The Hondo Ohnaka Mixed Tape

There is a lot of Star Wars content on Disney+, especially in the realm of animation. These cartoon series may be new to a lot of Star Wars fans and it is not easy to know where to start. That is where the Hondo Ohnaka Mixed Tape comes in. The Hondo Ohnaka Mixed Tape allows viewers to sample four Star Wars cartoon series while following a single character (Hondo) through many era’s of Star Wars history. For veteran viewers of Star Wars animation the mixed tape also serves as a thrilling ride through many beloved episodes.

The Clone Wars
20 Years Before the Battle of Yavin
(9 Episodes)
Season 1 Episode 11 - Dooku Captured
Season 1 Episode 12 - Gungan General
Season 2 Episode 17 - Bounty Hunters
Season 2 Episode 22 - Lethal Trackdown
Season 5 Episode 1 - Revival
Season 5 Episode 5 - Tipping Points
Season 5 Episode 7- A Test of Strength
Season 5 Episode 8 - Bound for Rescue

Season 5 Episode 9 - A Necessary Bond

Forces of Destiny
10 Years Before the Battle of Yavin
(1 Episode)
Season 2 Episode 12 - Triplecross

Rebels
3 Years Before the Battle of Yavin)
(8 Episodes)
Season 2 Episode 6 - Brother’s of the Broken Horn

Season 2 Episode 14 - Legends of Lasat
Season 3 Episode 1 - Steps into Shadow Part 1
Season 3 Episode 2 - Steps into Shadow Part 2

Season 3 Episode 9 - The Wynkahthu Job
Season 4 Episode 14 - A Fool’s Hope
Season 4 Episode 15- Family Reunion - and Farewell

The Freemaker Adventures
3 Years After the Battle of Yavin
(2 Episodes)
Season 1 Episode 8 - The Test
Season 2 Episode 5 - The Storms of Taul

Flight of the Falcon
34 Years After the Battle of Yavin
(1 Audiobook)
Pirate's Price

Who is Hondo Ohnaka?

Hondo Ohnaka is a Weequay pirate who is a sort of anti-hero. In the vain of Jack Sparrow, Hondo always has a con up his sleeve. He’s not evil (per-se) but he is mostly concerned with enriching himself.

Hondo is voiced by Jim Cummings (who also voices Winnie the Pooh and Tigger). According to Cummings, Hondo’s quasi-Mid-Eastern accent is based on Ricardo Montalbán, who portrayed Khan in the original Star Trek.

Hondo is the only character in the saga where you can track his story from the time before “The Phantom Menace” to the time after “The Last Jedi”.

Hondo: The Pirate Lord of Florrum

The earliest chronological appearance of Hondo Ohnaka is in the comic mini-series “Darth Maul” which takes place 32 years before the Battle of Yavin. At this point Hondo is already a pirate in a gang of Weequays. 12 years later Hondo has become the leader of that gang. He is recognized by his signature helmet, goggles, and his pet Monkey Lizards (Pilf & Pikk).

Hondo has a nice arc in the first five seasons of Clone Wars. Though Season 1 of the show sets him up as a villain we begin the see a softer side of Hondo in Seasons 2 & 5. In one breath he can tell a child-aged Boba Fett that “there is no honor in revenge” and in the next breath he can kidnap a bunch of Jedi younglings. Yet in the episode “A Necessary Bond” it is the youngling Katooni who inspires a change in character Hondo, who finally puts the needs of others before the needs of himself (if only for a moment).

Hondo: The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell

When we next meet Hondo (chronologically) he is working with IG-88 on Ord Mantell to claim a bounty on Qi’ra (an agent of Crimson Dawn). This 3-minute episode is part of the series “Forces of Destiny” which takes place in all eras of Star Wars and its voice cast includes the likes of Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Felicity Jones, Lupita Nyong'o, Kelly Marie Tran, and Ashley Eckstein.

Hondo: The Prisoner of Naraka

Hondo returns in Season 2 of the series “Rebels”. At this point Hondo is much older. He has lost his gang, his monkey lizards, and his riches. Yet he is still pulling cons and during one such endeavour bumps into Ezra Bridger and the crew of The Ghost. He has a few adventures with the Hera’s crew but eventually lands in an Imperial prison on planet Narka for a couple years.

Though most of The Ghosts crew has no love for Hondo, Ezra has a soft spot for him. The pirate reminds Ezra of what he could have become, if he would have remained a street rat on Lothal. It is Ezra’s trust in Hondo that begins to soften the old crime boss. The crew of The Ghost eventually breaks Hondo out of Imperial Prison and later Hondo becomes a true asset to the Rebellion. When Ezra is in danger, Hondo decides to help rescue the boy without thought of reward. It is Ezra’s friendship (and perhaps the memory of Padawan Katooni) that allows Hondo to become a Hero.

Hondo: The Captain Of Takodana

Six years later, Hondo has found a new crew and has secured a friendship with the pirate queen, Maz Kanata. Hondo operates out of her castle.  When the Freemaker siblings accidentally gets into a fender bender with Hondo’s ship the old pirate sends the kids on a mission to the third moon to retrieve some varactyl eggs. When the kids come back empty handed he is not pleased, but Maz puts the old pirate in his place before he gets too out of hand.

