Expanded Universe: A Question of Canon

A Question of Canon

            Canon in Latin means “standard” and refers to people measuring something up to a standard. The easiest way to describe “Canon” is imagining a bunch of popes and bishops reading holy texts and deciding what is real? What text gets into the bible? What rules do we follow? What happens when texts disagree with each other?

So how does this apply to Star Wars? Well, most people who have seen Star Wars have only seen the movies so they don’t have to worry about Canon. But hardcore fans have gone a step further and have explored the thousands of comics, cartoons, video games, card games, & books that make up the “Expanded” Star Wars universe.

Leia & Luke fight
Vader together

When Lucas started recruiting writers to make some more money for “Star Wars”, they had to be careful. They couldn’t disagree with the films or potential films that were going to be made, so they had to craft their stories without killing off any of Lucas’ characters or looking into the secret past lives of the Star Wars universe.

The first example of a book entering the Star Wars Expanded Universe was “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” in 1978, which includes Luke & Leia searching for a crystal that makes force-users invincible. After a few hundred pages they meet Vader. Luke chops off Vader’s arm and then escapes with the crystal.

The book was a treat for fans that still had a two-years wait for “Empire Strikes Back”. It was also nice for Lucas, who made some money. Yet no one had to read this book to understand the future films. They don’t refer to the crystal in the movies. Vader never says, “You’re going to pay for chopping off my arm”. The book does not interfere with the main “Star Wars” story. The movies need to be enjoyed without people having to do extra homework.

Leia with her twins

The EU would work perfectly if no more Star Wars movies were ever going to be made. The problem is sometimes new movies are made that end up disagreeing with the novels. For example, what author Timothy Zahn envisioned the Clone Wars to be like is totally different than what they look like when Lucas made the prequel films.  There are actually dozens of times that the prequels disagree with previously established “Canon” from books and comics. This is because Lucas never read the books and has admitted to have no knowledge of what happened in the EU.

There are also a lot of places that the books that are inconsistent with each other. For example there are two books that focus on Han & Leia getting married and two different stories of their wedding. No one is quite sure which one to believe.

Some would even say that the prequels are inconsistent with the original films. Why would Leia remember her mother if she was taken from her at birth? Why would Han not believe in The Force even though there were millions of Jedi when he was a child?
 

Luke with wife & son

Canon works best when the movies can tell the story they need to tell and the books can fill in some interesting gaps. Authors of the books should try not to disagree with the films, but authors of the films shouldn’t have to cater to the books.

 I think that these sequel films could conceivably negate much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as we know it (Mara Jade, Chewbacca’s death, Ben Skywalker, Jaina & Jacen). Perhaps the new writers of the films will want to keep these aspects or perhaps they will throw them out entirely. But if Lucas were writing the stories he wouldn’t give a crap about agreeing with the Expanded Universe.

Next Time: We explore the writing of the Empire Strikes Back. 

We explore what could have been and why things turned out the way they did.

Star Wars Holiday Special

Chewie's Family - Malla, Lumpy, & Itchy

          Star Wars fans have seen both low and high points in the story of the Star Wars saga. There are mixed feelings on just about everything that has happened since the original movie released in 1977. You may be a fan of the prequels or a hater. You might love Lucas’ constant tinkering with the original trilogy or not. There are even fans divided over Ewoks. But there is one thing every single fan can agree on: The Star Wars Holiday Special was the worse thing to happen to television.

            Notice I didn’t say the worse thing to happen to Star Wars (even though its true). I said the worse thing to happen to television- and Christmas for that matter. Don’t believe me. In “What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History”, David Hofstede, ranked the Holiday Special at number one.

The special featured all the original actors from the movie but was mainly centered on Chewbacca’s family which includes his father “Itchy”, his wife “Mala”, and his morbidly obese Wookiee-son “Lumpy”.

Now you may have heard about this special and how bad it was, but as someone who actually had to sit down and watch it… putting an open exhaust port on the first death star was a mild mistake compared to this Christmas Special.

