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Preserving the...cringe...Star Wars Holiday Special (Released) — Page 8

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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
Originally posted by: LinkTGF
First off I want to say hello to everyone here - this is my first post here and I'm loving the atmosphere here - editors and preservationists collaborating on various projects!

I'm more experienced in sound editing (not great but better than most) and this kinda thing always intrigued me...

Anyways, I have a bit of rumor I heard from a fairly reliable source concerning the Holiday Special - apparently Australia's FoxTel (sp?) station had entered into talks with LucasFilms to promote a one-off 30th anniversary airing of the Holiday Special for next year, with the possibility of a new George Lucas chat about the history of the special afterwards.

I'm not really too sure about the truth behind this but as I said the person I heard this from is usually pretty knowledgeable about the Holiday Special

As for if it will be remastered/cleaned up? Can't say, but I'm sure George still has the original negative up there at Skywalker Ranch in the vault
Well, that would be his ULTIMATE revenge to the OOT fans... a remastered Holiday special.
I'm pretty new to the Star Wars terms and remastering circles - what does OOT mean?

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Originally posted by: OBtwosy
I ended up doing my own 'fanedit' of this. It was my first edit - so it is nothing special. Audio does not blend as nice as most fan edits I've seen from this community.

...


so for what it's worth, it's not a 'preservation' - but it's a heck of a lot more watchable


Are you planning on making this available anywhere?


I think everyone would like to know this

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OOT - Original Original Trilogy

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

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Originally posted by: Molly
OOT - Original Original Trilogy


so the theatrical version (not the ones on the 2006 dvds but the version shown in theatres in their original runs) right?
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Yeah. Though videowise the GOUT "George's Own Unaltered Trilogy" comes close enough for most purposes.

(I still prefer to refer to the GOUT as LEX - Limited Edition Extras)

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

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Originally posted by: Molly
Yeah. Though videowise the GOUT "George's Own Unaltered Trilogy" comes close enough for most purposes.

(I still prefer to refer to the GOUT as LEX - Limited Edition Extras)


cool, is there a section on this site that explains the acronyms that are most commonly used and the differences between versions?
edit: sorry for all the questions
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Somewhere. Can't remember, though... I'm pretty good at keeping the jargon in my head lol

"Right now the coffees are doing their final work." (Airi, Masked Rider Den-o episode 1)

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The originaltrilogy.com acronym buster. We totally have our own language.

Shouldn't that be stickied?

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Originally posted by: Sluggo
Originally posted by: OBtwosy
I ended up doing my own 'fanedit' of this. It was my first edit - so it is nothing special. Audio does not blend as nice as most fan edits I've seen from this community.

...


so for what it's worth, it's not a 'preservation' - but it's a heck of a lot more watchable


Are you planning on making this available anywhere?


PM me if interested. It's NTSC and I'm in the U.S., but am happy to share.

Again - it is nothing special - pardon the pun =)

(and I do have DVD case art)

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness - Chinese proverb

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Originally posted by: LinkTGF
First off I want to say hello to everyone here - this is my first post here and I'm loving the atmosphere here - editors and preservationists collaborating on various projects!

I'm more experienced in sound editing (not great but better than most) and this kinda thing always intrigued me...

Anyways, I have a bit of rumor I heard from a fairly reliable source concerning the Holiday Special - apparently Australia's FoxTel (sp?) station had entered into talks with LucasFilms to promote a one-off 30th anniversary airing of the Holiday Special for next year, with the possibility of a new George Lucas chat about the history of the special afterwards.

I'm not really too sure about the truth behind this but as I said the person I heard this from is usually pretty knowledgeable about the Holiday Special

As for if it will be remastered/cleaned up? Can't say, but I'm sure George still has the original negative up there at Skywalker Ranch in the vault


Since it's been aired in Australia at least two times (perhaps even three times), it's not outside the realm of possibility. I would be surprised if Lucas allows it given his distain for the program, but he may have no say in the matter. I'm a bit curious how it was allowed to have been aired as many times as it has. Perhaps a loophole in the ownership / broadcast rights. The program was produced by Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion for 20th Century Fox Television and CBS. He may own the program (as it was transferred to him back in the 80s from Smith-Hemion Productions) and the rights to the characters, but he may not own the broadcast rights (domestic or international). Then you have Home Video / DVD distribution rights... It's a legal nightmare... it's a wonder anything gets aired or released to dvd. If you want to see how complicated it can get, read about the legal issues encountered with the Dean Martin show, Greg Garrison and NBC: http://thegolddiggers.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/whose-show-is-it-anyway/ Another example is the Batman TV series from the 60s... you've got 3 or 4 owners, who can't agree, so it's hung up in legal limbo.


