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The Star Wars Holiday Special
Image:Tv star wars holiday special life day.jpg
Life Day ceremony in The Star Wars Holiday Special
Directed by David Acomba
Steve Binder
George Lucas
Produced by Joe Layton
Jeff Starsh
Ken Welch
Mitzie Welch
Written by George Lucas (story)
Pat Proft
Leonard Ripps
Bruce Vilanch
Rod Warren
Mitzie Welch
Starring Mark Hamill
Harrison Ford
Carrie Fisher
Anthony Daniels
Peter Mayhew
Music by Diahann Carroll
Craig Chaquico
Ian Fraser
Ken Welch
Mitzie Welch
John Williams
Distributed by CBS
Release date(s) November 17, 1978
Running time 97 min.
Language English
Budget $1,000,000+ ?
IMDb profile

The Star Wars Holiday Special was a two-hour television special (including commercials) set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was broadcast one time only on Friday, November 17, 1978 on CBS-TV from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). In it, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day. Along the way, they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire who are searching for rebels on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca's family: his father, Itchy, his wife, Malla, and his son Lumpy.

The program also features cameos (although the cameo actors are listed as stars) by other Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia (who sings the film's "theme song", set to the music of John Williams' Star Wars theme, near the end). The program is probably best known for an animated cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana that introduces, for the first official time in the Star Wars universe, the bounty hunter Boba Fett. It was the first film produced of three official Star Wars spin-off films. Though the program received excellent ratings for its one-time airing, Star Wars creator George Lucas, who created its original story, removed his story credit from the special. Despite disagreements over its quality, this film is considered the first canonical sequel to A New Hope.

Contents

[edit] Production

[[Image:Falcon_cockpit.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew in the cockpit of the Falcon, as the producers stand by.]] In May 1978, the Star Wars phenomenon was at its height. That month, someone at the 20th Century Fox suggested to Lucasfilm that they allow the creation of a Star Wars-themed holiday special. At the time, according to a Star Wars license manager, Lucasfilm had been receiving many different tie-in requests, most of which they had turned down. However, George Lucas liked the idea, and green-lit the production with the idea that it would keep Star Wars alive in the minds of the fans and the general public. He sat down with the show's producers and penned a basic story outline for what he wanted to happen in the show.

The story was to focus on Chewbacca returning home to his family for Life Day. Lucas supervised the initial draft of the script, and also attended a few production meetings and supervised work on the animated segment. However, he had little involvement beyond this due to the demands of producing The Empire Strikes Back.

In later drafts of the script, the show's producers, Ken and Mitzie Welch intervened and rewrote much of what Lucas had intended. The story remained, but the content was vastly different. After five drafts and many additions, subtractions, and changes to Lucas's original concept for the film, the script was completed sometime in October of 1978.

thumb|left|250px|A producer stands on the set of the Wookiee home A Gary Smith-Dwight Hemion Production in association with 20th Century Fox Television, The Star Wars Holiday Special was produced with a budget of a little over a million dollars. At the time, it was considered one of the most expensive TV endeavors of its kind. Taping began in October and ended sometime in November. David Acomba, the original director hired for the show, was an old roommate of Lucas's from his years at USC and knew his film-making style quite well. Acomba only managed to shoot the Cantina sequence of the special before he was fired by the producers due to "creative differences." A new director was hired, Steve Binder, who was apparently much less familiar with Lucas's work, or Star Wars. Lucas, who had had very little to do with production since the initial plot outline, was given a private screening of the completed film before it aired.

According to reports, he was disgusted with what the producers had done to his story, and greatly disliked the special. Rumor has it that he had signed an agreement for it to air at least once, and after seeing it, decided that it would never again be shown on any network after its first airing. The show was greatly hyped on broadcast TV, however, prior to its debut on November 17. Although ratings were excellent, on that night, and since the airing, many have considered it a general disappointment, and even an insult to the Star Wars saga.

[edit] Reception

For the most part, The Star Wars Holiday Special has received a large amount of criticism, both from Star Wars fans and the general public. David Hofstede, author of What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History, ranked the holiday special at number one, calling it "the worst two hours of television ever." Shepard Smith, a news anchor for the FOX News Channel, referred to it as a "70's train wreck, combining the worst of Star Wars, with the utter worst of variety television." Actor Phillip Bloch explained on a TV Land special entitled "The 100 Most Unexpected TV moments," that the special "just wasn't working. It was just so surreal." On the same program, Ralph Garman, a voice actor for the show Family Guy, explained that "The Star Wars Holiday Special is one of the most infamous television programs in history. And it's so bad that it actually comes around to good again." Most critics have expressed similar views of the special. Generally, it has never been well-received by fans, who often see it as silly, with some even viewing it as an insult to the Star Wars series.

Among some fans, however, it has reached a cult status. Some enjoy the special for its overall goofyness, or hold certain feelings of nostalgia for the special's original airing. It has become one of the most widely bootlegged programs in history, averaging around 30-60 copies availble on any given day on eBay. Many curious fans who have never seen or heard of it often wish to see it, which yields such a strong bootleg market.

The only aspect of the special which has been generally well-received is the animated segment which introduces the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who would later become a popular character when he later appeared in the Star Wars theatrical films.

[edit] Setting

The main storyline of the film, which is set in 0 BBY, transpires on the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk. During the course of the film, scenes also take place in outer space and in spacecraft such as the Millennium Falcon and an Imperial Star Destroyer. The variety-show segments and cartoon introduce a few other locales, such as a cantina on the desert planet of Tatooine and a water planet known as Panna.

