| “ | If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that special and smash it. | ” |
— George Lucas | ||
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a two-hour television special spun off from the Star Wars film franchise, broadcast in the United States only once on Friday, November 17, 1978 on CBS at 8:00 PM EST. It was the first film-length Star Wars production following the release of the original film, and notably introduced Boba Fett and three members of Chewbacca's family - his father Attichitcuk, his wife Mallatobuck, and his son Lumpawaroo.
Star Wars creator George Lucas's involvement in the special's production was limited, and he was unhappy with the final product. The special was critically panned by critics and fans as well, and is widely regarded as one of the worst Christmas specials of all time. As a result, it has never re-aired in the US nor been officially released on home video, but has been widely bootlegged by fans. The animated segment was included as an Easter Egg on the 2011 Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set and can also be seen on Disney+.
Synopsis[]
Onboard the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca and Han Solo are on their way to Kashyyyk to be with Chewbacca's family for Life Day, a Wookiee holiday. After departing Tatooine, the pair find themselves being chased by two Star Destroyers. Han wants to turn back, but Chewbacca convinces him to move forward, and they jump to hyperspace.
On Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's family is anxiously preparing for his return. Itchy is carving an X-wing toy for Lumpy, Malla is working in the kitchen, and Lumpy is playing with an already-complete X-wing toy. Lumpy tries to eat one of Malla's freshly-prepared Wookiee-ookiees before dinner, but she catches him and has him take out the garbage. As Malla worries about her husband Chewbacca's safety, Itchy reassures her not to worry and gets an activity capsule out of the cabinet to show Lumpy. Malla objects to this, but Itchy convinces her otherwise and inserts the capsule into a round table-machine. After Itchy turns on the device, Lumpy sits down to watch some computer-generated circus performers.
After the performance ends, Malla and Itchy start worrying again. Malla uses a computer to run a search for any starships in the area, but it gets no results. She then turns on a hidden viewscreen to contact Luke Skywalker, who is working on his X-wing Starfighter with help from R2-D2. Luke does not know what has happened and suggests that Han and Chewbacca probably stopped off somewhere. He starts have a few problems of his own when the part he is working on begins to emit steam. Seeing that Luke is busy, Malla next contacts Saun Dann, a local human trader, who is in the middle of a deal with an Imperial Guard. Saun Dann suggests a few items, for which the guard expresses no interest. While the guard is distracted looking at items, Saun Dann tells Malla, through a carefully-worded message, that Han and Chewbacca are on their way, but he too does not know of their current whereabouts. He shuts off the viewscreen, and suggests a multifunctional groomer to the Imperial Guard.
Meanwhile, onboard a Star Destroyer, an Imperial officer informs Darth Vader that a blockade has been set up around Kashyyyk, and a search has begun for the Rebels. Vader tells him to continue searching, even if they must search every household in the system.
Back on Kashyyyk, Malla is preparing dinner. She turns on a viewscreen to view a cooking program with Gormaanda, a four-armed chef who gives instructions on how to prepare the Bantha rump. When she begins to speed up the process, Malla can't keep up and turns the viewscreen off. Just then, an Imperial officer announces the blockade on the family's viewscreen, and that the Empire has declared martial law. Immediately afterward, there is a knock at the door; it is Saun Dann, who has brought each of them Life Day gifts. He gives Malla and Lumpy their presents first, and they go off to open them. Saun Dann then gives Itchy his present - a memory chip, which he inserts into Itchy's mind evaporator. Itchy activates the chip, and sees a human female perform a song. Malla then contacts Princess Leia and C-3PO, who are working on something at a rebel base, to tell them Chewbacca and Han haven't shown up. Leia asks if Malla is alone, and is relieved that Saun Dann is there to protect her.
Back in space, the Millennium Falcon approaches Kashyyyk. Unaware of the blockade, Chewbacca and Han are attacked by four TIE fighters. After taking out a few using the cockpit's remote controls, Han resorts to going down into the quad cannons to use them manually while Chewie takes the main controls. Han notices the abundance of Imperials around the planet, so they decide to land on the north side, which is a safe-section area. He notes that this is far the Wookiee household, and will be a long walk. After a protest from Chewbacca, they decide to land as planned.
