Mickey Mouse is an cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.
Spider-Ham
Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is a superhero appearing in Marvel Comics. The character is an anthropomorphic pig and is a parody version of Spider-Man. He was created by Larry Hama, Tom DeFalco, and Mark Armstrong.
KENEDA
Kaneda, the leader of a motorcycle gang in Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic anime feature AKIRA (1988).
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck was created by Tex Avery for Leon Schlesinger Productions. He has appeared in cartoon series such as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, in which he is usually depicted as a foil for either Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, or Speedy Gonzales.
Success begets success, and the Star Wars franchise is no exception. In 2020, James Waugh, Vice President of Franchise Content at Lucasfilm, successfully pitched the concept of Japanese animation studios producing stories set in the Star Wars universe, at any point in time and not necessarily adhering to canon. Nine shorts were made for Star Wars: Visions, Volume One, which premiered on Disney+ on September 22, 2021.
A positive response prompted Volume Two, this time with studios around the world participating. Nine shorts premiered May 4, 2023.
Volume Three followed with nine shorts from Japanese studios, and these premiered October 29, 2025.
All told, Star Wars: Visions has won several industry awards, including an Emmy (2023), two Annie Awards (2024), and a Lumiere Award (2024).
One short in particular from Volume One, “The Ninth Jedi,” spawned a sequel in Volume Three, “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope.” The positive response to that, in turn, prompted an eight-episode limited series, slated for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on August 5. This is the first storyline using the limited series format, “Star Wars: Visions Presents.”
“The Ninth Jedi” takes place far into the future, long after the destruction of the Death Stars, in which the Jedi have faded into legend. Lah Kara, the daughter of legendary lightsabersmith Lah Zhima, has a strong connection to the Force. But the father is kidnapped by Jedi hunters. Kara teams with a group of surviving Jedi to save him—and the galaxy.
The studio is Production I.G, Inc., renowned for Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Haikyu!!, Kaiju No. 8, and IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix, among other works. Kenji Kamiyama wrote and directed the first short; Naoyoshi Shiotani wrote and directed the second short. “Star Wars: Visions Presents – “The Ninth Jedi” was directed by Shunsuke Tada and written by Mitsuyasu Sakai, with Kenji Kamiyama as supervising director.
On July 1, I spoke with Supervising Director Kenji Kamiyama, Director Shunsuke Tada, and Producer Hitoshi Ito, with interpretation provided by Yuki Machida. We discussed their inspirations and how they contributed to the project.
• James Waugh discusses the beginnings of Star Wars: Visionshere.
W.R. Miller – known informally as “Bob” – has written for Starlog, Comics Scene, Animation Magazine and Animation World Magazine. Bob has been involved in animation for two decades, as a writer, character animator, special effects animator, and storyboard artist – For more information about Bob, check his website: http://wrmilleronline.com/.
He has just completed Batman: The Animated Interviews, a five-volume work featuring the executives, producers, directors, writers, actors, designers, storyboard artists and composers involved with the making of Batman: The Animated Series and its spinoffs. BearManor Media is the publisher.
Signup for Latest Animation News, Interviews & Reviews
By providing your information, you agree to our
Terms of Use and our
Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
INTERVIEW: Kenji Kamiyama, Shunsuke Tada, and Hitoshi Ito, the Men Behind STAR WARS: VISIONS — THE NINTH JEDI
On July 1, I spoke with Supervising Director Kenji Kamiyama, Director Shunsuke Tada, and Producer Hitoshi Ito, with interpretation provided by Yuki Machida. We discussed their inspirations and how they contributed to the project.