Sometime later, the Freemaker siblings hire Hondo to help them track down the suspension housing of a Corellian Defender. Hondo takes them to the volatile planet of Taul only to con them out of their ship, the StarScavenger. However, R0-GR, the Freemaker’s droid manages to capture  Hondo and the pirate lord is delivered back to his enemies on Takodana.

Hondo: The Smuggler of Batuu

 

More than 30 years later, Hondo could be found operating out of Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, a much older Weequay yet up to his old tricks. During his time on Batuu, Hondo convinced The Mighty Chewbacca to borrow the Millenium Falcon to carry out a train job stealing coaxium from the First Order. This adventure is chronicled in the book “Pirates Price” for which Jim Cummings provides the audiobook narration. It is also the backstory for the Disney ride “Smuggler’s Run” in the Galaxy’s Edge area of Disneyland and Disney World. Hondo can still be seen on Batuu (and in Disney Parks) for those who are willing to make the trip.

"Who Is?" Series

Who is Valance the Hunter?

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/06/who-is-valance-hunter.html

Who is Jaxxon?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/04/jaxxon-is-back.html

Who is Vuffi Raa?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/09/who-is-vuffi-raa.html

Who is Doctor Aphra?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/11/who-is-doctor-aphra.html

Who is Willrow Hood?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/09/willrow-hood-star-wars-story.html

Who is Cammie?
http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/04/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Who is Hondo Ohnaka?

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-hondo-ohnaka-mixed-tape.html

Who is Agent Naare?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/04/who-is-agent-naare.html

Who is Quinlan Vos?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/03/who-is-quinlan-vos.html

Who is Asajj Ventress?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/03/who-is-asajj-ventress.html

Who is Gerris Shrike?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/02/who-is-garris-shrike-and-was-han-solo.html

Who is Sha'a Gi?
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/01/who-is-shaa-gi.html

Who is Saw Gerrera?

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/06/who-is-saw-gerrera.html

The Mandalorian is a Gift to be Cherished

How did we get here?

"The Mandalorian" is a Star Wars TV show with a 15-million-dollar per episode budget. It has some of the most powerful names in the business behind it, including Jon Favreau as the show-runner.

"The Manalorian" is not just good Sci-Fi, it's good Star Wars, which is something not-so-easy to pull off.

But again, How did we get here?

When Disney purchased Lucasfilm they had a plan to produce one Star Wars movie per year, indefinitely. It was a strategy that was working for the Marvel Universe and Disney was pretty sure it could be replicated. But the task was not as easy as it seemed. Visionary writers and directors were brought on board and given the keys to the kingdom. Yet most of them did not last long.



In 2014 it was announced that director Josh Trank was hired to develop spin-off film (a Boba Fett film it turns out). Yet, only a year later he was pulled from the project. 

In 2017, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were filming the movie "Solo" when they suddenly ousted and replaced by Ron Howard. As a consequence the movie went way over budget. As a consequence Disney put a hold on all "Star Wars Story" films including an "Obi-Wan Kenobi" film that Stephen Daldry was attached to.

Later that year Colin Trevorrow was removed from the development of Star Wars: Episode IX (and was replaced with JJ Abrams).

Most recently David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (the Game of Thrones guys) were removed (or perhaps walked away from) a future film series. That series was supposed to premiere in 2022, but now it seems, Star Wars films might be put on a longer hiatus.

Currently we have reports that Rian Johnson will launch a new trilogy and that Kevin Feige will develop a Star Wars film as well. But at this point the "One Star Wars Movie Per Year" idea has been scrapped and Disney is using a different tactic: Television.

TV is having a moment right now. In the middle of the current Streaming War culture, studios want to pump out content. CBS is trying to do this with Star Trek. They are pouring resources into developing and launching as much Trek content as possible and hope that it will bring people to their platform. Star Wars should feel very fortunate that Disney has jumped into the 'Streaming Wars' and has placed Star Wars at the very center of the platform.

Now that old Josh Trank Boba Fett movie has become "The Mandalorian". The Stephen Daldry Kenobi movie was reimagined as a small screen Ewan McGregor mini-series. A Cassian Andor series is also in development along with "The Mandalorian Season 2".

And who knows. Maybe the "failed" Solo franchise that every seemed to like (once they finally got around to watching it), will also continue somehow via Disney +

Star Wars fans are lucky. They are so lucky and most of them don't know it.

While many of them bemoan how the new Disney Star Wars is not as good as the originals or even the prequels, they fail to see what has been given to them: 5 quality movies (fans can argue over quality but critics and non-fans pretty much agree that this is good stuff). And now Disney is pumping out Star Wars television at budgets of 15 million per episode.

This is a beautiful time to be a Star Wars fan. November and December 2019 will see 8 "Mandalorian" episodes on TV and "The Rise of Skywalker" in the cinemas.

So enjoy the ride!