Anyway, the last I heard (a couple of years ago) was that Lucasfilm doesn't have the master tapes... they are apparently still in the posession of Smith-Hemion. The only copy Lucasfilm has is a poor quality VHS dub... no better than the rest of us. You'd think they would at least preserve the masters if they cared, but they may not "technically" own the tapes.
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Originally posted by: pufnstuf
Since it's been aired in Australia at least two times (perhaps even three times), it's not outside the realm of possibility. I would be surprised if Lucas allows it given his distain for the program, but he may have no say in the matter. I'm a bit curious how it was allowed to have been aired as many times as it has. Perhaps a loophole in the ownership / broadcast rights. The program was produced by Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion for 20th Century Fox Television and CBS. He may own the program (as it was transferred to him back in the 80s from Smith-Hemion Productions) and the rights to the characters, but he may not own the broadcast rights (domestic or international). Then you have Home Video / DVD distribution rights... It's a legal nightmare... it's a wonder anything gets aired or released to dvd. If you want to see how complicated it can get, read about the legal issues encountered with the Dean Martin show, Greg Garrison and NBC: http://thegolddiggers.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/whose-show-is-it-anyway/ Another example is the Batman TV series from the 60s... you've got 3 or 4 owners, who can't agree, so it's hung up in legal limbo.


Anyway, the last I heard (a couple of years ago) was that Lucasfilm doesn't have the master tapes... they are apparently still in the posession of Smith-Hemion. The only copy Lucasfilm has is a poor quality VHS dub... no better than the rest of us. You'd think they would at least preserve the masters if they cared, but they may not "technically" own the tapes.

That's crazy stuff, man... Well hopefully there's some truth to the matter I heard and by this time next year we'll all have pristine HD copies captured off Australia FoxTel :-D
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Well said, pufnstuf... and I know you know more than a bit about the subject!

If there's any truth to this airing in Australia stuff (I wouldn't bet money on it though!), a number of us will be pretty happy. I never could understand how they managed to air the Special so many times there either... they are the only country known to have aired it more than once.

As far as the masters go, there is definitely no "original negative" per se... the masters would be on videotape and not film, since the Holiday Special was filmed on video. Most likely the masters are professional grade U-Matic half-inch tapes. As to what kind of master Lucasfilm has in their archives and what condition it's in, it's hard to say. There was a segment of the Boba Fett cartoon included in one of the documentaries from Episode 2 times ("Bucket Head"), and from the looks of it the quality isn't much better than a decent VHS tape. So if that's the best Lucasfilm has got for their source, that's not too good.

I expect SOMETHING to happen for the 30th anniversary of the Holiday Special, but I'm unsure what it will be. Considering how little really happened for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars (Celebration 4, and then... nothing? The year's almost over and there won't even be any DVD releases this time!), I don't expect much. But who knows? Considering how much Holiday Special-related official product has been coming out lately, there may be some recognition in store for this red-headed stepchild yet...

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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I downloaded the MMM commentary for this and am listening to it [without watching the video ;-) ] and I'm wondering if anyone has included this on any of their Holiday Special dvds?
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Originally posted by: LinkTGF
I downloaded the MMM commentary for this and am listening to it [without watching the video ;-) ] and I'm wondering if anyone has included this on any of their Holiday Special dvds?

On an in-process project, yes. That's qualified because it was a summer project: learn what's involved in building a DVD, and make a nifty SWHS disc as part of the bargain. The motivating factors were getting a copy of the KCCI broadcast (just shy of beautiful!) and finding that commentary. It ended up okay....but only a shadow of what I wanted it to be. I continue to dream of completing the project, but please don't tell my lovely wife.

Summer ended and teaching resumed, the trial license for DVD Lab Pro ran out, and funds to purchase a license for same just don't seem to be in the picture.

So, while I did wrap it up neatly, it's pretty much a rough draft or pre-visualization. It _can_ be released into the wild but hasn't been for, well, the fact that I want to be genuinely proud of what it could someday become.

Some outside constructive feedback wouldn't be a bad thing, now that I think about it.