If you ever plan on watching this piece of rancor-vomit, let me save you the trouble. First you need to know that it clocks in at a full 2-hours in length. Second is that this Special only aired once in 1978 and it is only because someone recorded it that it still exists. Third is that Lucas has said that he would like to take a sledgehammer to every living copy. Fourth thing is that every single act stinks worse than a Tauntaun (on the inside).

Luke talks sexy to Chewie's wife

Let me summarize: The first five or ten minutes takes place on Planet Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. Chewbacca’s family is celebrating “Life Day” and Chewie is suppose to be home soon to join them. Chewie’s wife is cooking and donning a Wookiee-apron.  Lumpy, his son, keeps trying to steal cookies. This goes on for a while and the family is worried about Chewie who is late. They call up Luke Skywalker to ask for help. Mark Hamill tells them not to worry and delivers a bunch of cheesy lines like “Come on Mala, let’s see a little smile,”. I want to reach through the screen and take Hamill by the collar and tell him “Wookiees don’t fucking smile!”

Chewie's Dad, Itchy, watches porn

When the special is not focused on the Wookiee family, it is focused on what they are watching on their old 1950’s-style television sets. There’s an annoying cross-dressing chef who has four arms and teaches Mala how to make Bantha rump. Meanwhile Chewie’s father is plugged into a virtual reality system in the living room watching what can only be described as a "pornographic masturbation chamber". Yes, Chewie's dad is a horny old wookiee that watches porn. You cannot get through this part without being extremely uncomfortable and thinking about the little kids from 1978 have their eyes glued to the screen.

Ford's expression whenever this
special is mentioned

Meanwhile Chewbacca and Han are in the falcon having some trouble with the Imperials. First problem is that every shot of the falcon and the ships following them is stock footage from the movie “Star Wars”.  To his credit, Ford is the only convincing thing about this Christmas Special.

Back in the Wookiee household, the imperials have stormed the house. Now in “Star Wars” the imperials meant business. They had British accents and seemed like intelligent overlords. The Imperials in this film are simply assholes that storm around the house knocking things over for no reason. Eventually one turns on the television and watches “Jefferson Airplane” for a while- a band from the 70’s on Earth who sing Earth songs and have nothing to do with a Galaxy far, far, away.

First appearance of Boba Fett

Meanwhile Lumpy is watching a cartoon which stars his father, Luke, Han and the droids and their run-in with a bounty hunter named Boba Fett. This is, of course, Boba Fett’s first appearance in the Star Wars universe. The first times fans will ever glimpse him and the short cartoon might be the strongest bit of this Christmas special, though that isn’t saying much. The biggest problem I had was the animation of C-3PO, which featured the droid moving his eyebrows, blinking, and extending his neck like a snake.

Back in the Wookiee household storm troopers are still idly throwing stuff around. It is never mentioned why they came to this house to search for hours, while seemingly ignoring the other houses on planet Kshhhyk- or why the wookiees don’t just rip their fucking arms off, like wookiees are suppose to do.

Bea Arthur in the Cantina

Next comes the lowest point in the show. It takes place in the Cantina on Mos Eisley and features all the aliens from the bar scene. There is a human bartender and she is ripped right out of a British sitcom. The empire has enforced a curfew and it is her job to get everyone to go home. So, naturally, she sings “Goodnight but not Goodbye” (which is intercut with the Modal Nodes playing the Cantina song) and then she proceeds to dance Ponda Bubu until Greedo cuts in. Also she insists on calling all the bar aliens weird names like “Bobo” and “Frank” even though the fans know these are not the names of the bar aliens. By the end of the song Star Wars has been defiled- defiled in a way that even the prequels can not contend with.

Leia sings about "Life Day"

The special ends with Han and Chewie showing up and saving the day. Then Chewiee makes out with his wife in an uncomfortably long session of Wookiee PDA, then the wookiees put on robes and walk through the stars together and if that’s not bad enough, Princess Leia sings a song about “Life Day”. It ends with a montage of the original film.

Star-Wars-ruined-forever-Merry-Christmas-Please-don’t-watch-this-film.

On a lighter note Carrie Fisher claims she plays this show at parties when she wants her guests to go home for the night.

