Influences on Star Wars

Most of the influences on Star Wars are well documented, I've compiled a list of all the ones I can think of:

Kurosawa (The Hidden Fortress/Yojimbo)
Joseph Campbell
Westerns
Dogfights (The Dam Busters)
Fencing
Republic Serials (Flash Gordon)
The Fantastic Four (Doctor Doom)
Fritz Lang's Metropolis
The Lord Of The Rings
2001: A Space Odyssey/Forbidden Planet?
Foundation
Space Battleship Yamoto
Dune
Lensmen

Are there many others? What do you think is the biggest influence?

 

Besides the Flash Gordon serials, there was also an even more famous Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper comic strip (on which the serials were based), drawn by Alex Raymond. Among other things, the Sunday comics were the source for Princess Leia's hairstyle in ANH.

Also, as zombie has pointed out, another particularly noteworthy Republic serial is 1938's The Fighting Devil Dogs. Its primary villain, The Lightning, is entirely dressed in black, complete with a cape and a face-concealing black helmet.

EDIT: As for the most important predecessors: off the top of my head, I'd name the four biggest influences on Lucas as probably The Hidden Fortress, Flash Gordon, Dune, and Lensman.

Flash Gordon introduced the idea of a noble and heroic Rebellion, led by a blonde-haired warrior, fighting against an evil, tyrannical, illegitimate Emperor, and ultimately causing his downfall. As well, there are numerous ruling noble/royal families present in the strip, including several quite attractive queens and princesses. (The notion of galactic nobility was much more prevalent in SW's early drafts, and still remains in Princess Leia's royal title.) Plus, the series suggested the idea of various different extreme climates for the action to take place in: Flash's adventures occur in deserts, tropical jungles, wooded forests, icy snowbanks, floating cloud cities, underwater cities, you name the locale and Lucas borrowed it (although they're all on one planet, while in SW the heroes go planet-hopping, and each planet has one "set" climate).

Dune presented the desert planet, Arrakis, an obvious predecessor to Tatooine. Like Flash Gordon, it has space-age nobility; sexy Princesses as love interests; and a justified, ultimately triumphant rebellion against a corrupt Emperor. Also, it has a psychically gifted Chosen One as the protagonist. The later Dune books present the idea of twin children, one boy and one girl, born to a revered galactic hero, who grow up to become important figures in their own right. Plus, some of Lucas's attempts to write Imperial political intrigue were surely inspired by Dune's memorably Byzantine depiction of galactic power struggles. Lucas even cribbed some dialogue in the first ANH script draft directly from Dune!

Lensman has a psychically endowed pan-galactic benevolent police force, the members of which control their psychic powers via a crystalline Lens (think of the Kiber Crystal from early ANH drafts, which amplifies one's Force power). As well, it has two opposing sets of intelligent guiding forces (really aliens, but so advanced they're nearly omniscient deities) that are shaping the destiny of the universe; one dedicated to good (the Arisians), one devoted to evil (the Boskonians or Eddorians). This definitely influenced the light side/dark side split in SW. (In early drafts, it went even farther: the light side was called the Ashla, and the dark side the Bogan.) Also, the books place a notable emphasis on space battles, which may have inspired some of the SW dogfights. And the hero is another Chosen One, the end result of a billion-year program of selective breeding by the Arisians to produce heroes capable of defeating the Eddorians once and for all.

The Hidden Fortress obviously provided the inspiration for the basic story of SW: a beautiful Princess, fleeing for her life from evil pursuers, must be kept out of enemy hands and brought to safety by her allies. The Jedi mentor character in SW (who, after several permutations, eventually evolved into Obi-Wan) was inspired by Toshiro Mifune's samurai hero. The swordfights between Jedi and Sith were based on samurai duels. Plus, there's an evil warrior who becomes redeemed: a formidable general, once loyal to the enemy, defects when he learns how cruel his master really is. He enters the Princess' service and aids in her escape from captivity, eventually becoming a friend and trusted companion of Mifune's character. (This is paralleled in the c

 

I'd leave 2001: A Space Odyssey off the list, the only real influence it had on SW was at a technical level, i.e. a space movie doesn't have to look ridiculous.

In terms of the content, they're at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Nothing against either - both 2001 & SW are in my subjective Top 5 of all time, as well as my objective one (my 5 favourites & the ones I regard as actually being the best 5 films ever made).