PM me if interested.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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Well, despite Lucas' "I would personally destroy every copy" mantra, he was planning on releasing it on video in the 1980's. At a 1987 10th anniversary celebration someone asked him about the Holiday Special and he said something to the effect of "I think we're going to be releasing it on video this year", so something like this is not outside the realm of possibility.
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Originally posted by: zombie84
Well, despite Lucas' "I would personally destroy every copy" mantra, he was planning on releasing it on video in the 1980's. At a 1987 10th anniversary celebration someone asked him about the Holiday Special and he said something to the effect of "I think we're going to be releasing it on video this year", so something like this is not outside the realm of possibility.
That's a great quote! What was the source for this... video footage of the 10th Anniversary or someone who was there? (i.e., can we actually trace this quote to a hard copy?)

Incidentally, that quote attributed to Lucas about personally destroying every copy of the HS makes for a great anecdote, but there's no actual known proof that he said this. This was something Steve Sansweet apparently claimed Lucas said, while Steve was speaking at an Australian convention... which may be an exaggeration. I have no doubt Lucas may have said something similar, though.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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Originally posted by: SKot
Originally posted by: zombie84
Well, despite Lucas' "I would personally destroy every copy" mantra, he was planning on releasing it on video in the 1980's. At a 1987 10th anniversary celebration someone asked him about the Holiday Special and he said something to the effect of "I think we're going to be releasing it on video this year", so something like this is not outside the realm of possibility.
That's a great quote! What was the source for this... video footage of the 10th Anniversary or someone who was there? (i.e., can we actually trace this quote to a hard copy?)


Actually it was printed in Starlog magazine! Its a Q&A with Lucas at a convention. I have the issue somewhere. I'll look it up some time.

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The Q&A was held at the one and only officially sanctioned Star Wars con of the 80's, the 10th Anniversary Celebration.

Lucas also stated there would be several Howard the Duck sequels.

I've heard elsewhere that during the con, someone had a private showing of the HS in their hotel room. Peter Mayhew was invited, and actually showed up!
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Where were you in '77?

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Originally posted by: SilverWook
The Q&A was held at the one and only officially sanctioned Star Wars con of the 80's, the 10th Anniversary Celebration.

Lucas also stated there would be several Howard the Duck sequels.

I've heard elsewhere that during the con, someone had a private showing of the HS in their hotel room. Peter Mayhew was invited, and actually showed up!
I can guarantee that in 1987 very, very few people had a copy of the HS. I was dying to get my hands on a copy ever since seeing it air in 1978, but I still didn't manage to turn one up until around 1994.

zombie84, definitely let me know what you find there. I really want to post that quote on the HS website.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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From Starlog #127 (feb 1988), p. 49, taken from a SW convention at the LA Concourse Hotel at Memorial Day 1987 (the tenth anniversary).

"STARLOG: Will we ever see the Wookie TV special again (STARLOG #19)?

LUCAS: I believe it will be released on videotape. I'm not sure if they're going to rerun it on television or not."

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I can guarantee that in 1987 very, very few people had a copy of the HS. I was dying to get my hands on a copy ever since seeing it air in 1978, but I still didn't manage to turn one up until around 1994.

A chance conversation with a college classmate back in 1990 turned very interesting when they told me they had a copy on Betamax that had been in their family video collection since 1978! Unfortunately, by the time the tape was located, a younger sibling had taped it over with cartoons!
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Where were you in '77?

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I believe that same interview has a quote about giving Luke a love interest in the "last three" movies! Even in 1987 he was still considering 9 parts. So much for the media inventing that notion.
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Originally posted by: Baronlando
I believe that same interview has a quote about giving Luke a love interest in the "last three" movies! Even in 1987 he was still considering 9 parts. So much for the media inventing that notion.


Yeah, thats interesting too. Actually Rick McCallum and Steven Spielberg both acknowledge that Lucas' "plan" for the story runs "9 episodes", both in the same interviews--in 1999!! But what do his best friend and most trusted business partner who would actually be making them know, the media must be influencing them.
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If anybody is interested I am working on a FanEdit for the Holiday Special.
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=8849
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I think that the preservation of this is going great. The RiffTrax guys are evening making a track for it now. See!

I wonder if they got one of the preservations floating around, or if they actually recorded back then as they claim.

All the hammers and all the time in the world can't erase the Holiday Special!!!

FE<3OT