Posts Tagged ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’



Rare “Holiday Special” Backstage Photo Found

Pete Vilmur | January 4, 2011

AP Photo by George Brich

As someone always on the lookout for rare old Star Wars photos, I was pleased to discover Forbes.com’s Geek Beat columnist David M. Ewalt had unearthed a cool old gem from the vaguely-documented “Star Wars Holiday Special” of 1978, which we actually lent a bit of coverage to a couple years ago.

Articles from Nov 17, 1978

While researching a couple of those pieces, I came across a rare Associated Press image of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in photocopied articles from 1978, but couldn’t locate the original in Lucasfilm’s expansive Image Archives (apparently, wire photos were not automatically sent to LFL for approval and/or cataloging). Enter Ewalt’s Geek Beat column, which appears to have located the original shot of Ford and Fisher in a rare backstage moment captured by AP photographer George Brich.

Ah, to be a fly on the wall to hear what Ford is sharing with Fisher before their next Holiday Special take…

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Happy Wookiee Life Day!

StarWars.com Team | November 17, 2009

November 17 marks the anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special, which some fans like to celebrate as Wookiee Life Day!

More info from Wookieepedia.com:

Note that Life Day most likely was originally intended as a stand-in for the American holiday of Thanksgiving, as the Holiday Special was originally aired on November 17, the day after Thanksgiving that year.

However, over time the term “holiday special” has caused most fans to misinterpret Life Day as a stand-in for Christmas instead, leading to games like Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron to place Life Day on December 25. This is partly because after the initial US airing in November, the Holiday Special aired in December in other countries, where Thanksgiving is not observed and Christmas is the closest equivalent.

The canonical date for the observance of Life Day has, nevertheless, been established in what sources there are as December 25, or the equivalent thereof in the Wookiee calendar. Whether this means that Life Day actually is intended to be understood as a solstice festival akin to Christmas as opposed to a harvest festival akin to Thanksgiving is unknown.

Neither concept seems to hold much relevance on Kashyyyk, which appears to have temperate weather throughout the year (including on the Life Day we see in the Holiday Special) and where agriculture seems to be little practiced.

In honor of Life Day, here’s some of our favorite photos of celeb fans hanging out with Chewie.


Chewbacca & actor Milo Ventimiglia at the Fanboy premiere.

(more…)

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Latest ToyFare Riffs on Holiday Special

Pablo Hidalgo | July 18, 2007

Available now from Wizard Entertainment is issue #121 of ToyFare. Star Wars fans should snatch it up for their great mix of toy coverage and immature jokes, but this issue’s Twisted Toyfare Theater is entirely devoted “The Star Wars Holiday Special.” Ackmena, Saun Dann, Lumpy and all your favorites (except Jefferson Starship) from the cringe-mas* special are here.

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It’s the issue with Homer on the cover, and inside you’ll find articles on The Simpsons Movie, Doctor Who, M.A.S.K. and more. For more info about ToyFare, head to their official site here.

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*Yeah, we know it was a Thanksgiving day special, but then the pun doesn’t work.

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