I don't think Forbidden Planet can be counted as an influence either, the only connection is it having been one of the few really successful sci-fi films up to that point. The Planet Of The Apes series has just as much claim on that level, & again, the cynicism of those films seems more in opposition to what GL was trying to do.

 

Cool, I had no idea about the origin of Leia's hair. The minor influences are just as fascinating as the major ones. Like the whole Yoda/Einstein thing. Looking up on Leia's hair I came across another possible influence:

Edwars Rinzler writes that "Leia buns came from photographs by a well-known photographer, Edward S. Curtis. Anyway, he took photos of Native Americans and the hairdo meant they were married (or not--I can't remember). The other influence for the buns was Mexican rebel women fighting with Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution. They, even Villa's wife, often had their hair done up like that.

[image=http://thewhimsiad.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/445px-Edward_S._Curtis_Collection_People_021.jpg]

I'd never heard of The Fighting Devil Dogs at all! The Lightning is allegedly a progenitor for all costumed supervillains, the Vader type especially. What you said about the other influences was insightful too, thanks.

I'm just as interested in influences on the visual and technical aspects of the film as I am the narrative ones.

 

Along with Dam Busters add 633 Squadron and The Battle of Britain.

Scaramouche (1952) HEAVILY influenced ESB.

Luke's "decision" in RoTJ with half his face in shadow is lifted from his buddy's Apocolypse Now.

And there was something I just saw recently that for the life of me I can't remember what it was that had a Star Wars connection.

 

Really? How so?

 

I belive I read that the relationship between Han and Leia (especially in TESB) was influenced by the relationship between Rhett and Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

 

That's true to some extent; Lucas describes it as such in a quote from around 1976-77 that's included in The Making of Star Wars. I believe it comes from a meeting he had with Alan Dean Foster about two sequel novels to follow ANH (a plan which birthed Splinter of the Mind's Eye). However, the same quote concludes with Lucas saying that Han would eventually "go away" to strike out for himself near the end of the series, and Luke would ultimately get the girl.

Also, apropos to absolutely nothing, I've found myself noticing recently that Ralph McQuarrie's drawings of Leia from ANH (he depicts her with blonde hair cut boyishly short) remind me strongly of Dick Calkins' similar renditions of the main heroine, Wilma Deering, in the original Buck Rogers daily strip.

 

Sequences from the Luke/Vader duel are lifted directly from this movie. It also features a series of father/son and brother/sister revelations at the end.

I've been telling people for the past year. If you're a Star Wars fan you have to see this movie. Make sure it's the 1952 version.

 

Kingpin threw in there SpaceBattle ship yamato, aka starblazers, as an influence. This is one i've not heard of over the years. I'm curious as to what this may have added to Star Wars. Any know? I love Starblazer's as a kid.

 

Can't remember where I heard that I'm afraid, and I know virtually nothing about the series.

Interesting article here: http://io9.com/5645427/did-george-rr-martin-create-wookiees

 

For those interested, I'll go into a bit more detail about the four major influences on SW that I listed above.

Flash Gordon comic strip:

-Flash Gordon (the hero) is blond and blue-eyed, which inspired Luke's physical appearance (Luke is always depicted as a blond, as far back as the Ralph McQuarrie paintings).

-The planet Mongo, on which Flash has his adventures, is ruled by an evil, despotic Emperor, Ming the Merciless. Flash and his sweetheart, the beautiful Dale Arden, organize a rebellion against Ming. Ultimately they topple the illegitimate Emperor Ming and establish a Republic in his place.

