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Star Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially developed by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded since that time. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars, but later had the subtitle A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels. Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, initially spawning two sequels. Twenty-two years after Star Wars was released, Lucas began the release of a second trilogy as a prequel to the original trilogy. The franchise has also spawned other media including novels, television series, video games, comic books, and other merchandise. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe.

As of 2007, the overall box office revenue generated by the six Star Wars films has totalled approximately US$4.3 billion, making it one of the most successful franchises of all time.

Setting

The events of Star Wars take place in a fictional galaxy. Many of the main characters in the film are essentially identical to humans, though alien creatures are commonplace, as are robotic "droids" built generally to serve. Space travel is also common, with many of the planets in the galaxy members of a Galactic Republic, and later a Galactic Empire.

One of the prominent elements of the Star Wars series is the "Force" — an omnipresent form of energy which can be harnessed by those with unique abilities. It is described in the first film as, "an energy field created by all living things surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." Those who can use the Force can perform feats of telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control, as well as amplifying certain physical traits, such as reflexes. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side, which, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi Knights, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy.

Feature films

Although no Star Wars film has ever been made into a movie. There was much speculation about Peter Jackson making a movie about the stories in 2003.

Expanded Universe

The term Expanded Universe (abbreviated EU) has come into existence as an umbrella term for all of the officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. The material expands and continues the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 140 years after Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in Marvel Comics' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues of the series having been an adaptation of the film), followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster's novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month.

George Lucas retains ultimate creative control over the Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing devotes considerable effort to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across multiple companies.

Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire before being used in The Phantom Menace, while a character introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, a blue Twi'lek Jedi Knight named Aayla Secura, was liked enough by Lucas to be included as a character in Attack of the Clones.

Television/spin-offs

To date, three films and three animated series have been produced for television, with a live-action series in pre-production. For the most part, Lucas has played a large role in the production of the television projects — usually serving as storywriter and/or executive producer.

Radio dramas

A radio adaptation of A New Hope was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs.

Novels

Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first film, with the 1976 novelization of Star Wars (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and credited to George Lucas). Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the films, this additional content greatly expanded 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 Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire, set between Episodes V and VI, and accompanying video game and comic book series.

LucasBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 20 years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. However, several significant events which occur during the course of this series (such as the death of a major film character) have sparked much fan criticism.

For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The Jedi Apprentice series follows the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi before Episode I. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker after Episode I and before Episode II. The third and currently on-going series is The Last Of the Jedi series which follows the adventure of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the adventures of a surviving Jedi almost immediately after Episode III. All three series are written by Jude Watson.

Comics

Marvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. They also published a Star Wars newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Steve Gerber, and Archie Goodwin, the latter under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the very popular Dark Empire stories. They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe. There have also been parody comics, including Tag and Bink.

Games

Since 1982, 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. Since then, Star Wars has opened the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person shooter games, roleplaying games, RTS games, and others. Two different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed for the Star Wars universe: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, and one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s. The best-selling games so far are the Lego Star Wars and Battlefront series, with 12 million and 10 million units respectively.

The latest released game was Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. LucasArts is also currently developing a next-gen Star Wars game, The Force Unleashed, for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. The game,of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, takes place in the largely unexplored time period between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and casts players as Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and is set for a Spring 2008 release.

Trading cards

Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue' series, by Topps, in 1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare 'promos', such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II 'floating Yoda' P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more. While most 'base' or 'common card' sets are plentiful, many 'insert' or 'chase cards' are very rare. Star Wars card game cards are different from the trading cards. A thriving market for both types exists on eBay.

Fan works

The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own apocrypha set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films. In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.

While many of the serious fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way. Lucasfilm's open support and sanction of fan creations is a marked contrast to the attitudes of many other copyright holders. Some owners, such as Paramount Pictures with the Star Trek properties, have been known to actively discourage the creation of such works by fans.

Legacy

The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern global pop culture. Science fiction since Star Wars, particularly in films, has often been influenced by and compared to Star Wars. References to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in American society with the well-justified assumption that others will understand the reference. George Lucas is also famous for using the best possible cameras and technology (see also Industrial Light and Magic) in his films. Many say that the visual and virtual effects that take over today's films would have never been created if not for Lucas's revolutionizing of the film industry with Star Wars.

Parodies

Both the film and characters have been parodied or spoofed in popular films and television. Notable film parodies of Star Wars include: Hardware Wars, a 13 minute 1977 spoof which George Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody; Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic; "Thumb Wars," the 1999 short film by Steve Oedekerk in which the characters are all portrayed by thumbs; and Troops, a COPS-style documentary. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders also created a parody of Star Wars on their comedy sketch show French & Saunders. Lucasfilm itself made two mockumentaries, Return of the Ewok (1982), about Wicket W. Warrick's actor Warwick Davis, and R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002), which depicts R2-D2 "life story".

There have been numerous parodic references to Star Wars in films such as Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and most of the films of Kevin Smith. In 1997, the first film's twentieth anniversary, Saturday Night Live featured a pair of skits that parodied the film's screen tests, which included Kevin Spacey playing Christopher Walken auditioning for Han Solo. Walken was originally considered for the role before Harrison Ford was chosen.

Star Wars has also been parodied in numerous TV shows, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Dexter's Laboratory, Teen Titans, Robot Chicken, Animaniacs, The Fairly OddParents, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Codename: Kids Next Door, Drake & Josh , Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and many others.