Meanwhile, Lumpy hears a ship landing outside. Believing Han and Chewie have arrived, Malla opens the door, only to find two Stormtroopers and two Imperial officers who force their way in. The head officer checks the house for all residents, finds that a male Wookiee is missing, and orders his men to do a full search of the house. The officers search around, nearly discovering Malla's hidden communication device. To distract the attention of the Imperials, Saun Dann suggests that he and Malla prepare some food for everyone. Saun Dann turns on Malla's gift — a music box — for one of the officers, and watches with the officer while Malla does the cooking. A holographic band appears on the box and sings a song. When the video finishes, the head officer orders the search to continue. Saun Dann leaves, believing he cannot help further. The head officer tells Malla to keep Lumpy busy while they search, so Lumpy sits down to watch a cartoon.
The cartoon features Chewbacca, Han, Luke, Leia, R2-D2 and C-3PO's first encounter with Boba Fett. While searching for a talisman, Chewbacca and Han crash the Millennium Falcon on a moon in the Panna system. At a Rebel base, Luke, Leia and the droids are concerned for their safety, so Luke and the droids take a Y-Wing to the Panna moon. Upon landing, they run into Boba Fett, who claims he wants to help them after saving Luke from a giant monster. C-3PO tells Luke he shouldn't be so quick to trust Fett, but Luke laughs this off. They all find the Falcon, where Han has been infected by a sleeping virus apparently caused by the talisman. Luke immediately contracts the virus as well. Fett and Chewie go into Panna City, which is occupied by Imperials, to get the serum for the virus. Once there, Fett secretly contacts Darth Vader to inform him of the situation, revealing that he and Vader plan to reveal the location of the Rebels so Vader can stop them. C-3PO and R2-D2 intercept the message between Vader and Fett on their viewscreen, however, and C-3PO says that they have to tell Luke. After evading the Imperials, Fett and Chewie return to the ship to give the serum to Han and Luke. They recover, and everyone learns of Boba Fett's true allegiance as he blasts away in his jet pack, promising they'll meet again. The cartoon ends with everyone leaving the planet on board the Millennium Falcon.
Upstairs, the Imperials search and ransack Lumpy's room, with one of them ripping the head off of Lumpy's stuffed bantha. Lumpy is saddened by what they have done to his treasured toy and tries to put its head back on. He then opens the present Saun Dann gave him and puts in the instruction video, which teaches him how to assemble the device — a mini-transmitter. A humanoid described as an "Amorphian Being from the system Amorphia" appears on the video. The video's announcer explains that Amorphian beings' body functions frequently stop working temporarily; throughout the video, this Amorphian does just that, eventually shutting down completely at the end.
Downstairs, while the Imperials are still searching, a video comes on the living room viewscreen. The program, featuring "Life on Tatooine", is described as "required viewing by all Imperial personnel", so the Imperials turn their attention to it. The video showcases happenings inside the Mos Eisley Cantina. The bartender, Ackmena, is serving drinks, when a humanoid named Krelman walks in to give her flowers. Suddenly, they are interrupted by an Imperial announcement; as part of their search for the Rebels, Tatooine is being put under a curfew by the Empire. The Imperial agent orders everyone to return home immediately. Ackmena is shocked and asks her customers to leave. When they all refuse, she suggests one more round of drinks for everyone, which she pays for herself. She then proceeds to usher them out by singing a song and dancing. Everyone eventually leaves except for Krelman, who again offers the flowers to Ackmena.
After the video ends, Lumpy enacts his plan. The Imperials repeatedly get a call to "return to base" and decide to leave, but the head officer tells one of the stormtroopers to stay behind. After the other Imperials leave, the stormtrooper still hears the radio call and immediately figures something is wrong because there are no more comlinks around. Deducing that the sound is coming from Lumpy's room, the stormtrooper runs upstairs to find Lumpy speaking into the mini-transporter he had constructed earlier. He destroys the machine and chases Lumpy outside just as Chewbacca and Han arrive. Chewie rushes to protect his son, and the stormtrooper points his gun at them. Luckily, Han sneaks up behind the stormtrooper and hits him. The two prepare to fight, but Han suddenly trips the stormtrooper, who falls to his death in the forests below.
