Following the massive success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, an attempt at a spin-off in the form of a holiday special was released on CBS in 1978, aptly titled The Star Wars Holiday Special. The special was set between Episode IV and Episode V of the Skywalker Saga, with the original cast returning. As a spin-off of a film, audiences then were introduced to the infamous bounty hunter, Boba Fett. Of course, Boba wasn’t a problem for fans as he would become a catalyst in subsequent Star Wars films.
To this day, fans still debate whether The Star Wars Holiday Special is official canon. Fans’ main concerns were over how the special essentially disregarded how its events directly affected the storyline in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. On top of that, the Holiday Special was a made-for-television movie that didn’t include George Lucas’ involvement. Between the script’s poor quality and the overall execution of the story, here’s a look at why the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is so un-loved by fans.
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Why The Holiday Special Was Made
Lucasfilm Ltd.
The Star Wars Holiday Special begins with Han Solo and Chewbacca traveling to Kashyyyk for Life Day, where Chewbacca’s family is waiting. Upon their arrival, Lumpy, Chewbacca’s son, begins watching a cartoon recapping his father’s adventures. He then creates a translator that can hack into the communications technology of the Star Destroyer to trick them. In the cartoon Lumpy watches, along with the audience, a new character is introduced: Boba Fett. Though Boba Fett’s initial appearance may seem like the reason for the special, that’s just the surface. While A New Hope generated $10 million at the box office in just three days, the studio felt the pressure to maintain the momentum of the franchise while Lucas was working on the sequel, as Mental Floss explains. Due to the overwhelming pressure felt by the production team, and the lack of Lucas’ involvement, the Holiday Special is highly debated as being canon. This debate still occurs among fans, but Marvel made the special legitimately part of the Star Wars canon with the 91st edition of the Star Wars comic, as Screen Rant reports. Although it should be noted that much of the fans’ debates over whether the special is canon or not is rooted in criticism of the special’s quality, not necessarily its narrative.
The Special’s Poor Reception
Much of the Star Wars franchise is heavily debated among fans simply due to their vision being unfulfilled. For example, many fans’ disdain for the prequel trilogy is rooted in a boring storyline and a seething hatred for Jar-Jar Binks. Similarly, with the Star Wars Holiday Special, fans felt underwhelmed by the storyline, the script, and the film’s structure. Especially following the excitement of A New Hope, the holiday special should have lived up to the excitement. Indeed, fans are adamant that the feature is a massive failure.
Just the first ten minutes of the special alone are a true indicator for the atrocity that will unfold. First, the storyline’s main focus is Han Solo trying to get Chewbacca home for Life Day. This is an example of fans’ main discomfort with the script. Part of the writing process for many films is the original script and final script are naturally different due to a myriad of factors during development. Yet, as writer Brian Jay Jones explains to Lit Hub, the original script for the holiday special was, in fact, also the final script due to time constraints (and therefore a lack of proper development). The final piece that fans wholeheartedly agree on as the worst part of the special was the structure of the film. Between live action, a cartoon, and more live action scenes, the film hopped around too much for it to flow well.
Time Heals All Wounds
When the Star Wars Holiday Special was released, fans felt betrayed by Lucas and the characters they loved from Episode IV. For a two-hour special to jump around with a weak storyline, awful script, and an almost pornographic scene with a Wookie and a hologram, portrayed by Diahann Carroll, it’s not hard to blame fans for their initial reception of the film. Even younger or more recent fans feel a remarkable level of disdain for the special.
However, the debate wouldn’t be present without a pro-special side. Maude and Golden Girls fans were thrilled to see Bea Arthur as Ackmena, a bartender at Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina on the planet of Mos Eisley. Some fans, even if they dislike the special, do agree on two elements: a good deal of the praise was directed at the original actors, like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, returning despite the lackluster script; and, of course, the pièce de résistance was the introduction of Boba Fett, even if he was riding a dinosaur-looking alien.
