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Post by Kristen Brennan on Oct 26, 2004 19:04:44 GMT -5
Where did George Lucas find his inspirations when he created the Star Wars films? I'd love to hear any theories you've formed or rumors you've heard. Whenever possible please include (1) a high-resolution image of the inspiration (ideally with the related SW image beside it), and (2) your source for the idea, including TITLE, AUTHOR, YEAR PUBLISHED/RELEASED, PUBLISHER, and any other relevant information. A few of the open mysteries I'm particularly hoping someone might have some ideas on: 1. Where did the tagline "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." come from? Many years ago a reader wrote in to say that he saw a pirate movie in which a storyteller began with "A long time ago, in a place far, far away..." but unfortunately I lost the name of the film in a hard drive crash. Does anyone know which film this is from? Chances are good the same film might have a walking-the-plank scene... 2. Which classical/filmscore music pieces did Lucas include in the original scratch track? I'm 99% sure about Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" as an inspiration for Darth Vader's theme and Alessandro Cicognini's score for Ladri di biciclette ("The Bicycle Thief", 1948) as an inspiration for The Dune Sea of Tatooine; what other pieces were used? Also, there are indisputably some Wagner and Korngold influences in there - which ideas were borrowed specifically? 3. How did the Stormtroopers evolve visually? Samurai armor? The white minions from The Fighting Devil Dogs serial (1938)? Why do their faces look that way? Are those masks for jet pilots or tank drivers or something from WWII? 4. It seems like there are a lot of ideas borrowed from Heinlein's juveniles and Edmond Hamilton's books - can anyone identify which specific ideas were borrowed? Are there other vintage scifi books you've spotted SW ideas in? 5. Links/references to interviews in which Lucas cites his influences are always welcome (even if the information is already listed here without a source footnote). I hope you enjoy this website and forum as much as I've enjoyed working on it!! cheers, Kristen Brennan www.jitterbug.com/brennan
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Post by DarthYoda19 on Nov 24, 2004 15:57:31 GMT -5
Is that the onfo of how he came up with his creations?
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Post by strangeballoon on Nov 28, 2004 10:34:21 GMT -5
1. Where did the tagline "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." come from? Many years ago a reader wrote in to say that he saw a pirate movie in which a storyteller began with "A long time ago, in a place far, far away..." but unfortunately I lost the name of the film in a hard drive crash. Does anyone know which film this is from? Chances are good the same film might have a walking-the-plank scene... Hello, A very influential french comic book Valerian, created by Mezieres and Christin, started in early 70s and continues to the present day. Although only really well known in Europe, it could have been an inspiration for the designers/artistic people creating the visual style of the SW world. I have thought of scanning some, but I don't have the original versions but only the finnish translations. Anyway, one of these stories is called "L'Empire des mille planetes", ("The Empire of thousand planets"). Published in 1971, it opens up with a series of wide panels, the first of which shows a generic view of stars and planets. The textbox in the side reads something like "In a far away galaxy there is a big solar system, where the Magnificent Syrte is located, the centre of the empire of the thousand planets". (My poor translation) . The view in the next panel is brought down to the planet surface, and this is reminiscent of the effect Lucas uses to start every SW movie. The neat thing with the whole page is it almost reads like a storyboard for a movie, wide pictures with text separated. The feel of the Valerian universe is quite near to Star Wars, with a mixture of "primitive/tribal" alien races mostly humanoid. Small details: -The main character gets trapped into a kind of box of "carbonite", his posture similar to Han Solo. (Though he can still speak inside the box.) -The druids who rule the planet Syrte have dressed into elaborate masks hiding their faces. The masks are slightly bobafett-esque. Later in the story, when the mask is removed, a bald, scarred face of radiation sick human is revealed.
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Post by Scott on Jan 1, 2005 15:07:39 GMT -5
I believe the name "Anakin" comes from ancient Greek. The Greek word ana'nkên means "a violent force." ;D
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Post by Scott on Jan 1, 2005 15:46:52 GMT -5
Also the Greek word paidion (pronounced pahee-dee'-on) means a mature, advanced child.
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Post by privateprivatecomcastnet on Jan 3, 2005 23:57:49 GMT -5
:)heard rumor once that Lucas cited "Wizard of Mars" 1965 film with John Carradine as inspiration for throne room scene / emperor's look. also the tv shows of the day like Rocky Jones Space Ranger, Space Patrol and Tom Corbett Space Cadet. Also the "Radio Ranch" early serial of Gene Aubrey as being influential.
