enough time in this galaxy far, far away to know the sad truth that the force is not always strong with Star Wars.

For the most part, this is not the case with Star Wars: Visions. This animated series is the most electrifying that Star Wars gets. It’s wildly experimental, singularly artistic and truly explores uncharted areas of the Star Wars galaxy thanks to its panel of globally diverse creators.

Scene from the Star Wars: Visions episode Journey to the Dark Head.

The way the show works is that different animation studios get their own 10-15 minute episode to tell a complete story in their own distinctive style. The first season was handed over entirely to Japanese studios, a way, perhaps, of thanking its creatives for the impact and influence Japanese films, particularly those of auteur director Akira Kurosawa, had on a young George Lucas and his writing and directing of the original Star Wars movie back in 1977.

With its second season, which begins streaming today on Disney+, the series has been given a more worldly scope. Lucasfilm has handed over the franchise’s keys to animation studios in countries like Spain, Chile, France, South Africa and India, to name but a few, allowing the Star Wars universe to speed off in directions it wouldn’t - in directions it simply couldn’t - with Hollywood in the driver’s seat.

While there are all the usual lightsaber battles and struggles with the force that’d you expect, the best of these short stories push beyond those expectations, finding new shades to highlight. The episode Screecher’s Reach from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon is a great example of this, as it manages to be both terrifying and ultimately heartbreaking. It focuses on a Sith lord recruiting a new apprentice to the dark side. In its brief run-time, it hits more emotional notes (and tells a better, more well-crafted story) than The Last Jedi, the concluding chapter of the cinematic sequel trilogy.

Scene from the Star Wars: Visions episode The Spy Dancer. Streaming now on Disney+.

Another highlight from the nine-episode season is The Spy Dancer, from Studio La Cachette in France. This artistically stunning episode is set inside a Moulin Rouge-style burlesque club where stormtroopers and Imperial officers go to unwind. What they don’t know, of course, the whole place is a front for the Rebellion. It’s visually dazzling and also swings for the heart.

The season opener Sith, by Madrid’s El Guiri studio, kickstarts proceedings with imaginative and ingenious animation that integrates its painterly influence right into its story. It has the best battle of the season, with the young hero battling her Sith master and his robotic minions across a barren wasteland and the cramped interior of a base’s narrow hallway. While Journey to the Dark Head, from South Korea’s Studio Mir, brings a classic anime style and a philosophical bent to its excellent episode.

Scene from the Star Was: Visions episode I Am Your Mother by Aardman Studios.

While the animation is never anything less than impressive, not all the episodes hit the heights of these examples. I Am Your Mother from the UK’s beloved, claymation maestros Aardman Studios was a bit of a miss for me, as was America’s sole effort The Pit.

But even then, they were still enjoyable to watch thanks to the inventiveness on display and contrasting animation styles. Even if you don’t care for Star Wars at all, Visions is worth your time just to see how wonderous, inspiring and far-out animation can get these days.

If these are the storytellers and this is the direction Star Wars takes for its future, then Star Wars: Visions truly offers all those jaded fans a new hope.