[edit] Plot

The Holiday Special is important for being the first film-length Star Wars story after the original movie, and for showing an expanded look at parts of that universe. The main focus of the film is the Blockade of Kashyyyk. For the most part, however, the plot serves as little more than a means to string together a series of musical numbers, celebrity cameos, and other variety-show acts. These include songs and comedy routines by such '70s talents as Jefferson Starship, Diahann Carroll, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, and Bea Arthur. Easily the most notable segment is an animated cartoon featuring the pre-Empire Strikes Back debut of Boba Fett.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

thumb|right|200px|Han and Chewie in the Millennium Falcon, on the run from the Empire. It is Life Day. Chewbacca is on his way home to see his family and to celebrate the holiday, accompanied by his friend, Han Solo. Not long after departing Tatooine, the duo find themselves chased by two Star Destroyers, which Han collectively refers to as an "Imperial garbage scow." After a short argument whether they should abort the mission, due to their problems with the Empire, a decision is made to move forward. Han pulls back the hyperspace controls, and as the stars streak before the Falcon, Han and Chewie escape the grasp of the Empire once again.

thumb|left|200px|Malla watching the viewscreen while cooking. On Kashyyyk, Chewie's family - consisting of his loving wife, Malla, his mischievous son, Lumpy, and his grouchy father, Itchy, are anxiously awaiting and preparing for his return. For the most part, the three are going about their everyday lives. Itchy is carving an X-Wing toy for Lumpy, Malla is working in the kitchen, and Lumpy is playing with an already-complete X-Wing toy that his grandfather had already apparently made for him. On the family table, Malla has prepared a bowl of Wookiee-ookiees. Lumpy attempts to sneak one before dinner, but Malla catches him and asks him to take out the day's trash. As Lumpy exits the tree house with the trash, he looks over the outer deck railing of the house into the great depths of the forests of Kashyyyk. He makes the dangerous decision to climb up on the railing and walk along it for a bit.

Back inside the tree house, Malla and Itchy are unaware of his actions, but still worried, as Chewbacca has not arrived yet. Itchy takes down a framed picture of Chewbacca and Malla notices his worries. She reassures him that Chewie is safe, and he replaces the picture. When Lumpy comes back into the house, Itchy reaches into a cabinet and brings out an activity capsule for Lumpy. Malla objects when he shows it to Lumpy, but Itchy convinces her otherwise, and inserts the capsule into a round table-machine, similar to the one seen in the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope. The device projects a 3D-computer generated group of circus performers, who perform many unique acts. At the conclusion of the performance, Lumpy applauds and switches the machine off. Malla now needs for him to help washing the dishes. Though he resists and complains, and even tries to get Itchy to side with him, his tactic fails, as Itchy agrees with Malla, and Lumpy proceeds to wash the dishes.

thumb|right|200px|Luke and R2-D2 working on Luke's X-Wing. Malla and Itchy begin to worry again. Malla switches on a viewscreen-computer, and runs a search for any starships in the area, looking for the Falcon will be found in the scan, but the computer returns the result of "no starships in the area." She is deeply disappointed, and switches off the viewscreeen. Malla opens a hidden communication device from within their cabinets - a device that allows them to communicate with Chewbacca and the rebellion; since it is not allowed by the Empire, so they must keep it a secret. She contacts Luke Skywalker, who is working on his X-Wing starfighter, along with his faithful droid, R2-D2. Luke doesn't know what has happened, but knowing Han and Chewie, suggests that they probably stopped off somewhere and would arrive soon. Luke begins to have a few problems of his own when the part he is working on begins to emit a large amount of steam. Seeing that he is busy, Malla shuts off the communication viewscreen.

thumb|left|200px|Saun Dann in his shop, attending to an Imperial Officer. Next, Malla contacts Saun Dann, a local human trader on the planet. He is dealing with a customer when she contacts him, and Malla is able to view the proceedings. An Imperial guard is looking around Dann's shop, but is disinterested in any of Dann's suggestions. While the guard is still looking at things, Dann notices Malla on the viewscreen, and lets her know through a carefully-worded message that Han and Chewie are on their way, and should be arriving soon. However, he doesn't know of their current whereabouts. After shutting off the viewscreen, he suggests an item to the guard that finally interests him - a multi-funtional groomer. The guard takes the item but gives Dann nothing in return; this seems okay with Dann, as he considers it a gift.

thumb|right|200px|Darth Vader and Chief Bast, discussing the blockade of Kashyyyk. Darth Vader's star destroyer is orbiting Tatooine. Vader has been alerted to the escape of the Falcon from the grasp of the Empire. He was not ready to let them escape for the second time, as he has been on the search for the rebels who had destroyed the Death Star not long ago, and was obsessed with locating the ones responsible. Chief Bast, one of the few who had escaped the destruction of the first Death Star, informs Vader that a blockade has been set up around Kashyyyk, and a search started on the planet. Vader is pleased, and informs him to continue the search, if it takes searching every household in the system.

Back on Kashyyyk, Malla is preparing Bantha Rump for the night's feast for her family. She does so with the help of Chef Gormaanda, a robot chef she watches on the kitchen viewscreen. A female with four arms, this cook is shown to enjoy her cooking very much. When she gets out of control, and speeds up with her four arms, Malla can't keep up. She switches the viewscreen off and resorts to cooking the Bantha Rump herself.

thumb|left|200px|Han and Chewie approaching Kashyyyk in the Falcon. Back on the Falcon, Chewie and Han have just come out of hyperspace not far from Kashyyyk. Unaware of the blockade, they are surprised by four TIE fighters blocking their way. Han takes out a few using remote controls from the cockpit, then climbs into the gun turret to fire manually while Chewbacca takes the main ship controls. On Kashyyyk, Itchy is resting in his chair while Malla is walking around when an Imperial officer announces on the viewscreen that a blockade has been set up around the planet, and the Empire has declared martial law. Immediately after the announcement, they get a knock at the door. Frightened, Itchy goes to open it and to their relief, it is Saun Dann at the door, and not the Empire. He brings them all Life Day gifts; a music box for Malla, a box with an unknown present in it fro Lumpy, and a memory chip for Itchy. Dann inserts the chip into Itchy's virtual-reality chair, and a projection of a human female appears, whom Itchy seems to have an interest in. Itchy excitedly watches her perform a song, while making suggestive comments and body language.

thumb|right|200px|Leia and C-3PO at the rebel base. Following this "experience" of Itchy's, Malla contacts Princess Leia via viewscreen to alert them of Han and Chewie tardiness. Leia and C-3PO are at a Rebel base, hard at work on something. Leia can offer no help, but does ask if Malla is alone, and is relieved that Saun Dann is there to protect everyone. With little help from Leia, Malla switches off the communication device. Saunn Dann then smells wookiee-ookiees cooking, and he and Malla go to get some. Back on the Falcon, Han and Chewie are approaching Kashyyyk. They are glad to finally almost be there. Han notices the increased Imperial presence, so they decide to land on a safe section of the north side of the planet. However, this is far the Wookiee household and will be a long walk. Chewbacca protests, but they finally decide to land the ship. As they enter the atmosphere, Lumpy hears the roaring of the ship. Everyone in the wookiee house gets excited, and all run to the door. Believing Han and Chewie might be at it, Malla opens the door, and is suprised to discover two stormtroopers with their blaster pistols trained on her, with two Imperial officers behind them.

