Anchorhead said:

It's my post, but sort of got lost because I started getting a little wordy...

Instead of letting the character remain a little mysterious and larger-than-life, he insisted on giving us too much information. No more pondering how he may have grown into the character we'd loved for years - turns out he got the hat, the whip, the jacket, the scar, and the fear of snakes all on the same day, within a few minutes of each other, when he was just a kid. Lucas story-shrinking at it's finest.

It's story-shrinking back-story that insures the viewer doesn't get to use his\her imagination. Lucas can't have any of that. Not only will he control what the fan base gets as far as quality of releases is concerned, he also has to control every minute detail of every character.

I see your point, but its funny. I never even think of those moments. When I think on the opening of "Crusade" mentally I must gloss over those "Oh, so THAT's why" moments and just rememeber how fun the train chase is.