Pittsburgh, PA From the Jedi Library

*claps hands in applause*
To quote 3PO, "Wonderful!"

 

This is awesome stuff, brenden!

Tina

 

In 1980, a book came out called ?Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back?, by Alan Arnold. Here is another part of one of the George Lucas interviews in the book (p. 224-225)

AA: What was the derivation of the nonhuman characters in the saga?

GL: Chewbacca was inspired by Indiana, my Alaskan husky. My wife drives a little station wagon, and the dog sits on the front seat next to her and is bigger than she is. Indiana is a huge black bear of a dog, and as Marcia drives along, she has this big fuzzy dog looking like he?s copilot. It was that image that fashioned the Wookiee, as well as the fact that Indiana was with me when I was writing the whole thing. There was a dog in American Graffiti, but I didn?t use Indiana for the part because it was a night scene and I wanted a white dog. My wife was very upset that I didn?t put my own dog in the movie; so I said I?d put Indiana?s spirit in the next one. And that?s how the Wookiee came into being.

AA: Now let?s take C-3PO and R2-D2.

GL: It began with R2-D2. Walter Murch and I were mixing American Graffiti, and Walter wanted to make some changes in one of the sound tracks. He needed the dialogue tracks for reel two, and so he said, ?George, get me R2-D2,? meaning reel two, dialogue two, the second of several dialogue tracks. And I said, ?That?s a great name, Walter,? and wrote it down in my notebook. When we finished work on Graffiti, I began writing Star Wars, but R2-D2 was still only a name. I wanted two robots in the film, and wanted one to be sort of a human type, the other to be more of a computer type. I also wanted there to be humor in the fact that they were very different in temperament, a sort of Abbott and Costello comedy team ? one short and fat, the other tall and skinny. I don?t know why, but from the start I thought of R2-D2 as being the smaller one, and then I had to think up a name compatible with R2-D2. After playing around with a lot of letter and number combinations, I came up with C-3PO.

(Next time from the library, part of the Starlog magazine cover story featuring the Star Wars Holiday Special.)

 

I didn't know any of this stuff. This is too cool. I really like reading your posts here, Brendan .

 

Holiday Special Info!!! Can't wait for that. Love the Holiday Special!

 

ooh i saw about 3 minutes of that and it is riot
i cant wait

 

I've never seen it.. *looks around*
^_~ Keep it coming, Brendon!

 

I think I can speak for those of us who have seen it and will say this...

Don't, GO, RUNNNNN, HIIIIIIIDDDEEE!

It stinks to high heaven.

Bea Arthur (The lady from Maude/Golden Girls is in it and not only acts but sings and DANCES in it.) Brr, just got a cold shiver running down my back. Also Harvey Korman is in it as well. (Check him out as the four armed chef.....Hmm where have we heard of that before....OH yeah DEX! (Sarcasm alert) I can't believe GL would stoop so low in continuity as to have another four armed alien chef)

They music vdeo stinks and what's with Itchy's bottom lip. While Lumpy is cute, he just doesn't seem like a Wookie to me.

Okay, sorry if I spoiled this for anyone, but trust me that you gain (unfortunately) a different perspective of SW after veiwing this piece 'o crud.

 

Of course Sal is correct - it is crap. But I will still post some "educational" info on it, from the sources I have, including that old Starlog. I bet they regretted giving it the cover, with a huge photo entitled Cantina Reunion, Bea Arthur right in the middle of all the aliens.

Everyone should see the special itself, shouldn't they? C'mon, just once, just to say you lived through it. Saberpilot may have noticed the VHS copy that shows up at some meetings. What are you waiting for?

 

Eewww, cringes at the thought of having to sit through it in a meeting.

Brendon, I guess you know torture better than the best Imperials if you want other members to have to "live" through it.

Well, if anyones game let him know.

I think I'll cover my eyes through this one.


Brendon, what can you tell us of the old rendering of Stormtroopers with lightsabers and why did Lucas not use them with sabers? (This has recently been voted as the next fan choice figure, now called the sketchtrooper, so I thought some background info would be god for everyone.)

 

Brendan, you can correct me, but I always thought at that stage in production art the lightsaber was more common, like a typical sword in the middle ages.

 

This has some truth as well as the shields that the early stormies carried.

