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[[File:Star-wars-logo-new-tall.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The ''Star Wars'' logo]]
{{Quote|A film for a generation growing up without fairy tales.|George Lucas|<ref name="Topps quote">''[[1995 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 3]]''</ref>}}
'''''Star Wars''''' is a [[Wikipedia:Cross-genre|multi-genre]] [[Wikipedia:Myth|mythology]] and multimedia franchise created by [[George Lucas]] in [[1976]]. Comprising movies, novels, comics, video games, toys, and numerous television series, the ''Star Wars'' franchise employs archetypal motifs common to religions, classical mythology, and political climax, as well as musical motifs of those same aspects.

As one of the foremost examples of the [[Wikipedia:space opera|space opera]] [[Wikipedia:Science fiction genre|subgenre of science fiction]], ''Star Wars'' has become part of mainstream popular culture.
==Overview==
[[File:Atathoth.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[All Terrain Armored Transport|AT-ATs]] on [[Hoth]]]]
The ''Star Wars'' story has been presented in a series of [[Wikipedia:Cinema of the United States|American films]], which have spawned a large quantity of books and other media, which have formed the [[Star Wars Legends|Expanded Universe]]. The ''Star Wars'' mythos is also the basis of many toys and games of varying types. The films and novels employ common science-fiction motifs.

Whereas [[W:c:memory-alpha:Gene Roddenberry|Gene Roddenberry's]] [[Memoryalpha:Star Trek|''Star Trek'']], a [[Wikipedia:science fantasy|science fantasy]] franchise that has enjoyed long-lasting popularity in [[Wikipedia:Culture of the United States|American popular culture]], and often combines magical/supernatural elements with a rational and progressive approach to storytelling, ''Star Wars'' has a strong mythic quality alongside its political and scientific elements.

Unlike the heroes of earlier space-set sci-fi/fantasy film and TV series such as [[Wikipedia:Flash Gordon (serial)|''Flash Gordon'']], the heroes of ''Star Wars'' are not militaristic types but romantic individualists. College literature professors have remarked that the ''Star Wars'' saga, with its struggle between good and evil, democracy and [[Galactic Empire|empire]], can be considered a national epic for the [[Wikipedia:United States|United States]]. The film has many visual and narrative similarities to [[Wikipedia:John Ford|John Ford's]] ''[[Wikipedia:The Searchers|The Searches]]'', which also provides a clue to the relationship between [[Leia Organa Solo|Leia Organa]] and [[Luke Skywalker]].

George Lucas attributed the strong appeal of ''Star Wars'' to it being a mythology that takes from thousand-year-old psychological motifs and underpinnings of humanity. Particularly, Lucas saw children as the prime audience for such stories. The ''Star Wars'' films show considerable similarity to Japanese ''[[Wikipedia:Jidaigeki|Jidaigeki]]'' films, as well as [[Wikipedia:Roman mythology|Roman mythology]]. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in ''Star Wars'' a modern mythology, based on the studies of his friend and mentor [[Wikipedia:Joseph Campbell|Joseph Campbell]]. He has also called the first movie's similarity to the film [[Wikipedia:The Hidden Fortress|''The Hidden Fortress'']] ([[Wikipedia:Akira Kurosawa|Akira Kurosawa]]) an "homage."

The ''Star Wars'' films portray a world full of grime and technology that looks like it has been used for years, unlike the sleek, futuristic world typical of earlier science-fiction films. In interviews, Lucas tells of rubbing the new props with dirt to make them look weatherworn. Lucas may have been inspired by the [[Wikipedia:Sergio Leone|Sergio Leone]] [[Wikipedia:Spaghetti Western|Spaghetti Western]] films of the [[1960s]], which performed a similar function on the [[Wikipedia:Western (genre)|Western]] many years earlier. It is tempting to speculate that this break from traditional science-fiction film influenced the [[Wikipedia:cyberpunk|cyberpunk]] genre that emerged around [[1984]].

Licensed ''Star Wars'' novels have been published since the original movie was released in [[1977]]. Although these novels are licensed by Lucas (meaning he shares in the royalties), he retains ultimate creative control over the ''Star Wars'' universe, forcing [[Lucas Licensing]] to devote considerable ongoing effort to ensuring continuity between different authors' works and Lucas' films. Occasionally, elements from these novels are adopted into the highest tier of ''Star Wars'' [[canon]], the movies. Books, games, and stories that are not directly derived from the nine movies of ''Star Wars'' are known as the Extended or Expanded Universe (EU for short). Lucas has said that he does not deeply involve himself in the EU, choosing instead to concentrate mainly on his movies instead of "&hellip;the licensing world of the books, games and comic books."

The original (1977) ''Star Wars'' ([[Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope|''A New Hope'']]) and the first sequel, [[Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back|''The Empire Strikes Back'']] (1980), have been selected for preservation in the United States [[Wikipedia:National Film Registry|National Film Registry]].

In [[1978]], Lucas sued the creators of [[Wikipedia:Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|''Battlestar Galactica'']] for its similarity to ''Star Wars''. The case was dismissed as having no merit in [[1980]] by a [[Wikipedia:United States federal judge|U.S. Federal judge]].

==History==
===Original Trilogy===
====''Star Wars'' (''A New Hope'')====
Although [[George Lucas]] had made a name for himself among some industry insiders for his work at [[Wikipedia:University of Southern California|USC]], it was not until the release of ''[[Wikipedia:American Graffiti|American Graffiti]]'' in August of [[1973]] that he reached stardom. The film grossed over $115 million at the box office and was dollar-for-dollar the most profitable film in the history of Hollywood at the time. Lucas' profit participation in ''Graffiti'' earned him over $7 million. Lucas was now a millionaire and one of the most sought after young directors in the world.

[[Alan Ladd, Jr.]], then the head of [[20th Century Studios|Twentieth Century Fox]], saw a smuggled print of ''American Graffiti'' before it was released in theaters and was determined that Fox was going to be the next studio to profit from Lucas' genius.

=====Influences=====
[[File:Star_Wars_poster.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Poster art for ''Star Wars'': Episode IV ''A New Hope'']]
Many different influences have been suggested for the ''Star Wars'' films by fans, critics, and George Lucas himself. Lucas has said that the plot and characters in the [[1950s#1958|1958]] Japanese film ''The Hidden Fortress'', directed by Akire Kurosawe, was a major inspiration. Additionally, the film influenced Lucas to tell the story of ''Star Wars'' from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than a major player. It also played a role in the conception of [[Anakin Skywalker|Darth Vader]], whose trademark black [[helmet]] intentionally resembles a [[Wikipedia:Samurai|samurai]] [[Wikipedia:Kabuto|helmet]].

George Lucas has often said that his original idea for the project that evolved into ''Star Wars'' was to remake the Flash Gordon movie serials from the 1930s (a "serial" is a movie shown in weekly installments of about 10-20 minutes each). The license wasn't available, so Lucas moved on to other ideas, beginning with Akira Kurosawa's film ''The Hidden Fortress'' and then Joseph Campbell's ''[[Wikipedia:The Hero with a Thousand Faces|The Hero With a Thousand Faces]]''. Despite the plot changes the ''Star Wars'' films are still bursting with influences from the Flash Gordon movie serials, including the [[Alliance to Restore the Republic|Rebels]] vs. the Imperial Forces, [[Cloud City]] and even the famous "roll up" which begins the movie.

