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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

CT Was ANH usually marketed as “Star Wars” until 1999?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by darklordoftech, Sep 14, 2021.

  1. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

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    Sep 30, 2012
    The Special Edition poster and VHS packaging makes me think so, but “Episode IV: A New Hope” has been in the crawl since 1981.
     
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  2. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

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    May 18, 2017
    No one called it ANH in the 70s and early 80s. It was Star Wars.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2021
  3. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

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    May 27, 1999
    To this day, only fans refer to it as ANH. To the public at large, it remains "Star Wars".
     
  4. paradigmes

    paradigmes Jedi Knight star 3

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    Jun 9, 2021
    Yes, they were always just Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
     
  5. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

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    Mar 22, 2003
    the SEs were 1997 .
     
  6. DarthKegs

    DarthKegs Jedi Knight star 2

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    Mar 21, 2019
    I'd agree with this. Personally I only refer to it as ANH when talking with other fans.
     
  7. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 1, 2014
    I never refer to it as ANH, maybe its an age thing, its always been Star Wars to me.

    I can't remember when they started to rebrand the packaging of the videos or dvd's to include ANH in the title. Certainly the SE packaging from 1997 still has them called by their original titles (SW, Empire & Jedi).
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2021
  8. C.Roach

    C.Roach Jedi Knight star 2

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    May 3, 2018
    Same. It's always been just "STAR WARS" for me and other kids at school, back in the day.
     
  9. KyleKartan

    KyleKartan Force Ghost star 4

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    Feb 4, 2004
    I use to use the Episode Numbers. So I call Episode I...IX. For Anthology i go with RO or SOLO
     
  10. brainsaber

    brainsaber Jedi Master

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    Sep 11, 2003
    I believe in 1981 is when it was re-released in theaters and the opening crawl had been changed to include "Episode 4" in it. I could be wrong, so it would be nice if a historian could confirm, but I'm pretty sure that's when it became "Episode 4", technically speaking. Though, as others have said, it was referred to as "Star Wars" for a long time regardless of the opening crawl change and episode listings in the crawls of empire and jedi.

    The think the prequel trilogy is when the referring to them by episode number picked up a lot of steam. Call me captain obvious.
     
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  11. BlackRanger

    BlackRanger Jedi Master star 4

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    Apr 14, 2018
    The 1979 Art of Star Wars book included the "Episode IV: A New Hope" subtitle that was then inserted into the 1981 re-release. But the "Star Wars" title was the main part of the film's logo on the 1990s VHS tapes, even for the 1997 Special Edition versions. While "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" had those (sub)titles as the main logos, giving them emphasis equal with the first film's "Star Wars" label.

    The 2004 SE DVD releases of the OT, which came out after TPM and AOTC, were what really standardized the films' logos and gave the episode subtitles equal weight across the series.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2021
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  12. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

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    Sep 30, 2012
    The 2000 VHS releases used the same logos as the 2004 DVD releases.
     
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  13. BlackRanger

    BlackRanger Jedi Master star 4

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    Apr 14, 2018
    Interesting. Again, that postdates the release of Episode 1, so it shows a concern for greater consistency with branding.
     
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  14. Beautiful_Disaster

    Beautiful_Disaster Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 12, 2005
    When I was growing up, it was always Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
     
  15. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

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    Sep 30, 2012
    In 1992, a video game based on ANH was published, and it was called “Super Star Wars”. It was then followed up with “Super The Empire Strikes Back” and “Super Return of the Jedi”.
     
  16. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

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    May 18, 2017
    Yes for the Super Nintendo. I have all 3.
     
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  17. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 1, 2014
    Yet now we see Disney removing the episode numbers from the titles on the packaging and just calling them Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones etc
     
  18. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

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    Aug 9, 2002
    It used to just be called Star Wars until they started marketing it as Luke Skywalker and the Star Wars.
     
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  19. R.D.

    R.D. Jedi Master star 3

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    Nov 26, 2015
    Ditto. At most you tend to get 'the original '77 Star Wars' or 'the very first one' as a clarifier but that tends to be it.
     
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  20. Scoffed-Gherkin

    Scoffed-Gherkin Jedi Padawan star 2

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    Sep 11, 2021
    Yes. Nobody called it A New Hope before the prequels.
     
  21. Dr Silva

    Dr Silva Jedi Knight star 3

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    Aug 23, 2021
    Yeah it wiill always be star wars to me , followed by the empire strikes back and return of the jedi.
     
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  22. PymParticles

    PymParticles Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Oct 1, 2014
    I think this is very much a generational thing. If you were old enough to have it burned into your brain as just "Star Wars," that's what it is to you. I find that most people I speak to who are in their 20s and younger, whether they're hardcore fans or just casually interested enough in the movies to have watched them, almost invariably call the original film A New Hope. That's just my personal, anecdotal experience, but I definitely think that sentiment is shifting.
     
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  23. Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid

    Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid Force Ghost star 6

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    Mar 13, 2014
    It’s always been Star Wars for me. In the early 90s ‘A New Hope’ was almost like a trivia fact. Yes that is the later added episode title for the film. But as so many have written here - we just called the three films by their marketed names - not episode numbers and titles.

    the episode numbers became a bigger deal with the prequels. I guess Lucasfilm was really worried audience would be confused why Han, Luke, and Leia weren’t in the movies.

    I like that the Disney movies most called the new films by their names. Disney wasn’t worried about episode numbers. They were more concerned the stand alone movies would confuse people.

    As for A New Hope as a title - the first I remember it being marketed under that name is with on the 1995 THX home video release of the Original Trilogy. It’s still boldly labeled as Star Wars but on the spine of the VHS tape in smaller text is A New Hope under Star Wars. Its written the same way Star Wars is written small above the boldly labeled Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on those two films boxes. There is a certain level of consultant labeling there.

    After that I think that is largely how A New Hope has been used on packaging.
     
  24. FightoftheForgotten

    FightoftheForgotten Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 19, 2020
    I may be wrong, but I don't think Lucas was allowed to market STAR WARS as "A NEW HOPE" until after the SE's were released for legal reasons because 20th CENTURY FOX still owned the film and wouldn't allow him to until he made his own "director's cut".

    edit: This probably isn't correct because the first re-release of the SE's in 2000 still had the film called STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
  25. Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid

    Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid Force Ghost star 6

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    Mar 13, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
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