The Star Wars Holiday Special Frequently Asked Questions by Aaron Snyder (amsnyd@aol.com) This is a list of frequently asked questions about the infamous 1978 special. If you have a question about the Star Wars Holiday Special that this FAQ doesn't answer, you can ask me, and I will either answer it (if I can), or I'll try to find the answer. Topics covered: 1. What is the Star Wars Holiday Special? a. When did it air in the United States? b. Did it air outside of the United States? c. Is this that old tv movie with the Ewoks? d. Is this that old tv movie with the Wookiee's that I saw 20 years ago? 2. Where can I see the Star Wars Holiday Special? a. How can I forget that I saw the Star Wars Holiday Special? 3. Where can I buy the Star Wars Holiday Special? a. Has it been released on video officially? Why not? b. How much should I pay for a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special? c. What is the average quality of a bootleg copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special? d. What's the story behind the remastered version of the Star Wars Holiday Special? e. I really want to see this officially released or reaired, what can I do? 4. Is there a longer version of the Boba Fett cartoon than that which was included in the Star Wars Holiday Special? 4a. Was the cartoon originally made as a featurrette, or for some other purpose than being a part of the Star Wars Holiday Special? 5. Did any of the Star Wars Holiday Special characters appear in any other Star Wars books/comics/movies/etc? 6. Was there any merchandise made in association with the Star Wars Holiday Special? 7. How involved was George Lucas with this project? a. What does George Lucas think of the special? b. Did George Lucas really destroy all of the negatives of the Star Wars Holiday Special? 8. Where can I learn more about the Star Wars Holiday Special? 9. Are there people who actually LIKE this show? 10. Why would anyone make such a thing? 1. What is the Star Wars Holiday Special? The Star Wars Holiday Special is a CBS special made by Smith-Hemion productions that starred all of the main Star Wars: A New Hope cast (excluding Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing), all portraying their respective characters as well as other celebrities such as Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur, Diahann Carroll, and the Jefferson Starship. It also included an animated cartoon by Nelvana that featured the first appearance of Boba Fett. 1a. When did it air in the United States? It aired once on November 17, 1978. 1b. Did it air outside the United States? Yes it reportedly aired in France and in New Zealand sometime in 1979 and Belgium in 1980 with Dutch subtitles. As for other countries, I don't know. 1c. Is this that old tv movie with the Ewoks? No, the two television specials with the Ewoks were "An Ewok Adventure: The Caravan of Courage" (1984) and "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor" (1985). Both specials aired originally on ABC, are available officially on home video, and frequently air on the Disney Channel. For more information about "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor" you can check out Michael Streeter's page at http://www.lucasfan.com/swtv/bfe.html. 1d. Is this that old tv movie with the Wookiee's that I saw 20 years ago? Yes. It featured Chewbacca's family (his wife Mala, son Lumpy, and father Itchy). 2. Where can I see the Star Wars Holiday Special? The special will probably NEVER air again and is not available on videocassette (officially anyway), so your choices are limited. You can obtain a copy of the special somehow from someone who recorded it when it aired twenty years ago (or, more likely, a copy of someone's copy, of someone's copy, etc). It is frequently shown at science fiction conventions and I've heard of a few video rental outlets in the United States that rent it out. If you have a real video player there is also a new site, the Star Wars Theater at http://www.lucasfan.com/theatre/index.html that periodically will show the special in real video. 2a. How can I forget that I saw the Star Wars Holiday Special? Therapy. Warning: The first time I watched this I hated it, but the more I watched it, the more it started to grow on me. You may want to avoid frequent viewings. 3. Where can I buy the Star Wars Holiday Special? If you REALLY want to buy it, bootleg videocassettes are sold at science fiction conventions pretty frequently and I've heard of a few video stores in the United States selling them (Note: they would not be found at Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Blockbuster video, or any other chain stores). Another place where you can buy it is on the internet. The newsgroup alt.video.tape-trading would be a good place to look. Michael Streeter suggests on his Star Wars Theater page that if you have a real video player, you watch it there at http://www.lucasfan.com/theatre/index.html before you buy it to know what you would be getting and if it would really be worth it to you. A quick note: I don't promote buying a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special at all, this is only for informative purposes. 3a. Has it been released on video officially? Why not? It has not because George Lucas hates it and wishes that all copies would be destroyed. 3b. How much should I pay for a copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special? Well most people who have seen the special would agree that around zero (0) dollars would be a fair price for special. Seriously, if you look hard enough you can find someone on the internet who will make you a copy for the cost of the tape plus shipping. I certainly would not advise paying any more than $10 for it, and you can probably find it cheaper than that on the internet. Again I am not promoting purchasing the special in anyway. 3c. What is the average quality of a bootleg copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special? >From what I've heard, most of them are pretty poor. The two I have aren't bad, but one was remastered and the other was a second generation copy, both of which are of a superior quality than most bootlegs sold of this special. 