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'''''Star Wars''''' is a series of ] ]s created by ]/]/] ]. The six-film series began in ] with the release of '']'', and has since become a ] phenomenon, spawning a major ] of ]s, ]s, ]s, ] series, and other merchandising ]s. In ], ] estimated the overall revenue generated by the entire ''Star Wars'' franchise (over the course of its 28-year history) at nearly US$20 billion, easily making it the most successful film franchise ever. '''''Star Wars''''' is a series of ] ]s created by ]/]/] ]. The six-film series began in ] with the release of '']'', and has since become a ] phenomenon, spawning a major ] of ]s, ]s, ]s, ] series, and other merchandising ]s. In ], ] estimated the overall revenue generated by the entire ''Star Wars'' franchise (over the course of its 28-year history) at nearly US$20 billion, easily making it the most successful film franchise ever.


The ''Star Wars'' story employs ] motifs common to both ] and classical ], as well as musical motifs of those aspects. It is an excellent example of the ] sub-genre of science fiction. It is the best show of all time, only second best when compared with Star Trek. The ''Star Wars'' story employs ] motifs common to both ] and classical ], as well as musical motifs of those aspects. It is an excellent example of the ] sub-genre of science fiction.


{{spoiler}} {{spoiler}}

Revision as of 02:41, 5 September 2005

For other uses, see Star Wars (disambiguation).
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File:Star wars dvd cover.jpg
The cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

Star Wars is a series of science fantasy films created by writer/producer/director George Lucas. The six-film series began in 1977 with the release of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and has since become a pop culture phenomenon, spawning a major franchise of films, books, video games, television series, and other merchandising spin-offs. In 2005, Forbes Magazine estimated the overall revenue generated by the entire Star Wars franchise (over the course of its 28-year history) at nearly US$20 billion, easily making it the most successful film franchise ever.

The Star Wars story employs archetypal motifs common to both science fiction and classical mythology, as well as musical motifs of those aspects. It is an excellent example of the space opera sub-genre of science fiction.

Template:Spoiler

Setting

The only clue given to indicate the time setting of Star Wars is the line that opens each film: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...". This is an allusion to the classic fairy tale line "Once upon a time, in a faraway land...", and other variations thereof. It may reflect that the films are to be interpreted as myths of the future, as opposed to literally meaning the events take place in the past. Lucas himself intentionally left the details open to interpretation.

Although it is unclear when the stories take place, the scope of the entire Star Wars fiction covers over 25,000 years, with the film series spanning only two generations.

As far as location, all of the characters of Star Wars come from the same galaxy (except a race called Yuuzhan Vong, introduced in a novel series dubbed New Jedi Order). A lot of the movies "hover" around Coruscant. Unlike traditional science fiction films preceding it, the Star Wars world, particularly of the original trilogy era, is portrayed as dirty and grimy rather than sleek and futuristic. In interviews, Lucas tells of rubbing the new props with dirt to make them look weatherworn, a concept he refers to as "a used future." He may have been inspired by Sergio Leone, whose 1960s films performed a similar function for the Western genre.

The Films

Ratings are Motion Picture Association of America, British Board of Film Classification and Hong Kong Film Censorship Authority ratings.

Plot presented in the films

File:Originalrelease2jr.jpg
The original theatrical posters for each film.

For more detailed storylines, see the individual film articles.

Episodes I, II, and III chronicle Anakin Skywalker's rise as a gifted young Jedi and his eventual fall to the Dark Side of the Force as Darth Vader, under the influence of the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Sidious manipulates the Trade Federation into invading and occupying Naboo and secretly orchestrates the Clone Wars, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and a Separatist movement, the Confederacy of Independent Systems which Sidious also controls. After the final defeat of the Separatists and the near-extermination of the Jedi (with Vader's help), he declares himself Emperor of a new Galactic Empire. It is evident that the whole Star Wars was the Emperor's plan from the beginning, geared towards his own desires.

Episodes IV, V, and VI centre on Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker. Restless for adventure, Luke joins the ragtag Rebel Alliance in its struggle to overthrow the evil Empire. He trains to become a Jedi like his father, whom he believes was killed by Darth Vader, and is profoundly shaken upon learning that his father is actually Darth Vader himself. Luke successfully resists the efforts of Vader and the Emperor to turn him to the Dark Side; instead, he turns his father back to the Light Side while the Rebel Alliance fleet scores a decisive victory to end the war.