 

The new toy of the Stormtrooper with lightsaber comes from a painting done for the second draft script, Adventures of the Starkiller Episode I: The Star Wars. Ralph McQuarrie did a lot of artwork for that draft, and the art helped sell the idea to studios. It's cool that you guys ask, because I have already put a complete illustrated version of this draft (which I made) online. Follow this link and read the script while viewing the artwork where it belongs in the correct story order!

http://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/illustrated/thestarwars_second_draft.htm

I assembled all the artwork from my library, and T'Bone Fender (L. Tambone) did the HTMl coding for me. I'm pretty proud of the result.

Now, if you scroll down to scene 85, the rescue of Deak Starkiller from the Imperial Cloud City of Alderaan (which later became the rescue of Leia from the Death Star), you'll see the painting that the toy comes from. It's showing both Han Solo and the trooper with sabers (and two other troopers also have a shield). They were much more common weapons at that point in the story development, and it was not until later drafts that they became the exclusive weapon of a Jedi Knight. However, a Jedi Knight with a saber was more deadly than anyone else with one.

 

From the Jedi Library: The Holiday Special. Time for a special entry, as in special olympics kind of special. Yes, it is time to offer up some information of dubious value concerning that event that aired Nov. 17, Friday, 1978, on CBS from 8-10pm EST. I missed the original airing to go to a junior high school dance. That caused me a lot of anguish, at least until I later saw the thing. Now it is anguish to watch it.

Starlog Magazine gave their #19 cover to the special, calling it "Cantina Reunion: Star Wars TV special." And hey, it did sound enticing - based on how popular the film was then. But wait, isn?t that Beatrice (Maude) Arthur among the aliens in the picture? What's SHE doing there? We better see what it says on 50. Here's most of the 1-page article by Natalie Millar, with my comments in brackets:

"Star Wars invadesTV. A behind the scenes look at the CBS Star Wars TV special, a star-studded affair that broke all the rules regarding the do's and don'ts of television [mostly the don'ts].

Last month CBS aired one of the most ambitious television spectaculars ever attempted by an American network, the Star Wars Holiday Special. The original Star Wars scenario, penned by Rod Warren, Bruce Vilanch, Leonard Ripps, and Pat Proft, ran for two hours, cost over a million dollars to produce, and had a taping schedule of an entire month?rather unheard of in the TV business. Because of its totally unique approach to television, the Star Wars special presented its makers with some equally unique problems as well.

The plot, for instance, was long in coming. Some sort of format had to be constructed that would allow the re-uniting of Star Wars' stars Peter Mayhew, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Tony Daniels. Finally, a storyline was conceived in which Chewbacca would attempt to visit his home planet and his family (wife Malla, Grandpa Itchy and son Lumpy) in time for the celebration of Life Day. The plot paired the Star Wars cast with guest stars Beatrice Arthur, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, Art Carney, The Jefferson Starship, and a horde of new alien characters.

The elements called for in the script presented the show's creative team with a sometimes sticky situation. The special, geared for a family audience, had to present its alien horde as realistically as possible, and dramatically as well. The show's first director, David Acomba, left in the middle of production because of "artistic differences". He was replaced by veteran TV director Steve Binder. Under Binder's guidance, the aliens paraded before the camera in an orderly fashion?with quite a few surprises. For instance, although Darth Vader didn't make the show (he appears in voice only), intergalactic bounty hunter, Boba Ftt [sic] a villain form the upcoming Star Wars sequel film, did.

Binder's creature complications were manifold. For Bea Arthur's Cantina sequence, all of the original film's alien barflies were resurrected under the supervision of makeup whiz Rick baker, who added two new faces to the crowd: The Lion Man and the Baboon Man. These makeups were fairly complicated, taking two and one half hours to apply (as opposed to the rest of the cantina cutups who sported slip-on masks).

The taping of the scene took from six one morning until six the next, with the creature actors suffering from heat and claustrophobia through take after seemingly endless take. Makeup man Baker was astonished to see Cantina band members squeezing their masks in order to increase their oxygen flow. As a result of their prodding, at least one band member has a dent in his head throughout the finished sequence.

Even stalwart R2-D2 presented problems during the show. Artoo (not portrayed by Kenny Baker, but rather by a remote-controlled model, a hollow shell and an unnamed actor) was scheduled to sign autographs at a special photo session following the completion of the cantina sequence. Unfortunately, his robotics were a bit off that day and the remote controlled model failed to respond to controller M

 

Uh, oh, ouch, no please no more......Holiday Special....ouch, BLEAH!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- make it stop- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

Geez, you'd think I was reading Vogon poetry to them or something!

