While the resemblance seems primarily aesthetic at first, takeas and Loth-cats show that not everything is what it seems in the Star Wars universe.
Tookas, also known as takea cats, bear a striking resemblance to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire cat. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Throughout his appearances in Star Wars Average, takeas share the same large, flat face, and an oversized mouth that can be curved into a smile. While the resemblance at first appears to be primarily aesthetic, this conversion of Earth cats into a Wonderland-style creature enriches the Star Wars universe both aesthetically and symbolically.
In Lewis Carroll’s novel, he describes the Cheshire cat as follows: “The cat only smiled when he saw Alice. He seemed kind, he thought: even so, he had very long claws and a large number of teeth, so he felt he should be treated with respect. “The magic of the cat is shown when it leaves, its final disappearance being the most iconic. Carroll writes,” this time, it faded very slowly, beginning with the end of the tail and ending with the smile, which remained for a time after that the rest left. “The Cheshire cat appears twice in the novel. In both appearances, the cat mainly asks Alice about her experiences in wonderland and opinions about its citizens. In short, the Cheshire cat just wants tea and revels in chaos.
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John Tenniel’s illustrations for the novel transformed these descriptions into the template for all future depictions of the Cheshire Cat. Although his version of the cat looks a lot like a normal cat, the differences are clear in the Cheshire cat’s face. Tenniel emphasized the cat’s smile, making it stretch over the cat’s huge head and showing its “many teeth.” Other versions of the Cheshire cat, such as Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, they are more colorful.
The shots of Star Wars They have a similar color palette to Disney’s version of the Cheshire Cat, but they seem to look more like Tenniel’s illustrations. The main deviation is the eyes of the takeas, which are consistent across all subspecies. Loth-cats, a subspecies of takea most commonly found in Star wars rebels, have a color palette more similar to that of normal cats, but still have the same characteristics as the rest of the takea species. So while there is some variation, takeas bear a consistent resemblance to the Cheshire cat.
In her first screen appearance in Star Wars, Clone Wars Season 5, Episode 19, “To Catch a Jedi”, the shots have a symbolic purpose similar to that of the Cheshire Cat. After being charged with murder, Ahsoka Tano flees the Republic Senate and the Jedi Council. During this time, Ahsoka briefly partners with bounty hunter Asajj Ventress to navigate the lower levels of Coruscant. Two shots appear, fighting playfully in the foreground just before Ahsoka and Ventress part ways. As Ventress prepares to leave, Ahsoka states, “I have to admit I never saw us doing anything together.” Ventress responds, “These are strange times.” The appearance of the shots immediately before this scene works with this conversation to highlight the chaotic mess that the Republic and the Jedi have become.
Later in the episode, another takea appears after Ventress leaves Ahsoka. Ventress assumes that Ahsoka is following her, but it turns out to be just a takea, who freaks out and runs away. Immediately afterwards, Ventress is attacked by a hooded figure, who is later revealed to be Barriss Offee in the following episode, “The Wrong Jedi”. Once again, the takea is used as a prelude to the revelation of a world gone mad. Ahsoka has descended into this crazy new world and, like in Wonderland, nothing is what it seems.
Little cats appear everywhere Star wars rebels, but the most significant Loth-cat appears in Season 2, Episode 11, “Legacy”. In a vision, Ezra Bridger hears the voices of his parents. The vision travels the places and, at one point, Ezra finds himself in an Imperial base. A white Loth-cat appears, and when Ezra reaches out to pet it, he gets glimpses of his parents incarcerated by the Empire. Ezra incorrectly assumes that Loth-cat means that his parents are in Lothal.
Once there, Ezra realizes that the white Loth cat is not just a vision when he meets him in person. The white Loth cat leads Ezra to Ryder Azadi, the former governor of Lothal, who informs Ezra that his parents died while helping other prisoners escape the Empire. While this news is not the happy reunion Ezra hoped for, he is comforted by a vision he has of his parents telling him that they are proud of his actions and role in the Rebellion. So in this case, the Loth cat still represents the idea that nothing is what it seems, but this particular Loth cat leads Ezra to the truth rather than representing a world in chaos.
Therefore, despite the takeas and Loth-cats of Star Wars lacking the magical abilities of the Cheshire Cat, sometimes they still mean there is more to the story. Even when this is not the case, he relied on the viewer on the familiar while still marking the Star Wars universe as an alien compared to Earth.
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