3d. What's the story behind the remastered version of the Star Wars Holiday Special? There are several remastered copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special being sold. Their origin is not known for certain. One rumor is that a few students in the UK remastered it. A seller of the remastered special says that the remastered videos all come from that person's original first generation copy which that person had remastered by a friend in the business who placed the video images into a computer and cleaned up all of the glitches and transferred them back onto a tape to do away with any drop outs and glitches in that persons master. I don't know for certain if all of the remastered videos of the Star Wars Holiday Special are from the same source since I've only seen one copy (though I believe they are), so that could be the reason for the different stories of its origin (or one or both of the rumors concerning it is incorrect). I obtained a copy of the remastered version and compared it to my unremastered second generation copy and the remastered version is MUCH better quality, though again I don't advocate buy a copy of this special (remastered or not) and most people seem to agree that the viewer will probably be disappointed with it no matter what the quality is. 3e. I really want to see this officially released or reaired, what can I do? There's not much you can do, except send letters to the following addresses and tell them that you would like to see it rereleased or reaired: George Lucas P O Box 2009 San Rafael, CA 94912 Smith-Hemion Productions 1420 N Beachwood Dr Bldg 43, Los Angeles, CA 90028-8342 A survey was taken at http://www.shavenwookie.com concerning the special. It asked the question 'Should the Holiday Special be re-released?' 68.1% of the respondents said yes, 18.1% said no, and 13.8% said maybe. 4. Is there a longer version of the Boba Fett cartoon than that which was included in the Star Wars Holiday Special? Yes, there is a version with a few extra seconds of footage which some video collectors have obtained, or so I've heard (I haven't seen this so I can't say how different it is from the regular version that was part of the Star Wars Holiday Special). 4a. Was the cartoon originally made as a featurrette, or for some other purpose than being a part of the Star Wars Holiday Special? No, it was not. Someone involved with the special informed me that it was created specifically for the special. 5. Did any of the Star Wars Holiday Special characters appear in any other Star Wars books/comics/movies/etc? Boba Fett, of course, went on to appear in the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (as well as in countless other books and comic books) and Chewbacca's family was in the 91st issue of the Star Wars comic book series, which were published by Marvel Comics, in Random House's "The Wookiee Storybook," and "The Black Fleet Crisis" trilogy by Micheal P. Kube-McDowell. Mala, Chewbacca's wife, was featured in "The Han Solo" trilogy by Ann Crispin. 6. Was there any merchandise made in association with the Star Wars Holiday Special? No, at least none that I know of. An action figure line was planned and prototypes of Chewbacca, Itchy, Mala, and Lumpy, were made, but the line was scrapped (probably because of how badly the special was received by Star Wars fans after it aired, or possibly George Lucas himself may have stopped the line's production). 7. How involved was George Lucas with this project? According to the 69 & 70th issue of Filmfax magazine, the original script was a collaboration between Lucas and Smith-Hemion Productions. Lucas, according to Lenny Ripps, who wrote the first draft of the special, "wanted to make a sweet and sentimental vision of a holiday season." Ripps beleives the end result did not match Lucas's vision. Also Ripps notes that the story was written by Lucas. Why his name is not included in the credits is unknown (though it is possible that Lucas asked for his name to be removed from the credits after seeing the final results). The Star Wars Holiday Special's original director, David Acumba, acknowledged in that same issue of Filmfax that Lucas's involvement in the production was attending a couple production meetings and discussing things he did and did not want to use in the show, but the show was only given his initial attention since he was working on many other projects. Lucas also was somewhat involved with the Boba Fett cartoon. According to the Star Wars Insider issue #27 after Nelvana presented Lucas with their idea for the cartoon Lucas helped resolve two weak parts of the story. Also, issue #69 & 70 of Filmfax magazine states that the character of Boba Fett was used in the cartoon because George Lucas liked the design of the Shock Troopers, special "Green Beret" type of Storm Troopers which were originally intended to appear in The Empire Strikes Back, but ended up being cut. The Shock Troopers' appearence was that of Boba Fett's, but all white. 7a. What does George Lucas think of the special? See question 3a. 7b. Did George Lucas really destroy all of the negatives of the Star Wars Holiday Special? I'm not completely sure if that rumor is true or not, but since the rights to the Star Wars Holiday Special are owned by Smith-Hemion Productions and not Lucasfilm, Ltd it seems very unlikely. 8. Where can I learn more about the Star Wars Holiday Special? Michael Streeter has a very informative website dedicated to the special at http://www.lucasfan.com/swtv/index2.html. If you are interested in other Star Wars television programs and specials his Star Wars on TV page at http://www.lucasfan.com/swtv/index.html will also interest you. Also there are articles about the special in Starlog magazine #17, in the Star Wars Insider magazine #23, and in Filmfax magazine #69 & 70. The book "Star Wars Chronicles" also contains material on the special. 9. Are there people who actually LIKE this show? Very few, but yes, myself included. I got a big kick out of it for some reason. I think it was the Cantina sequence with Beatrice Arthur. 10. Why would anyone make such a thing? This is what 90% of the viewers ask after seeing the special for the first time. I guess they thought that a multi-armed transvestite cooking show host, an erotic Diahann Carroll machine for Wookiees, and a Cantina sing along would bring in ratings. It seemed really silly to most people and they thought that it lacked the Star Wars feel. Personally I thought it had an interesting charm of its own, but I definitely agree that this show was REALLY corny. The document is public domain. Star Wars and all related to it are ©Lucasfilm, Ltd. The Star Wars Holiday Special and everything related to it is ©Smith-Hemion Productions. If you have any comments, suggestions and/or and other information I could put on this FAQ, let me know. I'd like to thank Michael Streeter (who maintains most of these homepages), Chris Hawkins (who maintains www.shavenwookie.com), and Clive Young (News Editor of Pro Sound News and Senior Editor of Replication News) for their help with this FAQ, and the maintainers of the RASSM FAQ which I sort of used as an outline for this one.