Notable Film Details

The first film released in the series, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, has been selected to The National Film Registry of the Library of Congress . It was originally titled Star Wars without an episode number; it works as a standalone story, although Lucas claims it was always intended to be a part of a larger saga. After its popularity boomed, the episode number was added and it was followed by Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Together these three films are known as the Original trilogy. After a hiatus of sixteen years, Lucas followed up with the Prequel trilogy of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Opening Crawls

Significance

Like Flash Gordon, Star Wars features opening text to give background to the story. Lucas emulated the way the Flash Gordon serials presented their opening text. The text "crawls" up the screen from the bottom to the top. The text is seen at a highly pitched angle. Instead of disappearing at the top, the text disappears into the distance as new text appears at the bottom. Lucas quote from Chicago Sun-Times May 15, 2005 interview: "The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you're not using too many words that people don't understand. It's like a poem. I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the '70s. It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each. Brian De Palma was there, and he threw his hands up in the air and said, 'George, you're out of your mind! Let me sit down and write this for you.' He helped me chop it down into the form that exists today."

Crawls for each film

File:Crawl.gif
Opening crawls for all six movies.

Creation of Star Wars and production of the films

It all started when George Lucas wrote a 13-page treatment in 1973, of a story entitled Star Wars.

Conception

George Lucas

George Lucas originally wanted to make a film of Flash Gordon but the rights were owned by Dino de Laurentiis and he decided that it would be cheaper to make up his own characters. Much of the plot and characterizations were borrowed from the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress starring Toshiro Mifune and directed by the famed Akira Kurosawa. Lucas wrote a total of 4 drafts, in which the story underwent great changes. At one point the Force was represented by the Kaiburr crystal, before it became the metaphysical source of power of the lightsaber-wielding Jedi. Another great influence were the writings of Joseph Campbell, who wrote bestsellers, such as The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and explored in depth the meaning and working of the world's mythologies. The original film, later known as A New Hope, closely followed the archetypal journey of a hero, discussed and illustrated in the aforemetioned book by Campbell.

Lucas' original script was almost 500 pages long. The title changed from The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller, before becoming simply Star Wars. Later he decided to divide it into several episodes, because the story became too big for one film. The back story, which would later become the prequel trilogy, was only a few pages of notes and brainstorming, to help him better understand the characters he had created. He used this brief outline as a guide when he began writing Episode I in late 1994. Fans always dreamed and talked about a possible third trilogy, but this is now said to be a myth despite interviews (such as in Scholastic's Dynamite magazine in 1978) that suggested otherwise. Lucas now claims that he never planned to tell a story after Episode VI. The official line now is that the story was initially planned to stretch over 12 episodes, then he confined his vision to 9, and now, 6 episodes. However, it was always the same story.

Filming

There were countless problems during the filming of Episode IV, and few critics expected the film to achieve the measure of success it did. The first film was released in 1977. Its novelization hit the shelves a year earlier. The sixth and final Star Wars film, Episode III, was released on May 19, 2005.

Episodes IV, V, and VI were shot at, among other locations, Elstree Studios, in Hertfordshire, England. The Phantom Menace was filmed at Leavesden Film Studios and the subsequent prequels were filmed in Sydney, Australia. Tunisia has served as the location for filming scenes set on the desert planet Tatooine in A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. The Palace of Caserta, Italy, was used to create The Palace of Theed, on the planet Naboo: Queen Amidala´s home. Shooting in Italy also includes the Lake of Como. The outdoor scenes from the ice planet Hoth in Episode V were shot at Finse, Norway. Also, one shot of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV in Episode IV was of Mayan temples in Tikal, Guatemala.

Re-releases

File:Star Wars new scene.jpg
Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt in Episode IV's Special Edition

Episodes IV to VI were remastered and re-released (both theatrically and on VHS) during 1997, and re-released on VHS again in 2000, then, on DVD, in September 2004. The films underwent extensive clean-up and restoration work, and Lucas took advantage of this opportunity to make a number of changes. In a September 2004 interview with AP, he explains his reasons for the changes:

To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make. Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. ... Most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done. ...
I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it. At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." ... If you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it. So this was my chance to finish it.

Some of the changes are cosmetic, such as adding new special effects which weren't possible with previous technology. Other changes affect plot or character development. For example, one of the more controversial of the changes is known by fans as "Han shot first": in the original release of the 1977 film, Han sits at a bartable with an alien named Greedo, a bounty hunter looking to cash in on the bounty placed on Solo by the gangster Jabba the Hutt, to whom Han owes money. Han casually shoots and kills Greedo. In the 1997 re-release this scene has been changed so that Greedo shoots first (and misses terribly) and Han's shot is clearly in self-defense. After fan outcry that this ruins the introduction of Han as a rogue, the 2004 DVD release of the film edits the scene so that both characters fire at almost the same time.