thumb|left|200px|Imperial officers questioning Chewie's family. Malla roars in horror, but the Imperials force their way in anyway. The head officer checks the house for residents and finds that the male Wookiee, Chewbacca, is missing. He orders a search. The officers rudely look through the house, nearly discovering the hidden communication device. To try to distract the attention of the Imperials, Saun Dann suggests that he and Malla prepare some food for everyone in the kitchen. While they are doing this, Dann turns on Malla's music box for one of the officers, who seems to interested more in the music than his duties. thumb|right|200px|The holographic band performing for one of the Imperial officers.A rock band appears on the box, and sings the song "Light the Sky on Fire" while Imperials continue to search the house. When the video finishes, the head officer orders the search to continue, and for the officer who viewed the music band to get back to work. Saun Dann sees he cannot help further and leaves. The head officer tells Malla to keep Lumpy busy while they search his room, so Lumpy sits down to watch a cartoon on a viewscreen of one of his father's many adventures.

thumb|left|200px|Boba Fett, when he first appears in the animated segment. The cartoon deals with Luke, Han, and Leia's first encounter with Boba Fett. During a search for a talisman, the Millennium Falcon crashes on a water planet known as Panna. Luke and the gang go after them, dispatching from a rebel base in a Y-Wing. Upon landing, they run into Fett, who wants to help them. They all board the Falcon, where Han has been infected by a mysterious sleeping virus caused by the talisman. Luke immediately contracts the virus as well. Fett and Chewie go into Panna City to get the cure for the condition. Once they get into the Imperial-occupied city, Fett instructs Chewie to stay behind while he gets the cure. Once away from Chewie, Fett contacts Darth Vader and informs him of the situation. He reveals that he and Vader are in a plan to reveal the location of the Rebels so that Vader can stop them, as he tried and failed to do previously. At this point, Lumpy shouts out in horror at the events in the cartoon, alerting the main Imperial officer. He comes over to see what is wrong, but Lumpy acts like it was nothing, and hides the fact that he is watching the cartoon. He then resumes the cartoon. Back on the Falcon, as C-3PO is caring for Han and Luke, he and R2-D2 intercept the message between Vader and Fett. After evading the Imperials, Fett and Chewie return to the Falcon with the cure. After they recover, everyone learns of Fett's true allegiances. Fett ignites his jet pack and blasts away, promising that he will meet them all again. Everyone then blasts away from the planet, and back to the rebel base on board the Falcon. Lumpy shuts off the monitor and applauds it.

thumb|right|200px|The amorphian being Lumpy watches on his instructional video. The Imperials have trashed everything in Lumpy's room. One even rips off the head of his stuffed bantha. After they move to another part of the house, Lumpy surveys the damage and is very saddened over what they have done to his treasured toy. He lays it on his bed, and after a moment of sadness, creates a plan for revenge using the gadget Saun Dann gave him earlier for his Life Day present. Lumpy puts in the instruction video to completely teach him how to put together the device. His plan is apparently to create a communication device that will fool the Imperials into returning to their base by emulating the voice of one of their superiors. A humanoid described as an "Amorphian being from the planet Morphia" appears on the video, explaining all of the technical details of assembly. The problem with Amorphians, however, is that their body functions frequently temporarily stop working, and this Amorphian does just that throughout the video, at one point shutting down almost completely and falling in the floor. Lumpy shuts off the video with happiness, knowing how to properly put together the device.

thumb|left|200px|Ackmena in the Cantina. While the Imperials are still searching downstairs, the living room viewscreen activates, advertising a video that is "required viewing by all Imperial personnel." All the imperials in the house turn their immediate attention to the viewscreen, now showing a reality-TV type program entitled Life on Tatooine. On screen, people are seen walking the streets of Mos Eisley, then the focus shifts to inside a cantina, where a band is playing, creatures are talking, and things are going pretty well. The bartender, Ackmena, is in the process of serving drinks, when a humanoid-type named Krelman walks in, apparently very interested and attracted in her. While they discuss matters, an Imperial guard comes onscreen announcing that Tatooine is now being put under curfew by the Empire, due to "subversive forces." Everyone must return to theirs homes immediately. Ackmena is deeply shocked, but asks her customers to please leave the cantina, due to the strict orders of the Empire. When the patrons all refuse to leave, she suggests one more round of drinks for everyone, on her own tab. She then proceeds to usher them out via singing and dancing. Everyone eventually leaves, albeit with opposition. Ackmena then continues her personal discussion with Krelman as the program ends.

thumb|right|200px|The remaining stormtrooper approaches Lumpy's room. After the video finishes, Lumpy's plan goes into effect. The Imperials get a repeated call to "return to base." They leave, but the head officer instructs one of the stormtroopers to stay behind. After the other Imperials leave, the stormtrooper still hears the repeating signal. He immediately sees that something is wrong because there are no more radios around. He determines that the sound is coming from upstairs, where he finds Lumpy speaking into the box he had constructed earlier. His voice is being translated and amplified to be more human and deeper. The stormtrooper walks into the room and grabs the box, startling Lumpy. The trooper throws the box to the ground, shattering it. Lumpy is frightened, runs down the stairs and out onto the deck, followed closely by the stormtrooper. thumb|left|200px|Han confronts the stormtrooper As they both run onto the deck, they discover Han and Chewbacca walking up to the door. Chewie growls, and Han prepares for battle. Chewie runs around the stormtrooper to protect Lumpy as the troper points his gun at both of them. Han backs against the wall, sneaks up behind the stormtrooper and hits him. As the two square off to fight, Han suddenly trips the stormtrooper, making him break the railing and fall off of the deck to his death in the deep forests below. Relieved, Han picks up Lumpy and hands him to his father.

