The Star Wars Holiday Special is infamous for how corny it is. George Lucas has said if he had time, he’d go smash every copy with a hammer. While Lucas did supply the original story, the timing didn’t allow him to continue to manage it. Perhaps it was this which had him keep all Star Wars media on a close watch thereafter, for those working on it unsupervised fused elements of their own into the story.
Lucas himself did directly supply the Wookiee family and initial story of the Holiday Special. He also approved the Faithful Wookiee animation that first revealed Boba Fett. This came out during work on The Empire Strikes Back The Empire Strikes Back had many issues during filming, including cost and scheduling overruns. George Lucas didn’t have the time to dedicate to managing the Holiday Special himself.
The story with Chewbacca’s family got mixed with other story ideas and elements brought in by the other producers in the final version of the Star Wars Holiday Special. But some of his own elements remain canon to the expanded universe, particularly Chewie’s family, the wookiee lifestyles and Lifeday itself. And if he didn’t approve of the cartoon, he’d certainly not have hired Nelvaan studios again to do the Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour.
While Lucas hasn’t specified which parts he particularly hates, based on his criteria for his movies, one can make an educated guess.
First, we know Lucas wasn’t satisfied from the start with the Cantina Aliens, no matter how popular they were. Proof of this is seen in how he replaced some in the Special Editions. The aliens in the Holiday Special were for the most part the dregs of the alien cantina supply, probably not ones he’d have preferred to use. In fact, many shots from the show were recycled from early raw footage from the original Star Wars movie.
There is no way of knowing for sure how he felt about the questionable variety show elements, but he was a young inventor of the new and some of the people working on the show were of the established old, who likely had different tastes.
Finally, there are the main characters He was so heavily buried in cosmetics, he was barely even recognizable. And much like the original Star Wars, special effects weren’t exactly cooperating.
Ultimately, I do think the Holiday Special is worth a watch (once) if only for its historical value. The variety show elements reveal what was popular in society at the time. Some of the artists involved were pretty famous such as Bea Arthur, Diahann Carrol,l and the rock group Jefferson Starship. The elements that were true to Lucas’s vision that remained, show up in the Expanded Universe.
Chewbacca’s family includes Attichitcuk (his father) aka Itchy, Mallotobuck (his wife) aka Malla, Lumpawarump (his son) aka Lumpy.
The Star Wars Holiday Special Continuity Contributed to:
- The Wookiee Storybook
- The Han Solo Trilogy by A.C Crispin. – It tells the story of the Chewie marrying Mallotobuck and the birth of their son, Lumpy.
- A Forest Apart by Troy Denning – Lumpy comes to visit Chewie on Coruscant
- Young Jedi Knights Darkest Knight by Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta – Lowbacca, the Solo twins, and Tenel Ka visit Lowie’s family.
- Chewbacca (4 comic book arc tribute after NJO’s major Chewbacca event)
- Knights of the Old Republic – The game features the first visual view of Kashyyyk and the wookiees on their world with the lifestyle depicted in the special (set before the Empire, but dominated by Czerka Corporation)
- The trader Saun Dann, also known as Sohn Dann, also appears in the Lifeday events in Star Wars Galaxies. He’s a quest giver.
- Galactic Battlegrounds includes Attichitcuk on various maps.
- Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars the Old Republic both have an event featuring the Wookiee LifeDay.
Additional notes related to the Star Wars Holiday Special:
The home world of the Wookiees was called Wookiee Planet C and Kazook in this and went through several names in EU canon, Kashyyyk was the wookiee’s own name for it. Some may have been designations by others, such as Edean was the name Czerka Corporation gave it in the old Republic before the Wookiees kicked them out.
Attichikuk was considered for a role in Revenge of the Sith.
White wookiees are rare and often shunned. Itchy’s true color is light brown, apparently silvering with age.
In the Holiday Special Luke oddly understands (somewhat) Wookiee. He states that Chewie has never missed a Life Day. This is obviously not canon, unless it refers to post marrying Malla!
While the animated portion is fun, it definitely doesn’t fit with the later established Boba Fett continuity. Han and Chewie knew Boba before this, given he was added into the Special edition!
Additional Sources:
The Star Wars Holiday Special
Journal of the Empire Strikes Back (re the troubles with TESB filming)
Art of Revenge of the Sith (regardiing considering Itchy for a role)
Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross Sections
https://web.archive.org/web/20090224081113/https://www.starwars.com/movies/saga/20081119a.html
If you DARE venture to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special, the whole thing has never officially re-aired. But it frequently pops up on archives, streaming video like Youtube, and Disney Plus apparently has shown the Faithful Wookiee animation.
