MattMahdi said:

My back yard is out of control, some of the grass three feet high and much more of it matted down at ground level. I let it go too long, and it'll be at least two more days' weed-eating to get it under control.

Which of course got me thinking about Star Wars -- and specifically the newspaper comic strips from back in 1979.

Narration: "Gliding sinuously through the miles-thick vegetation forming the surface of Kazhyyyk, the beast of burden plunges downward."

and

Han: "Chewie says the best orga root is on the eighth level... which is as far down as anyone dares to go!"

When was Kashyyyk's structure established? Was it designed for the Special, or was writer / artist Russ Manning extrapolating from what he saw onscreen?

Ralph McQuarrie did establish some of the structure of Kashyyyk when he did drawings & paintings for the Holiday Special, some of which have been published and others only recently have seen the light of day. I think it may have been Lucas himself who had originally decided that Kashyyyk would have layers of flora and fauna below the treetops, each more dangerous than the next depending on how far down you went. The Holiday Special didn't really explore this idea, but also didn't ever show anyone walking on the planet surface. But when the stormtrooper fell over the railing, "he's gone!" could mean more than he just fell to his death.

There were two EU items that expanded on the description of Kashyyyk, and one was the Russ Manning strips while the other was the children's book The Wookiee Storybook. I *think* the Russ Manning strips came first, because I seem to recall the book's depiction of the lower levels seeming much less dangerous than the strip showed. They both showed up in 1979, though, following the broadcast of the Holiday Special, and "The Kashyyyk Depths" newspaper strips ran from July 15 through September 9.

Both stories referred to Life Day, although the Russ Manning one claims it came once every three years (whatever a year was on Kashyyyk!).

--SKot