thumb|right|200px|Han is greeted by Chewbacca's family. As all three go inside, they find Malla and Itchy are waiting. Han tells them he has taken care of the threat, and everyone is glad to be safe and back together finally. Chewie and Han hug everyone, and it is clear that there is a feeling of love and family among everyone present. They want Han to stay, but he says he has to get back to the Falcon before someone finds it where he has hidden it. After bidding everyone a heartfelt goodbye, he leaves wishing everyone a happy Life Day. After he leaves, another knock at the door announces the return of Saun Dann, arriving with bags in his hands. Suddenly, the Imperial officer appears on the viewscreen, giving a general alert for a missing stormtrooper. When he gives the exact identification number, everyone in the house knows this is the one Han tripped off of the deck and killed. Realizing the trouble they could be in, Saun Dann quickly claims that although the trooper stayed behind after his squad had left, the trooper stole a lot of food from the house and left without a trace. The excuse works, and the officer says he will send out a search party to find the missing trooper. Everyone is relieved as the viewscreen deactivates. Saun Dann wishes the entire family a happy Life Day as he leaves. The family prepares to go the festival at the Tree of Life, gathering crystals together and joining them above their heads.

thumb|left|200px|Wookiees celebrating Life Day at the Tree of Life. Magically, along with many other Wookiees, the family is next seen in space, travelling toward a bright star. They walking into it, arriving at the great Tree of Life, where many Wookiees dressed in red robes are gathered. As Chewbacca takes the stage, C-3PO and R2-D2 suddenly appear, along with Luke, Leia, and finally Han. He had had a surprise for everyone, as he brought the whole gang back for the celebration. Everyone is glad to be together. thumb|right|200px|The Wookiee family setting at the table for the night's feast.Leia gives a short speech on the meaning of Life Day and sings a song in celebration. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Chewbacca remembers the adventures he had in A New Hope, such as his first meeting with Luke and Leia, their escape from the Death Star, playing chess with R2-D2, and the award ceremony after he and Han had helped Luke destroy the Death Star. The Wookiees began to file out of the ceremony as his memories end.

That night, the Wookiee family: Chewbacca, Mallatobuck, Lumpawarrump, and Attichitcuk all sit at the family table, feasting to celebrate the day, and being back together again.

[edit] Cast

Image:Luke r2 working.jpg
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker working on his X-Wing.

[edit] Segments

[edit] Music

The special features four songs. The first, "This Minute Now," sung by Diahann Carroll, is best remembered for the bizarre monologue which precedes it in which Carroll — who is supposed to be an image created by a virtual-reality machine — tells Chewbacca's father, Itchy, that she is his "fantasy" and suggestively invites him to "experience" her. The second musical number is the song "Light the Sky on Fire", performed by Jefferson Starship, which is presented as a 3-D music video watched by one of the Imperial guards. Later, Bea Arthur, who plays a bartender in the Mos Eisley cantina, sings "Good Night, But Not Goodbye" to the same set of aliens that were seen in the Cantina in A New Hope, including, as the back-up musicians, the Cantina's resident group, Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. Finally, at the end of the special Carrie Fisher sings (somewhat off key) a song in celebration of Life Day to the tune of the Star Wars main title.

[edit] Comedy

Harvey Korman provides comedy in three of the special's skits, including the Cantina skit with Bea Arthur. He also performs two solo routines: one as a four-armed parody of Julia Child, whose four arms allow her to work much faster than Malla can keep up with, and one as a malfunctioning Amorphian android in an instruction video watched by Lumpy. Art Carney has a more integral role in the story, playing a trader on the Wookiee planet who is a member of the Rebellion and helps Chewie's family. His segments are also largely played for laughs.

[edit] The cartoon

The high point of the special is generally considered to be the animated segment produced by Nelvana known as "The Faithful Wookiee". While the artistic style takes great liberties — R2-D2's body is rubbery and Han's face nearly unrecognizable - the animation is above average for television animation of the period and the music and sound effects are straight out of the film. With all the main stars from the film voicing their characters, the cartoon sounds like a Star Wars film even if it looks a little odd at times. Not only does the cartoon introduce Boba Fett, but his jet pack and rope gun as well, which do not appear again in the movies until Return of the Jedi four and a half years later.

[edit] Other bits

The Holiday Special also includes a circus-style acrobatics routine that includes uneven bars and juggling. All the acts were loosely linked together with material which involves the Wookiees' preparation for Life Day, Han and Chewie's attempt to evade the Imperials and make it to Chewie's family, and the Imperial garrison's search for rebels.

[edit] Versions and availability today

[[Image:Holiday_special_ad.jpg|thumb|right|325px|The original TV Guide description of the special.]] The Star Wars Holiday Special was mostly forgotten after its only airing in 1978, until sometime in the early-to-mid-1990s when individuals came forward with original VHS recordings of the TV airing. Some of them began to copy the show and sell it illegally as a bootleg video at conventions.

It soon became a cult classic and a legend among Star Wars fans. File-sharing technologies have made the special more widely available to fans curious to see for themselves. To this day, though, the special has still not been made officially available.

Most viewers (including Lucas himself) revile The Star Wars Holiday Special for its meager plot and low production values, but some enjoy it for its wackiness and novelty, and many Star Wars fans have a copy in their collection. Some fans hope for an official release, if only as a comedic novelty.

Some facts about copies of the Holiday Special:

  • The original print rests in the Lucasfilm archives. Animation-cel merchandise sold in the mid-1990s came from the special's animated Boba Fett segment. Segments of the cartoon appear in the 2002 Attack of the Clones web documentary "Bucket Head." Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch introduces the segment as coming from the Holiday Special. In 2004, the official Star Wars site confirmed that documentary filmmaker Kevin Burns was allowed access to the original print for use in his Empire of Dreams documentary. However, the segment using footage from the holiday special was ultimately left out of the final cut of Empire of Dreams. This cut footage from the documentary has yet to be offically released.
  • Some who watched the program's single airing recorded it to videotape (either on Betamax and VHS). These have since been duplicated and reduplicated so that most copies of the special available today (and since 1978) are based on second to sixth generation VHS dubs. Some of these fan-made copies include the original commercials that aired during the show, while others have had these edited out. Fans have since transfered these recordings to DVD.
  • In 2001 or 2002, an anonymous video professional digitally remastered a second-generation recording of the original special with Dolby Digital technology. Though this "remastered" version does exist, the term "digitally remastered" is often times just used as a slogan to sell illegal copies on eBay and at conventions.
  • There is an isolated version of the Boba Fett cartoon that contains a few extra seconds of material that was either edited or not included in the Holiday Special.
  • Individual clips from the special are available for download on some websites. In other places, such as many BitTorrent or file sharing sites, the entire special is available for download, in varying quality.
  • The special has yet to be officially released on DVD, despite recent rumors of a possible release (see DVD release section below).

