'Star Wars: Visions' brings Japanese anime flair to Disney classic franchise

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Star Wars: Visions" is a series of short anime films now streaming on Disney+ bringing Japanese anime into storytelling of the saga.

Seven Japanese studios created this collection of short anime films, in the spirit of the epic screen lore.

"We are huge fans of anime and Lucas Film has inspired so much of our work, I think that's really clear in a lot of our animation, a lot of our comics a lot of our games and movies," said James Waugh, executive producer. "We always knew that there would be real harmony between merging these things. "

"We very quickly realized we could look at Star Wars stories in a completely different way than we ever had before and try and experiment with new things," he added.

Not an ewok or a Wookie but an earth-bound intruder. Star Wars has a universal resonance these days.

"The Star Wars is a story about a family, and a father and son relationship," said Kanako Shirasaki, producer.

In most Japanese stories, it's about families or the people around you.

The films were carefully selected.

"From the start we wanted to make sure that each one of these films showcased the diversity, tone and texture that is found in anime as a medium," Waugh said. "I think there's a real presumption, a lay presumption that a lot of anime is just action and bombast, the truth is, it's so much more nuanced and there's so many different degrees of it and as fans we wanted to make sure the symbology really spoke to that and really showcased that."