Tack said:

TheBoost said:

This started Mr. Lucas on the long trend of combining characters for narrative efficiency that eventually gave us (General Vader+Prince Valorum+Starkiller=Darth Vader) and Leia as Luke's sister.

You know, I think I just realized the fundamental problem with the prequels...

The rushed time frames the scripts were produced in.

You need to have time for rewrites, because you need to get the script to that level of quality that comes when you revise it from the script.

You don't start the script in pre-production, you start pre-production once you've finished the script.

(for the record, I'm in the middle of a massive rewrite of my own script right now, and it's rather cleansing)

That is only true on episode II and III which really began in the art department. Episode I was started in nov 1994.

On the originals Lucas had other writers, people who contributed ideas and criticism.

He had no such collaboration on the prequels unless Jonathan Hales had a great deal of influence over episode II.