[edit] Lucasfilm/media uses and statements

  • In summer, 1979, the fifth issue of Bantha Tracks, the official Star Wars fan club newsletter, mentioned Boba Fett's first appearance as an animated character in the holiday special. The issue reads:
"Boba Fett first appeared on The Star Wars Holiday Special late last year, in the employ of Darth Vader. He will be returning in The Empire Strikes Back, still in Darth Vader's employ, and still after Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and the leaders of the Rebellion."[1]
  • In 1996, Lucasfilm released animation cells from the holiday special Boba Fett cartoon segment. These were combined with new artwork to create slightly different images than what is seen in the special. Copies of the cells were sold publicly that year.
  • In 2002, StarWars.com released documentary entitled "Bucket Head" as part of their Attack of the Clones web documentaries. It explained the origins of the Fett family and the fascination with Boba Fett. The first video appearing in the documentary was scenes from the Boba Fett animated segment from the special. Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who originally played Boba Fett in the Star Wars films, notes that the Holiday Special was where Boba Fett made his first appearance. This documentary was released on the 2002 DVD set of Attack of the Clones.
  • In 2002, around the Thanksgiving holiday, the official Star Wars website StarWars.com acknowledged an element of the special by wishing its viewers "Happy Life Day," as seen here.
  • To aid in designing the sets and look of the planet Kashyyyk for Revenge of the Sith, the official site that the Lucasfilm art department had viewed the holiday special incorporated elements from it into their design. The look of the planet, the environment of the Wookiees, and the types of houses and technology they use was all based partly on ideas from the holiday special.
  • On November 17, 2003, at around 7:00 p.m. EST, which was exactly 25 years from the airing of the special, Shephard Smith of the FOX News Channel played a few of the opening clips from the special on his G Block segment. After calling this announcement a "nerd alert," announcing that day as the 25th anniversary of the one-time airing. The video shown appeared to be of a bootleg from an original recording, rather than footage obtained from the Lucasfilm archives. The clip can be downloaded directly here.
  • The official Star Wars site reported in September 2004 on the Kevin Burns-directed Star Wars documentary Empire of Dreams. Originally there was to be some coverage of the Holiday Special, but it wound up being cut to help shorten the already lengthy documentary. Here's a relevant quote from the article:
"I wanted it in the documentary to show early on how the studio could easily take control and make poor decisions once a film has proven to be a success," Burns explains. "It showed how Star Wars could have been if mishandled. George didn't want Star Wars to become burlesqued or treated like a kiddie show. And we wanted to make a point in the documentary that this was what George was petrified would happen to Star Wars if he hadn't had taken full control."
But the footage didn't quite fit with the overall premise of the documentary and instead ended up on the cutting room floor, "until I can make a director's cut of Empire of Dreams," Burns jokes.
  • On a similar note, Comingsoon.net reported on the rollout presentation of the Star Wars Trilogy DVD at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, where various names who worked on the DVD were in attendance, including Kevin Burns. Here's another quote from Burns regarding the Holiday Special:
So was this a "warts and all" telling of the making of Star Wars? Kevin replied, "Actually, that was our mandate. I do tell the dirty little story that the only thing we couldn't put into this documentary was the Star Wars Holiday Special. (laughter). You know, it truly didn't fit in the cut. We did have it in an earlier cut, I will tell you, and I was, 'Gosh, I really wanted [to] put that Star Wars Holiday Special [in]!' But it just didn't work in the context of the cut.
Shortly after, a certain other guest interrupted:
At that point a very familiar voice in the back yelled out, "I think the Holiday Special is severely underrated!!!" It was Mark Hamill himself who had snuck into the back of the theater. His impromptu comment generated a lot of laughter in the audience to which Kevin added, "We're gonna screen that after this!"
  • Revenge of the Sith featured the big-screen debut of the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, along with many of the native Wookiees. The Wookiee houses seen in the film were closely modeled after the ones seen in the holiday special, but were much more detailed, and more elaborate.
  • The 2005 Revenge of the Sith scrapbook contained two pages in its section on the planet of Kashyyyk, explaining the origins of the planet. One of the pages displayed the original concept art image of the Wookiee family treehouse used in the special. The other page indicated that Kashyyyk first appeared in the special, and gave its full name. The book explained why it was never re-aired due to its production values not being up to George Lucas' standards.
  • On his Hyperspace commentary for Star Wars: Clone Wars, which was available on the official site and later on the Clone Wars Volume I DVD, director Genndy Tartakovsky noted that he paid homage to the holiday special when designing C-3PO.
  • One of the recent 2005 additions to the paid membership section of Starwars.com was the video clip "Animation Sizzle", which was shown at Comic-Con International 2005 in San Diego. The clip is a run-down of all the Star Wars animation projects over the years, and naturally it starts out with a segment from the 1978 animated Boba Fett cartoon used in the Holiday Special. This and the "Bucket Head" documentary are some of the few occasions when a part of the Holiday Special has been shown officially.
  • A 2005 issue of the official Star Wars magazine, Star Wars: Insider discusses the holiday special as one of the five strangest moments in the Star Wars expanded universe.
  • The book Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide contains a small section on the holiday special on an Expanded Universe page. It explains that it was "regrettable," and explains that, although it has never been officially released on home video, is available on bootlegs, and has now achieved the status of a cult film.
  • Lucasfilm has hired well-known Star Wars author Timothy Zahn to write Allegiance, a new book which will serve as a prequel to the animated segment of The Star Wars Holiday Special. The book has been set for a release in early 2007. This announcement has led Holiday Special enthusiasts to believe that this same year could be a likely release period for the special, due to several factors. 2007 will be the year of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, when Lucasfilm is likely to do many celebratory events and releases. Star Wars prequel producer Rick McCallum has stated that he and Lucasfilm would like to see all of the obscure productions of Star Wars, including all of the making-of specials, released after the completion of the prequels. There is no more likely date for this than 2007.
  • TV Guide and TV Land ranked The Star Wars Holiday Special at number 59 on their top 100 Unexpected Television Moments. The five part special aired December 5-9, 2005. The entire 1 minute 32 second clip on the holiday special can be directly downloaded here.
  • SciFi.com calls the special "silly." [2]
  • On its December 3, 2005 issue, the comic strip Sally Forth referenced the holiday special in saying: "Nothing says 'tis the season' like Wookiees, Jefferson Starship and Bea Arthur bartending in space." [3]
  • In David Hofstede's book What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History, he puts the holiday special at #1. He calls the special "the worst two hours of television ever."

