The Star Wars Holiday Special (TV 1978)

Chewie and Han Solo are trying to get home to Chewie's family, so they can celebrate Lifeday.

Director:

Steve Binder

Writers:

Pat Proft, Leonard Ripps,

Stars:

Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Mickey Morton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia Organa
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2 (as R2-D2)
James Earl Jones	...	Darth Vader (voice)
Bea Arthur	...	Ackmena (as Beatrice Arthur)
Art Carney	...	Saun Dann
Diahann Carroll	...	Mermeia Holographic Wow
Marty Balin	...	Holographic Band Singer (as The Jefferson Starship)
Craig Chaquico	...	Holographic Band Member (as The Jefferson Starship)
David Freiberg	...	Holographic Band Singer (as The Jefferson Starship)
Paul Kantner	...	Holographic Band Member (as The Jefferson Starship)
Harvey Korman	...	Krelman / Chef Gormaanda / Amorphian instructor

Storyline

It is Lifeday, a holiday that is celebrated on Chewbacca's home planet Kashyyyk. Chewie and Han Solo are trying to get to the planet where Chewie's family is waiting for him, but the empire is out searching for the rebels, giving everyone a hard time. While we are waiting we get a look at the everyday life of a Wookiee family. We meet all the familiar characters from Star Wars and we are introduced to Boba Fett during a small cartoon. We also pay a visit to the Cantina and meet all the monsters again.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | wookiee | empire | alien | star wars spinoff | 

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Taglines:

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battle evil Imperial forces to help Chewbacca reach his imperiled family on the Wookiee planet - in time for Life Day, their most important day of the year!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Musical | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The 'Star Wars' Christmas Special

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Smith-Hemion Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Winters Hollywood Entertainment Holdings Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to David Acomba, he recommended Robin Williams for the special but the producers turned him down.

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Quotes

Han Solo: That's the spirit! You'll be celebrating Life Day before you know it! Standby, here's where we say goodbye to our unpleasant friends.

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Crazy Credits

R2-D2 as R2-D2

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Connections

Referenced in Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity and the Great Attractor (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Light the Sky on Fire"
(uncredited)
Performed by Jefferson Starship

User Reviews

Lucas tried to burn every copy of this (tried)

I can see why Lucas would take the action he would against this piece; TV took his characters and actors and created a spectacularly cheesy and laughably stupid special with characters never created by Lucas (or even the writers from the Star Wars novels). Who are these characters? Well, it gets in part with the story, where in which Han and Chewie have to get back to Chewie's home planet and, yes, family- his wife Mala, his father Iggy, his sone Lumpy, to celebrate life day.

The highlight of this program, of course, is the cartoon where in which we see the first sign of Boba Fett (although with episode II in chronological order that comes first), and the rest of it has the cast members singing songs and delivering bad, bad acting. But what was weird was that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen the whole show, it was basically the Star Wars train wreck. You will laugh at its incredible ridiculousness if you have a sense of humor, but if you are a strident Star Wars fan who loves the intense action and mystery from the saga (and believe me I'm one of them also), walk away from it, never happened. Art Carney, Bea Arthur, Jefferson Starship and Diahann Caroll co-star. B-