Another controversial alteration was made to a scene at the very end of Episode VI, when the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker look onto the Rebels' celebration. Anakin's face was changed to that of Hayden Christensen, the Canadian actor who played Anakin in Episodes II and III.

At a ShoWest convention, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he is going to release all six movies in 3-D.

Major themes and influences

Mostly ancient mythology, philosophy and even a bit of religion.

Mythology

Many of the themes within Star Wars reflect elements of Greek tragedy, Roman mythology, and Japanese chambara such as the prominence of prophecy and the inability to control one's destiny. For example, Luke's relationship with his father shows evidence of influence from Greek tragedy. Another example occurs as Anakin Skywalker causes the death of his wife Padme Amidala through his actions in trying to save her.

The Star Wars films also show considerable similarity to Asian Wuxia "Kung Fu" films. In films of this genre, the protagonist almost always begins with a clear objective to avenge the death of someone dear (an old master, his father, or his entire family). Starting as an apprentice, he grows to become the most powerful Master of his art in Kung Fu and rightfully settles old scores inflicted to his loved ones. The influence of Japanese pathos is obvious in the technique of the lightsaber being similar to the use of the Japanese Samurai swords, and the etiquette-conscious Jedi humility to the Japanese bows in greetings. The Jedi also live by a code of conduct and battle similar to the Samurai Code (or Bushido) as well as providing protection without being soldiers for a particular Nation or Government. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in Star Wars a modern mythology based on the studies of his friend and mentor Joseph Campbell. He has also called the first movie's similarity to Akira Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress an "homage".

Philosophy and religion

File:Yoda.gif
Yoda

The essential trademark of Star Wars' philosophy is its reliance on The Force. (See main article: Force (Star Wars)).

Star Wars stresses the self-destructive nature of fear, anger, and hate, summed up in Yoda's words ("Fear is the path to the dark side: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering"), as well as placing one's feelings for certain people aside. For example, Luke Skywalker is told to remain on Dagobah to complete his training rather than rescue his friends from Cloud City, because doing so will "destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

This aligns with the philosophy of most religions, which emphasize rational thought and meditation as the path to enlightenment, as opposed to the "Dark Side", of violent passion and emotion. It also aligns with secular Enlightenment thought, based in reason (the light side) and passionate and often violent pre-WWI romanticism (the dark side).

Undoubtedly, however, the strongest influence was the Taoist-philosophy. The Force is also very similar to Qi. The practioners of Qi according to the Taoist annals can live upwards of 200 years. Many true taoist masters eventually became "san" or spirit-like beings, immortals who could partake and interact in the day-to-day earthly activities, not unlike what Obi-Wan and Yoda became after their passing, in their tutorials with Luke. Taoism emphasizes smooth flow of the Qi being the balance of the Ying and Yang forces to all manifestations including the human anatomy and the environment, again not unlike the duality of the Sith and Jedi being the dark and light extremes of the Force.

The sequel started in Episode IV with the obvious cliché — Darth Vader in matte and shiny black outfit, with Leia Organa in pristine white robes, alluding to the concepts of Good versus Evil. With the exception of Anakin in the teenage years in Episode II and III (Although one could arguably say that he was a bit "destined" for the Sith, so maybe this does not count as an exception to the rule) and Luke Skywalker in Episode VI, black costumes seem to be reserved exclusively for the darker Empire and its Emperor. Whether intentional or not, the use of language was dramatized — the Empire minions almost always spoke with British accents whilst most of the Rebels spoke unadulterated American English. Likewise, all Imperial officers were outfitted in tailor-cut Nazi-like uniforms, with the Rebels in looser and more ascetic overalls.

See also: The Tao of Star Wars, Or, Cultural Appropriation in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Books about religion/philosophy and Star Wars:

The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter

The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin

Star Wars And Philosophy by Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl, William Irwin

Technology

Another archetypal conflict in the series is between technology and nature. Ewoks defeat highly mechanized space ship-dwelling enemies. Many of these asymmetries are between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. For example, the rebels wear clothing that match their environment (greens, browns or whites) while the Stormtroopers always wear white synthetic armor. The TIE fighters are shown as impersonal swarms of metal while the X-wings are individuals; a similar symmetry also exists between the faceless, armor-clad Imperial Stormtroopers and their crisp, uniformed officers, and the various individual members of the Rebel Alliance. More recent examples can be seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, mounted atop a lizard-like veractyl, pursues and combats the semi-mechanical General Grievous mounted atop a one-wheeled mechanical vehicle; after the execution of Order 66, the somewhat inhuman Clone troopers are shown slaughtering a number of Jedi characters without a second's thought, whose striking art design gives them clear individuality. This concept emphasizes the general idea that technology is in opposition to humanity.

