Did George Lucas invent the "prequel" concept?

It seems George Lucas was the first to start a series of movies in the middle, then go back and tell the first part of it later.

Now we have all sorts of prequels coming out, Red Dragon is probably the latest of these. There's talk of doing a movie adaptation of the Hobbit, which would be a prequel to Lord of the Rings. There are many, many more, but I can't really think of them now as I've just spent two and a half brain is fried!

Did this prequel concept come from George Lucas, or were there existing prequels before Star Wars?

 

wasn`t "Godfather II" a prequel - in parts anyway?

And if you`re going by dates, does "Temple Of Doom" count?

 

When did Godfather 2 come out? I don't know the exact date... if Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a prequel ( can't remember ), then it's still a Lucas concept ( possibly ) as he was \ is involved with the Indy Jones movies...

 

I don't know about films, but I'm pretty sure the prequel concept has been used in novels before SW.

 

GF II came out sometime in the 70s, I think.

 

Godfather II was released in 1974, 2 years after the original film. Parts of GF 2 are indeed a prequel to the first film.
Wasn't Psycho IV a prequel to the previous 3 Psycho films?
Indy 2 takes place in 1935 and therefore 1 year prior to Raiders.
The Hobbit isn't a prequel to LOTR, it's the other way around. LOTR is a sequel to The Hobbit. Red Dragon was also written prior to Silence and Hannibal so it's not a prequel either

 

'Butch And Sundance - The Early Days' from 1979 is the earliest full length prequel film I've heard of.

 

The Hobbit isn't a prequel to LOTR, it's the other way around. LOTR is a sequel to The Hobbit. Red Dragon was also written prior to Silence and Hannibal so it's not a prequel either

Yeah in terms of the books, they weren't written as prequels, but because the Hobbit ( the movie ) is going to be filmed after LOTR, if it's ever made, it will be considered a Prequel movie. Same thing for Red Dragon, it was filmed last, but it's the first chapter of the story, so it's a prequel movie.

When the books were written, they were written in the right order, but someone decided to start telling the story in the middle, then someone else decided to go back and do the first one.

With George Lucas, it's possible that he had the whole outline already written, but he decided to start in the middle, and go to the beginning, but they weren't as fleshed out as they would have been if he decided to start with Episode 1, instead of 4.

 

Now I can't be 100% certain here but I believe that the 'Dixon of Dock Green' TV series from the 1960's was a prequel to a film that was made initially.

The film was successful and they wanted a spin-off TV series, but the character of Dixon dies in the film, hence the prequel.
Only they didn't call it "prequel".

At least that's what I heard.

Does a TV series from 1960#s England count?

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He may have not invented it but he certainly popularized it.

 

He showed how not to go about making a prequel.





(Just Kidding, of course. I think Ep III is going to be kick-ass!)

 

In 1954 Walt Disney introduced the Davy Crockett series on the Disneyland tv show. In the third episode Davy is killed at the Alamo. But the show is such a big hit that they bring him back in Davy Crockett and The River Pirates a story that takes place before the other shows. But I don't think it was called a prequel.

 

No it wasn't George Lucas.....Jar Jar invented it

 

I believe he did. At least he showed how to make excellent prequels that even surpass the originals!

 

lol. PT-Enthusiast and OT-Enthusiast, eh?

 

We are in no way related.

 

"PT-Loyalist?" How is that even possible?

This is obviously a joke poster.

Mods please ban this "PT-Loyalist"

 

"PT-Loyalist?" How is that even possible?

First of all, the name is PT-Enthusiast. Secondly, I happen to enjoy the PT more than the OT.

This is obviously a joke poster.

No more of a joke than you yourself.

Mods please ban this "PT-Loyalist"

I object! This is outrageous! If the mods should feel it necessary to ban me, then OT-Loyalist should be banned as well.

 

PT-Enthusiast and OT-Loyalist...you`re the same person, right?

 

PT-Enthusiast and OT-Loyalist...you`re the same person, right?

You are mistaken.

 

The prequel concept was invented by author James Fennimoore Cooper over 200 years ago with his "Leatherstocking Tales."

His first book was of a guy at age seventy or eighty, and later on, he did a book of the same guy at age twenty. Don't remember the name of the character, though.