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Star Wars is a science fantasy saga inspired from a fictional universe created by writer/producer/director George Lucas in the early 1970's. It began with the release of a film, originally titled as simply Star Wars, in mid-1977. The film, which was later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, has since led to a pop culture phenomenon, spawning a series of five more feature films, and an extensive collection of books, video games, television series, and other merchandising spin-offs.

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. The film series is widely considered to be one of the major players in launching the new era of high-budget, special-effects blockbuster movies that continues to this day.

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 one of the most successful film franchises of all time.

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Conception

"Star Wars" began with a 13-page treatment for a space adventure movie which George Lucas drafted in 1973.

The original plan

Star Wars creator George Lucas had originally written the summaries for fifteen stories that would make up his entire Star Wars saga. The material present was enough for fifteen films. Out of his fifteen stories, Lucas originally planned to tell only one of those, Episode IV, on the big screen. Then, in 1978, he announced to the world that he would create a total of twelve films, of which A New Hope was the first, that would chronicle the adventures of Luke Skywalker. However, in 1979, he retracted that statement, saying he would only make nine of those twelve. Subsequently, around 1983, at the completion of Episodes IV-VI, Lucas announced that he was finished with Star Wars, and no more films would be made than those three.

He maintained this stand until the year 1995, when he suddenly announced that he would produce a prequel trilogy to Episodes IV-VI, and that only these six films would be made. Lucas' past statements have shown that he, in fact, did originally intend to produce more than six films in his series, and these statements contradict his modern claims of "envisioning the whole thing as a series of six films," as he puts it.

For more information on the supposed sequel trilogy, see Sequel trilogy.

The ideas

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. Originally, Lucas created a story that spanned a total of fifteen films, though he never actually planned to make all of those. Instead, he began with the fourth story of the fifteen, Episode IV: A New Hope. 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 aforementioned book by Campbell.

The scripts

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.

Setting

Time

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 7,500,000,000 years, with the film series spanning only two generations.

Place

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 The 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

Entries

The tales told in the six Star Wars films span two generations, in which the galaxy undergoes significant change. In the films, Episodes I-III show the events involved in the downfall of the Old Republic, and the Rise of the Galactic Empire, while Episodes IV-VI show the events involved in the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the Rebellion and ultimately, the New Republic. In these epic events, the lives and decisions of the Skywalker family were shown to have greatly affected the outcomes. From 1977 to 2005, over a twenty-eight year time period, the six films that make up this story were produced:

The Star Wars films
Poster		File:Star Wars Attack of the Clones poster.jpg	File:Star wars episode three poster2.jpg
Film	I: The Phantom Menace	II: Attack of the Clones	III: Revenge of the Sith
Year	1999	2002	2005
Director	George Lucas	George Lucas	George Lucas
Rating	PG / U / I	PG / U / I	PG-13 / 12A / IIA
Poster		File:Empire20strikes20back old.jpg
Film	IV: A New Hope	V: The Empire Strikes Back	VI: Return of the Jedi
Year	1977	1980	1983
Director	George Lucas	Irvin Kershner	Richard Marquand
Rating	PG / U / I	PG / U / I	PG / U / I

Opening Crawls

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."

Plot

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 controls from behind the scenes. At the end of the Clone Wars it is revealed that Sidious is actually the alter-ego of Palpatine, Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. After the final defeat of the Separatists and the near-extermination of the Jedi (with Vader's help), Palpatine declares himself Emperor of a new Galactic Empire.

Episodes IV, V, and VI center on Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker, during the time of the Galactic Civil War. After the murder of his aunt and uncle by Imperial Stormtroopers, 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, who then kills the Emperor, while the Rebel Alliance fleet scores a decisive victory to end the war.

Production and release

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, and the sand dunes of Yuma, Arizona, have 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.

There were countless problems during the production of Episode IV, and few critics expected the film to achieve the measure of success it did. Many problems with effects work, editing, finding, and shooting caused the film to be pushed up from its expected release date of December of 1976. The production company, not to mention many involved in the actual production, had little faith in the movie. According to reports, it was a daily struggle merely to complete the film on time. George Lucas literally nearly sufferred a heart attack due the constant stress put on him from day one to complete the film. Despite these difficulties, the first film was released on May 25, 1977 and became a surprise hit. Though its novelization had hit the shelves a year earlier, the book had not seen nearly the amount of interest that the film would draw.

Nearly twenty-eight years later, the sixth and final Star Wars film to be produced, Episode III, was released, on May 19, 2005. During its three-year production, the film was shot with far fewer difficulties, due to vast improvements in film and digital technology. The film's conclusion was intended to lead the viewer into the beginning of Episode IV. Lucas had finally completed what he had set out to do, and had literally come full circle in his Star Wars storytelling process. Fan and general public response proved that the saga had concluded with a popularity reminicent of that of the original film.

Re-releases

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 bar table 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.

Box office performance

The worldwide box office grosses of each trilogy parallel each other. The first episode of each trilogy generated the highest box office gross, while the middle episode of each trilogy generated the lowest box office gross. Although it is often said that the prequel trilogy has higher worldwide box office grosses than the original trilogy (except that A New Hope generated a higher box office gross than Attack of the Clones did), when the figures are adjusted for inflation, we see that this is not the case. Despite these figures, the films of the prequel trilogy, even when their costs are adjusted for inflation, still had a much higher budget than the films of the original trilogy.