Wookiee's wear clothes and carry orbs

Next Time we Explore “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”, the first entry into the Star Wars Expanded Universe to talk about a scary subject…. Canon

May 25th 1977

The Release of "Star Wars"

Notice the lack of "A New Hope".
Star Wars was just "Star Wars"

Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood - May 1977

On May 25th, 1977 Star Wars released in 32 theaters- only Thirty-Two. Yet by the end of the summer the film would rake in $100 million dollars. (Remember this was a decade where you could buy a box of cornflakes for a quarter.) In contrast "The Avengers" opened in 4,349 cinemas.

One reason the film released on so few screens is that cinemas did not think the film would be successful. Star Wars was fortunate enough to book the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, but only because a film called "Sorcerer" was not ready yet and therefore the venue was available.

Me in front of Grauman's (1997)

What happened next was unprecedented but Carrie Fisher probably sums it up best: "It was like an earthquake….a new order of geeks, enthusiastic young people with sleeping bags". For the first time in history young people were lining up in the streets to buy tickets and wearing costumes to a movie.

Star Wars wasn't heavily advertised and most people found-out about the film "word-of-mouth", but when people saw the film it changed their lives. These new "Fanboys" would go back to the film over and over again. By August the Chinese Theater would hold a ceremony in which R2, 3-PO, & Vader all cast their footprints into cement

Just imagine being in 1977 watching the films opening credits. Did I say opening credits? I meant opening CRAWL. Star Wars is actually one of the few films without credits in the opening of the film- a controversial decision. The Directors Guild of America fined Lucas $250,000 for not crediting the film's director in the beginning of the film. Yes, Lucas was fined a quarter-million dollars for not putting his own name at the beginning of his own film.

Kids get a "Voucher" for Christmas 1977

By December every child needed to have Star Wars action figures. But Kenner wasn't able to make enough to keep up with the demand. Instead the children of 1977 unwrapped their Christmas presents to find vouchers- boxed vouchers which promised them Star Wars toys.

The film would stay open in some venues until the next summer. Can you imagine a movie staying open for over a year in today's world? (Granted this was an age without home video).

STAR WARS was every child's dream-film but in December of 1978 Lucas would bring a nightmare in the form of a Christmas Special...

NEXT TIME: Lucas releases his first big flop. The 1978 STAR WARS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

The Hidden History of Star Wars Part II

The Hidden History of Star Wars Part II
"George’s Disaster"

Last time we discussed how George Lucas was able to convince a studio to give him eight-million dollars to let him film his “Science Fiction Movie”. Lucas had struggled in writing the film and he was about to hit some more roadblocks.

It was March 1976 when Lucas started filming “Star Wars” and only nine months before the film was suppose to release. Lucas had just casted a bunch of unknown actors to play his characters (which went against the studio’s wishes). He even gave the part of Han Solo to Harrison Ford instead of some high profile actors who auditioned for the role including Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte, and one Billy Dee Williams.

Ford and the other actors found the scripts confusing at first. Ford once said , "George, you can type this shit, but you can't say it!" The cast and crew had a hard time seeing Lucas’ vision for the film and many did not believe the project would be successful. 

The Original Jabba

When giving direction to actors George would constantly use the phrases “Faster” and “More intense” over and over again but elsewise would rarely talk to the actors. Lucas also clashed with the cinematographer and the studio. He constantly seemed depressed on set and was even diagnosed with hypertension. 

The movie was plagued with delays and the release date was pushed back to the summer of 

Han & Jenny

1977. Lucas had to create his own visual effects company (ILM) after finding out that FOX’s had been shut down. Lucas brought together a small team of college students who basically worked out of a basement and who were constantly high and unfocussed. They spent half of their budget on four shots that Lucas found unacceptable.  It was up to Lucas to inspire them by showing them cuts of old war movies with dogfights.

Luke's Friends

When the first cut of the film came out, Lucas saw that it was a disaster. 40% of the film would need to be redone so he went to FOX for more money. He fired his editor and tasked his wife to recut the film. Scenes were thrown out, plotlines were revamped and reshoots were scheduled (though this would prove difficult as Mark Hamill had been in a car accident, which scarred his face.)