The second major direction for ''Star Wars'' (used in the 1973 synopsis) was to use the Flash Gordon "vocabulary" to create an outer-space version of the Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, primarily ''Kakushi toride no san akunin'' (''The Hidden Fortress'', 1958), ''[[Wikipedia:Yojimbo|Yojimbo]]'' (1961) and ''Tsubaki Sanjūrō'' (''[[Wikipedia:Sanjuro|Sanjuro]]'', 1962). Joseph Campbell's ''The Hero With a Thousand Faces'' eventually gave Lucas a third and final major story direction, but many elements from Kurosawa's work remain, including the two bickering peasants (who evolved into the droids), and the queen who often switches places with her handmaiden. The Darth Vader-like evil general who has a change of heart at the end wears a [[Wikipedia:Mon (emblem)|kamon]] (a Japanese family crest) that looks very similar to the [[Wikipedia:Imperial Seal of Japan|Japanese Imperial Crest]].

Lucas had already written two drafts of ''Star Wars'' when he rediscovered Joseph Campbell's ''The Hero With a Thousand Faces'' in 1975 (having read it years before in college). This blueprint for "The Hero's Journey" gave Lucas the focus he needed to draw his sprawling imaginary universe into a single story. Campbell demonstrates in his book that all stories are expressions of the same story-pattern, which he named the ''Hero's Journey'' or the ''monomyth''.

Lucas has often cited The ''[[w:c:lotr:The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]'' series as a major influence on ''Star Wars''. Lucas learned from [[w:c:lotr:J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] how to handle the delicate stuff of myth. Tolkien wrote that myth and fairytale seem to be the best way to communicate morality - hints for choosing between right and wrong - and in fact that may be their primary purpose. Lucas has also acknowledged in interviews that the [[w:c:lotr:Gandalf|Gandalf]] and the [[w:c:lotr:Witch-king of Angmar|Witch-king]] characters in the ''Lord of the Rings'' influenced the [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] and Darth Vader characters respectively.

=====Screenplays=====
There are many myths surrounding the writing of ''Star Wars'', many perpetuated by [[Lucasfilm Ltd.|Lucasfilm]] and George Lucas himself. Author Michael Kaminski tried to set the record straight in his book ''The Secret History of Star Wars'', as did [[Jonathan W. Rinzler|Jonathan Rinzler]] in [[The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film|''The Making of Star Wars'']], both released in [[2007]].

Lucas' original concept was a swashbuckling space adventure movie. He says "the film was a good concept in search of a story". He first tried to have a child buy the rights to remake Flash Gordon, but was unsuccessful.

In 1971, [[Wikipedia:United Artists|United Artists]] agreed to make ''American Graffiti'' and ''Star Wars'' in a two-picture contract, though they would reject ''Star Wars'' in its early concept stages. ''Graffiti'' was made first, and when it was completed in 1973, Lucas set to work on making his space adventure movie. In early 1973, 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.

Frustrated that his story was too hard to understand, Lucas wrote a 13-page treatment called [[The Star Wars: Rough Draft|''The Star Wars'']], which loosely based on the structure of Akira Kurosawa's ''The Hidden Fortress''. By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into [[The Star Wars: First Draft|a rough-draft screenplay]], which added elements such as the Sith and the Death Star, and once more had the protagonist as a young boy, named [[Annikin Starkiller]]. For [[Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars|the second draft]], Lucas made heavy simplifications, and also introduced the young hero on a farm, with his name now Luke rather than Annikin. Luke/Annikin's father is still an active character in the story at this point, a wise Jedi knight, and "the Force" now became a supernatural power. [[The Star Wars: From The Adventures of Luke Starkiller|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 last name to Skywalker and altered the title to just ''The Star Wars'' and finally ''Star Wars''.

At this point, Lucas was thinking of the film as the only entry that would be made&mdash;the fourth draft underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film that ended with the destruction of the Empire itself, as the Death Star was said to achieve; possibly this was a result of the frustrating difficulties Lucas had encountered in pre-production during that period. However, in previous times Lucas had conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. 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&mdash;as novels. The intention was that if ''Star Wars'' was successful&mdash;and if Lucas felt like it&mdash;the novels could be adapted into screenplays. He had also by this point developed a fairly elaborate backstory&mdash;though this was not designed or intended for filming; it was merely backstory. "The backstory wasn't meant to be a movie," Lucas has said.

When ''Star Wars'' was successful, and not just successful but the biggest hit ever made at that time, Lucas decided to use the film as a springboard for an elaborate serial, although he considered walking away from the series altogether. However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center&mdash;what would become [[Skywalker Ranch]]&mdash;and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent for him. Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the sequel as a novel, but Lucas decided to disregard that for filming and create more elaborate film sequels; the book was released as [[Splinter of the Mind's Eye]] the next year. At first Lucas envisioned an unlimited number of sequels, much like the [[w:c:jamesbond:James Bond films|''James Bond'' series]], and in an interview with [[Wikipedia:Rolling Stone|''Rolling Stone'']] in August of 1977 said that he wanted his friends to take a try directing them and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory where Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Republic falls would make an excellent sequel. Later that year, Lucas hired sci-fi author [[Leigh Brackett]] to write "Star Wars II" with him. They held story conferences together, and in late November of 1977 Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called ''The Empire Strikes Back''. The story is very similar to the final film except Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Leigh Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke.

During this period, Lucas had now had time to attach a numeric figure to the amount of sequels&mdash;he revealed to ''[[Wikipedia:Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine in [[March]] 1978 that there would be twelve films altogether. This was then revealed in the official ''Star Wars'' fanclub newsletter, [[Bantha Tracks (newsletter)|Bantha Tracks]]. The figure of 12 was likely selected due to its tradition in serial episodes.

Brackett finished her first draft of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' in early 1978; Lucas has said he was disappointed with it, but before he could discuss it with her she had died from cancer. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his second draft himself. Here Lucas finally made use of the "Episode" listing in the film&mdash;''The Empire Strikes Back'' was Episode II. As Michael Kaminski argues in ''The Secret History of Star Wars'', the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions to take the story in. Here he made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader says he is Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles of the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts in the same month&mdash;[[April]] of 1978&mdash;which both retained the new Vader-as-father plot. He also took this darker ending farther by imprisoning [[Han Solo]] in [[carbonite]] and leaving him in limbo.

This new storyline where Vader was Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that this was a plot point that had seriously been considered before 1978, or even thought of before then, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to the Vader-as-father plot point before 1978. After the second and third drafts of ''The Empire Strikes Back'', where Lucas first introduced this point, he reviewed the new backstory he had now created: Annikin Skywalker is Ben Kenobi's brilliant student, has a child (Luke) but is swayed to the [[Dark side of the Force|dark-side]] by the [[Darth Sidious|Emperor]] (who was now a [[Sith]] and not just a politician), [[Duel on Mustafar|battles]] Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and is wounded but resurrected as Darth Vader; meanwhile, Kenobi hides Luke on [[Tatooine]] while the [[Galactic Republic|Republic]] becomes the [[Galactic Empire|Empire]] and Vader has hunted down the [[Jedi Knight]]s. With this new backstory, Lucas decided to film this as a trilogy&mdash;moving ''The Empire Strikes Back'' from Episode II to Episode V in the next draft. [[Lawrence Kasdan]], who had just completed writing ''[[w:c:indianajones:raiders of the Lost Ark|Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', was then hired to write the next drafts, and was helped by 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 brought the series far away from the light adventure roots it had existed as only a year earlier.

