So what really revived Star Wars in the 1990s?

I think the Star Wars phenom was brought back to life by the novels starting in 1992 with Heir the Empire followed by a few toys like those rubber figures and then came Shadows of the Empire and the revival of Kenner's star wars figures and then back into full force with the prequels

 

The Special Edition(because of the theatrical re-release) was one of the most significant things.

 

The interest for the hardcore fanbase started with the revival of the expanded universe. Then the new action figures. Sales of the THX editions and the re-release of the OT in theaters, with the SE's, helped the casual fanbase.

 

Back in 1990, I went around saying "Psst, Star Wars is awesome, pass it on".

 

Don't forget the Dark Empire comics series.

 

The series, started in 1991, happened eight months after my first "Psst".

 

Interest in Star Wars beyond the most hardcore fans really only revolves around the films, so the theatrical release of the SEs started it, but it was really the buzz around the filming of TPM that got the general public fired up and made Star Wars return to pop-culture. Lets face it, EU novels and comics are even contraversial on these boards; the general public could not care less, but when Lucas is actually filming, everyone remembers 1977 and everyone considers themselves a Star Wars fan.

 

Darth Poppy, you are so wrong.

The books and comics were insanely popular, and Star Wars was slowly becoming a water-cooler topic again. Even for people who would never read the Yawn Triology, it's existance sparked two discussions; a) Ah-ha! So THESE BOOKS must be Episodes 7, 8 & 9 (I still attest to this being the reason of it's popularity) and b) So... when are they going to make 1, 2 & 3?

But there's something else everyone so far in this thread has overlooked about the 90's Star Wars renaissance - Lucasarts.

When Lucasarts fed it's best licence to Nintendo, it made a buzz. When three awesomely popular games were made for Super Nintendo, it made an even bigger buzz. As this was happening, computer nerds everywhere (see not everyone had a computer in the early 90's, and the internet was still useless wasteland) went totally apesh-- over Star Wars titles like X-Wing & Dark Forces.

Oh, another thing, Star Wars was still cool then as it had yet to gain the ubergeekness associated with Star Trek, etc. This was before comic shops were lined with role-playing games, before Star Wars sites sprung up around the net. Before (ugh) online strategy gaming.

By the time Lucas finally made his announcement in 1994 about the prequels, our appetites were already FULLY whetted for more. All this before a single POTF2 orange card hit the drugstores.

Guys in there late teens and early twenties who were there would all get a collective glaze over there eyes just thinking about new Star Wars movies. Whispers of old toys they still had in their parents attics and basements were topics of laughter. And these guys had girlfriends, buddies and younger brothers and sisters to let in on the buzz. The trilogy was already a part of the college stoner late-night VCR/pizz circuit.

Darthpoppy, by stating that the neo-SW buzz started as late as the SE releases makes me ask - where were you?

 

I'm with the snow covered wookie on this one. SW started its come back prior to 1997. The SEs were the pinnacle, but by 1995, SW was back with a vengeance. Do you not remember how popular the THX release was, how much people flipped out (in a good way) over the creation of the new action figure line?

 

Well when I first saw Heir to the Empire in paperback in the newsstands section at a store I thought to myself yes, Star Wars is coming back but slowly. Then a year later all kindds of merchandise came out of nowhere such as more books, rubber bendable figures, clothing and comics and then the announcement of the prequels

 

I agree with Poppy. You say by 1995 SW was back with a vengeance, which is true. In late 1994 however, we found out that GL had decided to go back and tell the story of the PT, which is what really got things going. I'm of that opinion because of my own experience when I was in 3rd grade and was a mild SW fan if that, but when I heard that there was going to be three more movies my interest was piqued. Of course, that's just me but no matter how popular the EU is it doesn't really influence the general populace. Look at KOTOR, arguably the best EU ever and it wasn't the focal point of the SW universe even when it was released and at it's peak of popularity because everyone knew Episode III was around the corner.

 

Are they still planning to re-re-release the trilogy in the near future? I know that last year that was the word in the industry, but I have yet to hear anything further on that.

 

The new use of digital technology is what I think revived Star Wars in the 1990s. This brought along the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition with all the changes like Greedo shooting first and Han shooting second, new battle scenes in the Battle of Yavin, the new and better scenes of the wampa who captured and got defeated by Luke Skywalker, the new shots of Cloud City, the new Sarlacc, and especially, the new victory celebration theme in Return of the Jedi.

 

Errr, you agree with Darth Poppy?

DP says that Star Wars wasn't revived until 1997 - when they started shooting the prequels. Then you say that by 1995 it was back with a vengance because of Lucas' 1994 announcement.

I'm confused.

 

From what I have heard from the interviews and documents, when George Lucas (while being involved in the project) saw how real the dinosaurs were made to look like in the film Jurassic Park he said the computer technology had reached the point in which he would be able to produce his Star Wars Prequels. First he brought the originals back in Special Editions.

 

While the release of the SE's was definetly the culmination of the revival of star wars in the 90's,there were many other factors before it that people have mentioned alrady, such as:

- THX versions of the films on VHS
- Start of the EU novels & comics
- Many successful and popular video games and pc games
- Many new star wars toys, beginning with those weird rubber figures (I think I have them all), followed by the more popular kenner action figures, and the galoob micro machine line
- The Internet. I don't think this one got mentioend yet, but I'm sure that played a big part thanks to rumor sites, message boards, etc, as more and more people got online access
- Also of course the first news that the prequels were confirmed as well

 

I agree with Poppy. You say by 1995 SW was back with a vengeance, which is true. In late 1994 however, we found out that GL had decided to go back and tell the story of the PT.

Well, I'd offer to rebuttals (1) A lot of people didn't know or believe the announce in 1994. GL had kicked the idea around for years, and a lot of the work that would have gone into pre-production in 1994-95 was delayed because of the SE, which raised doubts about the PT going into production. (2) The build up to the 1995 level excitement was gradual, and not an explosion from 1994. It started in 1991 with Heir to the Empire, when people realized SW had a place in the main stream media again, not just as a role playing game... even if it was just in novel form at that time.

 

Stryphe,

That was one part of it for one demographic, yes. The Dark Horse comics for another, games for another, and so on, and so on...

Still, does anyone not see the weird logic I pointed out a few posts ago???

 

I agree with Jamiebacca, interest in Star Wars increased steadily all through the 90s. When LFL reissued the films in 1997, people were excited. When Lucas announced that he had started shooting Ep.I, people went absolutely insane.

 

I would assume so. I heard it was going to be rereleased in 3D.

 

I think that they want to, but according to SW.com they've found that the 3D process is more expensive than they intially expected. So I think that films will be released in 3D eventually, but not right away CERTAINTLY not this year as was orginally planned.

 

The Thrawn Trilogy, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Tales of the Jedi comics..... The one and only EU. And the OT special edition.

 

Yes, yes & yes to all of it.
It was a slowburn initially ignited by Dark Empire & the Zahn books, fueled more by Lucasarts, Bantam, Starlog specials, Dark Horse, Kenner (Hasbro), etc, etc, etc...