Han, Chewbacca, and Lumpy go inside, where Malla and Itchy are waiting. Malla asks Han to stay, but he says he has to get back to the Falcon before someone finds it. He wishes everyone a happy Life Day and leaves, after which Saun Dann returns with bags in his hands. The Imperial officer from before appears on a viewscreen, asking if anyone has seen a missing stormtrooper. Saun Dann replies, claiming that the stormtrooper stole a lot of food from his house and left without a trace. The excuse works, and the officer says he will send out a search party to find the missing trooper. After the officer's call ends, Saun Dann leaves again, wishing the entire family a happy Life Day. The family then prepares to go the festival at the Tree of Life, each taking a crystal that they hold together above their heads.
Chewbacca's family is transported towards a bright star and arrive at the Tree of Life with many other Wookiees. Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 stand before the other Wookiees, and Luke, Leia and Han soon join them. Leia begins the ceremony with a short speech on the meaning of Life Day and sings a song in celebration. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Chewbacca remembers several of the group's adventures from the first film. Later that night, Chewbacca, Malla, Lumpy and Itchy sit down at the family table, where they pray and prepare to eat a Life Day meal.
Songs[]
- "This Minute"
- "Light the Sky on Fire"
- "Good Night, But Not Goodbye"
- "A Day to Celebrate"
Cast[]
| Actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Mark Hamill | Luke Skywalker |
| Harrison Ford | Han Solo |
| Carrie Fisher | Princess Leia Organa |
| Anthony Daniels | C-3PO |
| Peter Mayhew | Chewbacca |
| Kenny Baker | R2-D2 |
| James Earl Jones | Darth Vader (voice) |
| Beatrice Arthur | Ackmena |
| Art Carney | Saun Dann |
| Diahann Carroll | Mermeia Holographic Wow |
| Marty Balin David Freiberg |
Holographic band singers |
| Craig Chaquico Paul Kanter |
Holographic band members |
| Harvey Korman | Krelman Chef Gormaanda Amorphian Instructor |
| Mickey Morton | Malla Tork (uncredited) Chef Gormaanda's extra arms (Uncredited) |
| Paul Gale | Itchy |
| Patty Maloney | Lumpy |
| Jack Rader Michael Potter |
Imperial guard officers |
| Stephanie Stromer | The Great Zorbak (Holographic Gymnast) |
| The Wazzan Troupe | Holographic tumblers |
| Yûichi Sugiyama | Ringleader |
| The Mum Brothers | The Reeko Brothers |
| Claude Woolman | Imperial Officer |
| Lev Mailer | Imperial Guard #1 |
| John McLaughlin | Imperial Stormtrooper #1 |
| Uncredited actors | |
| David Prowse (archive footage) | Darth Vader |
| Gabriel Dell (voice) Don Francks (voice) |
Boba Fett |
| Alec Guinness (archive footage) | Ben Kenobi |
| Mary Ann Hay | Dancer |
| Linda Hoxit | Teenage "Wookie" |
| Art James | Announcer |
| Larry Mollin (voice) | Pilot |
| Marcus Powell | Rycar Ryjerd |
| Arthur Rowton | Zutton Zutmore |
| Leslie Schofield (archive footage) | Chief Bast |
| Rick J. Wagner | Walrus Man |
See also[]
External links[]
- Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Holiday Special
- The Star Wars Holiday Special at the Internet Movie Database
- Star Wars Holiday Special fansite
- The Nitpicker's Guide to The Star Wars Holiday Special in-depth review with scene-by-scene commentary
- I-Mockery's review
- Wrestlecrap.com's review by R.D. Reynolds
- Full special at the Museum of Classic Chicago Television: