George Lucas and the Story of the Star Wars Before Star Wars
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2020
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Before Star Wars was Star Wars it went through many revisions and the story changed greatly.
From Mace Windy, Deak and Annikin Starkiller and the Journal of the Whills join us in watching the elements of what finally became Star Wars evolve into Star Wars.
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King Features: "Sorry, you can't have the rights to Flash Gordon."
George Lucas: "Screw you! I'll make my own Flash Gordon! With sabacc! And wookiees!"
All these years, chuckling at my grandma for calling it 'the Star Wars'... and it turns out she was right.
Interesting
My father called Darth Vader "Dahhk Vadah" with a Boston accent.
The one time my Grandmother mentioned it, back in the 70's, she called it "War Star". From then on, that's what we all called it (affectionately).
Lucas really was stuck on that idea of Kyber crystals being Force-amplifiers. The same idea shows up in the first official spin-off novel, Splinter Of The Mind's Eye. And wayyy back when I was a kid, I had a tie-in promotional magazine to ESB that had some info about the Clone War era, at least as it existed in 1980. At that point, Vader and Obi-Wan did have their final fight above a huge volcano, which was the cause of Anakin's injuries, but they were specifically fighting for possession of a Kyber Crystal.
I knew the volcano thing was not something i imagined! I remember reading about that in a local magazine at the time of episode 1, but i didnt know that it was for the control of a Kyber Crystal. I still try to imagine what episode III would have been with this storyline
I loved that book too, and I also read the comic version. That is the only connected novel I consider cannon with the original trilogy.
I had the same magazine. I remember thinking the Clone Wars may have looked like the First World War
I knew the volcano scene from the Return of the Jedi novelization. It didn’t know there was another mention. Cool! I’d love to find that someday!
"Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has to much of his father in him."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
With foreshadowing lines like this early on, one would have thought George had it all planned from the start. He had us all fooled...in a good way.
I'd say that Luke has too much of his mother in him
Kind of? But it's so vague. It also works if Darth Vader isn't his father and Vader and Anakin Skywalker are two different and distinct characters.
@@sim4344vader means father in german. It only works that way
"Vater", really, but that's kinda of quibbly. Some places spell it "vader", but it's still pronounced closer to "father" than it is "Vay-Dur". Anyway. Here's my problem with that. If you read stuff about Star Wars, especially from back then, you start to notice something. Lucas had LOTS of ideas. But it's very unclear what ideas he had when and what stuff was "always the plan." He's given multiple accounts, several of which contradict each other. I've read that bit about "Vader means 'father' in German," too. And... sure. But was that just a coincidence? Did he just think it sounded neat? Maybe. Maybe not. Whose father was he meant to be? It's pretty clear he had no idea that Luke and Leia were going to end up being siblings, and I don't think it's much of a stretch to think he hadn't come up with the whole "Vader is Luke's father" thing. Or at least wasn't firm on the details yet. And a big part of that is how Obi Wan talks about Anakin/Vader. He describes "Anakin Skywalker" as a pilot, and a jedi, and his friend. He describes "Darth Vader" as his former student, who turned to evil. And I think that tracks. When they encounter each other on the Death Star, pay attention to how they talk. There's no indication of a friendship gone sour. Just references to being student and teacher. And Obi Wan calls him "Darth." No one else does that. He's "Vader" or "Lord Vader." So why does Obi Wan say "Darth" like it's his first name? I think it was, at that point. It wasn't a title. Obi Wan is being informal with his former pupil in a way that no one else would dare. Because at that point, "Darth Vader" and "Anakin Skywalker" were two different people, and "Darth Vader" was his s*****y, disappointing former student who killed his best friend. But as the story continues, "Darth Vader is actually Luke's father" is much better way to link protagonist and antagonist than "Darth Vader killed the old desert hermit who kinda taught him jedi stuff for like a few hours or so." Which is how we get ""I am your father" and "From a certain point of view..." I'm guessing you don't agree with my interpretation. But there's still plenty of evidence that I might be right.
I found The Star Wars comic at my local library a several years ago. The artwork is gorgeous, the story...significantly less so. It really did feel like a first attempt. Still, would recommend it to Star Wars fans.
Mace Windy = Mace Windu suffering from flatulence 😉
Great vid, as always.
