Wouldn't it make sense to start with Yoda as the focus of the prequels?

Maybe I'm thinking on a broader scope here, but wouldn't it have made sense for Lucas to label A NEW HOPE as episode 8? As it stands, there is just way too much information to this story than what it currently is. And it far exceeds the Skywalker aspect of the story. Sure there are mini-series books, animated shorts, a host of webdocs, and merchandise to push the story along, but as a whole, it probably would have been a wiser deciscion for Lucas to start this legacy (the films) at the very beginning, and give a broader view of this Star Wars universe, starting with the oldest character of them all, Yoda.

Yoda's been around for almost a millenium, and during that time, he's essentially created what is now the Jedi Order for the Republic. Hundreds of generations of Jedi have been trained and influenced by him in one way or another, some becoming great heros, while others seek refuge and turn to the dark side. And seeing the early years of their adventures, triumphs and challenges would be a great addition to the movie series. This probably would have been the greatest contribution to the establishment of who the Jedi are as a people. I mean who wouldn't want to see how a Jedi Master makes it into the Archives, or the process on how they sense and choose a Padawan. What goes on in a day in the life of an average Jedi, how they perfect their own unique fighting skills, how they overcome desires, and what happens to the disobedient ones.

Now, we have Palpatine/Sidious, this mysteriously powerful character that seemingly had enough strength to oust any Jedi alive. This guy has been around for decades, and in the shadows of secrecy, unknown to anyone but the Sith order, has perfected his lightsaber and force lightning abilities, and flawless manipulative skills to the fullest. This would have been the second most important person to focus on, seeing that Sidious has one of the most key roles in the entire series. And introducing him during the time as Darth Plaugis' apprentice, overthrowing him of power, then discovering and training Darth Maul as his new apprentice, and forging the conspiracy with Jedi Master Syfo Dias to create the clone army would have been a great story to include in the series. All the while including comperable scenes with the Jedi, and their key players in the Jedi Council/Order.

The possibilities are endless, and there's definitely a demand for the medium, but the point in all this is that tons of questions would be answered. And it truely would go down as the greatest story ever told. Lucas has already made it public that he's in it to make as much money as possible, that much is clear, but why not go further and continue fulfill the imaginations of millions of kids that dared to dream of distant planets and strange worlds as he once did.
Unfortunately, it would be George's life's work, but then again, isn't it already?

*My appologies if this is a repost question, as I'm fairly new here.

 

I disagree completely. There is no reason to tell Yoda's story... it simply wouldn't be that interesting for anyone besides the obsessed fans that read all the EU stuff.

Frankly, I think they started too early as it is. Lucas has admitted that he didn't have enough storyline to make episode 1 and 2 into unique stories, and so he basically just added a bunch of filler. It would have been better to start with AOTC, maybe have had Anakin discovered at around Luke's age and been quickly trained at that point. Because TPM really didn't have anything that needed to be shown in terms of the overall story besides the discovery of Anakin; he could have met Padme when he was assigned to protect her, as their prior relationship wasn't even referenced as it is except for during their first reunion; he could have been a good person as a young adult, until he was slowly corrupted by the dark side; and we don't really need to know how Palpatine became chancellor; after all, we don't know how he became a senator either, but I don't hear anyone complaining about how that's not included in the movie...

Beyond that, TPM doesn't contribute anything to the broader story as a whole, except to serve as an introduction into the workings of the Old Republic, which just as easily could have been shown in AOTC. ROTS could have been rewritten into two movies, as it has the most going on by far.

 

The center of the story is Anakin; first how he falls and then later how he's redeemed. This is what Lucas says anyway.

I think we get a clear enough understanding of what Yoda and Sidious are about and where they come from, in terms of what is relevent to the story presented in the six films. With Sidious, or with the Sith, part of the appeal is the mystery of their origins. The Sith are like an exclusive fan club that few may join and even less learn the secret handshakes. This in my opineon is the best way to present them since they operate on a "rule of two" basis.

The Jedi, who are known and inhabited by many are a much more open page to the audience. Because of this relationship to the Republic and themselves, we can learn a lot about Yoda just in the way the order carries on. Since he is the oldest and seemingly most gifted overall in the force, it's a reasonable conclusion that most of what has been set in motion is a result of his wisdom, or lack therof.

But lets say the story was to begin long ago and centered around Yoda. This would no doubt be interesting, since he is a very cool character. Typically though, the main characters of a story are dynamic, wheras Yoda is mostly a static character, except in the way he changes between the two trilogies.

In terms of story structure, having the story begin or be centered on Yoda would similar to having the story be centered on someone new in a hypothetical Episode 7 or more specifically; post Anakin/Vader. Whethor this would be good or bad is ofcourse debatable, but I think would really be a NEW story. Based on what Lucas has established as the primary conflict througout the series, a story centered around anyone different than Anakin/Vader would be counter productive to what it's supposed to convey to the audience.

Now, that's not to say i wouldn't be ecstatic to see some kind of Star Wars story that takes place some 600 years or so before the time of the film series. Still though, Yoda is too composed and talented to really have any conflict that would challenge him or make the story interesting.

The beauty of the Anakin and Luke characters is that they are internally conflicted with their own emotional instability and externally conflicted because of those seeking their natural talents.

 

lord of the rings should have been 7 books/movies as to explore gandolf's first couple thousand years and whatnot.

 

The problem is that Yoda's 700 years haven't been spent fighting Sith, they've been spent teaching padawans and solving the Republic's internal struggles, fighting for justice. Would they be interesting? For the hardcore fans, yes. For the general public only mildly so... they go to star wars for excitement and entertainment, not to learn more about the star wars universe. Unless you can make up some exciting backstory contrary to what we know about the history of the Sith, then I really don't think that this would be interesting enough to sell to the public.
Furthermore, I don't really see how that would be relevant to the overriding theme of the star wars movies, which is about the fall and redemption of anakin. Yoda plays a part in this story, but not nearly enough of one to merit devoting several movies to him. That's why there isn't going to be a sequel trilogy; I'm sure that Lucas could come up with an interesting storyline, but Anakin's death ended the story.

 

Yoda is important, but he is a secondary character. The PT should focus on Anakin and Obi-wan.

 

Magnum-

Where did you get the information on Palpatine's master (Darth Plaugis)?

Sorry, I haven't paid much attention to the EU stuff for the past few years.