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Post by thegalaxy6 on Jan 12, 2005 15:24:02 GMT -5
In a book called something like "Tales to Astonish", all on the comic industry and what not. *Supposedly* Jack Kirby was so convinced (as more recently Grant Morrison, writer of The Invisibles, Filth, JLA, The New X-Men, etc., was convinced the writers of THE MATRIX stole from him) that George Lucas copped some of his ideas off of his THE NEW GODS series, that he officiated papers claiming he wouldn't sue or slander Lucas, if he'd JUST ADMIT IT!
I'm not so sure it was all THAT influential, however there is a surprise Father/Son revelation, where the good guy turns out to be related to the most evil presence in the galaxy -- and that villain's name is "Darkseid" (pronounced "Dark Side"), and the all-powerful, enlightening power in the story is called... "The Source". Darkseid looks a bit *like* Darth Vader, and there are other little similarities.
~Dak
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Post by Raz Greenberg on Mar 4, 2005 15:08:56 GMT -5
First of all... Hi! Much like everyone else here, I really, really, realy liked your site - so much, in fact, that it inspired me to open a class devoted entirely to the Star Wars movies, focusing on the origins angle (I teach at a gifted children's school). I would like to join the query raised here before - is the book version of the website coming anytime soon? And while on it - once it comes out, would you be willing to do an interview (I am also doing some writing for several SF publications in my country). To the matter at hand, however- I think the look of many aliens in the Star Wars universe was heavily influenced by the works and designs of stop-motion wizard Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen's specialty was designing and animating mondsters, and his major inspiration sources came from mythology, insects, and his biggest passion - reptiles and dinosaurs. Phil Tippett, who did the stop-motion work on episodes IV-VI (not sure how much of it survived in the special editions, though), was heavily inspired by Harryhausen, and I think this inspiration can be seen in his work on the Cantina scene, the Holographic Chess scene, and the Tauntaun aliens. This artcile on starwars.com has more info: www.starwars.com/episode-iv/bts/article/f20040602/George Lucas himself is a Ray Harryhausen fan, as evident from his brief appearance in the documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles" (just watched it today, on the DVD of "Jason and the Argonauts"). Another possible inspiration could be "Beauty and the Beast" - the 1946 Jean Cocteau version, not the Disney one, of course. The film has a rolling opening titles (altough with a different look than Star Wars') that make a very elaborate use of the "Once upon a time" theme (in fact, it could even be "long time ago..." I don't remember). The evil character turning good is also a major theme in that movie, of course, and Belle's attitude toward the beast reminded me a little of princess Leia's attitude towards Darth Vader while being captive on the Death Star. Nothing more specific I could find, but you're much better at this than I am. Finally, you've mentioned Edmond Hamilton. Never read any of his books, but a quick search in Amazon revealed that his book "The Star Kings" has a character named "Lianna" who is a ruler of a kingdom (possible inspiration for Princess Leia?) and that he also has a novel called "Doomstar" (as in "Deathstar"? Couldn't find a synopsis of that one anywhere).
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Post by Kristen Brennan on Mar 8, 2005 14:38:39 GMT -5
Raz: 1. Thanks! What a pleasure to know that all that hard work actually has value to someone! 2. I'm hoping to complete the book in June. By April I should have a draft finished enough to seek a publisher. I'd prefer to get the book out to coincide with the SWIII film, but that seems impossible unless I self-publish, and some publishers are scared away by the self-published (unless your numbers are insanely good). Still, I'll probably end up self-publishing at least initially if there's no other way to get the book out by Dec. 24, 2005 - my goal-date. 3. Sure, email for an interview. If my rockstar-author fantasies come true I'll be deluged, so get in ASAP or I may be too bizzy. 4. I think you're right, Harryhausen was a huge influence. Thanks for the tip! 5. I'll check out the Cocteau BATB. 6. I found a ratty old used copy of 'doomstar' on the same theory. Haven't read it yet, but at a skim I think the only thing Lucas borrowed was the name, if that, and if so he tweaked it nicely. 7. Your class will probably be interested in the *other* big SW Origins resource, Davide Canavero's Star Wars Athenaeun (which I just stumbled across): www.guerrestellari.net/athenaeum/indice.html...it's in Italian, but you can get the gist of it using Bablefish: babelfish.altavista.comwarm regards, Kristen B.
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Post by JediMusic on Mar 20, 2005 16:28:37 GMT -5
You mentioned the book Red Harvest. Any coincidence that George Lucas used the name "Blue Harvest" as a pseudonym for Return of the Jedi when he was trying to keep studios from boosting the price b/c it was a SW film?
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Post by jwalden91lx on Mar 22, 2005 0:41:49 GMT -5
Well, first, I'll start off by saying that I've read Kristen's "Far Cry From the Official Site" and i'm more intrigued by it than anything i've read in a long, long time. I found it remarkably informative and it's pretty apparent the HUGE amount of work that has gone into it. This is truly one of the best things i've ever read while looking at an LCD Screen. Thank you Kristen. I guess this really isn't a question, but more of a comment. There are literary works that have made their mark on history, and then there are the works that further the knowledge of their existence.