For any Star Wars lovers out there, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of The Annotated Star Wars Screenplays, I got my copy in the late 1990s and it has some in depth side notes as they pertain to the draft versions of scenes, characters, and story from the original trilogy.
Bill Travis I’ve got it as well, IIRC, I got mine around the same time also.
They’re terrific and it’s definitely a challenge to keep track of it all while reading through. Additionally the re-writes of Empire and Jedi are also quite interesting but a lot easier to follow since we’re now dealing with established characters. I wonder if the prequels would be as fun to read. The large making-of books can also add a lot, though more of a production history.
Where can these be found? Online website?
My library had a copy and I poured over that thing multiple times. The thing finally fell apart and eventually tracked down a copy.
Why was Lucas so caught up on the name Windy?! Thank goodness that got smoothed out. There's no way Samuel L. Jackson would end up playing "Mace Windy." It sounds like someone that farts pepper spray.
"It burns! It burns!"
"But we can't turn back, fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust, and what there is is most likely directed at a large scale assault."
"Who talks like that?"
Somebody You Know “George... you can _write_ it but you sure as hell can’t _say_ it.”
It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navicomputer
I’m a simple man; I see a new Toy Galaxy video, and I click play.
Brilliant video as usual.
Nice that 2 names made it from the start. Mace and Chewie.
"at their core they are driven by a singular focused will..."
really appreciate that, Dan.
Toy Galaxy, you philosopher, you.
I do love me some Star Wars, but this... all of THIS. Thanks for sharing!
Most of this is covered in The Annotated Screenplay, though less entertaining than presented here. Great resource for aspiring writers to see the process.
Great book. I wish they'd write one about the prequels.
That second revision of the script that Dark Horse adapted ("The Star Wars") is just "The Hidden Fortress" set in space; like, even more so than the actual "New Hope" movie that was released.
Damn I love the Kurosawa cyclone...
Before any one asks Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was inspired to make films by the American western of the 30's and 40's. His films then inspired the westerns and sci-fi films of the 70's & early 80's. THOSE films inspired a scary amount of anime, which went on to influence more American action & sci-fi films. This makes one Japanese cowboy nerd one of (if not THE) most influential filmmakers in history.
He's also responsible for Godzilla. He wasn't interested himself, but he knew several regulars in his productions that would be perfect so he made the proper introductions and supported it's production from the sidelines.
Quit frankly the guy was the very definition of "hot shit"
Good, so we can stop accusing Lucas of copying Dune, then, and that CZcams video claiming Marcia Lucas saved the movie can also get lost
@@Ruylopez778 what dumbass thinks Star Wars was ripped from Dune? That's probably the 1 IP that didn't actually have any influence on SW at all.
The sci-fi elements and dao were mostly taken from the old sci-fi serials and adventure films.
They have nothing in common except maybe some superficial aesthetics
@@Ruylopez778 What's funny is Dune fans don't acknowledge what elements Lucas supposedly copied from Dune actually came from Doc Smith's Lensman series which Dune ripped off. As well as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series. To Dune fans only Frank Herbert has the right to copy the pulps.
This is top tier content. You deserve 10 times as many subs. I've been subscribed for a while and I've always loved your content but this absolutely blew me away.
Great writing on this piece. I was only vaguely aware of most of these details.
So the point is, Han Still Shot First?
1) Surprised you didn’t upload this on May 4th, but whatever, I’ll take it 😄2) I knew bits and pieces about the history before, but I’ve never seen such a thorough an in-depth telling of the creation. This is first rate.
Panels And Bars I highly recommend reading (or listening to the audiobook) How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, it goes into massive detail on every aspect of Lucas & Star Wars, from his life altering car wreck as a teen, all the way to the Disney buyout! Wonderful book. Im really hoping we get a revised follow up with all the info on the Star Wars Disney era: Force Awakens, Rogue One/Solo drama, TLJ, toxic fandom, etc, etc...
Langley M Neely I appreciate that, thank you! I’ll look it up 😃
Your videos have been getting better and better, Dan. Thanks for all the awesomeness.
I didn't know all if this existed. Thank you
I picked up the Star Wars annotated screenplay years ago, and there were tons of notes about the changes in it from the original treatment to the final film version. Some of this was a bit new-I was unaware Utapau was created so early on, at least as a name.
Man, I've been letting CZcams just play your stuff all morining, and I gotta say you have a good show! Thanks for all your efforts with your series.
This was like an epic Star Wars TedTalk. Bravo!
👍
Dude! This was fantastic! 🤘❤🤘 Windy n Starkiller!
So interesting, thanks for sharing!
wow I hadn't heard the whole story before! (I was familliar with some bits and pieces like 'starkiller' being the original name for the hero... interesting stuff!
I’m really happy that this is the first video I’ve had my name on the patron list for.
One of the top, if not the top, pop culture docu-series on CZcams! Keep up the great work guys :-)
Even though we are in quarantine after watching this video I feel like I've just been in an awesome rollercoaster. Amazing. To go from the first thought to what we have now is incredible. Thank you guys.
Superb breakdown.
If George had done as much filtering and cropping and changing on the Prequels, they might have been better movies. George definitely seems to overwrite - he needs the outside input. Kurtz was an important part of the process.
TheNightBadger totally agreed.all the starwars channels are run by millenials who LOVE the prequals
@@wnerko7484 Same for the recent trilogy
@@wnerko7484 Firstly they aren't, and arguing that one generation's nostalgia is less deserving than another is rather funny.
It really depends on how you define "better" since Lucas was most interested in pushing the technology, and tone poems - matching visuals with music/sound.
Those were his priorities, rightly or wrongly.
We could argue that the Prequels succeed on both these levels (despite bad dialogue, and bad pacing in places).
I agree Kurtz was a big part of the lightning in a bottle in ANH and ESB. I think the problem was that ESB still went over budget, (which was possibly Kurtz's fault or just circumstances) and Lucas was rather annoyed about it, especially after the stress of putting together ANH. I think being constantly challenged by others must get a bit annoying when the Tunisian sun is wrecking everything and then sandstorms etc.
I'm not really surprised he said, "let's green screen it".
Do not forget his wife Marcia an editor on the first three films and a possible reason for the stuff AFTER 1983 (they divorced then)
I gotta say I love the Short Circuit style intro. Great video!
The original Mace Windu was basically an anthropomorphic rabbit that was a used speeder salesman in Mos Eisely.
This was awesome 🤩 I love learning about this kinda stuff! Toy Galaxy Home Schooling is awesome
Thank you for sharing and the pep talk
That was awesome! Thanks for the info, Dan!
A lot of great information here. First heard for me. And there's a comic based on a version. Amazon here I come! Thanks, Toy Galaxy another great video!
Very very cool, thank you! I had read The Star Wars comic, but didn't know much about the first outline draft.
I was 8 years old in May , 1977 . This movie blew my widdle mind . It was a defining point in my life . Later , after I got over the special effects and other studios caught up I realized it was basically a faerie tale and started being more of a Trekkie .
I watched this with my 10 year old. Who recently became a huge Star Wars fan due to school being shut down and Disney+. This was absolutely riveting for him. One of your best videos Toy Galaxy. Thanks
☺️
Great video! I’d love to know more about when the concept of the force and more mystical ideas were introduced. My understanding is that this was largely influenced by Marcia Lucas, who has pretty much been written out of Star Wars history. I saw a video with a former Waldorf teacher/mystic who said Marcia and Kathleen Kennedy called him at his schools library and interviewed him for hours on multiple occasions and much of what he shared ended up influencing what we saw in the films.
IN case anyone was curious the Star Wars disk advertised at 9:56 is actually a CED en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance_Electronic_Disc and not a laser disk. Here is a great video on the really weird tech. czcams.com/video/PnpX8d8zRIA/video.html
Definitely filled in some blanks for me, awesome stuff well presented as always!
Awesome content! Looking forward to more videos like this yo.
It's astonishing how much the clay of this idea was reworked until it took the form that redefined what movies could be.
I love the new intro, but still miss the old music at the same time
That concept was indeed ever changing.
The final version is now history.
Well done recap.
I learned something today! 😁🎉
Whether you like it or not!
A fascinating tidbit of information that I read once while researching the history of Star Wars was that one of the main reasons why Star Wars was so popular was because science-fiction film is had completely fallen out of passion in Hollywood. Before the Moonlanding, everyone assumed that space function like the ocean. This is why so many old side by the movies feature astronauts wearing nothing but bubbles on their head. The idea was that space could be traversed in the same way the ocean could. But once at the Moonlanding happened, and everyone side on their televisions, they realized that space was incredibly procedural and incredibly boring. There was nothing of interest out there. It was just rocks.
