The Star Wars title card/logo, as seen in all films.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture
phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals.
Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first
in a new prequel trilogy of films was released, again released at three-year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 2005.
The Star Wars film series has spawned other media including books, television series, video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. These media kept the franchise going in the interim between the film trilogies. In 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released to theaters as the first ever worldwide theatrical Star Wars
film outside of the main trilogies. It was the franchise's first
animated film, and was intended as an introduction to the Expanded
Universe series of the same name, a 3DCGI animated series based on a previous 2D animated series of a similar name.
The events depicted in Star Wars media take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids
are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners.
Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a
Galactic Republic, later reorganized as the Galactic Empire.
One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the "Force",
an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability.
It is described in the first produced film as "an energy field created
by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds
the galaxy together."[3] The Force allows users to perform a variety of supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control)
and also can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and
reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved
through training. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy. In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, many dark side users are Dark Jedi rather than Sith, mainly because of the "Rule of Two" (see Sith Origin).[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Feature films
The film series began with Star Wars, released on May 25, 1977. This was followed by two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. The opening crawl
of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as "Episode V" and
"Episode VI" respectively, though the films were generally advertised
solely under their subtitles. Though the first film in the series was
simply titled Star Wars, it later had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels.[9]
In 1997, to correspond with the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars,
Lucas released "Special Editions" of the three films to theaters. The
re-releases featured alterations to the original films, primarily
motivated by the improvement of CGI
and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were
not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas
continued to make changes to the original trilogy for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the trilogy on September 21, 2004.[10]
The prequel trilogy follows the early life of Anakin Skywalker. He is discovered by the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, who believes him to be the "Chosen One" foretold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force. The Jedi Council, led by Yoda, sense that Anakin's future is clouded by fear, but reluctantly allow Qui-Gon's apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Anakin after Qui-Gon is killed by the Sith LordDarth Maul. At the same time, the planet Naboo is under attack, and its ruler, Queen Padmé Amidala, seeks the assistance of the Jedi to repel the attack. The Sith Lord Darth Sidious secretly planned the attack to give his alter-ego, Senator Palpatine, a pretense to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and take his place.[4] The remainder of the prequel trilogy chronicles Anakin's gradual fall to the dark side of the Force as he fights in the Clone Wars, which Palpatine secretly engineers in order to destroy the Republic and lure Anakin into his service.[5]
Anakin and Padmé fall in love and secretly wed, and eventually Padmé
becomes pregnant. Anakin has a prophetic vision of Padmé dying in
childbirth, and Palpatine convinces him that the dark side holds the
power to save her life; desperate, Anakin submits to the dark side and
takes the Sith name Darth Vader. While Palpatine re-organizes the Republic into the tyrannical Galactic Empire – appointing himself Emperor for life – Vader participates in the extermination of the Jedi Order, culminating in a lightsaber
battle between himself and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan defeats his former
apprentice and best friend, severing his limbs and leaving him for
dead. However, Palpatine arrives shortly afterward to save Vader and
put him into a mechanical suit of black armor that keeps him alive. At
the same time, Padmé dies while giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. The twins are hidden from Vader and are not told who their real parents are.[6]
Tatooine has two suns, as it is in a binary star system. This shot from A New Hope remains one of the most famous scenes of the entire saga.[12]
The original trilogy begins 19 years later as Vader nears completion of the massive Death Star space station, which will allow the Empire to crush the Rebel Alliance, which has formed to combat Palpatine's tyranny. Vader captures Princess Leia Organa, who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in the astromech droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with his counterpart C-3PO, escape to the planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by Luke Skywalker
and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he
accidentally triggers a message put into the droid by Leia, who asks
for assistance from Obi-Wan. Luke later assists the droids in finding
the Jedi Knight, who is now passing as an old hermit under the alias
Ben Kenobi. When Luke asks about his father, Obi-Wan tells him that
Anakin was a great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader.[13] Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan,