[edit] Airing dates and locations

The special reportedly aired in:

  • Canada in 1978 on November 17, 1978 (the same day of the US airing, most likely on the CTV Television Network, since a black and white still from the show has that network's logo on it)
  • Mexico in December 1978 on Televisa XHGC Channel 5
  • Argentina around Christmas 1978
  • France (dubbed in French, under the name "Au Temps de la Guerre des Etoiles" which means "In the Time of Star Wars")
  • New Zealand sometime in 1979
  • Belgium in 1979 and/or 1980 (in English, with Dutch subtitles)
  • Australia in 1980 or 1981 (possibly also in 1982 or 1983 on the WIN Network), and again in 1983 & 1984 on Channel Ten Victoria (reportedly). It was reportedly broadcast once again in the late 1990s as part of the ABC's youth series, Recovery.
  • Malaysia in late January/early February 1981 or 1982 (in English, with no subtitles)
  • Sweden on May 31, 1979 on SVT TV 2 (in English, under the name "Stjärnornas Krig Och Fred", with Swedish subtitles).
  • The special reportedly aired at the Library of Congress in the 1990's.
  • Unofficially, the special was screened at a private Canadian theater, around the holiday season, several years in a row, from 2001-2004. The theater owners charged a small amount of money to view the special.
  • Unofficially, the special has been screened privately in many homes through bootleg or original recordings.

It most assuredly aired in other countries too (It is unknown exactly what or how many countries the special aired in, this list was compiled from reports by people from those countries who saw it when it aired). Screen captures from the various known versions of it that have survived from 1978 VHS tapes can be found here.

[edit] Title

There has been some dispute since the airing of the special what the correct name of it was. The correct title is The Star Wars Holiday Special, though it is often mislabelled The Star Wars Christmas Special. Even Star Wars creator George Lucas once called it that. It has also been called A Very Wookiee Christmas and A Wookiee Holiday.

In France, the official title was Au Temps de la Guerre des Etoiles which means In the Time of Star Wars.

In Sweden, the official title was Stjärnornas Krig Och Fred which literally means Stars' War and Peace.

In Norway, the official title was Stjernekrigens helligdags-spesial which means the same as the English title.

[edit] Deleted scenes

  • There is a deleted scene available for viewing to the special. Although many scenes can be considered deleted between the five drafts of the script, this one is one of the few that was actually filmed. The scene is from a small unused portion of the cartoon, originally part of the special as an in-cartoon commercial. A link to view this extremely rare portion of the special via Windows Media Player can be found here [4].
  • Another confirmed deleted scene took place immediately following the Imperial invasion of the Wookiee home. An Imperial stormtrooper stops at the table to sample one of Malla's wookiee-ookiees.

[edit] Related media tie-ins

  • In 1979, one year after the special's release, Lucasfilm released a children's book called Star Wars: The Wookiee Storybook, which reunited the characters from the special.
  • In 1980, Lucasfilm released a similarly themed christmas album, Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album.
  • At one point prior to the special's airing, the Kenner toy company was considering creating a toy line based on the special. The project was cancelled due to the unpopularity of the special and its characters.
  • A press kit was released prior to the special to promote its airing.
  • Several action figures of characters from the show have been released since the special's airing.
  • The Jefferson Starship, who had had a song and music video used in the special, proclaimed on their "Light the Sky on Fire" album that it was: "as seen and heard on the CBS Star Wars Holiday Special."
  • The Star Wars based MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies, has several items and in-game storylines relating loosely to Wookie Life Day.

[edit] Role in greater Star Wars continuity

[edit] Canonicity of the special

See also: Star Wars continuity and canonicity

The Star Wars Holiday Special is technically in the Star Wars canon, which means that the events depicted are part of the greater continuity that includes the other films, novels, comic books, video games, etc. Generally, it falls in the C-Canon in the overall Star Wars continuity.

According to Leland Chee, the keeper of The Holocron, an internal Star Wars continuity database at Lucasfilm (which contains at least 28 individual entries relating to elements of the holiday special), most elements from the holiday special are considered canon. However, there are specific rules as to what is what. First off, any element from the holiday special that is referenced in another work is considered C-Canon (such as Life Day, Chewbacca's family, etc.). Any element from the holiday special that is not referenced in other works is considered S-Canon, which means that it's canon, and it "happened," but its canonicity is not set in stone. The only element from the holiday special that is not considered canon (meaning it is N-Canon) is its claim that Chief Bast survived the destruction of the first Death Star from A New Hope. Although the holiday special never specifically mentions that the person conversing with Darth Vader is Bast, it is generally implied. However, The Star Wars Encyclopedia, by Steve Sansweet, which is considered C-Canon (which would be higher than the at-the-time S-level canon issue with Bast), says that Bast died in the Death Star's explosion. This makes Bast's appeance in the holiday special confirmed to not be canon. It is not known exactly who the man in the holiday special talking to Vader was. However, it has been speculated that it may have simply been a person looking similar to Bast, or even a clone of him.

[edit] Later appearances

Since The Star Wars Holiday Special was released, it has received an extreme amount of criticism and dislike by both fans and official sources. Despite the relative unpopularity of the elements of the special, those at Lucasfilm responsible for liscensing have kept the special in continuity, due to their canon policies. In many cases, they have in fact expanded on elements from the special in several different media, including novels, comic books, video games, children's books, and even in a Star Wars-themed cookbook. Indeed the phrase from the special's opening "introducing Chewbacca's family" meant more than originally envisioned.

