Star Wars: 10 Things That Didn’t Go The Way George Lucas Wanted
The Force was not strong with these George Lucas Star Wars ideas and plans...
At the risk of sounding like a bit of a broken record, were it not for a little-known director pumping his heart and soul into blasting his own original space opera adventure into a galaxy far, far away, the fictional universe fans around the world have grown to love and even dedicate their existence to wouldn't have ever seen the light of day.
Hell, this article would cease to exist!
But when putting the building blocks in place to kickstart such a groundbreaking cinematic feat, or even attempting to follow such an instantly iconic set of films with an even more anticipated trilogy later down the road, a few missteps along the way were always to be expected. And while George Lucas' bank account suggests he managed to pull off a great deal more Star Wars hits than misses over the years, there are still more than a few moments that didn't quite jump to hyperspace in the way he'd have initially hoped.
From small screen flops to perhaps not getting the best out of landscape-shifting technology, it's safe to say the Force was not exactly strong with these particular Star Wars elements...
10. The Holiday Special
In isolation, the concept of putting together a light-hearted holiday special riffing on elements from a beloved franchise is pretty harmless and even potentially a fairly entertaining endeavour if executed well. Just look at the success of Star Wars' own LEGO variety of holiday treats and the understandable buzz surrounding James Gunn's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy riff on the festive season.
However, with high levels of anticipation can sometimes come a bit of a lacklustre end product, evidenced in this galaxy far, far away's first attempt to bring a bit of festive cheer to George Lucas' corner of the small screen universe.
Absolutely destroyed by critics upon landing on CBS in November 1978, despite roping in the majority of the feature players from the smash hit that was A New Hope, Lucas' odd desire to have much of this TV Star Wars adventure centre around Chewbacca's Wookiee family didn't exactly bear the sort of fruit he was hoping for.
Outside of the animated introducing of instantly iconic bounty hunter Boba Fett, there's a reason Lucas has done everything in his power to distance himself from just about everything to do with this ill-fated special as the years have gone by.