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Post by StickyKind on Mar 28, 2005 9:29:00 GMT -5
Hi there, I am located in the Bay Area and come across interesting people of wealth and accomplishment all the time. Recently, I have been developing an interesting hobby of learning more about Star Wars origins etc. Currently, I feel I am in a very strategic position to learn of what your asking through direct communication with an early pioneer of you know what! cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6165881522&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1I will be listing amazing products mid this week. This collection comes from the thinking process of the movie.
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Post by JohnClayton on Apr 19, 2005 13:20:37 GMT -5
I think Lucas was influenced by a number of films outside the science fiction genre. The lightsaber duels no doubt trace back to the old swashbuckler movies by Errol Flynn and others. The TIE fighter battles were probably inspired by the aerial dogfights in WWI and WWII war movies. And the old action serials were probably an influence. I saw at least one serial (The Crimson Ghost?) that had the hero trapped in a room where the walls were moving in on him -- like the trash compactor scene in SW. The 1930s horror film The Raven also has a trap like that. I've heard that Indiana Jones's stunts on the German convoy truck in Raiders of the Lost Ark were inspired by stunts in Westerns, such as Stagecoach. I think Lucas was updating the action scenes that entertained him when he was growing up. So, basically, his influences were every movie he had ever seen!
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Post by PrinceEspaaValorum on May 7, 2005 23:06:22 GMT -5
I think Lucas was influenced by a number of films outside the science fiction genre. The lightsaber duels no doubt trace back to the old swashbuckler movies by Errol Flynn and others. The TIE fighter battles were probably inspired by the aerial dogfights in WWI and WWII war movies. And the old action serials were probably an influence. I saw at least one serial (The Crimson Ghost?) that had the hero trapped in a room where the walls were moving in on him -- like the trash compactor scene in SW. The 1930s horror film The Raven also has a trap like that. I've heard that Indiana Jones's stunts on the German convoy truck in Raiders of the Lost Ark were inspired by stunts in Westerns, such as Stagecoach. I think Lucas was updating the action scenes that entertained him when he was growing up. So, basically, his influences were every movie he had ever seen! Agreed. Also, John Ford's Western The Searcher, starring John Wayne, influenced Lucas in the scene when Luke and Ben discover Owen and Beru murdered. Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress influenced ANH greatly. GL drew inspiration from samurai movies with the notion of the Jedi, which he got from jidai geki, Japanese for 'samurai film' (loosely, that is not the literal translation). GL marketed ANH in earlier stages of the filmmaking process as being inspired by 007. If you notice, there is an archvillain with a superweapon/superfortress who can destroy a world (Tarkin) working for a archvillain (Palpatine) and with a cool henchman (Vader). Sound familiar? Archvillain Blofeld remained hidden while subordinate archvillains Dr. No, Rosa Klebb, and Emilio Largo did his dirty work and these subordinate archvillains in turn had cool henchmen. Then, in AOTC, we have an evil guy (Dooku, played by Christopher Lee, the friend and often colleague of Peter Cushing (Tarkin) and a former 007 villain himself) who is behind a big operation that will affects adversely the established order and who is developing a superweapon/superfortress; who works for a hidden villain (Sidious) and who has a cool henchman (Jango Fett). Moreover, Tarkin and Vader have their conference room scene in ANH with the generals discussing the DS, while Dooku in his conference room scene in AOTC talks about his plot with the greedmeisters who help him to start a war with the Republic.
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Post by London Uk on Jun 18, 2005 4:09:17 GMT -5
Hi - putting Star Wars aside for the moment, just wanted to drop you a line of thanks for your excellent website, sorry if it's sacriligious to some fans to admit, but Star Wars is just another film to me, however this site is an incredible source of data, beautifully articulated and genuinely inspiring. Can't think how many hours you've put into it, but it's really kick started a couple of stale scripts I was stuck on, and I'm spreading the word to a lot of other people over here in London and the UK. Also discovered the incredible sacred texts site thru jitterbug which is an almighty find.
The only thing I can think of adding, which may be interesting to the discussion on the ethics, morality and tutelage of myth is a book by Bruno Bettelheim called 'the uses of enchantment' about the meaning and importance of fairy tales. He was a psychotherapist that survived Dachau, a really insightful book that rolls on from Campbell and Frazer.
So in your long nights of doubt, if you ever wonder whether all the hours you've spent on this site were worth it - well they truly were, a remarkable achievement. Will keep an eye on amazon.com for your book
Best
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