 

I STILL like it! Bring it on, Brendon!!!!!

 

oh i have no problem with the info i just hated the holiday special it was so horrible

 

I've never seen the special, but I guess it's one of those things that needs to be seen atleast once, right? Just to say you've seen it.

 

I decided to get this over with. Here's the second and final Holiday Special installment of From the Jedi Library.

I was wondering the other day, just WHY the special is so bad. Then I made a discovery that the Internet Movie database has an entry on the special, which allowed me to look up the writers and the director (the one who didn't walk off the set), and see what else they had done around the time of 1978. Let me tell you, it all makes perfect sense now. It all began with the choice of those writers. Here is a short list of their other projects:

The Brady Bunch Hour
Barry Manilow Special
Bosom Buddies
Full House
Love Boat: The Next Wave
Carpenters: a Christmas Portrait
Shields and Yarnell TV show
Police Academy
When Things Were Rotten

Well! It's all goofy comedy, dumb variety shows, and sappy music! That's the expertise of the writers and the director! Now the Holiday Special makes perfect, awful sense.

In that light, how can we read this excerpt from the press kit production notes?
"The two-hour visual and audio delight stars the cast from the hit motion picture "Star Wars" along with special guest stars in a live-animated-musical-pot-pourri of pure entertainment complete with astonishing special effects."

Now, you may know that the rock Group Jefferson Starship did a song for the special, called "Light the Sky on Fire". It was released as a vinyl 45rpm single.
Here is part of that song:

"Fly unidentified if you want to
But I would really like to know
Will you light the sky on fire
Will you light the night like you
Did the night before, baby

You take me higher
Than the diamonds in the sky
Take me, light in the sky
And we'll vanish without a trace

Temples and pyramids they sing
Know all there really is to know
Will you light the sky on fire
Will you light the sky on fire
Again tonight

Of the Gods
Who came from the stars
And the legend says they will come back
Again some day
Some night

Yes I would really like to know
What are they watching us for
Yes I would really like to go"

Now, not to be outdone, Carrie Fisher also sang a song, and here are the words to that, along with her intro:

LEIA (to assembly)
This holiday is yours but, we all share
with you the hope that this day brings us
closer to freedom, and to harmony, and to
peace. No matter how different we appear,
we're all the same in our struggle against
the powers of evil and darkness. I hope
that this day will always be a day of joy
in which we can reconfirm our dedication
and our courage. And more than anything
else, our love for one another. This is
the promise of the Tree of Life.

A slow version of the theme to "Star Wars" begins to play.

LEIA (singing)
We celebrate a day of peace. A day of
harmony. A day of joy we can all share
together joyously. A day that takes us
through the darkness. A day that leads us
into might. A day that makes us want to
celebrate the light. A day that brings the
promise that one day, we'll be free to
live, to laugh, to dream, to grow, to
trust, to love, to be.

Pretty Good, huh? Well, did you know that Kenner was considering making a set of Wookiee family figures? They went so far as to make a set of prototypes, all based on the basic Chewbacca figure. Malla is the Chewie figure with a larger bosom, for example. Photos of these are on the internet.

A fan I know shared the Jefferson Starship lyrics along with other info, with a mailing list fan group I also belonged to, after he saw the original script of the special. Here is some other info he gave:

In the script, the Wookiee homeworld is spelled "Kazzook."
The holographic fantasy's name is "Mermeia."
The cookies Malla makes are called "Wookiee ookies."
The Rebel Commander in the Cartoon is named "Gen. Ristt."
The Stormtrooper who falls to his death is "B4711."

Well that's all I have to torture you with. Interested fans can find a copy of a complete transcript of the Special on the net, made by John Haller. The actual script is n

 

I didn't exactly mean I liked the star wars holiday special. I meant I liked the info, even if it's about the holiday special lol

 

keep the info flowwing but just the tid bit i saw of the special makes me want to barf
but still this is cool stuff

 

OK, OK, no more SWHS. But seriously, check out that last post of mine and tell me if that list of other things the SWHS writers wrote, explains exactly why the SWHS is so bad! Now if I could only get my hands on the actual SWHS shooting script!

 

I would appreciate some data on lightsabers.