This site explains this theme and others in its analysis of the writing of Star Wars.

Recurring themes

There seem to be repeated elements amongst the Star Wars films. Lucas himself makes mention of his fondness for repeating elements in several of the DVD audio commentaries. Also of note are the parallels between the trilogies; that is, Episode I and IV, II and V, as well as III and VI. Those groups will show up often in the list that follows:

  • In Episode I & IV a master dies (Qui-Gon dies in front of Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan dies in front of Luke)
  • In Episode I & IV, the main protagonist helps win a battle at the end of the film (Anakin destroys the Trade Federation Droid Control Ship, Luke destroys the Death Star).
  • In Episode I & IV, an award ceremony is held with the heroine of each trilogy (Padmé, Leia) giving the award.
  • In the second part of each trilogy (Episodes II & V), the main protagonists both see visions of loved one(s) in danger: Luke- Han, Leia and the rest of his friends; Anakin- His mother. Both protagonists also abandon their duty (Luke-Jedi training; Anakin-protecting Padmé) and go off in attempt to save his loved one(s).
  • In Episode I & VI, there is an ending action sequence involving three simultaneous battles (space battle, lightsaber duel and ground assault).
  • In the second part of each trilogy (Episodes II & V), R2-D2 repairs C-3PO.
  • In the second part of each trilogy (Episodes II & V), the main protagonist suffers the loss of his right hand (Anakin's right arm was severed by Count Dooku. Luke's right hand was severed by Darth Vader.)
  • In Episode II and Episode IV two people lose their arm in a cantina (Zam Wesell and Ponda Baba.)
  • At the end of the middle episodes in the trilogy (Episodes II & V), the main protagonist (Anakin in II, Luke in V) puts his arm around the main female character (Padmé in II, Leia in V) beside the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.
  • In the third part of each trilogy (Episodes III & VI), against the backdrop of a tower overlooking a space battle, Palpatine encourages Anakin and Luke to finish off their defeated, and dismembered opponents (Dooku in III, Vader in VI)- except that Anakin gives in to Palpatine's wishes, while Luke does not.
  • Also, in both episodes, Anakin is the observer to a life-or-death struggle between Palpatine and another opponent (Mace Windu in III, and Luke in VI). In both cases, Anakin/Darth Vader comes to the aid of the weaker combatant (Palpatine himself in III - although some fans believe Palpatine was faking weakness, Luke in VI begging him for aid while being electrocuted by Palpatine's lightning storm), and the stronger combatant (Mace in III, Palpatine in VI) is hurled into a chasm.
  • The titles are parallel: "The Phantom Menace" and "A New Hope" can be seen as referring to one deliberately and one unknowingly concealed character (respectively, Darth Sidious and Luke Skywalker) who emerge to be the protagonists that effect the shift of power in each film's sequels; "Attack of the Clones" and "The Empire Strikes Back" both refer to the galactic government mounting a military attack against a rebellion; "Revenge of the Sith" and "Return of the Jedi" exhibit dual parallels, referring, at once, to the ultimate victory of a decimated, Force-based religious order, and focusing on the fall and rise of Anakin Skywalker. It is also to be noted that the original title of Jedi was "Revenge of the Jedi".
    • Grammatically, too, some of the titles' constructions parallel one another: I and IV are article-adjective-noun and III and VI are Noun-preposition-article-proper noun.
  • The following lines are spoken in all 6 movies: "Nooo!", "May the Force be with you" and "I have a bad feeling about this."
  • In Episodes IV, V & VI (the original three films), the character Wedge (X-wing Fighter - Rogue Three) survived all of the battles alongside Luke. Coincidentally, Wedge was played by Dennis Lawson, who is the real-life uncle of Ewan McGregor who plays the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in episode I, II & III.
  • In both of the final episodes for each trilogy (Episode III & VI), there is some sort of massive battle involving bear-like creatures (Wookies in III, Ewoks in VI)
  • All 6 movies open with a shot of a starship entering the scene. In the original trilogy, the ship is an Imperial Star Destroyer. In the prequel trilogy the ship is always a government craft which is soon destroyed in an explosion.
  • In Episodes IV, V, and VI, a relatively unseen creature attacks one of the main characters (Luke in IV, R2 in V, and Lando in VI).

