Probably every major franchise has moments in its history that it would like to forget or suppress. Star Wars also has such a movie, which was released back in 1978. Although it cannot be watched officially, the latest series at least pays tribute to the film with a small detail.
Which movie is it? In 1978, The Star Wars Holiday Special was released. It’s about Chewbacca’s family preparing for a kind of Christmas celebration. Even though Han, Leia, Luke, and the respective actors appear, it has almost nothing to do with the Star Wars we know today.
There are confusing dance sequences, terrible dialogues, and a nonsensical story. Although it was the first appearance of Boba Fett, the film is considered the worst Star Wars production of all time. According to The Guardian, George Lucas reportedly once said that he would have destroyed every copy of the film if he could have.
The film is not available anywhere, not even on Disney+, and is said to have spread only through initial bootleg copies that found their way onto the internet. It seems that Disney is also trying to ignore the film forever. Especially considering that other small productions like the two Ewok movies are available on the platform.
Only the sequence with Boba Fett can be viewed in the form of the short film The Story of the Faithful Wookiee on Disney+.
However, surprisingly, the new Star Wars series pays tribute to the old film. If you pay attention in Skeleton Crew, you can see a homage to the special.
Children have probably been watching the same show in the Star Wars universe for almost 40 years
What can be seen in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew? The latest series in the Star Wars universe is Skeleton Crew. It tells the story of a group of children who discover a Jedi temple and thus get caught up in a dangerous adventure.
The home planet of these children resembles a futuristic small town. At one point, you can see the house of the child Neel, who is a kind of elephant alien. There, you can see his siblings sitting on the couch watching a hologram. The hologram is a quirky dance show with unusual costumes.
Those familiar with the Holiday Special will recognize the hologram. The dance show is from the film. There, the Wookiee children are also watching this performance. It goes on a little longer there.
And if you think that was strange enough, you can’t even imagine what else happens in the Holiday Special.
Star Wars is a franchise that often draws from past things, so it is refreshing to see that even the darker sides are acknowledged.
Those who want to delve deeper into perhaps forgotten productions can do so with the Star Wars Vintage Collection on Disney+. There you will also find the quite good animated series on Clone Wars, which appeared before the animated series. The Holiday Special, however, remains the worst film in Star Wars history: All 15 Star Wars films ranked.