Lucas had also around this time developed a third trilogy as well, which took place twenty years after [[Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi|Episode VI]].

By the time of writing Episode VI&mdash;''[[Star Wars: Episode VI Revenge of the Jedi|Revenge of the Jedi]]'', as it was then known&mdash;in [[1981]], much had changed. Making ''The Empire Strikes Back'' was stressful and costly, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burnt out and not wanting to make any more ''Star Wars'' films, he vowed to be done with the series, as he makes explicit in a [[May]] [[1983]] interview with ''Time'' magazine. Lucas' 1981 rough drafts of ''Revenge of the Jedi'' had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke&mdash;and in the second script, the "revised rough draft," Vader was turned into 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 for the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline in the prequels.

=====Cast and crew=====
[[File:3p-anthony.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Anthony Daniels reflects (literally) on his portrayal of C-3PO]]
Since most major motion-picture companies no longer had special-effects teams, or they thought the American public was no longer interested in nonrealistic films, George Lucas had to create one from scratch. He eventually put together a team of model makers and special-effects people to create [[Industrial Light & Magic]]. The team worked in a run-down part of [[Wikipedia:Van Nuys|Van Nuys]] in a cramped work space that no one liked.

Meanwhile, George Lucas was looking for actors for ''Star Wars''. Lucas had decided to go with a group of unknowns, against the advice of his friend [[Wikipedia:Francis Ford Coppola|Francis Ford Coppola]], who had picked famous stage and screen actors for [[Wikipedia:The Godfather|''The Godfather'']]. Hundreds of actors and actresses tried out for the three main roles, Luke Skywalker, [[Prince]]ss Leia and Han Solo. Actors like [[Wikipedia:Burt Reynolds|Burt Reynolds]] and actresses like [[Wikipedia:Jodie Foster|Jodie Foster]] tried out for the parts, but Lucas eventually chose 25-year-old [[Mark Hamill]] (who had only worked on television) as Luke Skywalker and 19-year-old [[Carrie Fisher]], daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, as Princess Leia. Initially, Harrison Ford was not eligible for the role of Han Solo because he had worked with Lucas on ''American Graffiti'' but eventually swayed Lucas over after helping the other actors and actresses with their lines and got the part.

After casting the initial group, Lucas had to find actors for two of the film's droids, [[C-3PO]] and [[R2-D2]]. ILM had made some quaint remote-controlled robots, but these parts would require living actors. In came three-foot comedian [[Kenny Baker]]. Due to his shortness and the fact that kids could not control this heavy machine, he got the part of R2. [[Anthony Daniels]], however, did not want the part of C-3PO until he saw a drawing of C-3PO by [[Ralph McQuarrie]], and he instantly wanted the part and got it. Lucas eventually found Australia native [[Peter Mayhew]], who was over seven feet tall, making him the perfect size for Han Solo's furry [[Wookiee]] counterpart, [[Chewbacca]]. After casting all the characters, Lucas began production on ''Star Wars'' in mid-1976.

=====''Star Wars'' comes to life=====
The cast and crew of ''Star Wars'' began filming in Tunisia, North Africa where mid-morning temperatures reached 105 degrees. Many crew members and cast workers thought the movie was a joke and between problems on props and machinery, during filming Tunisia had their largest rainstorm in many years. Through it all [[Alec Guinness]], the Academy Award&ndash;winning actor who was cast as the wise mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, kept up a positive attitude and inspired the cast. The only silver lining was that after Africa, the team would be filming at a more controlled area, [[Elstree Studios]] in London.

After finishing up filming in Africa, the entire cast and crew of ''Star Wars'' finally came together to film the action sequences on the [[Death Star]] battle station. While this was happening, problems at ILM were far worse than the filming ones. Lucas eventually had to supervise every day at ILM, causing him to nearly have a heart attack. Meanwhile, Fox studios had had enough of George Lucas and his "kid's movie" and asked Alan Ladd, Jr. to terminate the project. Instead, Alan told Lucas he had only a few weeks to finish filming or have his movie fail. The last few climactic scenes were finished quickly with Lucas biking from soundstage to soundstage. Eventually, the film was finished, and the process to edit and fix his film began.

=====Problems ''Star Wars'' faced=====
When Lucas saw the first cut of his film, he was horrified. To make matters worse, he had to fire his editor. Luckily, his replacements (including his then wife [[Marcia Lucas|Marcia]]) greatly improved the film, but Lucas still insisted on reshooting some scenes. This, among other reasons, forced Fox to move the release date from Christmas [[1976]] to summer 1977. After showing the film without its music score to some of his friends, only [[Steven Spielberg]], who had recently become an A-list director with the release of [[Wikipedia:Jaws (film)|Jaws]], liked it. However, when Fox executives saw it they loved it. With his film cut and most of the sounds for the film completed (and with the help of [[Ben Burtt]]), Lucas started to think about his film's score. It was Spielberg who recommended [[John Williams]] (who had just scored ''Jaws''). This was considered a gutsy move because thematic scores were out of style at the time, but Lucas went ahead with it.

=====Pre-release=====
After the score was completed, Lucas began to market his picture. However, many people thought it would be a flop, so not many people went with him. One company that did, however, was the toy company [[Kenner Products]], who decided to make a few figures for the release. Eventually, Lucas's film was released on May 25, 1977. It would be a day they would never forget.

=====Success=====
When ''Star Wars'' opened, it initially opened at a few theaters. A month after its release, ''Star Wars'' played at almost every theater in the country and hundreds worldwide. People, especially children, flocked to see the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia again and again and again. Lines stretched for miles. Kenner, caught up in a vortex, ran out of toys by early fall of the film's release. So, the infamous "Empty Box" scheme was formed. Fox's stock rocketed up. Merchandise flew off the shelves by the thousands and Lucas became very rich. ''Star Wars''{{'}} run eventually ended by early 1978 with over 260 million dollars, making it the most successful film in history at that time. It would be re-released over the next 20 years, adding 220 million to its overall total. Currently, it is the second-highest American grossing film of all time (in inflation-adjusted dollars), second only to [[Wikipedia:Gone with the Wind (film)|''Gone with the Wind'']].

''Star Wars'' was nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture and won 6 of them. But just being nominated for it showed Fox and Lucas, who knew all along, that this was not a "kids' film."