-Flash has adventures in various different climates of Mongo:
--The sky city of the Hawkmen, an Art Deco metropolis which floats high in the clouds, kept aloft by radium rays. This "sky city" inspired Cloud City in ESB (which began life as Alderaan, an Imperial city and prison complex, in early drafts of ANH.)
--The "cave world" kingdom of Kira, a rocky labyrinth with primitive hominid inhabitants. As Annotated Screenplays reveals, Lucas discussed the idea with Leigh Brackett of having a "cave planet" at some point in ESB. This impulse gave rise years later to Geonosis in AOTC.
--The forest kingdom of Arboria. The inhabitants of the realm live in treehouses that are connected by aerial bridges; the forest floor, full of wild beasts, is considered too dangerous to traverse. This setting inspired the Wookiee treehouses of Kashyyyk, and later the look of Endor as well.
--The undersea kingdom of Coralia, including a city whose ocean-dwelling inhabitants breathe water (although they're otherwise human). Annotated Screenplays reveals that Lucas wanted to get an underwater city into ESB as well, a thought which later led to Kamino in AOTC.
--The ice kingdom of Frigia, a cold, barren land of snowy plains. The ruler of Frigia, Queen Fria, lives in an ice castle. This obviously inspired Hoth, and Leigh Brackett's ice-castle Rebel base (although Lucas had thought about including "Norton II," an ice planet, when first brainstorming for ANH.)
--The jungle kingdom of Tropica, ruled by the beautiful Queen Desira. Naturally, this helped inspire Yavin IV.

-Each of these different climatic regions of Flash Gordon's planet Mongo inspired an entire planet in Star Wars. Lucas probably did this under the influence of Arrakis, the single-biome planet featured in Dune (about which more below). He also surely wanted to have some capacity for interstellar dogfights, and thus needed multiple planets.

-All the kingdoms of Mongo are ruled by nobility. Arboria is ruled by King Barin and his wife, Queen Aura; the Hawkmen's city has Prince Vultan as its leader; Coralia is the kingdom of Queen Undina; Queen Fria reigns in Frigia; and Flash himself becomes the King of Kira. Flash becomes the object of desire for (then-Princess) Aura, Queen Undina, and Queen Fria (although he never wavers in his love for Earthling Dale Arden). This notion of an interstellar nobility, into which a hero of humbler origins rises, and which always includes beautiful queens or princesses as potential love interests, would be transplanted into early drafts of SW.

In the first draft of ANH, Leia's planet is not destroyed, and she becomes Queen at the end, while Annikin (this draft's name for the Luke character) is her love interest, and he becomes a mature Jedi Knight when she becomes Queen. Later, in the third draft, in which Leia's father is the King of Organa Major, Luke says of Leia's detention on Alderaan that "she's a member of the Twelve Families. How can they hold her?" That is, she's part of an order of nobility that is ordinarily exempt from Imperial justice.

-Queen Fria's hairstyle from the Sunday comics is very much the inspiration for Leia's "cinnamon bun" hairdo in ANH. Although Fria actually had three hair buns, with an extra one at the nape of her neck.

Flash Gordon (film serial):

-The Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials all featured shiny silver rocket ships. This is a design motif that wa

 

ATMachine, you're awesome.

 

Sorry to keep harping on... but I find this thread really interesting.

I was watching Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe again today, and noticed something I'd totally forgotten: The wipes! These old serials all have numerous, sometimes very oddly-shaped wipes (e.g., as lightning bolts, or as liquid oozing down from the top of the screen) that indicate the transition between scenes. No doubt that's where the famous SW wipes come from.

Speaking of The Dam Busters, note that in addition to it being the source of the Death Star trench run, Lucas even pilfered a dialogue line: "I'd say about 20 guns. Some on the surface, some on the tower." Not surprising, really, considering that in earlier ANH drafts he appropriated dialogue word-for-word from Dune and The Hobbit.

Besides its debt to The Hidden Fortress, the medal scene at the end of ANH is visually modeled on the triumphal rallies seen in the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will, directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Lucas is a great admirer of Riefenstahl's cinematic technique (though not her politics).

Also, I think it'd be interesting to discuss the origins of the Ewoks in ROTJ. Many people have accused Lucas of making "cuddly teddy bears" to sell toys, but I don't think that's really a valid charge. Instead, I'd say that the Ewoks are the result of Lucas combining two of his personal interests: a love of the idea of furry aliens, and a desire to tell a story where little people are the heroes.

In the 1973 story synopsis for the film that became ANH, the climax of the movie begins when the Princess and her Jedi protector (characters taken from The Hidden Fortress) crash-land on a hostile jungle planet, populated by primitive furry aliens whom the general induces to rebel against the Empire. These furry aliens became the Wookiees in the first draft, and had much the same role. When Lucas drastically reduced the length of the action on the jungle planet in later drafts, he compensated by adding Chewbacca to the cast. Of course, he held onto the idea of a tribe of furry, treehouse-dwelling, "savage" aliens who wage a successful uprising against Imperial rule.