Leia's homeworld, which they eventually find has been destroyed by the
Death Star. Once onboard the space station, Obi-Wan allows himself to
be killed during a lightsaber rematch with Vader; his sacrifice allows
the group to escape with the plans that help the rebels destroy the
Death Star.[3]
Three years later, Luke travels to find Yoda and start his Jedi
training, but is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by
capturing Han and the others. Vader reveals that he is Luke's father
and attempts to turn him to the dark side.[7] Luke escapes, and, after rescuing Han from the gangster Jabba the Hutt
a year later, returns to his training with Yoda, who by this time is on
his deathbed. Before he passes away, Yoda confirms that Vader is Luke's
father; moments later, Obi-Wan's spirit tells Luke that he must face
his father before he can become a Jedi, and that Leia is his twin
sister. As the Rebels attack the second Death Star, Luke confronts
Vader as Palpatine watches; both Sith Lords intend to turn Luke to the
dark side and take him as their apprentice. During the subsequent
lightsaber duel, Luke succumbs to his anger and brutally overpowers
Vader, but controls himself at the last minute; realizing that he is
about to suffer his father's fate, he spares Vader's life and proudly
declares his allegiance to the Jedi. An enraged Palpatine then attempts
to kill Luke with Force lightning,
a sight that moves Vader to turn on and kill his master, suffering
mortal wounds in the process. Redeemed, Anakin Skywalker dies in his
son's arms. Luke becomes a full-fledged Jedi, and the Rebels destroy
the second Death Star and, with it, the Empire.[8]
Star Wars features elements such as knights, witches, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre.[15] The Star Wars
world, unlike science-fiction and fantasy films that featured sleek and
futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas' vision of
a "used future" was further popularized in the science fiction-horror
films Alien,[16] which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner,
which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future. Lucas made a
conscious effort to parallel scenes and dialogue between films, and
especially to parallel the journeys of Luke Skywalker with that of his
father Anakin when making the prequels.[4]
Technical information
All six films of the Star Wars series were shot in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The original trilogy was shot with anamorphic lenses. Episodes IV and V were shot in Panavision, while Episode VI was shot in Joe Dunton Camera (JDC) scope. Episode I was shot with Hawk anamorphic lenses on Arriflex cameras, and Episodes II and III were shot with Sony's CineAlta high-definition digital cameras.[17] Lucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on A New Hope.
Burtt's accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a Special Achievement Award because it had no award at the time for the work he had done.[18] Lucasfilm developed the THX sound reproduction standard for Return of the Jedi.[19]John Williams composed the scores for all six films. Lucas' design for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts. Williams' Star Wars title theme has become one of the most famous and well-known musical compositions in modern music history.[20]
The technical lightsaber choreography for the original trilogy was developed by Hollywood sword-master Bob Anderson. Anderson trained actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and performed all the sword stunts as Darth Vader during the lightsaber duels in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the original Star Wars trilogy was highlighted in the film Reclaiming the Blade, where he shares his experiences as the fight choreographer developing the lightsaber techniques for the movies.[21]
In 1971, Universal Studios agreed to make American Graffiti and Star Wars in a two-picture contract, although Star Wars was later rejected in its early concept stages. American Graffiti
was completed in 1973 and, a few months later, Lucas wrote a short
summary called "The Journal of the Whills", which told the tale of the
training of apprentice C.J. Thorpe as a "Jedi-Bendu" space commando by
the legendary Mace Windy.[22] Frustrated that his story was too difficult to understand, Lucas then wrote a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars, which was a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.[23] By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay, adding elements such as the Sith, the Death Star,
and a protagonist named Annikin Starkiller. For the second draft, Lucas
made heavy simplifications, and also introduced the young hero on a
farm as Luke Skywalker. Anakin became Luke's father, a wise Jedi
knight. "The Force"
was also introduced as a supernatural power. The next draft removed the
father character and replaced him with a substitute named Ben Kenobi,
and in 1976 a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography.
The film was titled Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars. During production, Lucas changed Luke's name to Skywalker and altered the title to simply The Star Wars and finally Star Wars.[24]
At that point, Lucas was not expecting the film to become part of a
series. The fourth draft of the script underwent subtle changes that
made it more satisfying as a self-contained film, ending with the
destruction of the Empire itself by way of destroying the Death Star. However, Lucas had
previously conceived of the film as the first in a series of
adventures. Later, he realised the film would not in fact be the first
in the sequence, but a film in the second trilogy in the saga. This is
stated explicitly in George Lucas' preface to the 1994 reissue of Splinter of the Mind's Eye:
It wasn't long after I began writing Star Wars that I
realized the story was more than a single film could hold. As the saga
of the Skywalkers and Jedi Knights unfolded, I began to see it as a
tale that could take at least nine films to tell – three trilogies –
and I realized, in making my way through the back story and after
story, that I was really setting out to write the middle story.
