Star Wars needs to learn one vital lesson from Netflix’s record-breaking animated hit – and it has the potential to redefine the entire franchise. We tend to think of Star Wars as a blockbuster movie franchise, but there’s always been so much more to George Lucas’ galaxy than that.

The first Star Wars TV shows were released all the way back in the 1980s, and they haven’t really aged well. Just over 20 years ago, George Lucas himself established “Lucasfilm Animation” to launch what should really be seen as a golden age of Star Wars animation. But there’s just one problem; Lucasfilm still doesn’t quite recognize its value.

Star Wars Tends To Use Animation For One Specific Purpose

It’s Primarily For The Most Engaged Fans

Speaking to ScreenRant last year, Jimmy Doyle, Director and Film & TV analyst at Luminate, explained that animation doesn’t tend to draw in much viewership for Star Wars.

“When you look at the animated тιтles, they’re gonna be a lot lower in terms of viewership than live action. That’s pretty typical. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that’s just they’re not as valuable when we talk about Disney / Lucasfilm. They’re valuable in keeping fans engaged, things like that, but the live action is what’s most important to them when we look at that gross level viewership.”

Doyle’s point is that Star Wars animations are aimed at the core fandom, serving to keep them engaged between the major releases. There are occasional exceptions; The Clone Wars season 7 felt like a much bigger release. But, in reality, shows like Star Wars: Visions, Tales of the Jedi and The Bad Batch are essentially aimed at specific niches.

KPop Demon Hunters Is A Wake-Up Call For Star Wars

It Shows How Big Animation Can Be

Netflix has had a delightful number of standout animations in recent years (Arcane being one of the most prominent). But KPop Demon Hunters has become a hit for the streaming service, in large part because it demonstrates the continued excellence of Sony Pictures Animation.

Watching Demon Hunters, it’s easy to see why this has global appeal; the story is electrifying in scale, the characterization is strong, and there are deep messages of shame, isolation, and the importance of community. It draws from some of the most popular musical genres in the world today, making it even more enjoyable.

Most streaming movies spike in the first couple of weeks after release (often in opening week). KPop Demon Hunters, however, has continued to boom because of positive word of mouth; it actually had peak viewership five weeks after release, something unheard of before now. It’s a testament to the power of a good animation.

Hits like KPop Demon Hunters should serve as a wake-up call to every single Hollywood studio – including Lucasfilm. There’s a tendency to look down on the medium, to treat it as somehow lesser than live-action, but Demon Hunters shows that the best productions can resonate just as well.

There’s only one reason Lucasfilm Animation’s shows have become niche, and that’s because that is what they are designed to be.

Star Wars Needs To Make Animation A Core Part Of The Franchise

These Shows Should Be So Much Bigger Than They Are

Lucasfilm’s animated shows are excellent; The Bad Batch has won over a fanbase so committed that we’re now seeing tie-in novels and comics (one such novel, Lamar Giles’ Sanctuary, releases next week). A stronger marketing effort, a bolder launch, would have made it so much bigger.

That said, please don’t misunderstand me: however much I enjoy Star Wars animation, I’m not trying to pretend that any of their shows are as sophisticated as KPop Demon Hunters. The point is, though, that this is what the ambition should be; that Demon Hunters has raised the bar for the medium, and every single studio should be hoping to clear it.

There are hints of this kind of ambition at Lucasfilm. The anthology series Star Wars: Visions is unusually bold, with Lucasfilm allowed other animation houses the chance to play in Lucas’ sandbox. Two seasons have already come out, a third releases on October 29, and there’s even a spinoff in the works.

But even Star Wars: Visions isn’t really being marketed for mᴀss appeal. It’s still aimed at the niche hardcore fandom, the viewers who will check out every Star Wars release, when it deserves to be so much more than that. It’s ironic that a lack of vision for the franchise as a whole holds it back.

Let’s hope the success of KPop Demon Hunters changes things.