So where did the idea to shrink the Wookiees into Ewoks come from? Lucas has always had a fascination with little people. As he himself once admitted, it likely comes from Tolkien's hobbits, which intrigued him when he read Lord of the Rings. While casting ANH, he even considered having the whole cast be dwarfs (or at the least, casting little actors as Luke, Leia and Obi-Wan). As The Making of Star Wars mentions, he even sent out casting calls. The idea didn't go very far, but on ROTJ, Lucas's interest in the idea of diminutive heroes returned; the Ewoks are basically the "little people" versions of Wookiees. Of course, he later revisited the idea of little people as the heroes of a movie (though humans, this time) when he made Willow.

 

Anytime I see a wipe in ANYTHING now I instantly think of Star Wars. Doesn't matter is it's a classic movie or a wedding video.

This famous scene from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is very similar to the Han/Greedo Mos Eisley scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUslGSoEH8I

 

What a frakking terrific thread! ATMachine, you proverbially rule. Your insight and wealth of knowledge in this area are impressive.

Stylistically speaking, in terms of pure cinema -- that is in the handling of the camera, the selection of shot compositions and the sequencing of shots to form a cohesive narrative -- I would mention both David Lean and Terence Young.

Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) I would include in Lucas' influences for his epic, sweeping desert photography, which 'ANH' in part mimics or pays homage to. There is a grandeur in Lean's filmmaking of which I see echoes in Lucas' work, especially in the first (1977) Star Wars: those long, wide shots of the desert, with the tiny figures of the robots almost swallowed up by the heat and sand, directly reference Lawrence of A.

Young (Dr. No, Thunderball) I mention for the crispness of the action and a kind of crystal-clear establishing of sides -- QV the underwater battle in Thunderball, in which the "good guys" and "bad guys" are color coded for the audience's convenience, and in which the combatants face off in a way that the opening shoot-out on the Tantive IV readily evokes. I'm not saying this was the first time this kind of thing had been done, but Lucas' staging of the action is very similar to the way Young handled it, and lest we forget almost 50 years on, the early Bond films were extremely successful and influential movies.

So, in short, the original Star Wars = Flash Gordon + Dune as directed by David Lean in the style of a 007 movie.

 

Lawrence of Arabia


[image=http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/7452/comparearabia.jpg]

 

Not an influence exactly, but recycling in action nonetheless:

[image=http://worldfamousdesignjunkies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/peapod1.jpg]

 

To me, the main difference is that ANH follow the peasants side of the story (the droids), while TPM focuses on the refugee Queen and her Knight in hiding (Amidala, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan). Strangely enough, Jar-Jar (and arguably Anakin) takes over the dopey peasant role.

 

I've always wondered if D. Carradine's outfit as Frankenstein in Death Race 2000 (1975, 2 years before ANH) had an influence on Vader's costume & helmet design.

[image=http://famousmonstersoffilmland.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/carradine-as-nfrankenstein.jpg]

 

I don't know if this counts, as a lot of the things listed are as well, but a lot in Star Wars (from little details in the EU to the main points) relate to Greek and Norse mythology. I mean obviously a ton of stuff now does, but it only seems fair to include these.

 

there are WAY too many. It's everything.

It has futuristic elements, knights of hte round table, shaolin monks, samurai, martial arts, sword fighting, war, politics, etc etc

 

I'd say ANH did take some cues from 2001's ships which were essentially white with lots of panelling .

should we add Leni Reifenstahl's Triumph of the Will ? it's been noted before .

 

You're exactly right: 2001 very much influenced the "kitbashed" look of the OT ships. Lucas's original ANH scripts suggest that he saw the starships as all being silver, like the rocket ships in the Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers 1930's serials. But it was because of 2001's highly detailed spaceship models, thrown together using plundered model kit parts, that Lucas decided to go in a different direction. The OT ship models ultimately shifted to a "used universe" of starships that looked extremely utilitarian in design, with lots of tiny, highly detailed parts visible.

And yes, Triumph of the Will is very definitely the major cinematic inspiration for the format of the ANH final medal ceremony scene. (However, it definitely bears some similarities to the end of The Hidden Fortress, too.)

 

Just rented The Hidden Fortress, can't wait to compare and contrast