Songs

There have been many songs based on, and in, the Star Wars universe. The most notable of these are "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Yoda", (a parody of The Kinks' "Lola"), which describes Luke's training with the "wrinkled and green" Jedi master, and "The Saga Begins", (a parody of Don McLean's "American Pie"), which chronicles the events of Episode I. The latter of these was released one week before the film. On Blink-182's album Dude Ranch, the track "A New Hope" discusses bassist Mark Hoppus' obsession with Princess Leia. A New Zealand Rapper, MC Stormtroopa, sings only about Star Wars and has released a free EP called "The Dark Side Of The Death Star." MxPx's song "Empire" (which is included in a "songs inspired by" soundtrack for The Passion of the Christ) has a lyric that reads: "You're the Empire or the Rebellion."

In late 1977, at the height of the original Star Wars craze, comedian Bill Murray portrayed Lounge Lizard Nick Winters on Saturday Night Live and sang a swanky version of the Star Wars theme, complete with inane improvised lyrics. Carrie Fisher reprised her role as Princess Leia on SNL in a parody of Star Wars and the old beach party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello with Fisher as Annette singing about Obi Wan Kenobi.

In 1977 an album called Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk was released by Meco which featured disco remixes of Star Wars music. Other songs based on the Star Wars saga include The Star Wars Gangsta Rap and Star Wars Cantina. Northern Ireland band Ash released an album called 1977, named in honor of the year Star Wars was released, on which "Lose Control" used sound bytes of a TIE Fighter, and a song entitled "Darkside Lightside" is an obvious reference to the mythology created by the films.

The Phenomenauts mention that their intergalactic tour van "The Phenomenator": "Does the Kessel Run in one parsec." Supernova recorded the song "Chewbacca" for the soundtrack of Kevin Smith's movie Clerks. The entire lyrics are "Chewie! Chewbacca! What a wookie!," with what appears to be samples of a Wookie. Adult Swim icon MC Chris recorded the rap song "Fett's Vette" which details the lifestyle of the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Politics

When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled "Star Wars," implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Ronald Reagan's acting career. According to Frances Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad."; "'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'"

This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an Evil Empire (which was taken from the opening crawl to A New Hope whilst the term he used for the Contras, "freedom fighters", was taken verbatim from the opening crawl to The Empire Strikes Back). John McCain originally likened himself to Luke Skywalker during the 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, repeatedly hefting lightsabers and calling Jerry Falwell an "evil influence" on the GOP. His embrace of the right leading up to the 2008 election prompted journalists to liken him to "a fallen Jedi knight." President George W. Bush described Vice President Dick Cheney as dressing up like "Darth Vader" for Halloween 2007.

See also

Here are some of the general articles featured in the Star Wars portal. For a detailed outline of the Star Wars Misplaced Pages articles, please see the Star Wars category.

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General information

Star Wars universe

References

1. "Star Wars' Earnings". AOL UK Money. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. "From EU to Episode II: Aayla Secura". starwars.com. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
3. Matt Martin (2007-08-11). "Warner Bros. swoops for Traveller's Tales". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-01-09. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
4. "Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron sends PSP system owners to the front" (Press release). LucasArts. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
5. http://starwarscards.net
6. "Hardware Wars": The movie, the legend, the household appliances
7. Mel Brooks' DVD Audio Commentary
8. "Mystery Ewok Theater 2005: Return of the Ewok". Retrieved 2008-01-09.
9. "R2-D2: Beneath the Dome DVD". Retrieved 2008-01-09.
10. ""Weird Al" -- Nerdy Something". starwars.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
11. http://www.virb.com/mcstormtroopa
12. Changing his stripes
13. "Ash biography". Retrieved 2008-01-09.
14. "www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/fitzgerald-blue.html". Retrieved 2007-05-26.
15. https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=w070312&s=chait031207
16. "Bush: Cheney's Darth Vader for Halloween". Retrieved 2008-01-09.

Further reading

• Books about religion/philosophy and Star Wars:
  • Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars', by Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D., Foreword by Jonathan Young, Ph.D.ISBN 0-9755214-7-0
  • The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter ISBN 0-89334-385-4
  • The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin ISBN 0-86171-497-0
  • Star Wars And Philosophy by Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl, William Irwin ISBN 0-8126-9583-6
  • Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters by Dick Staub ISBN 978-0-7879-7894-5
• "Conception" section based on: The Star Wars Timeline Gold-Appendice L-Understanding the Lost Episodes (p. 141 – 142).
  • The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter ISBN 0-89334-385-4
• On the influence of Joseph Campbell on the Star Wars films:
  • Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars', by Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D., Foreword by Jonathan Young, Ph.D.ISBN 0-9755214-7-0
  • Henderson, Mary. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Companion volume to the exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. New York: Bantam, 1997.
  • Larsen, Stephen and Robin Larsen. Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2002.
  • Moyers, Bill and Joseph Campbell. The Power of Myth. Anchor; Reissue edition (1991) ISBN 0-385-41886-8

External links

• The official Star Wars website
• Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki — A wiki devoted to Star Wars
• The Force of Star Wars from Time.com
• Template:Dmoz
• Star Wars Trivia Quiz
• The World of Star Wars at Yahoo!
• Wookieepedia article

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