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 close to 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.

Major film characters

Major film locations

The Expanded Universe

Main article: Expanded Universe (Star Wars).

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 31 years after Return of the Jedi. The Expanded Universe material has been portrayed 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 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.

Live-action productions

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

Films:

• The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

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, numerous 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 (in animated form) bounty hunter Boba Fett. In addition to this, it is notable for introducing the planet Kashyyyk, which went on to be featured in many other works of the Expanded Universe, and in Revenge of the Sith. Despite these facts, Lucas has suppressed re-release of the material, and has officially disowned it, claiming that it didn't live up to his vision for Star Wars. Some reports claim that he even wishes every copy in existance to be destroyed.

• Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984)

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.

• Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985)

In 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.

Multimedia project:

• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996)

A film-like 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 book series, 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.

TV shows:

• Star Wars: Live-Action TV Series (2008-Unknown)

A live-action Star Wars series to be produced, beginning in 2008. The new series will be set during the 19-year time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It will focus, for the most part, on very minor characters from the films.

Games:

• Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game (1996)

For this game from Hasbro, which is set during the era of the original trilogy, new live-action scenes were shot of Darth Vader on the Death Star around the events of Return of the Jedi. The footage was made available on a special VHS tape, included in the box of the game. When playing the board game, the players could put in the tape, which would play while they were in a game. David Prowse reprised his role as Vader, and James Earl Jones as the voice of Vader. Some of the original crew for A New Hope even came back to shoot these scenes.

• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997)

A video game which had a few cutscenes which were live action footage of certain EU characters, such as Kyle Katarn.

Parodies:

• Return of the Ewok (1982)

A 24-minute fictional mockumentary-style movie, focusing on Warwick Davis's decision to become an actor and act as Wicket in Return of the Jedi. The show begins 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.

• R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002)

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.

Fan works:

• The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards (2002-present)

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

• Star Wars: Revelations (2005)

Directed by Star Wars fan and video expert, Shane Felux, Revelations is a fan film produced for nearly $20,000 that intended to give an explanation for what happened to the Jedi after the Great Jedi Purge of 19 BBY. The film is set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It is notable for being one of the most ambitous fanfilms that, while expensive by most standards, took a large step in making filmmaking available to the consumer level.

Radio and television

See also: Star Wars (radio)

A New Hope, 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 original trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Adaptations of the prequel films have yet to be made.

Three cartoon series have been based on Star Wars. The first two: Star Wars: Droids and Star Wars: Ewoks, debuted in 1985, while Star Wars: Clone Wars began in 2003. Ewoks features the adventures of the Ewoks prior to Return of the Jedi, while Droids follows C-3PO and R2-D2 between Episodes III and IV. 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 proved 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 will be a live-action, hour-long series, and will take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It will focus on very minor characters from the films, with the possibility of cameos by some of the main characters. The live-action show is expected to make its debut sometime in 2008.

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.

The most recent series of books published is the Dark Nest Trilogy, taking place five years after The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force.

In the future, fans are expecting the Legacy of the Force series along with Outbound Flight and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader.

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 two Saturday morning cartoons of the same name.

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, List of LucasArts Star Wars games, and List of 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.

In addition, many other toys have been made. The Star Wars toy phenomenon began in 1978 with the original action figures, toy lightsabers and blasters, twelve-inch figures, toy vehicles, and much more products. These toys are known as the vintage Star Wars toys. Today many of these vintage figures are quite rare and hard to find. Many are also worth a lot of money. Recently, a toy line called Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Collection, brought back elements of the original vintage toy line, such as vintage packaging. With the coming of Star Wars: Episode I, Lego began creating little (and quite large) buildable Star Wars characters and scenes. Recently, the Lego creators have invented light-up lightsabers for their figures. Lego even made a video game (metioned above). All kinds of toys have been made. Very cool Darth Vader helmet and voice changers now inhabit the shelves, usually right next to the Ultimate Lightsaber Kit, which contains parts to design and assemble your own functional lightsaber toy.

The ride

See also: Star Tours

In 1987, Lucasfilm and Disney, utilizing the power of ILM, teamed up to produce Star Tours, an amusement park simulator ride through the Star Wars galaxy. The ride is advertised as an opportunity to take a tour to the forest moon of Endor via the Starship 3000. The ship is controlled by a robot named Rex (voiced by Paul Reubens of Pee Wee Herman fame), who happens to be new at giving the tours, and your riding experience happens to be his first time at the controls. Along the way, the rider encounters many mishaps, including run-ins with Imperial star destroyers, and near collisions with asteroid fields, until their ship finally makes it safely back into the port. A Star Tours II has been announced by George Lucas, to be based on prequel situations. Although exactly when it will begin production or its opening date are as of yet to be confirmed.

Major EU Characters

Major EU Locations

Major themes and influences

The Star Wars saga has been influenced by ancient mythology, philosophy, and religion.

Mythology

Many of the themes within Star Wars reflect elements of Greek tragedy, Arthurian Legend, 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. The original film contained Arthurian elements such as Excalibur and Merlin, as well as a "round table" aboard the Millennium Falcon. Another example occurs as Anakin Skywalker causes the death of his wife Padmé 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

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 practitioners 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 Yin 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 Episodes 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. It has been suggested as well that the Imperials/Rebels axis could also be a reference to real-world Reactionaries vs. Revolutionaries, but it's all speculation.

• Star Wars
• Space opera