====''The Empire Strikes Back''====
[[File:Empire_strikes_back_old.jpg|right|200px|Original poster art for ''Star Wars'': Episode V ''The Empire Strikes Back'']]
In 1978, with George Lucas a millionaire, he began taking his screenplays for Episodes V and VI and turning them into films, as, despite later declarations, he was already developing the idea of a "trilogy of trilogies" of which ''Star Wars'' would have been only Episode IV<ref name="Starlog50">{{Starlog|50|Starlog (magazine)|Log Entries|link=https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-050/page/n9/mode/2up}}</ref>. In early 1978, Lucas began working on ''Star Wars'': Episode V ''The Empire Strikes Back''. ''Star Wars'' was also retitled ''Star Wars'': Episode IV ''A New Hope''. However, this time Lucas left the Director's Guild, and Irvin Kershner was the new director with Lucas as the producer. Filming began in mid to late 1978 with the snowy planet of Hoth scenes being filmed in Norway. However, during filming, as if a curse, Norway suffered their worst snowstorm in many years. Mark Hamill, who was still recovering from his car accident injuries, filmed in a scene in the snow while the crew stayed in their hotel rooms. After the filming there concluded, the next part of the filming process turned to Elstree Studios.

Since Lucas wanted this movie to be bigger and more spectacular than ''Star Wars'', more sets were made and new characters were introduced, which included the first black ''Star Wars'' character, [[Landonis Balthazar Calrissian|Lando Calrissian]], played by [[Billy Dee Williams]], and a 2-foot puppet named [[Yoda]] voiced by [[Frank Oz]]. It was also the first time that Han Solo and Princess Leia kissed. But the biggest surprise was Darth Vader's revelation to Luke. A few minutes before shooting that scene, Kershner told Hamill that Vader was his father. However, they did not tell [[David Prowse]], the man in the Vader suit, so when they recorded Vader's dialogue with [[James Earl Jones]] the line was {{Audio|NoIAmYourFather-ESB.ogg|"No. I am your father"}} instead of "No, Obi-Wan killed your father." This line would later spark the lightsaber duel in Episode VI and all the prequels.

Many people believed that the sequel would not be as good as ''Star Wars'', but audiences didn't think so. ''The Empire Strikes Back'' took in 6.4 million dollars of the weekend of May 21, 1980. It was also considered the darkest ''Star Wars'' movie until [[Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith|''Star Wars'': Episode III ''Revenge of the Sith'']] was released. However, its gross in the U.S. ended at 290 million dollars, making it the lowest-grossing ''Star Wars'' movie.

====''Return of the Jedi''====
[[File:Return_of_the_jedi_old.jpg|left|200px|Original poster art for [[Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi|''Star Wars'': Episode VI ''Return of the Jedi'']]]]

Before beginning the production of Episode VI, Lucas, using the profits from ''Star Wars'' and ''Empire'', made Skywalker Ranch, a place where friends of Lucas could hang out and work on movies, mostly ''Star Wars''&ndash;related things. It would be used more during the making of the [[prequel trilogy]].

In early [[1982]], Lucas still out of the director's chair, [[Richard Marquand]] began shooting ''Revenge of the Jedi''. Some of the new things in the films included a speeder-bike chase, a [[DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station|second Death Star]] and one of the most controversial groups of characters in ''Star Wars'' history, the [[Ewok]]s. Also, to keep the title of Episode VI from leaking out, the title ''Blue Harvest: Horror Beyond Imagination'' was the working "title" of the movie. After filming for ''Jedi'' completed, a few months before the film's release, Lucas changed the title to ''Return of the Jedi'', stating, "revenge was not a quality of the Jedi," although some industry insiders attribute the title's change to ''Star Trek II : Wrath of Khan'' being released around the same time and Fox, and possibly Lucas, not wanting audiences confused between the similar titles. The "Revenge" title would eventually be used for Episode III.

After ''Jedi'' broke single- and opening-day box office records on May 25, 1983, six years after the original ''Star Wars'' opening, George Lucas's wife divorced him, leaving him to raise his children. Afterwards, Lucas established several Lucasfilm companies including [[THX]] Sound and Picture, the [[Pixar]] Animation Studios (which would later be sold to [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]), and several others. In May [[1987]], ten years after the first movie's release, Lucas announced a second trilogy and hinted at a third. In mid-[[1996]], with all the technology necessary, Lucas began working on the ''Star Wars'' movies the way he wanted them, adding new scenes and changes along with THX Sound and excellent picture quality.

===Growth of the Expanded Universe===
Beginning with ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'', the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe was populated by a slow trickle of novels, comic strips and television specials.

Almost a decade after the release of ''Return of the Jedi'', ''Star Wars'' merchandising sales had ground to a halt. In an effort to revitalize interest and capitalize on the success of other franchises in books, [[Bantam Spectra]] and Lucas Licensing planned a four-year publication run that would include several ''Star Wars'' novels.
[[File:Heirtotheempire.jpg|thumb|right|150px|''Heir to the Empire'' re-ignited the Expanded Universe in 1991.]]

It was [[1991]]'s ''[[Heir to the Empire]]'' that sparked the success of the first run of new novels and signaled a renaissance in ''Star Wars'' publishing. The [[Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy|Thrawn Trilogy]] by Hugo Award&ndash;winning author Timothy Zahn would become one of the most popular science-fiction series to date, and introduced some of the Expanded Universe's best-known characters, like [[Grand Admiral/Legends|Grand Admiral]] [[Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Legends|Thrawn]], [[Mara Jade Skywalker|Mara Jade]] and [[Gilad Pellaeon/Legends|Gilad Pellaeon]]. Bantam would continue to publish dozens of books across a number of eras, leading to the use of era markers after Bantam was sold to [[Del Rey]].

But books were just the beginning. In the same year as Zahn's success, [[Dark Horse Comics]] released ''[[Star Wars: Dark Empire]]'', the first serious ''Star Wars'' graphic novel. It too would be followed by dozens of comic series.

''Star Wars'' video and computer games also contributed to the Expanded Universe, but 1996's [[Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire|''Shadows of the Empire'']] multimedia campaign marked a turning point. The simultaneous release of a novel, video game, comics, soundtrack, toys and other promotional tie-ins set the standard that would later be followed for the merchandising efforts of the prequel trilogy and expanded upon for the [[Clone Wars/Legends|Clone Wars]].

===Special Editions===
[[File:SpecEditionLogo.jpg|thumb|right|100px|The Special Edition logo]]
In the 1990s, with ILM's advancement in technology, George Lucas sought to refine his ''Star Wars'' films, and began altering them to in an effort to fulfill his original intentions when creating the films. New scenes were added as a result, although some minor aesthetic changes came to be items of controvery amongst fans. Despite this, some fans praised other changes.