Luke's Poncho

A few things found in the first cut of the film included:

-Luke going to the Tosche Station to pick up some power converters and “waste time with his friends”
-Luke’s friends Deak, Windy, Camie, Fisher and Biggs
-Luke saying goodbye to Biggs
-Han talks to Jabba (a fat human)
-Han Solo has a girlfriend named Jenny
-Luke's Poncho was featured in much of the original cut of the film

Luke & Biggs on Tatooine

When Lucas finally finished the film he screened it for FOX, bringing one man to tears. “This is the greatest film I’ve ever seen,” said Gareth Wigan. Lucas was dumbfounded; he had never gained approval from any of his bosses before. A few months later the world would see his “Science Fiction Movie."


NEXT TIME: BLOCKBUSTER
Star Wars opens for the world and the world changes forever.

The History of Star Wars

The History of Star Wars

Lucas is a great politician. He likes people to think he has a plan and he's always stuck to it. That is why some people claim he originally had plans for 12 films, or 9, or 6. It depends on which interview you read at what point in his life. But let's examine how Star Wars really came to be.

In the early 70's Lucas wanted to make Flash Gordon the movie, but the rights were too expensive for him. Since he didn't get to do "Flash Gordon" he wrote his own script. Because of his success with "American Graffiti" he convinced a studio to let him film it. The film was originally called "The Star Wars". Though it had some familiar characters the original script bares little resemblance to any of the Star Wars films we know. It was confusing and the studios told him so, he was forced to rewrite...

So a couple drafts later he ended up with this:

"Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars"

The REPUBLIC GALACTICA is dead. 

Ruthless trader barons, 

driven by greed and the 

lust for power, have replaced 

enlightenment with oppression, 

and "rule by the people" 

with the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE.

Until the tragic Holy Rebellion of "06", 

the respected JEDI BENDU OF ASHLA 

were the most powerful warriors 

in the Universe. 

For a hundred thousand years, 

generations of Jedi Bendu knights 

learned the ways of the mysterious 

FORCE OF OTHERS, and acted as the 

guardians of peace and justice 

in the REPUBLIC. Now these legendary 

warriors are all but extinct. 

One by one they have been hunted down 

and destroyed by a ferocious 

rival sect of mercenary warriors: 

THE BLACK KNIGHTS OF THE SITH.

(Note the episode I. When Star Wars did release it did not say "Episode IV: A New Hope", contrary to popular belief. It just said STAR WARS but this script proves that there never was meant to be a prequel trilogy. In fact Lucas never thought to make Vader Luke's Father until much later.)

So now it's 1975 and we have a film-able script. But it does not resemble much the final film. Here are some big differences.

-A guy named Deak Starkiller (Luke's older brother) gives the message to "Artwo"

Droids on planet Utapau

-Luke's Aunt & Uncle are training him to be a Jedi
-Leia is Luke's cousin who lives with him

-Han Solo was originally a green-monster-thing

-Luke's father is called "The Starkiller"
(and is a separate character from Darth Vader)

-Vader Dies during the Death Star Attack

-Threepio fires the missile that blows up the death star

-There is no Obi-Wan Kenobi anywhere in sight

Deak battles Vader in the opening scene

Alright so obviously some major things are going to change in the few months before filming begins on  this movie. In fact (as you will see in my future posts) major things change throughout the filming and editing process until we get the film we know & love. But all this is to say that Lucas never had a grand plan. In fact, it was the opposite. After finishing the original trilogy he sat on his hands for 16 years and focussed on how to alter the movies he had already released instead of moving into the future.

Next Time... We examine the production stage of "STAR WARS" and find out how a bunch of hippies in a basement were able to pull it off.

Closing Crawl of "The Star Wars"

...And a thousand new systems
joined the rebellion,
causing a significant crack
in the great wall of the
powerful Galactic Empire.
The Starkiller would once
again spark fear in the
hearts of the Sith knights,
but not before his sons
were put to many tests...
the most daring of which was
the kidnapping of the Lars
family, and the perilous
search for:
"THE PRINCESS OF ONDOS."