It took Star Wars and 2012 a space Odyssey to reignite the publics interest in space.
2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968. The moon landing was 1969.
Garrett DeNardo and 2001 was documentary like in its accuracy
Wow! That was incredible!
Fantastic video Dan
VERY cool video. It seems I have some Dark Horse comics to track down now.
I don’t think anyone was confusing “developing an idea then making it a movie” with “Lucas made it up as they shot it.” There is footage of him making claims that it was all worked out.
There are still conflicting stories about whether or not GL planned everything out pre SW.
A C there is a lot of evidence (including footage) of GL making claims of having the main things worked out and scripts and interviews with GL conflicting those points. I doubt he had it hashed out. There are many conflicting lines in the movies themselves.
i knew most of these elements, but it's always nice to hear them again.
I can't wait for Toy Galaxy to start making these excellent videos in 4k.
Damn I love this channel!!!
Let's not kid ourselves here. . . Lucas' early drafts were a freaking nightmare
Great video great storytelling
Also, would LOVE to see similar videos for Empire and Jedi, this was an awesome video.
The most interesting part of this for me is seeing which core ideas Lucas held onto for each revision, which names made it into other Star Wars films and the form they originally took, and the character development between each revision.
I really like how the main protagonist went from being a Han Solo-like character to a naive farmboy. I suspect that may have been the other writers' influence to alter the audience vehicle to a more relatable character.
Thanks for the video Dan, never seen this summarised so succinctly before, great content!
Pretty much everyone in SW was based on people he knew. The reason the names don't change is because they are either plays on those names ("Luke S." for example) or they used their initials. He just kept shuffling them until they worked...
I love how they kept names like Starkiller and Utupau.
I think it's really interesting that George Lucas didn't have the plot and the characters all decided on when he wrote that first script. He started out with that first concept of Luke Skyawalker being a older guy who fought in the clone wars, and his friend Kane Starkiller who had two sons: Deak and Annikin and a princess named Leia. Vader was an evil guy in black working for the Empire. He took many of those ideas and put them into the script that became Star Wars. It shows us, that a movie is not fully formed by the writer/director when it created. Really cool information here.
Thanks!
These are great story ideas.
I love the The Star Wars comic. I like the 6-issue comic adaption of themovie from Marvel too. They both ramp up the "space fantasy" a lot more.
Good video as always.
(From the second script)
'Fuel pods are jettisoned"
So I see Lucas was drawing heavily from WWII at this point then, considering we never see any external fuel systems on any Star Wars fighters at all.
Also they made a comic of the original script? Holy hell.
Killer Orca There is a film called Dambusters, a WW2 film and the trench run on the DS was “borrowed” from a similar plot line in the film.
www. starwars. com/ news/ the-cinema-behind-star-wars-the-dam-busters
I’m sure there’s a YT video of the comparison of the two films as well.
Fun fact: George came up with the final version of Empire as he was struggling to understand why the original version he co-wrote with someone else (who died) was missing something. After coming up with the retcon of the century, he was so inspired he wrote the entire story himself. As he was writing the Empire we know, he also came up with 50% of the prequels' story, and the idea of making said prequels some day after taking a break (making movies is stressful). He also got the idea of making the SEQUELS (with Luke being the new Obi Wan) 30 years later or so, when Mark is old enough.
( 11:58 ) oh man, I had forgotten the remastered "Special Edition" of Star Wars treated Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru so... brutally.
Star Wars came out when I was just old enough to sit through a movie, so it was the first one I saw. As a result, I've been a lifelong SW fan. Nevertheless, ALL of this information was new to me. (I knew that "Starkiller" was the original name of the hero, but that was all.) What an amazing micro-documentary... as always. Thanks!! (P.S. I'm so glad we got the version that we did!)
How is "Kane Starkiller" not an actual character yet? That's easily the most badass name possible.
Kanan from Rebels was his tribute character, as was Xeb's design being that of the original Chewbacca
I mean, the main character of the Force Unleashed games was called Starkiller.
13:35 COOL to see your using one of my photos I took of my Kenner Star Wars toys collections just for that I had to SUBSCRIBE your channel :D
I want this!
