A quick note on ‘canon’ (yep, I know)…
Yep, I’d skip past this category as well. If you know of the various canon introductions & rules, skip ahead to the next category.
But if you do read this category… you’ll see the links to a top collection of ‘Star Wars Insiders’ and ‘Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazines’!
Lucas Licensing’s Allan Kausch & Sue Rostoni on the relationship between Lucas’ creations and other creatives’ work (in 1994):
“Gospel, or canon as we refer to it, includes the screenplays, the films, the radio dramas and the novelizations. These works spin out of George Lucas’ original stories, the rest are written by other writers. However, between us, we’ve read everything, and much of it is taken into account in the overall continuity. The entire catalog of published works comprises a vast history—with many off-shoots, variations and tangents—like any other well-developed mythology.”
^ from the “Star Wars Publications Timeline: Q & A”. Star Wars Insider #23 - Page 18 (1994). Available at the Archive link below:
https://archive.org/details/starwarsinsider_1_to_153_plus_specials/Star Wars Insider 023 (1994)
^ as well as the first 153 issues of ‘Star Wars Insider’ - and a number of ‘Official Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazines’ too.👍
Lucasfilm’s own 5-Tier Canon Ratings (prior to the infamous Lucasfilm canon reconstruction in April 2014):-
Regarding the Holocron Database created in early 2000 mentioned below, Leland Chee (Keeper of the Holocron) said in 2012:
“What sets Star Wars apart from other franchises is that we develop a singular continuity across all forms of media, whether it be the films, TV series, video games, novels and comics, and the Holocron is a key component to Lucasfilm being able to do this.” The Holocron was divided into five levels of canon (in order of precedence)."
^ from the ‘SWCVI: The Holocron Keeper at Celebration’ 2012 article at the official Star Wars website.
Holocron Continuity Database wookieepedia page: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Holocron_continuity_database
^ from see the Holocron database and canonicity section at Wikipedia.
Lucafilm’s 2014 announcement on “Legends & Canon”: “Star Wars entertainment and storytelling is set for a bold new direction”.
The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page - article on StarWars•com on April 25, 2014.
“For over 35 years, the Expanded Universe has enriched the Star Wars experience for fans seeking to continue the adventure beyond what is seen on the screen. When he created Star Wars, George Lucas built a universe that sparked the imagination, and inspired others to create. He opened up that universe to be a creative space for other people to tell their own tales. This became the Expanded Universe, or EU, of comics, novels, videogames, and more.”
An example of George dismissing the lore and history from other creatives’ work on previous official Star Wars material:
(“made up by fans or somebody”? Checks notes: Tom Veitch, EU architect. As it didn’t fit Lucas’ own retconned lore years written later)
^ from the “All Films Are Personal”: An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace 2019 article on the Star Wars website
Yet George & Lucasfilm were happy for fans to believe that had actually occurred for many years. That and much, much more.
Material mentioned previously in the post above: such as in the early Star Wars novels, OT film novelisations, draft scripts, the EU; novels, comics, and video games (notably Veitch & Zahn’s work). The guidebooks, WEG sourcebooks, ‘Art Of’ books etc, trading cards, the CD-ROMs, kids & YA books, and a range of other licensed merchandise… Although the release of the Prequel films would see much of the previously established “pre-Prequel era life & lore” change, retconned, or simply be discarded.
[* Sarcasm mode on *]
If only George actually had those PT-era events all planned out beforehand - as part of an overall ‘master plan’ for Star Wars. He could have then easily issued cursory guidelines for Lucasfilm to follow a cohesive story and lore when releasing such content & merchandise over those 20-30 years. Instead of approving and releasing so much ‘incorrect’ info in official material… and having to retcon all of those stories & events “that never happened”… for the new & changed lore introduced in the PT films.
[* Sarcasm mode off *]
Fans’ money, time, imagination, our fervour for the Star Wars universe, us wanting to learn so much more on the events from and around the OT era, remains. It is not simply turned off or diminished because George belatedly claims of “no, that didn’t happen, this happened instead” years after the fact. As soon as George and Lucasfilm released all that official pre-Prequel material to the public it became ours: the fans’. To take in absorb, to cherish, love, interpret, to play with, to invent our own stories on, using our own imaginations to fill in the gaps. All of which were a large part of our love for Star Wars at that time.
So for those who wish to be beholden to ‘George’s vision’ or Lucasfilm’s current ‘canon’… cool. Yet for fans with an interest in the early history of the GFFA, and those of us who were there at the time, experienced and lived it, bought the t-shirt (+ all the other material & merch along with it)… the pre-PT era lore still has much merit. After all, on this site, many do not agree with ‘George’s vision’, attempts at re-writing SW history, nor the revisionism and retcons - yet that’s probably no bad thing at all…
When it comes to lore & history throughout Star Wars… George & Lucasfilm certainly have been consistently inconsistent! 😃
It is no wonder ‘head-canon’ or ‘personal canon’ etc became “a thing” - and has seemingly become more prominent over time.
A Thread Index:
• Introduction
• A quick note on ‘Canon’ (yep, I know…)
• Timelines: Story Events and Alterations
• Settings, Planets and Systems | Organisations and Governments
• The Jedi (as an Order Of Knights; their Way Of Life, the Force, Robes, Lightsabers etc)
• Characters and Biographies | Protagonists and Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Characters and Biographies | Antagonists, Adversaries and their Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Miscellaneous
• Blank Post (a spare post for possible future use; if ever required)
• A list of ‘Suggestions, Claims, Memories, and Posts’ on more pre-PT era material: to be checked and confirmed
• Index of Relevant OriginalTrilogy.com Threads
• Credits