===Prequel Trilogy===
{{Quote|You know, our films weren't much liked when they came out, by my generation who loved the first ones. I think people of our generation wanted to feel the way they'd felt when they saw those first three movies when they were kids, and George ''[Lucas]'' wanted to take our ones in a different direction, he had a different idea. It was tricky at the time, I remember. But now, all these years later, I'm really aware of what our films meant to the generation they were made for, the children of that time. They really like them. I've met people who, they mean a lot to them, those films, more so than the original three, and I'm like, 'Are you kidding?'|[[Ewan McGregor]] on the audience reception to prequel trilogy|<ref name="Empire quote">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/obi-wan-ewan-mcgregor-why-excited-to-return-star-wars|title=Obi-Wan: Ewan McGregor On Why He's So Excited To Return To Star Wars|author=Travis, Ben|date=2020-09-11|work=[[Wikipedia:Empire (film magazine)|''Empire'']]|archivedate=20200912005133}}</ref>}}
====Development====
After getting a divorce in 1983 and losing much of his fortune, Lucas had no desire to return to ''Star Wars'', and had unofficially canceled his sequel trilogy by the time of ''Return of the Jedi''. However, the prequels, which were quite developed, remained fascinating to him. After ''Star Wars'' became popular once again, in the wake of Dark Horse's comic line and [[Timothy Zahn]]'s Thrawn Trilogy novels, Lucas saw that there was still a large audience. His children had begun to grow older, and with the explosion of CG technology, he was now considering returning to directing. By 1993 it was announced, in ''Variety'' among other sources, that he would be making the prequels. He began outlining the story, now offering that Anakin Skywalker would be the protagonist rather than Ben Kenobi and that the series would be a tragic one examining his transformation to evil. He also began to change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals&mdash;at first they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history, backstory, existing parallel or tangential to the originals, but now he began to see that they could form the beginning of one long story: beginning with Anakin's childhood and ending with Anakin's death. This was the final step towards turning the franchise into a "Saga."

In 1994, Lucas began writing the first screenplay, titled ''Episode I: The Beginning''. At first the plan was to write and then film all three prequels at once, but this was changed, possibly because the writing process took much longer than first thought. Although Lucas initially planned on having others write and direct, he kept writing on his own, and eventually decided to direct the film as well. In 1999, Lucas announced he would be directing the next two films as well, and began working on Episode II at that time. The first draft of this was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'', to polish his draft. Unsure of a title, Lucas had jokingly called the film ''Jar Jar's Big Adventure''. By now the backstory had undergone large changes&mdash;Ben Kenobi had discovered Anakin as an adult in Episode I's first draft, but he was changed to be a young student, and Anakin a child, and in Episode II the Clone Wars were decided to be a personal manipulation of Palpatine's. At the time of the original trilogy, Lucas had many ideas for this war: in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' it was decided that Lando was a clone and came from a planet of clones that caused a war, but later a different version was decided wherein "Shocktroopers," including Boba Fett, waged war against the Republic from a distant galaxy but were then repelled by the Jedi Knights.

Lucas began working on Episode III even before ''Attack of the Clones'' was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. 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 Dooku killed by Anakin as a first act towards the dark side. Lucas' first draft was written in 2003, and is largely similar to the film, though much simplified. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, rewriting his entire turn to the dark side&mdash;he would now turn out of a quest to save Padmé from dying, rather than the previous version where that was one of many reasons and genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental rewrite was accomplished through editing and many new and revised scenes filmed in additional pick-ups in 2004.

George Lucas has often exaggerated the amount of material he had written for the series, most of these exaggerations stemming from the post-1978 period where the film grew into a true phenomenon. Lucasfilm often indicated that he had written twelve stories to be filmed, and Lucas was quick to tell how ''Star Wars'' was always Episode IV that was meant as a middle chapter. Lucas also began to claim that Darth Vader's parentage of Luke and redemption was always a major part of his plan from early on, and even that this was his very first script or treatment. As Jonathan Rinzler and Michael Kaminski show, this is demonstrably false. Kaminski rationalizes that these exaggerations are part publicity device and part security measure&mdash;with the series and story radically changing throughout the years, Lucas would emphasize that its current embodiment was the original intention; with the series previously existing as different and often contradictory forms, this makes audiences view the material only from the perspective that Lucas wishes them to view the material, and it also may protect against outrage that such a popular storyline was being changed post-release after being cherished by so many.

Information on the screenplays comes from many sources. Most of the drafts of ''Star Wars'' were leaked to the public in 1977 and have circulated since then. 1987's [[Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays|''Annotated Screenplays'']] thoroughly documented the early drafts of the trilogy, and Rinzler's ''The Making of Star Wars'' supplemented this info with even more detail, including drafts which had not yet been publicly leaked, as well as Lucas' personal notes. Information on the prequel scripts is comparatively more scarce, but a number of making-of books give insight into the writing process and early drafts. The prequels' drafts are largely similar to the final films due to Lucas exploring ideas in the art department rather than on paper.

==Setting==
{{Quote|A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.&hellip;|Opening line of ''Star Wars'' media|<ref name="ANH">{{Film|IV}}</ref>}}
[[File:Alongtimeago.png|thumb|right|250px|The introduction to every ''Star Wars'' film]]
The line "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.&hellip;," which appears at the beginning of every ''Star Wars'' film, is the only way the [[The galaxy|''Star Wars'' galaxy]] has been defined in relation to the real world. It is alluding to the classic fairy tale line "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away&hellip;" and variations thereof. It may reflect that the films are to be interpreted as the myths of the future, as opposed to literally meaning that the events take place in the past. Lucas himself intentionally left the details open to interpretation.<ref name="Archive">{{SWArchive|url=community/askjc/steve/askjc20000515.html|text=Ask the Lucasfilm Jedi Council - May 15, 2000|archivedate=20011103065012}}</ref>

The saga shows an "ancient" galactic civilization thousands of years old. The setting is totally unrelated to [[Wikipedia:Earth|Earth]], the [[Wikipedia:Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]] or reality, which gives it more liberty, in a sense. The ''Star Wars'' galaxy prominently features humans that look like those from Earth. Their civilization was able to develop space travel, terraform, build [[Ecumenopolis/Legends|ecumenopoleis]], and build space colonies 200,000 years "ago," according to the Expanded Universe.

The titular '''''Star Wars''''' originally referred to the [[Galactic Civil War]] which takes place in the [[original trilogy]]. However, when considering the prequels (focusing on the [[Invasion of Naboo]] and the [[Clone Wars]]), the sequels (depicting the [[First Order-Resistance War]]) and the Expanded Universe, these events are only a portion of the millennia-spanning war between the Sith and the [[Jedi]]/Galactic Republic.

''Star Wars'' also merges science with supernatural elements that strongly relate to epic stories and fairy tales (e.g., [[The Force|magic]], knights, [[Witches of Dathomir|witches]], princes, and "whimsical" alien races such as Ewoks, [[Wistie]]s, etc.).

While the scope of [[Timeline of galactic history/Legends|''Star Wars'' history]] spans many thousands of years among all of the ''Star Wars'' history recorded and over 36,100 years in all the fiction produced to date (from [[Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi|''Dawn of the Jedi'']] to ''[[Star Wars: Legacy]]''), the films span only two generations.

Later novels from a series dubbed [[Star Wars: The New Jedi Order|The New Jedi Order]] opened up the ''Star Wars'' setting with alien beings known as the [[Yuuzhan Vong]] that came from a different galaxy, much to the surprise of some fans. All species and events prior to this series considered only one single galaxy.

