NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > GEORGE LUCAS MAKES PLANS FOR STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL: SE

GEORGE LUCAS MAKES PLANS FOR STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL: SE

July 22 2009

San Francisco, CA – From humble beginnings Star Wars has grown into one of the biggest tales that has ever been told. Rivalling epics such as ‘Beowulf’ and ‘The Odyssey’, the simple tale of a young farm boy thrust in a much greater world of conflict and heroism has become a touchstone for generations that will likely last for
as long as we pass along stories. With movies, books, fan fiction, video games, and an upcoming television show that tale continues to grow, expanding outwards to heights that no story has ever progressed before and likely will ever again.

Because of that ‘Star Wars’ is no doubt George Lucas’ greatest legacy. His contributions to the mechanics and science of filmmaking are equally unparalleled, but the tale of a mighty empire against a fledgling rebellion will likely stand as his greatest achievement. Because of that it is understandable that the director wants to make his lasting achievement as perfect as possible and as time has progressed he has made numerous changes to his project in order to achieve that. Some of those changes have been embraced by fans but many of them have been heavily criticized. Lucas though has pushed on, perfecting his vision for the ages, something he now plans to do with the already controversial Star Wars: The Holiday Special.

“There have been a few things that have always bothered me about the Holiday Special and now the technology exists to change those things. It really isn’t all that different from what we did with the original movies. We’re going to go in and change some of the effects and tweak some of performances to bring them more in line with the other films,” said Lucas. “I’m not going to detail everything we are looking to change because we want the fans to have a few surprises. I think that they will be pleasantly surprised at the changes we are planning, most of which place the special fully in line with the rest of the series.”

The Holiday Special has longer been derided for its poor production values, cameos, and lacklustre storyline; most which it is believed will be digitally altered by the director.

“The Holiday Special is justifiably maligned as the kind of bastard stepchild of the Star Wars saga. Everything that was done right with the first movie was done poorly with the special which in a way completely defeats its reason for being. Hopefully they are able to change a lot of that but the restoration will have to be extensive,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “The challenge here isn’t just overcoming technical obstacles but also fan expectations. Lucas had some trouble in that area with the prequels but learned quickly. Hopefully he will be able to use that experience to make the Holiday Special watchable for perhaps the first time.”

Both the special editions of the original films and the prequel trilogy were heavily criticised by fans who believed that Lucas had betrayed their childhood. As time as has
past much of that criticism has changed into apathy, allowing the films to garner success on their own merits, something Lucas no doubt is attempting to achieve with the re-do of the Holiday Special.

“From what I’ve heard Lucas is planning to eliminate certain scenes entirely and will more or less do away with the guest stars. Bea Arthur will apparently be replaced with a Gungan character and  Jefferson Starship will be replaced with the Max Rebo Band, the latter of course will most likely please hardcore fans,” continued Temple. “The best thing about this revamp is that younger fans will now get a glimpse of stories they have little or no back story on. The special was the first time we saw the Wookie home world and the first time we saw Boba Fett. That will surely please fans young and old and give many a whole new perspective on the series, only adding to the Star Wars legend.”

Like the original version it’s not believed that the revamped Holiday special will ever be released on DVD.

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent  

NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > GEORGE LUCAS MAKES PLANS FOR STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL: SE