Several of the characters in The Star Wars Holiday Special appear in other Star Wars works. Chewbacca's family are featured in various stories, including:

  • The Kashyyyk Depths (1979) was a newspaper comic strip by Russ Manning which featured another venture by Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewie to Kashyyyk for Life Day. It was reprinted in a collective book entitled "Classic Star Wars #4: The Early Adventures."
  • The Wookiee Storybook (1979) features Chewbacca's family in a situation very similar of that to the holiday special. Except in the book, Lumpy, wishing to be brave like his father, goes to the lower levels of Kashyyyk to get a type of fruit in preparation for the return of Chewbacca for Life Day. When trouble arisies when Lumpy doesn't return, Chewbacca must rescue his son.
  • Wookiee World (1985) was issue #91 of the Marvel comics Star Wars run. It featured Chewie's family in another adventure on Kashyyyk.
  • Tyrant's Test (1996) was the third and final book of The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. It featured Lumpy and his rites of passage into Lumpawaroo.
  • Rebel Dawn (1997) was the third book in The Han Solo Trilogy of novels by A.C. Crispin. It dealt with the younger years of Han, in relation to Chewbacca and his family. Malla and Chewie's marriage is shown in the third book.
  • The Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookiees and Other Galactic Recipes (1998) gives an official recipe for "Wookiee cookiees," a different name for "Wookiee-ookiees" from the special.
  • Chewbacca (2000) was a four-issue comic book series by Darko Mecan, which featured Itchy and Malla recalling stroies of Chewbacca's history.
  • Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001) was a game released by LucasArts, which explored the past of Chewbacca's father, Itchy. As seen in the game, Itchy was a great warrior in his younger days, who fought many battles.
  • The Unifying Force (2003) was the final book of the New Jedi Order series, it features Chewbacca's son Lumpy, along with Lowbacca, who hold a pivotal role of taking up Chewbacca's life debt to Han.
  • Star Wars: Galaxies (2003) was a popular MMORPG game that allowed the player to visit and explore Kasyyyk. While there, the player can explore the customs of Life Day, as there are several wookiees dressed in red robes, as in the special. Also in the game, Lumpy's stuffed bantha from the special can be seen. The official site for Star Wars: Galaxies even has a webpage dedicated to explaing these features in the game, and the customs of Life Day here.
  • A Forest Apart (2003) was an e-book by Troy Denning released also in print as a supplement to his main book Tatooine Ghost. A Forest Apart focuses on the exploits of Lumpy, after Malla allows him to go to Coruscant with Chewbacca.
  • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) was a film which, in addition to introducing Kashyyyk to the big screen, involved Itchy. According to the Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-sections by Dr. Curtis Saxton, and according to the film's visual dictionary, Itchy was involved in the Battle of Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith. As the Clone Wars erupted and Kashyyyk fell under siege, Attichitcuk joined in the defense of his homeworld. Too old to fight alongside the younger Wookiee warriors, Attichitcuk served as a gunner aboard an Oevvaor jet catamaran in the defense of Kachirho during the Battle of Kashyyyk. It is unknown at this point whether or not he actually can be physically seen in the film, although he has been confirmed to have technically been in it, since he was in one of the Oevvaor jet catamarans.
  • Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-sections-The Definitive Guide to Spaceships and Vehicles (2005) (see above)
  • Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith-Visual Dictionary (2005) (see above)

Chef Gormaanda later was featured in an issue of the HoloNet. She explained a new recipe, and it was explained that she had won a cooking award. The issue was HoloNet News Volume 531 #50 13:4:4, under "Life" section - (Read the article)

Chief Bast went on to appear in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, in which Bast's early life was briefly elaborated on. In addition to this, his card hints that he escaped and survived the destruction of the first Death Star, as seen in the holiday special. The card can be viewed here.

Boba Fett returns in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and in many Expanded Universe books, comics, and video games (not to mention numerous official and unofficial fan-made films).

The Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk features in various novels, comic books, and video games, including Revenge of the Sith, the cartoon micro-series known as Star Wars: Clone Wars, and video games such as Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. An entire city from the planet was even elaborated on in Timothy Zahn's popular 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, which was the first in his Thrawn trilogy.

[edit] Lucas's feelings on the special

George Lucas has rarely commented on or even acknowledged its existence, except to friends and co-workers. At one Australian fan convention he reportedly said:

"If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it."

In an online chat with fans, he reportedly said:

"The holiday special does not represent my vision for Star Wars."[5]

In an interview with Maxim magazine in May 2002, Maxim asks the question: Any plans for a Special Edition of the Holiday Special?

(hangs head) "Right. That's one of those things that happened, and I just have to live with it."

Later, in a May 2005 interview with StaticMultimedia.com, Lucas was asked if the film had soured him on working in television:

"The special from 1978 really didn't have much to do with us, you know. I can't remember what network it was on, but it was a thing that they did. We kind of let them do it. It was done by... I can't even remember who the group was, but they were variety TV guys. We let them use the characters and stuff and that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but you learn from those experiences. I had a wonderful time on Young Indiana Jones. It was a great series. We did it for four years. I spent those four or five years actually working on it. That's really all I did during those years. It was really a great experience and I love television."[6]

[edit] Other official opinions

The official Star Wars site states that the holiday special "delivered mixed results," but explains that the highlight of the special was the Boba Fett animated segment. [7] The official site also says, when referring to the fan interest in seeing the Wookiees on screen, "the 1978 Holiday Special didn't cut it." [8] When asked at a fan convention, "So, you don't like it (the holiday special) either, Lucasfilm head of content and fan relations, Steve Sansweet replied "No. I mean, I like the ten minute introduction of Boba Fett, but that's about it." The official site also refers to the Boba Fett animated segment as "a cult classic." [9]

[edit] Sequels

Image:Very-sw-xmas-d.jpeg
StompTokyo.com's fake image of what Tyranus would have looked like in the sequel.

Rumors of a follow-up special called A Very Star Wars Christmas have spread in recent years, but were debunked as an April Fool's prank by stomptokyo.com. The special's plot was said to follow along these lines: after the Rebellion forces abandoned Hoth during the Imperial invasion, some rebels were left behind. The story follows two such soldiers, Coren and Vila. Forced to survive on the barren surface of Hoth, they have learned to live with the Wampas, who are not so much evil as misunderstood. Vila is particularly fond of one young Wampa whom she has dubbed "Christmas" after her favorite holiday. When Darth Tyranus comes to Hoth in search for the young Wampa, trouble begins, as Tyranus and the Rebels go on a chase leading them all the way to Coruscant and back to Hoth, where the Rebels attempt an escape. For the record, fans will note that part of this is impossible: Tyranus was killed by Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith, which takes place before the rebellion even existed.