@toygalaxy you put out some great content and you are a very good presenter! Also I expect you talk about BOBA FETT coming to Mandalorian season 2!
Could you do an ep on ULYCESSES 31
This is a solid, compact telling of the Star Wars pre-history. For a deeper look I highly recommend The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler.
He also pulls a lot from Hidden Fortress by Akira Kurosawa. A movie about a general escorting a princess across an enemy territory, with a thin tall guy and short heavy set guy providing some comedy relief.
Tom Cruise's head on Carrie Fisher's body. 🤣
I can't unsee this now! LOL
I hope Porkins was in the original script.
That was a really interesting and fun video. Thanks
-The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as Taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The- Star Wars
Producer: "There. There's your title."
George Lucas: (thinking to himself) "If this movie gets re-released, I'm adding a subtitle."
Best TG episode ever and not an easy feat I might add.
Thanks very much. Was a tough one to put together for sure.
Toy Galaxy
I can only imagine how many dialogue line repeats yikes
The v3 draft sounds sick. Going to have to check out the comic.
Inspiring stuff. Will show to all frustrated creatives (all creatives).
Coming to a Sizzler near you! The Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Special!
Ahh too soon! Lol
@@AC-gb7do lol!
Shockwave 2 I meant to ask, does that come with a baked potato or fries?
@@AC-gb7do You have a choice of baked potato, french fries, or a blooming Alderaan!
Seriously as a little kid (5?) this traumatized me and kind of put me off the whole movie. "Oh his parents are just dead now"
Just subbed love your videos man u put so much effort in any chance we can get videos on Godzilla or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs?????
this is entertaining. I didn't know this part of star wars lore.
I would love to see these early versions in animated form!
I knew a lot of this not all. Great vid. I was a member of Lucasfilm fanclub back then. All the best stuff is the early stuff.
Digging the theme song, it's very Cabaret Voltaire.
I had that RCA disc player! Under the Tandy name. And I had that SW disc too.
I never knew all this story, but it was exactly what I wanted to find out.
This was before *Mace Windy* Became Mace *WINDOW*
I knew about the Starkiller name, but most of this I wasn't aware of. I knew that the version Lucas tells of imagining it as chronologically the second of three trilogies from the beginning was not accurate.
One of the reasons people have done great things is that they didn't know it couldn't be done. They also never gave up on their dream, even if it seemed like it would never happen sometimes.
COOL Intro man!
Amazing
I've heard of the original versions of the story before George Lucas rewrote them which the final version became Star Wars: A New Hope.
before Star Wars there was Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress
Great job finding these drafts and summarizing them, I had no idea they were available nor that there are so many of them. Now, how do I get my hands on those Dark Horse comics?
I got deluxe box set from amazon.
@@dolantrimp1691 Thanks!
I wasn't sure what the 'commercial' tie in would be about, but when I saw "video disc" I was like, yup, good one producer Greg!
Also, like, $299 dollars in the early eighties? That's like, *mathing intensifies*, A LOT of money today!
Though a surprisingly good price for a high end electronic at the time. Those things were ridiculous.
@@Cobralalalala Yeah, VHS players originally cost well over $1000 when they came out, and that's NOT adjusted for inflation. $299 was a very reasonable price, and throwing in literally the most popular movie ever was one hell of a value-add.
I expected half of the comments to be complaints about the use of "Wookese" to describe the Wookie language... rather than Shyriiwook. (I know there is also Thykarann & Xaczik).
Late to the party, but I recall a day in 1976 when I saw an odd television commercial for a movie I had never heard of. It was set to Vivaldi's Winter. It included a few clips that, in combination with the classical music and sonerous narration, came across as violent and distinctly tragic. I thought the strange furry creature was expressing fatalism in the face of his imminent death. The two robots implied a mysterious psychic link between them. The gradually approaching movie title, "Star Wars," came across as a failed attempt at a forced rhyme, and brought to mind a sprawling drama of bloody warfare. The kind of film that I probably wasn't old enough to see.
Can you cover the ideas they had in mind for Revenge of the Jedi?
Star Wars Theory has done that, if you haven't seen it already
RuyLopezQB6 Wow! Thanks! I will check it now.
@@Ruylopez778 and aso the aborted ideas for star wars episode 1