==Franchise==
===Films===
{{Quote|I've never seen the movies as any kind of phenomenon because I have to live with them and work with them and they're just another movie that I make. It's no harder or easier than anything else I do. It's just that they became really popular for whatever reason while something else didn't. But I like all the movies I make, and I put just as much work into all of them. And it's hard to tell why some of them really become popular and some of them don't. I mean I know the basic rules, yet when something like Star Wars becomes such an incredible phenomenon there's no way to explain it.|George Lucas|<ref name="SW.com quote">{{SWArchive|url=episode-ii/bts/profile/f20020115/indexp2.html|text=George Lucas Interview - The Story Comes First|archivedate=20050402201211}}</ref>}}
[[File:StarWarsOpeningLogo.svg|thumb|left|250px|A version of the ''Star Wars'' logo]]
The original idea for ''Star Wars'' was conceived in the early 1970s and went through many revisions, providing plenty of material for the films. The original ''Star Wars'' movie (''Episode IV'') was first released in 1977, but the novelization was released six months earlier, in 1976. All of the original films were shot at, among other locations, Elstree Studios. [[Tunisia]] has served as the location for filming scenes set on the desert [[planet]] Tatooine.

Films by release order:
*{{Film|IV}} ([[May 25]], [[1977]])
*{{Film|V}} ([[May 21]], [[1980]])
*{{Film|VI}} ([[May 25]], [[1983]])

===Re-releases===
{{See also|The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition|Star Wars home video releases}}
George Lucas has tinkered repeatedly with the original trilogy. For the [[The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition|Special Editions]] of Episodes IV through VI, the films were extensively cleaned up and restored, and Lucas took this opportunity to make a number of [[List of changes in Star Wars re-releases|changes]], adding previously cut scenes and new effects. The Special Editions were released in theaters in early [[1997]], and on [[Wikipedia:VHS|VHS]] later that year. Further changes were made for the films' initial [[Star Wars Trilogy (DVD)|DVD release]] in September [[2004]]. In [[2006]], Lucas finally released the original trilogy in [[Original unaltered trilogy|unaltered form]] on DVD.

At a [http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/ShoWest_Convention_USA ShoWest convention] in 2005, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he was planning to release all six films in a new 3D film format, beginning with ''A New Hope'' in 2007. This did not materialize, but on [[September 28]], [[2010]], StarWars.com announced the 3D release of ''Star Wars'': Episode I ''The Phantom Menace'' coming to theaters in 2012.

Lucas also hinted in the past that he would release his definitive, often called "archival," editions of all six ''Star Wars'' films in one set on a next-generation home-video format in 2007.{{Fact}} This release was to coincide with, and celebrate, the 30th anniversary of the ''Star Wars'' saga. These "archival" editions were never released, or announced.

Despite the Disney's 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the release rights to all future ''Star Wars'' films, Fox was to retain original distribution rights to ''A New Hope'', which they co-produced and co-financed, in perpetuity in all media worldwide. Fox was also to retain theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video rights worldwide for the franchise's five subsequent films, which Lucasfilm produced and financed independently, through May 2020, at which time ownership was to transfer to Disney. This complex relationship between Fox and Disney, particularly in regards to Fox's perpetual rights to Episode IV, was to create an obstacle for any future boxed set comprising all nine films.<ref name="Hollywood Reporter">{{Cite_web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-rights-could-tie-up-384541|title=Tangled Rights Could Tie Up Ultimate 'Star Wars' Box Set (Analysis)|author=Masters, Kim|date=2012-10-30|work=[[Wikipedia:The Hollywood Reporter|''The Hollywood Reporter'']]|archivedate=20200215125918}}</ref> On December 14, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced that it is acquiring most of Fox's parent company, [[Wikipedia:21st Century Fox|21st Century Fox]], including the film studio and all distribution rights to ''A New Hope''.<ref name="Acquire">{{DisneyCompany|url=walt-disney-company-acquire-twenty-first-century-fox-inc-spinoff-certain-businesses-52-4-billion-stock-2|text=The Walt Disney Company To Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., After Spinoff Of Certain Businesses, For $52.4 Billion In Stock|archivedate=20200617112439}}</ref>

===Expanded Universe===
[[File:SOTME_Cover.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'']]
{{Main|Star Wars Legends}}
The Expanded Universe (or EU) is the continuation of the movies. It plays a major role in the storyline. One can read books from the prequel era, between the movies, or post-Episode VI. There are also several books dealing with the lives of [[Han Solo/Legends|Han Solo]] and [[Lando Calrissian/Legends|Lando Calrissian]] just before the movies. There are even books about the briefly shown [[Wedge Antilles/Legends|Wedge Antilles]]. Some notable characters include the twins [[Jaina Solo Fel|Jaina]] and [[Darth Caedus|Jacen Solo]], the strong but angry Mara Jade, the pilot-turned-Jedi [[Corran Horn]], and the tactical genius Grand Admiral Thrawn.

The books set during or after the ''Star Wars'' original trilogy follow [[Luke Skywalker/Legends|Luke Skywalker]], Princess Leia, Han Solo, and other minor characters, as well as the growth of the New Republic. ''[[The Truce at Bakura]]'' by [[Kathy Tyers]] is the first book chronologically set after ''Return of the Jedi'', but the first Expanded Universe story written was Alan Dean Foster's ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye''.

In the Expanded Universe, the [[Galactic Empire/Legends|Galactic Empire]] suppresses alien species because most Imperials are [[Wikipedia:Xenophobia|xenophobic]], but this idea appears in the films only subtly (or, arguably, not at all). The idea of the Empire enslaving aliens is an analogy to racism. In the [[Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights|''Young Jedi Knights'']] series, there is even an example of [[Wikipedia:Reverse discrimination|reverse discrimination]], when a group of aliens form the "Diversity Alliance" seeks revenge on all [[Human/Legends|Humans]], by means of a viral plague, for the crimes of the Empire. ''Young Jedi Knights'' also deals with drug abuse, the homeless, and effects of disability; it is more prone to discussing modern issues than any other ''Star Wars'' series.

The post-Episode VI EU has often been criticized as being too dark and depressing, such as the [[Yuuzhan Vong War|Yuuzhan Vong invasion]] that kills several major characters, and trillions of deaths in the war. Critics often point to the fact that George Lucas wanted a saga with an ultimately happy ending, yet the current direction of the EU indicates a revival of the Sith that even Luke Skywalker cannot stop.

===Story===
The saga chronologically begins with the so-called [[Big Bang]], the creation of the universe. Over billions of years, the galaxy slowly formed.

The earliest Expanded Universe stories chronologically are those in ''Dawn of the Jedi''. Novels such as the [[Star Wars: Darth Bane Trilogy|''Darth Bane Trilogy'']], ''[[The Old Republic: Revan]]'', and [[Knight Errant (novel)|''Knight Errant'']] feature both the [[Galactic Republic/Legends|Galactic Republic]] and the [[Jedi Order/Legends|Jedi Order]].

Thousands of years later, series about the training of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Naboo Crisis introduce the characters and situations that form the backbone of the story told in the films. The story then revolves around the [[Skywalker family/Legends|Skywalker family]] and their friends and adversaries. The Skywalkers are involved in every important event from that point forward. They go through numerous wars, the last known being [[Cade Skywalker]] and the [[Second Imperial Civil War]].