The second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about
"The Princess of Ondos," and by the time of the third draft some months
later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two
sequels. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster, and hired him to write these two sequels as novels.[25] The intention was that if Star Wars were successful, Lucas could adapt the novels into screenplays.[26] He had also by that point developed a fairly elaborate backstory to aid his writing process.[27]
When Star Wars proved successful, Lucas decided to use the film as the basis for an elaborate serial, although at one point he considered walking away from the series altogether.[28] However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center – what would become Skywalker Ranch – and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent.[29]
Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the first sequel novel, but
Lucas decided to abandon his plan to adapt Foster's work; the book was
released as Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following year. At first Lucas envisioned a series of films with no set number of entries, like the James Bond series. In an interview with Rolling Stone
in August 1977, he said that he wanted his friends to each take a turn
at directing the films and giving unique interpretations on the series.
He also said that the backstory in which Darth Vader turns to the dark
side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel.
Later that year, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write Star Wars II with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called The Empire Strikes Back.
The treatment is very similar to the final film, except that Darth
Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that
Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to
instruct Luke.[30]
Brackett finished her first draft in early 1978; Lucas has said he
was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her, she
died of cancer.[31]
With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. It
was this draft in which Lucas first made use of the "Episode" numbering
for the films; Empire Strikes Back was listed as Episode II.[32] As Michael Kaminski argues in The Secret History of Star Wars, the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions in which to take the story.[33]
He made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claims to be Luke's
father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as
opposed to the year-long struggles writing the first film, and quickly
wrote two more drafts,[34] both in April 1978. He also took the script to a darker extreme by having Han Solo imprisoned in carbonite and left in limbo.[7]
This new story point of Darth Vader being Luke's father had drastic
effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is
unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even
conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating
under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's
father;[35] there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back
in which the point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he
had created: Anakin Skywalker was Ben Kenobi's brilliant student and
had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who became a Sith
and not simply a politician). Anakin battled Ben Kenobi on the site of
a volcano and was wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader.
Meanwhile Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Republic became the Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi.[36]
Image of the original trilogy DVD collection on the top and the prequel trilogy DVD collection on the bottom.
With this new backstory in place, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy, changing Empire Strikes Back from Episode II to Episode V in the next draft.[34]Lawrence Kasdan, who had just completed writing Raiders of the Lost Ark, was then hired to write the next drafts, and was given additional input from director Irvin Kershner. Kasdan, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz
saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the
new, darker storyline, and developed the series from the light
adventure roots of the first film.[37]
By the time he began writing Episode VI in 1981 (then titled Revenge of the Jedi), much had changed. Making Empire Strikes Back was stressful and costly, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burned out and not wanting to make any more Star Wars films, he vowed that he was done with the series in a May 1983 interview with Time magazine.
Lucas' 1981 rough drafts had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for
possession of Luke – and in the second script, the "revised rough
draft," Vader became a sympathetic character. Lawrence Kasdan was hired
to take over once again and, in these final drafts, Vader was
explicitly redeemed and finally unmasked. This change in character
would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline
that underlies the prequels.[38]
Prequel trilogy
After losing much of his fortune in a divorce settlement in 1987, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars, and had unofficially canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of Return of the Jedi.[39] Nevertheless, the prequels, which were quite developed at this point, continued to fascinate him. After Star Wars became popular once again, in the wake of Dark Horse's comic book line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels, Lucas saw that there was still a large audience. His children were older, and with the explosion of CGI technology he was now considering returning to directing.[40] By 1993 it was announced, in Variety
among other sources, that he would be making the prequels. He began
outlining the story, now indicating the series would be a tragic one
examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Lucas also began to
change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals; at first
they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history, backstory, existing
parallel or tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could
form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's
childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards
turning the film series into a "Saga".[41]
In 1994, Lucas began writing the first screenplay titled Episode I: The Beginning. Following the release of that film, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working on Episode II at that time.[42] The first draft of Episode II was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish it.[43] Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film "Jar Jar's Great Adventure."[44] In writing The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas initially decided that Lando Calrissian was a clone and came from a planet of clones which caused the "Clone Wars" mentioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope;[45][46]
he later came up with an alternate concept of an army of clone
shocktroopers from a remote planet which attacked the Republic and were
repelled by the Jedi.[47] The basic elements of that backstory became the plot basis for Episode II, with the new wrinkle added that Palpatine secretly orchestrated the crisis.[5]
Lucas began working on Episode III before Attack of the Clones was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles.[48] As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot.[49] Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars,
offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted
Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening
sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Count Dooku, murdered by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side.[50]
After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more
massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to
the dark side; he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Padmé's
life, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of
several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil
and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was
accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and
revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004.[51]
Lucas often exaggerated the amount of material he wrote for the
series; much of it stemmed from the post–1978 period when the series
grew into a phenomenon. Michael Kaminski explained that these
exaggerations were both a publicity and security measure. Kaminski
rationalized that since the series' story radically changed throughout
the years, it was always Lucas' intention to change the original story
retroactively because audiences would only view the material from his
perspective.[6][52]
The sequel trilogy was a reportedly planned trilogy of films (Episodes VII, VIII and IX) by Lucasfilm as a sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV, V and VI) released between 1977 and 1983.[53] While the similarly discussed Star Wars prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II and III) was ultimately released between 1999 and 2005, Lucasfilm and George Lucas have for many years denied plans of making a sequel trilogy, insisting that Star Wars is meant to be a six-part series.[54][55]
Future releases
At a ShoWest convention in 2005, Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release the six films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007.[56]
However, by January 2007, Lucasfilm stated on StarWars.com that "there
are no definitive plans or dates for releasing the Star Wars saga in
3-D." At Celebration Europe in July 2007, Rick McCallum
confirmed that Lucasfilm is "planning to take all six films and turn
them into 3-D," but they are "waiting for the companies out there that
are developing this technology to bring it down to a cost level that
makes it worthwhile for everybody".[57] In July 2008, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of Dreamworks Animations, revealed that Lucas plans to redo all six of the movies in 3D.[58] In late September 2010, it was announced that The Phantom Menace will be theatrically re-released in 3-D during 2012.[59] All six films will be re-released in order, with the 3-D conversion process taking at least a year to complete per film.[60]
Lucas has hinted in the past that he will release future, more definitive editions of the six Star Wars films on a next-generation home-video format.[61][62]
There have been discussions that he will take this opportunity to make
any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his
films for this final release. An altered clip from The Phantom Menace included in a featurette on the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith features a computer generated Yoda replacing the original puppet; animation director Rob Coleman stated that the clip had been created as test footage of Yoda prior to work on Revenge of the Sith.[63]
Lucasfilm Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward announced that Lucasfilm
is likely to do more work on the films, stating "As the technology
evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily
consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there
will always be work to be done."[64]
At Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo 2010, Steve Sansweet,
Lucasfilm's Director of Fan Relations, revealed that "a very full set
of all six movies on Blu-ray with lots of extra material" is being prepared for release.[65] On August 14, 2010, George Lucas announced that all six Star Wars films will be released on Blu-ray Disc in the Fall of 2011.[66] On January 6, 2011, Lucasfilm announced the release of the Star Wars saga on Blu-ray for September 2011.[67]
The term Expanded Universe (EU) is an umbrella term for officially licensed Star Wars
material outside of the six feature films. The material expands 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.[96]
George Lucas retains artistic 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
efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors
across companies.[97] 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. Additionally, Lucas so liked the character Aayla Secura, who was introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, that he included her as a character in Attack of the Clones.[98]
Lucas has played a large role in the production of various
television projects, usually serving as storywriter or executive
producer.[99]Star Wars has had numerous radio adaptations. 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, except in Return of the Jedi in which Luke was played by Joshua Fardon and Lando by Arye Gross. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs.[100]
Other films
In addition to the two trilogies, several authorized films have been produced:
Following the success of the Star Wars films and their subsequent merchandising, several animated television series have been created for the younger fan base:
Star Wars: Ewoks and colloquially as The Ewoks, was simultaneously released in September 1985 and focused on the adventures of Wicket and various other recognizable Ewok characters from the original trilogy in the years leading up to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Untitled Star Wars Animated Series: an animated comedy series written by Brendan Hay, who is a writer for the comedy news show The Daily Show, and with creative consulting from the co-creators of Robot Chicken: Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. The series will take place during the original trilogy and the setting will be remote from the front line of war.[101]
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 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 A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, 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 trilogy (1977–1983) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1992, 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 in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and accompanying video game and comic book series.[102]
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. 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 prior to The Phantom Menace. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker in between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. The Last of the Jedi series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and another surviving Jedi almost immediately following Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue' series, by Topps, in 1977.[112] 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.[113]
The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own non-canon material 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.[116]
While many fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded
Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part
of the Star Warscanon. However, the lead character from the Pink Five series was incorporated into Timothy Zahn's 2007 novel Allegiance, marking the first time a fan-created Star Wars character has ever crossed into the official canon.[117]
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.[118]
The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern American pop culture. Both the films and characters have been parodied in numerous films and television.
Notable film parodies of Star Wars include Hardware Wars, a 13 minute 1977 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody, and Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic.[119][120]
Lucasfilm itself made two mockumentaries: Return of the Ewok (1982), about Warwick Davis, who portrayed Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi; and R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002), which depicts R2-D2's "life story".[121][122]
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, 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.'"[126] This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "Evil empire".