[edit] Trivia

  • Despite his rather unwelcomed three roles in The Star Wars Holiday Special, and George Lucas' dislike of the special, Harvey Korman appeared in Lucas' 1994 film Radioland Murders as Jules Cogley.
  • Genndy Tartakovsky, director and animator of the Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series, states that he paid homage to Nelvana's animation in the Holiday Special segment, particularly the design of C-3PO. He says that he animated Threepio's eyes to move in a similar way to Nelvana's, and made the droid's overall look similar to theirs.
  • The Star Wars Holiday Special was spoofed in the 1988 movie, Scrooged.
  • Dr. Orpheus makes reference to the Wookies' Life Day in the Venture Brothers holiday special.
  • "Fighting the frizzies" - Among the more widely circulating recordings of TSWHS is one made of the broadcast on WCBS-TV (channel 2) in New York City. At several commercial breaks in the show, a "teaser" for the station's 11 PM newscast is aired in which news anchor Roland Smith simply says "Fighting the frizzies, at 11." (Other circulating versions of TSWHS were originally taped from other CBS affiliates, including WMAR-TV in Baltimore, and lack the frizzies reference, and still others have had all the commercials edited out.)
    On one particular episode of the animated television series South Park, entitled "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" during every commercial break, an announcer (played by Tom Vogt, dressed-up to look exactly like Roland Smith) would come on as part of the program and say "fighting the frizzies at 11." The reference is quite obscure in origin, since not only would you have had to have watched the holiday special on its one time airing on WCBS or have seen the WCBS broadcast copy, and remember the commercial to get the reference. Nonetheless, it quickly became a catch phrase among both Star Wars and South Park fans.
    More information about this clip can be found at this site, and the original clip can be directly downloaded here. History has not recorded what the "frizzies" were, though most likely the news story referred to hair care.
  • South Park similarly spoofed the same bootlegged edition again in the episode entitled "Freak Strike" wherein the freak union puts out a commercial promoting the use of real freaks in talkshows. This commercial is almost identical to one shown during the special by the International Ladies Garmet Workers Union, complete with song.
  • Also relating to South Park, in the DVD episode commentaries, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have made several references to the special themselves.
  • A prototype for Chewbacca's father Attichitcuk (Itchy) first appeared in an early form as Chewbacca's father "Auzituck" as far back as the May 1973 Rough Draft of Star Wars. In scene 135 in the Wookee (sic) camp on Yavin (Yavin being an early version of Kazyyyk), it says "Chewbacca enters the largest of the lodges. He is greeted by his father, AUZITUCK, Chief of the KAAPAUKU tribe; an old and feeble Wookee dressed in royal skins and headdress."
  • When asked about his involvement with the special, Mark Hamill has reported that the producers asked him to sing a song for one scene. He refused.
  • Despite his introduction in the Holiday Special, Boba Fett has gone on to become one of the most popular Star Wars characters.
  • Peter Mayhew has reportedly said that the most common question asked of him at fan conventions was something along the lines of "Do you remember working on the holiday special?" His response, he says, is always, "of course I do."
  • Carrie Fisher has made claims that she never remembers working in any Star Wars-themed holiday special.
  • Lucas's original screenplay for Star Wars spelled the wookiee planet's name as "Kazhyyyk." The holiday special refers to it as "Kazook," and many other Expanded Universe novels and games refer to it as "Kashyyyk." Kashyyyk has become the G-Canon name of the planet now, as Lucas used that spelling when the planet made its theatrical debut in Revenge of the Sith.
  • Footage featuring Leslie Schofield (Chief Bast) in the holiday special was actually from an unused scene from the original Star Wars film. In A New Hope, Bast was stationed on the Death Star. Since the Holiday Special happens not long after the end of A New Hope, and features Bast serving under Vader, further official sources (including Decipher) state that Bast left the Death Star before its destruction, to avoid contradictions between A New Hope and the holiday special.
  • The opening announcer who introduces the cast specifies "James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader," but does not mention David Prowse, the actor who was under the suit. Ironically, in the first two Star Wars theatrical films (including The Empire Strikes Back, which was filmed after the Holiday Special), Prowse was credited as Vader, but Jones specifically requested not to be credited.
  • Stan Winston, a special effects master known for his work on The Terminator (1984) and its sequels, created the wookiee costumes for the holiday special. He even briefly mentions his work on it, in the Fangoria Blood Drive Volume I DVD. He explains that the holiday special was one of the first projects he worked on.
  • Originally a very minor detail, the Wookiee food of "Wookiee-ookiees" became a cult symbol in the Star Wars fan universe, spawning plays on its name such as wookiee-cookies (a Star Wars-themed dessert) and the term Wookiee-Hooky (the act of skipping school to see a Star Wars film, particularly if it has just been released).
  • Up until the release of Revenge of the Sith (which introduced Luke and Leia as infants), the holiday special was the only other live-action production, outside of the original trilogy, which featured any of the "big three" (Han, Luke, and Leia).
  • The Holiday Special featured a M'shento'su'Nikto, named Kelbo, a subspecies of Nikto not seen in any of the 6 main films.

[edit] DVD release

The Star Wars Holiday Special has yet to be given an official DVD release by Lucasfilm Ltd. If there are any plans to officially release the Star Wars Holiday Special on DVD, those plans have never been stated by Lucasfilm and there has never been any announcement suggesting such a release either on Lucasfilm's site, or the starwars.com site. However, an eventual release is expected by many fans. Amazon.com has placed an entry for the Holiday Special on its site [10], leading to rumors in summer 2005 that a DVD was to come out soon, but in fact that is something the company does for nearly all movies and television shows that have not yet been released on DVD, to find popular titles and measure the interest of the public.

[edit] Sansweet's comments

When asked by the IESB if George Lucas has the intention to ever release the holiday special, Steve Sansweet replied:

No. It's a very simple answer. George hates the [...uh...] Star Wars [...uh...] Holiday Special, and [...um....] it's [...it's...] just something that he doesn't like...

[edit] References

  • The Star Wars Holiday Special, original CBS airing, November 17, 1978. Steve Binder, George Lucas.
  • Ultra Filmfax #69-70 - Oct. 1998/Jan. 1999 (USA) "The Star Wars Holiday Special," by Ross Plesset (Presents black and white photos and very detailed article on the SWHS, with interviews.)
  • Hofstede, David. (2004) Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History. ISBN 0823084418
  • Complete cast and crew listing at the IMDB - [11]
  • The Star Wars Encyclopedia by Stephen J. Sansweet, ISBN 0345402278 Del Rey; first edition (June 30, 1998)
  • Empire of Dreams 2004

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

[edit] Fan sites

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Official opinions

[edit] Credits

[edit] Scripts

[edit] Copies of the special

[edit] Fan films that reference the special

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