Happy Birthday Star Wars!

It's that time of year again. May 25th, 1977 was when it all started...

Star Wars Animated Awesomeness

Once in a while I like to showcase something that may not have anything to do with collecting but everything to do with why I love classic Star Wars. And fans of old school Star Wars need to see this.

This 2min animation by somebody called Otaking77077 has popped up on Youtube and AICN among other places and is utterly fantastic. I don't know if this is part of some bigger plan but the general consensus is that fans would much rather see more of this sort of thing rather than yet more seasons of Clone Wars.   

Happy Birthday Star Wars! + Burger King and Burger Chef Commercials

Well, it's been 35 years and we can all feel a little old today. May 25th, 1977 was the date that changed cinema. It never fails to amaze me how old my all time favorite movie really is. And it's a little frightening to be honest. To celebrate, here's a couple of fast food commercials from way back then...

Donny and Marie 1977

I'm a bit late for the whole 'May the 4th be with You' Star Wars day thing (I much prefer to celebrate on May 25th in any case) but I only just found this vintage clip from 1977 and thought I'd post it now.

It's pretty God-awful but I'm a sucker for any early pop culture references to Star Wars and the more disco and polyester I see accompanying it, the better!  

Star Wars PSAs

There are several vintage Public Service Announcements that were designed to use characters and settings from Star Wars to reach youngsters and teach them about the dangerous things in life. Two of them featured Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker and one was even set in the famous cantina. Probably nothing new for you guys, but I like to showcase whatever video clips from that era that I can get my hands on.

Childhood Immunization - 1977
The sound is a bit low on this one.



Friends don't let Friends Drive Drunk! - 1979
Good to see those costumes from the film get a dusting off and put to further use.



Anti-smoking.
I don't actually know when this last one was made; some sources say 1980 and others 1982, but I thought I'd put it up as if fits nicely with the other two. Lots of people have pointed out the irony of this one as many of us have seen shots of Anthony Daniels on the set of Star Wars puffing away on the old 'death sticks'. Presumably he quit before filming this. And 'Galaxay?' Who was responsible for that blunder?

The Solo Adventures

This doesn't really have anything to do with collecting, but it's just too awesome to not post about. Created by students of the Dave School (www.daveschool.com) this short animation focusing on one of Han and Chewie's pre-Star Wars adventures won the fan film award at the recent Star Wars V celebration.

I absolutely love it. I've often wondered what a series dealing with the classic characters done in the spirit and style of 'The Clone Wars' would look like and this seems pretty close to the mark. And whoever voiced Han pretty much nails Harrison Ford's cynical tones. Great stuff. Check it out here

Kenner Toy Commercials

Well, It's been a while since my last post. Things have been busy. I'm currently going through some comics and working on a new Marvel Star Wars post, but for the meantime, I thought I'd feature some vintage commercials dredged up from Youtube. You've probably seen all these before, but personally, I can't get enough of these.

This first one was the one that started it all. The 'Early Bird Certificate Package'. I can't imagine how exciting it must have been for the young Star Wars fan to see this on the TV screen for the first time.



This one (starring Anthony Daniels himself) was aired during the 1978 Holiday Special if I'm not mistaken. Funny how commercials back in the day were aimed at parents rather than the kids themselves. 'May the Force Be With You... And Your Children!'





Me too! Eee Eee Eee!

The '78 Holiday Special Animated Segment

Few Star Wars fans need an introduction to the infamous 'Holiday Special' that was aired November 17th, 1978. I wasn't around then, but I've seen it since and yes, it truly is dreadful. I won't go into the details here (perhaps at a later date), but by far the best part of the whole debacle was this 9 min animated short which famously introduced the bounty hunter Boba Fett who wasn't even in the first film. By then, the hype was building for 'Star Wars 2' and the following year Kenner released an action figure of the character in both the small and the 12 inch lines with 'Star Wars' packaging.

The animated segment was produced by Canadian company Nelvana Studios (who would go on to produce the 'Droids' and 'Ewoks' cartoons of the late 80's). What is special to me about this cartoon is the fact that most of the original cast voice their characters. Try getting Harrison Ford on board such a project these days! Anyway, here it is, 'The Faithful Wookie'...