15 Huge Controversies That Rocked Star Wars

12. The Holiday Special

As already established, George Lucas was a whirling dervish when it came to licensing Star Wars out for merchandising opportunities. Over the years, he's allowed the brand name to be associated with some stunningly bad merch, but few licensing decisions rival the one behind the Holiday Special for negative impact on Star Wars as a whole.

The Special - which is arguably the most absurd thing ever added to the canon - is a mix of lunatic skits, ruinous "comedy" and cloying sentimentality that tries to find a catch-all festive family fun spirit. The result was so bad that George Lucas hated it. And he liked Jar Jar Binks!

Both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have publicly said it was awful, and while there's undoubtedly some kitsch value to it, it remains the darkest blemish on the brand, and it's probably best forgotten.

Luckily - and somewhat infuriatingly for completist fans - it's now been mothballed, with a high-def release increasingly unlikely (even though it would sell millions). That alone says something about how aware LucasFilm are of their foul-up.