===Radio adaptation===
[[Star Wars (radio)|''Star Wars'']], the NPR radio adaptation (1981), was followed by adaptations of the next two films of the series. These adaptations were written by science-fiction author [[Brian Daley]], who also wrote three novels detailing the adventures of Han Solo and [[Chewbacca/Legends|Chewbacca]] prior to their appearance in ''Star Wars'': Episode IV ''A New Hope''.

===Related movies===
There are six official feature-length works besides the primary films of the three trilogies:
*''[[The Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' ([[1978]])
*''[[Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure]]'' ([[1984]])
*''[[Ewoks: The Battle for Endor]]'' ([[1985]])

The first three of these are live-action, and were originally made for TV, though the 1984 [[Ewok/Legends|Ewok]] film was shown in theaters in some locations outside the U.S.

[[File:Tv_star_wars_holiday_special_life_day.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Chewbacca, along with Luke, Leia, Han, and the droids, celebrates [[Life Day/Legends|Life Day]] by the [[Tree of Life/Legends|Tree of Life]] in ''The Star Wars Holiday Special''.]]
''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' became famous for featuring Boba Fett's first appearance. An originally minor detail, the Wookiee food [[wookiee-ookiee]]s became a cult symbol in the ''Star Wars'' fan universe, spawning plays on its name such as wookiee-cookiees (a ''Star Wars''&ndash;themed dessert).

The term "Wookiee hooky" was used by media to reference high absenteeism to see a recently released ''Star Wars'' film.<ref name="TWP Hooky">{{Cite_web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/daily/chewbacca101699.htm|title=Chewbacca, in a Higher Galaxy All His Own|author=Stuever, Hank|date=1999-10-16|work=[[Wikipedia:The Washington Post|The Washington Post]]|publisher=[[Wikipedia:Graham Holdings Company|The Washington Post Company]]|pages=C1|quote=Chewbacca was not in "The Phantom Menace," although when an estimated 40,million people skipped work in May for its release, the media dubbed the phenomenon "Wookiee Hooky."|archivedate=20180321001118}}</ref>

Additionally, other filmmakers with no connection to Lucasfilm have made films that salute, document, parody, or unofficially extend ''Star Wars''.

[[Wikipedia:Mel Brooks|Mel Brooks]]' [[Wikipedia:Spaceballs|''Spaceballs'']] (1987) parodies ''Star Wars'' and some other science-fiction works.

[[The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards|The Official ''Star Wars'' Fan Film Awards]] is a Lucasfilm-sponsored contest of short films made by ''Star Wars'' fans about, referencing, and parodying the ''Star Wars'' phenomenon.

===Animated TV shows===
[[File:CloneWarsPoster.jpg|thumb|250px|''Star Wars: Clone Wars'' television series official poster]]
[[:Category:Animated television series|Animation]] formed another component ''Star Wars''. The first two began in [[1985]], ''Clone Wars'' in [[2003]], ''The Clone Wars'' in 2008, and ''Rebels'' in 2014. ''Ewoks'' featured the adventures of the Ewoks prior to ''Return of the Jedi''. ''Droids'' featured the adventures of [[C-3PO/Legends|C-3PO]] and [[R2-D2/Legends|R2-D2]] between ''Star Wars'': Episode III ''Revenge of the Sith'' and ''A New Hope''.

===Live-action TV shows===
In 1984 and 1985, George Lucas executive produced two live-action television episodes of a short series called ''Ewok Adventures''. These take place before the Battle of [[Endor/Legends|Endor]] and follow the brief adventures of the Towani family after they are marooned on Endor. The two episodes were named ''Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure'' and ''Ewoks: The Battle for Endor'', and [[Warwick Davis]] returned to once again play the plucky Ewok [[Wicket Wystri Warrick/Legends|Wicket W. Warrick]]. One odd thing in this series was that Wicket was taught to speak English, an ability he did not reveal at all during ''Return of the Jedi''.

On November 9, 2017, Disney chairman Bob Iger revealed that a new live-action ''Star Wars'' television series,<ref name="New Series">{{Cite_web|url=http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/star-wars-tv-series-disney-streaming-service-1202611408|title=New 'Star Wars' Trilogy in Works With Rian Johnson, TV Series Also Coming to Disney Streaming Service|author=Littleton, Cynthia|date=2017-11-09|work=[[Wikipedia:Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']]|archivedate=20210513181001}}</ref> ''The Mandalorian'',<ref name="The Mandalorian FB">{{FacebookCite|profilelink=|url=jonfavreau/photos/a.437300899719695/1871991379583966|author=Jon Favreau|date=October 3, 2018|description=Jon Favreau announces "The Mandalorian"|quote=#StarWars #TheMandalorian|archivefile=File:Jon Favreau The Mandalorian.png}}</ref> was to be released on Disney, its new streaming service set to launch in 2019.<ref name="New Series" />

Alongside ''The Mandalorian, ''there are also several other ''Star Wars'' television projects in development for Disney+, including the television series ''Obi-Wan Kenobi'', [[Andor (television series)|''Andor'']], and ''The Acolyte'' by Leslye Headland, the creator of ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Doll_(TV_series) Russian Doll]''.<ref name="Taika">{{SW|url=news/taika-waititi-announce|text=Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi to Direct and Co-Write new ''Star Wars'' Feature Film For Theatrical Release; Oscar Nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns to Co-Write Screenplay with Waititi}}</ref>

===Books===
{{See also|List of books}}
''Star Wars''&ndash;based fiction predates the release of the first movie, with the [[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel)|novelisation of ''A New Hope'']] (by Alan Dean Foster but credited to George Lucas) released some months before the film itself. Foster also wrote the first original ''Star Wars'' novel, ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'', the 1978 publication of which inaugurated a very successful literary spin-off franchise.

The six ''Star Wars'' movies have provided a basis for over a hundred novels. The novels have been authorised by Lucasfilm, and were previously published by Bantam Books (with a few early titles published by Ballantine), though Del Rey now holds the contract again. The stories told in these books reach back thousands of years before ''The Phantom Menace'' to several generations after ''Return of the Jedi''. Books authorised by Lucas are written by fans of the films, and are part of a collection known as Expanded Universe. The first books considered to be part of the Expanded Universe began to appear in the late 1970s.

Most of the novels that have been written take place after the events of the films, with a few that take place between the movies, and a growing number set before the films. For some fans, these can be more exciting stories, as they provide narratives for many characters who only have a minor roles, or are only briefly seen, in the movies. One of particular note is Steve Perry's ''Shadows of the Empire'', which is set between ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi''. In addition to focusing on relatively minor characters, it bridges some events between the two films.

Also, a few elements first introduced in the Expanded Universe were later included in the films. Such include [[Coruscant]] and [[Aayla Secura]].

Aside from books providing narratives, there are also reference books which detail things about the ''Star Wars'' universe in a nonfiction style, revealing details that cannot fit into a story. Examples include ''[[The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide]]'', ''[[Inside the Worlds of]]'', and the [[Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary|''Visual Dictionaries'']].