Expanded Universe

Main article: Expanded Universe (Star Wars).
Splinter of the Mind's Eye, 1978

The Expanded Universe refers to all of the officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the two trilogies, including books, comics, games, and other forms of media. The Expanded Universe expands on and continues the stories told in the six films. The Expanded Universe has taken place anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 26 years after Return of the Jedi. The Expanded Universe material has been portayed before, during, between, or after a film or films. The Expanded Universe officially began with Alan Dean Foster's 1978 Star Wars spin-off novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

George Lucas has chosen to personally concentrate on his films rather than Expanded Universe material, but he retains ultimate creative control over the Star Wars universe. Therefore, Lucasfilm Licensing must devote considerable effort to ensuring continuity between various authors' works and Lucas's films. Occasionally, elements from the Expanded Universe are adopted into the highest tier of Star Wars canon: the movies (e.g., the name of the planet Coruscant first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire). Some purists reject the Expanded Universe, believing that only the events in the film series are part of the "real" Star Wars universe.

However, most of the events in the EU are controlled by the publishers and ultimately by George Lucas. The death of central characters and such must at first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. The Expanded Universe now numbers several hundred books, most of which are decent-sized novels. While most are either single, dual or trilogy-style books written by the same author, publisher Bantam has recently orchestrated the New Jedi Order series, a massive collection of 19 books written by various authors.

Films

Since the premiere of the Star Wars saga, there have been a handful of officially sanctioned parodies and Expanded Universe live-action productions:

A two-hour television special which aired during the 1978 holiday season. In it, Chewbacca, accompanied by his loyal friend, Han Solo, must return to Chewbacca's home planet of Kashyyyk (pronounced KA-SHEEK) for Chewbacca to celebrate Life Day with his family of Mala, Itchy, and Lumpy. They all run into trouble with The Empire, though, which is making the endeavor difficult. The Empire is searching for Rebels on Kashyyyk. Throughout the special, numorous TV and Music stars of the late 70's made an appearance in variety show-type acts. The show was greatly anticipated by fans, but then was just as greatly reviled due to its meager plot, lack of action, and nonsensical musical numbers. It is significant for introducing bounty hunter Boba Fett. Lucas has suppressed re-release of the material.

Caravan of Courage centers on a family marooned on the forest moon of Endor. The family, known as the "Towani" family, are separated when their shuttlecraft crashes on Endor. While the parents are soon captured by the giant known as the Gorax, Mace and Cindel, the son and daughter, are missing. When the Ewoks discover the Towani children in the remnants of the shuttlecraft, it becomes clear that the children must establish trust with them in order to embark with them on an adventure to rescue their parents.

In The Battle For Endor, an army of Marauders, led by King Terak and the witch Charal, attack the Ewok village. Cindel and Wicket escape into the forest, where they meet Teek and Noa. They must befriend Noa in order to team up to defeat the Marauders.

A 24-minute fictional mockumentary-style movie, focusing on Warwick Davis's decision to become an actor and act as Wicket in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The show starts out with Warwick trying to decide what to do in life, and as he becomes Wicket, he searches the sets of the feature film and interacts with the characters until he finally finds where he needs to be and "becomes" Wicket.

A 20-minute mockumentary-style movie, focusing on the "true" story of R2-D2's life. This was actually an alternate, made-for-fun movie by some of the crew of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. This was, unlike the other made-for-fun mockumentary, released on DVD.

A Lucasfilm-sponsored contest of short films, known as "FanFilms," made by Star Wars fans about, referencing, and parodying the Star Wars saga.

A multimedia project created by Lucasfilm in order to test the market for later Star Wars film releases. The project consisted of a novel (written by Steve Perry), comic books, soundtrack, video game, concept art, action figures, and so on. The story was set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and introduced a new villain named Prince Xizor.

Radio and television

Star Wars, the radio adaptation (BBC 1981), was written by science fiction author Brian Daley. It was followed by adaptations of the next two films of the series.

Three cartoon series have been based on Star Wars. The first two, Ewoks and Star Wars: Droids, debuted in 1985, while Star Wars: Clone Wars began in 2003. Ewoks features the adventures of the Ewoks prior to Return of the Jedi. Star Wars: Droids follows C-3PO and R2-D2 between Episodes III and IV. Star Wars: Clone Wars is set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as the Jedi fight against the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Clone Wars. Unlike the previous two series, Clone Wars was popular enough to receive an Emmy Award.

