Star Warshas brought back a moment of George Lucas’Holiday Special, 47 years later, and here’s how they lovingly recreated it.Star Wars: Skeleton Crewis packed with Easter eggs, and one of the most remarkable is a hologram lifted straight from George Lucas' Holiday Special. It’s an odd hologram of circus performers; in the Holiday Special, it was watched by Chewbacca’s son Lumpy during Life Day.Viewers had never expected to see part of the Holiday Special, recreated for the present day.
Speaking toStarWars.com,Skeleton Crew’s creators - Jon Watts and Chris Ford - revealed this became something of a passion project for them. “I was worried at some point that we were going to get a call that you can’t do that, but everyone was into it,” Watts explained. “I was really surprised.” The core problem, though, was that it wasn’t possible to simply use the same footage. “It was shot such a long time ago and the angles were all wrong,” Watts revealed. “So we went and got the original wardrobe sketches and rebuilt all of the costumes from scratch.” Costume designer Louise Mingenbach used reference material from the Skywalker Ranch to pull this off.
The next challenge was to recreate both the performance and the music. “Our stunt coordinator [Colin Follenweider] had been in Cirque du Soleil for many years, so he’s the lead dancer,” Watts continued. “We gave him all the old footage and it was his job to get a troupe of dancers together, re-choreograph it, and attempt to recreate it.” Even the music needed to be recreated, because no recordings were of high enough quality or were long enough to be used. “We couldn’t find a copy of the written score so we had to give it to our composer [Mick Giacchino], who then had to transcribe it, figure out what instruments they were playing, and then re-record that,” Watts added. Then they recruited a full orchestra to play the music.
Why It’s So Hard To Watch The Star Wars Holiday Special
George Lucas hated it and tried to erase it… but the fans love it
TheStar Wars Holiday Specialwas something of an interim project betweenA New HopeandThe Empire Strikes Back, and Lucas didn’t actually want to make it in the first place - he was pushed into it by TV executives. The writers were comedy writers, unfamiliar with science-fiction, and behind-the-scenes drama led to the original director leaving halfway through the project.George Lucas once said he’d have destroyed every copy if he’d had his way.
Lucas may have hated the Holiday Special, but it’s greatly loved by theStar Warsfandom; there are bootleg copies on YouTube, albeit not of high enough quality to be used forSkeleton Crew. It’s exciting to get a chance to see part of the Holiday Special on-screen again, recreated with present-day music and technology. This delightful treat is unlikely to be repeated.
The Holiday Special Makes Skeleton Crew A True Treat For Viewers
This really is the perfect Christmas present
Star Wars: Skeleton Crewhas always clearly been the perfect Christmas fare. It’s a story about a bunch of kids from an Earth-like planet jetting off into theStar Warsgalaxy, the ultimate wish fulfilment for kids, complete with a healthy dose of nostalgia. TheHoliday SpecialwasStar Wars' first Christmas celebration… and now it’s part of the latest one. It’s easy to see why nobody objected to Jon Watts and Chris Ford when they wanted to bring this aspect ofStar Warsback to life
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Cast
Skeleton Crew follows four ordinary children who become lost in the expansive Star Wars galaxy. As they navigate unfamiliar worlds and the challenges they present, the group endeavors to find their way back to their home planet, undertaking a journey across the iconic Star Wars universe.