===Comic books and strips===
{{See also|Star Wars comic books}}
[[File:SWEMP16-FC.jpg|thumb|185px|[[Star Wars: Empire]] to the Last Man cover]]
[[Marvel Comics]] published adaptations of the original trilogy as well as a ''Star Wars'' comic book series which lasted from 1977 to [[1986]], a total of 107 issues and 3 annuals. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including [[Archie Goodwin]], [[Howard Chaykin]], [[Al Williamson]], [[Carmine Infantino]], [[Walter Simonson]], [[Michael Golden]], [[Chris Claremont]], [[Whilce Portacio]], [[Mary Jo Duffy]], and [[Ron Frenz]]. In the 1980s, as part of their [[Star Comics]] line oriented towards young children, Marvel also published the short-lived series [[Ewoks (Marvel)|''Ewoks'']] and [[Star Wars: Droids (1986)|''Droids'']], based on the Saturday-morning cartoons.

''Star Wars'' was also a [[Star Wars (comic strip)|daily newspaper comic strip]] from [[1979]] to 1984, written for the bulk of its run by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Al Williamson.

Beginning in the 1990s, Dark Horse Comics has published a large number of original adventures set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. As of 2006, these mainly include ''[[Star Wars: Republic]]'', ''Star Wars: Empire'', ''[[Star Wars Tales]]'', ''[[Star Wars: Jedi]]'', [[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (comic series)|''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'']] and ''Star Wars: Legacy''. Dark Horse has also published collections of the Marvel series in seven volumes and the comic strip as ''Classic Star Wars''.

===Games===
Since 1983, over 120 [[video game]]s have been published bearing the name of ''Star Wars'', beginning with ''Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'', published for the [[Atari 2600]] by [[Parker Brothers]].

The first games based on the franchise were released on the Atari 2600. In the first, The Empire Strikes Back (1982), the player drove a snowspeeder during the Battle of Hoth, destroying AT-AT walkers. While simplistic, the game captured the essence of the movie as well as technology allowed. Several other games appeared, like ''Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle'' (1982), where the player controlled the [[Millennium Falcon/Legends|''Millennium Falcon'']] in a mission to destroy the second Death Star, and ''Jedi Arena'' (1983), the first game to attempt to simulate a lightsaber battle (in this case, clearly inspired by the scene in ''A New Hope'', where Luke Skywalker trains with a seeker). Also in 1983, ''Star Wars'' was released, based on ''A New Hope''. In this game the player takes on the role of Luke Skywalker towards the end of the film in which Luke battles through many TIE fighters in an attempt to destroy the first Death Star.

Due to the video-game crash of 1983, which killed the home-console market, no further games based on the franchise were released until 1991, when the platformer ''Star Wars'' was released for both the NES and Game Boy, and one year later, ''Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' reused the engine with the plotline of the fifth episode of the saga. It would be still in 1992 that ''Super Star Wars'' was released for the SNES (the Super prefix was often used in remakes of 8-bit games), followed by the remaining games in the trilogy: ''Super Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back'' (1993) and ''Super Star Wars: Return of Jedi'' (1994).

Other early titles include the game [[Star Wars (1991 video game)|''Star Wars'']] for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] (published by [[JVC]]) and three other titles for the Atari 2600.

Video game pioneer [[Atari]] produced arcade games based on the original trilogy, beginning with [[Star Wars: The Arcade Game|''Star Wars'']] and [[Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (video game)|''The Empire Strikes Back'']], which were both [[Wikipedia:flight simulator|flight-simulator]]-style games that utilized [[Wikipedia:vector graphics|vector graphics]]. The third, ''Return of the Jedi'', used more traditional [[Wikipedia:raster graphics|raster graphics]] and a "3/4" perspective.

''[[Star Wars: X-Wing]]'' (1993) was the first PC game of the "new generation" of games released by [[LucasArts]]. It returns to the space-fighter combat gameplay not seen since the Atari arcade games. Players generally played as a [[Pilot/Legends|pilot]] for the Rebel Alliance, completing a variety of goals, culminating in the destruction of the Death Star. This game had sequels, in the form of ''[[Star Wars: TIE Fighter]]'' and ''[[Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance]]''.

The longest running series of computer games is the groundbreaking [[Dark Forces saga|''Dark Forces'']] series. This [[Wikipedia:First person shooter|first person shooter]] series began in 1995 with ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces]]''. The next in the series was ''[[Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II]]'', which allowed the player to play as a Jedi. The third game in the ''Dark Forces'' series, ''[[Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast]]'', focused more on a third-person Jedi adventure than the previous games. And the fourth and last release was ''[[Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy]]'', which originated as an expansion pack for ''Jedi Outcast'', but evolved into a game of its own.

[[File:SWroguesquad1.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Star Wars Rogue Squadron N64 box cover]]
Another long-running video-game series began with [[Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (video game)|''Star Wars: Rogue Squadron'']] for the [[Nintendo 64]] and continued in ''[[Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader]]'' and ''[[Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike]]'' for the [[Nintendo GameCube]]. The first title was also available for PCs, and all were developed by [[Factor 5]] and published by LucasArts. ''Rogue Squadron III'' featured emulated versions of the original Atari ''Star Wars'' [[arcade game]]s.

Three role-playing games set in the ''Star Wars'' universe have been published: a d6-based game from [[West End Games]], a [[Wizards of the Coast]] game using the d20 system on which their popular ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is based, and a game from [[Fantasy Flight Games]].

==Cast and crew==
The cast of the movies feature notable actors, such as [[Sofia Coppola]] and [[Keisha Castle-Hughes]]. Notable supporting roles played by acclaimed actors include Alec Guinness, [[Peter Cushing]], [[Christopher Lee]] and [[Oliver Ford Davies]]. In the prequel trilogy, professional models did the non-speaking minor-character roles.

==Themes==
The central theme of ''Star Wars'' is letting go. George Lucas believes that to be happy, one should accept all the happenings of reality and be compassionate by wholly letting go of their selfishness&mdash;including the fear of losing what one loves, which is an indicator of greed&mdash;to be more selfless.<ref name="Archives123">''[[The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005]]''</ref>

''Star Wars'' stresses the self-destructive nature of anger and hate, summed up in Yoda's words ({{Audio|Yoda_fear.ogg|"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."

Lucas has identified the idea of a democracy becoming a dictatorship as the fundamental idea of the saga. He has stated that the saga raises such ideas as the people giving up their power in desperation, and betrayal by their leaders who may think they are doing the right thing while sacrificing freedom. In this way, ''Star Wars'' is a cautionary tale in which Lucas, by his own admission, warns people of the danger that is always present to democracy and freedom and has been demonstrated throughout history.

There appear to be anti-technological messages in the films: the primitive Ewoks defeating technological adversaries, and the general idea of technology opposed to humanity, fitting with Lucas' vision. Lucas explicitly attributed the Ewoks' defeat of the Galactic Empire to the exploits of the Vietnamese National Liberation Front (otherwise known as the Vietcong) that operated during the Vietnam War, and also implied in his 1973 draft that the Rebels were similar representations of said theme in the original film.<ref name="Nixonian gangsters">''[[The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film]]''</ref>

The main story arc in the films traces the rise, fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, mirrored by political events occurring on a galactic scale. As Anakin is seduced by the dark side, the Republic slides into despotism and war; when Anakin reclaims the Jedi values of peace and justice, the evil Empire that supplanted the Republic is overthrown by the Rebel Alliance.

==Notes and references==
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==External links==
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