On April 23, 2005, at the Celebration III fan-convention, George Lucas announced that two new television series would be produced. The first will be a fully 3-D, half-hour length series continuation of the Clone Wars cartoon. The show will be produced by Lucasfilm Animation, with locations both in California and Singapore. The show is scheduled for a tentative Fall 2007 debut. The second show, a live-action, hour-long series takes place in an unconfirmed time period (however, the major time-period speculation is between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope). The latter will focus on new characters not involved in any of the films. However, it has been hinted that some minor film characters may appear.

Books

See also: List of Star Wars books

Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first movie, with the 1976 novelization of "A New Hope" (written by Alan Dean Foster but credited to George Lucas). However, Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was the first EU work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the movies, this additional content greatly expands the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series.

Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original series (1977-1983), but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1991, however, Timothy Zahn's celebrated Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe that gained momentum with the releases of the special editions and new films beginning in the late 1990s. Other notable books include The X-Wing Series, by Michael A. Stackpole, and the New Jedi Order series, by various authors. Another series of books is the Young Jedi Knights, by Kevin J Anderson, which follow the adventures of Jacen and Jaina Solo and their friends.

Comic books and strips

See also: List of Star Wars comic books

Marvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Poratio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. Some fans, including some officials at Lucasfilm, no longer consider the Marvel series story canon, although some events have been mentioned in Star Wars reference books. In the 1980s, as part of their Star Comics line aimed at young children, Marvel also published the short-lived series Ewoks and Droids, based on the Saturday morning cartoons.

Star Wars was also a daily newspaper comic strip from 1979 to 1984. Among the creators were Russ Manning, Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson.

Starting in the 1990s, Dark Horse Comics has published a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe. These include Star Wars Republic, Star Wars Empire, Star Wars Tales and Star Wars Tales of the Jedi. Dark Horse has also published the Marvel series in a collection entitled Classic Star Wars. In addition, the company has reprinted several Japanese manga interpretations of the films which retell the stories using the artistic devices and idioms of the form.

Games and toys

See also Star Wars computer and video games and Star Wars toys.

Since 1983, over 120 video games have been published bearing the Star Wars name, beginning with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Other early titles include the Star Wars Nintendo Entertainment System game (published by JVC) and three other titles for the Atari 2600. The Rogue Squadron and Dark Forces series were published more recently by LucasArts.

Atari produced arcade games based on the original trilogy, beginning with Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, which were both 'flight sim' style games that utilized vector graphics. The third, Return of the Jedi, used more traditional raster graphics.

Two Star Wars role playing games have also been published, and in 2005, Hasbro developed and released a DVD TV Game based on Star Wars and utilizing the Trivial Pursuit game-play format.

Star Wars has also, and not surprisingly, opened the way to a myriad of Space-flight simulations that take the space wars of the saga in a more serious manner, teaching the player to fly various Star Wars Universe starfighters along the lines of more traditional 'Modern Aircraft' flight simulators. The first among these were 'X-Wing' and its expansion 'B-Wing', dealing with the Rebellion's side of the war, taking place in the period right before, and up to, the destruction of the first death star. The second was "Tie Fighter", respectively dealing with the Empire's starfighters at the time prior to Episode VI. Both games were released for DOS. Newer simulators are also available, with 'X-Wing Alliance' in the lead.

'Star Wars: Rebellion' allowed players to compete in the Star Wars universe on a larger scale, focusing more on the strategic aspect of handling (or defeating) a rebellion, with resource management and agent-allocation, as well as large-scale conflicts between entire fleets of starships.

Other games are: Knights of the Old Republic by BioWare, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords by Obsidian Entertainment, Battlefront, Galactic Battlegrounds, Republic Commando, Episode III: The video game, the loveable Lego Star Wars, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, Star Wars Galaxies, and soon to come is Empire at War.

Totals

  • 6 films
  • 3 spin-off films
  • 3 Animated TV series
  • 1 Live-Action TV Series
  • 1 multimedia interquel project
  • 1 amusement park ride
  • 2 mockumentaries
  • Many documentaries
  • Many TV appearances of cast/characters
  • Hundreds of spin-off books
  • Many video games
  • Hundreds of toys and action figures

See also

This is a list of miscellaneous Star Wars-related articles.

Star Wars lists

Other Star Wars articles

External links

Star Wars
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