MattMahdi

BEAUTIFUL.

And, while I hate to nitpick, there's a gentleman named HARRSION FORD who was one of the three stars....

ACK.  I cannot even begin to convey my sympathies.

The original handful of transfers have been repackaged so many times... it's exciting to think of something NEW.

Many thanks to the person for his / her hard work and devotion.

SKot said:

Let's hope we can see a DVD9 with a new capture of the KCCI soon.  That's the best hope for a SWHS broadcast preservation that we have.

You speak as someone who has reason for hope of such a thing coming to pass?

WOW. I had just been thinking of this set. I knew I had the discs about, hadn't put them in cases because I didn't have covers for them. Part of OCD-ness, I suppose.

Which is to say THANK YOU.

(I don't suppose, by any chance, that you've the covers for their supplement discs?)

Many thanks,

Bingowings said:

Rather than explaining what you were trying to do and what the sources are at the front, perhaps you should explain what it is now that it's finished, in plain English (and have all the other details on seperate pages).

That's what's made this thread fascinating for me.  When I first read the NFO I was puzzled and amused.  The former because the NFO didn't really tell my anything.  Amused because I couldn't even read it until I ran an Emacs macro to replace each space with nothing (and then space to the right so's to keep one space where there had been two).  Every character was followed by a space.  Since the information on the web site is readable, I assume that the incompatibility was somehow mine.

But I didn't download it.  Why download eight gigs when I have NO idea what it is or what it's for?  It was only when I read Moth3r's comments that I decided it was worth a try.  And I haven't been disappointed.  It is an amazing piece of work.  Not sure if I've watched every part of it, because I often dive into a random chapter and watch for a while, but it is fun.

I'd agree that the web site could be more accessible.  If people know what the project IS then they may decide to download it.

And I'd love to read material that expands on the information from "about this disc" on the main menu.  What's the history, how the project morphed from one thing to another, whether you think it's complete or merely released into the wild.

It's a project of which to be proud.

MattMahdi said:

And, equally important, whether it's possible to find a larger, higher-resolution image than what's generally available?

Shock of shocks, the following link

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kashyyyk

includes a picture which is better, which finally has a link to a larger copy (800x600) which has a link to a huge picture (1280x960).

There are levels of detail I never dreamed of!

SKot said:

I'm not sure exactly when McQuarrie painted the original piece, but I believe it was well before production began on the Holiday Special, and served as an inspiration for the show.  I'm guessing it was earlier in 1978, when ideas were being thrown around for the Special.

Yeah....  It's just that, given all the neat pre-production images he did, many wildly different from what actually made it into the film, there's the dream that it was a conception of the plan for Jedi: a planet of Wookiees.

Not unlike my first thoughts when I saw the partially built Death Star II.  Wasn't a clear picture, and I didn't know a new one was being built, so my mind leapt to an interesting conclusion:  it was the shell of the original station, the part opposite the direction of the blast that destroyed it.  The Imperials had found it, were refurbishing it....

Neither dream true, of course.  But pleasant alternate realities.

From Amazon:

• Hardcover: 394 pages
• Publisher: Dreams & Visions Press (January 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979158001
• ISBN-13: 978-0979158001

SKot said:

Sadly, Kashyyyk was not included in the 1995 Illustrated Star Wars Universe book, so it wasn't there.

Yup.  That's where I looked those many months ago.  Darn.

I do know that more recently a giant version of it was included in The Art of Ralph McQuarrie book, along with a few other amazing HS pieces, some of which have never been seen elsewhere.

That may have to be investigated.  Of course Amazon would say it's out of print, but considering that the publisher has the GENERAL edition, both out of print and originally priced at $150, maybe its unavailability is not a bad thing!

Yike.

For those out there who have a copy, and who are *obviously* reading this thread [note disbelieving tone], a high-quality scan would be wonderful...

I'm sure we're all familiar with the Ralph McQuarrie painting of Chewbacca's house with Lumpy balancing on the rail.  In a way, because McQuarrie did it, it's something that truly gives the Special a legitimacy it might otherwise not have.  That, and much of the conceptual art that SKot has at his site.  The program was taken seriously by some talented people who did excellent work.  [Too bad the rest of the production didn't rise to the same level.]

When and where did that painting see print?

I _assume_ that it was created specifically for the Special because we can see Lumpy.

So does anyone know whence it came?  And, equally important, whether it's possible to find a larger, higher-resolution image than what's generally available?

Tobar said:

Is....is that the framework of a graboid in your avatar there Matt?

Sandworm. From a Brian Herbert / Kevin J. Anderson online short story called "Treasure in the Sand" (or something similar). Image of a sandworm remains after Dune suffers atomic annihilation.  Great image, not a bad story.  From someone wishing that Dune Seven lived up to its potential....

[For some reason I can't get edit to work.]

Strange, disturbing, fascinating.  Compulsive, as Moth3r said.  I've only watched scattered bits, but the frequent cuts DO keep one watching.  The endless stream of 181st members gets a bit old, line after line of stormtroopers marching, but for the most part it's definitely designed for a channel-flipping world.

I doubt that I'll ever watch it all at once, three and a half hours is a bit much to take in one go, but I am definitely glad that I downloaded it.  The creator(s) definitely did much research, and it shows.  And there are even subtitles!

Thanks again for your comments.  They convinced me to look into it.  And I appreciate it.

Moth3r said:

However, it makes for strangely compulsive viewing. Before I knew it I had watched the first half an hour, covering topics such as the "Tool of Satan" hoax and fan-hatred of Jar Jar Binks.

Thanks, Moth3r.  I came to this thread intending to ask if anyone HAD seen it, and from what you've said it's certainly worth at least a look.  The NFO has an impressive pedigree....and it's also amazingly uninformative.

a.b.sw would probably have been the place to find it, two years ago, but back then I'd forgotten all about Usenet.  So, a bit late, I'll ask....

On February 8th 2006, Conan O'Brien had Harrison Ford on promoting the movie "Firewall."  Not necessarily interesting, but Conan ambushed Ford with a clip from the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Does anyone have a *decent* quality copy of those few minutes?  There is a copy floating around that's just AWFUL, but I'd love to have one that I didn't have to apologize for before I even played it.

Many thanks,

All terrific points.  I'm a high school teacher, so I'm often looking for the least offensive way to phrase something.  "Student might consider vocation as a bricklayer" usually doesn't go over too well.

I did enjoy two things about "Shadows":  the prologue, which gave some depth to what could have been going on at the Emperor's end during the TESB conversation, and the revelation (leastwise I'd never considered it before) that Vader's chamber was hyperbaric:  he was trying to bring healing to his horrifically burned lungs.  Two good moments.  Which unfortunately were in a largely unmemorable novel (at least for positive reasons).

And yeah, 1999, when I sat in a theatre with my wife and friends on opening day and, two hours later, realized that the most thrilling part of "The Phantom Menace" was seeing the blue text before the title.  The movie had fallen flat.  Despite all the wonderful things that EU authors had accomplished and hinted at, the story was unmemorable at best.

The animated series, though....  It's a frighteningly low bar, but it seems far more interesting and enjoyable than the prequels.  A statement that seems almost to define "damning with faint praise," but it's working to construct something interesting and even good.  Canonicity, though?  Not sure if I'd go there, but I'd give it more credence than Episodes I - III.  Not willing to commit to more than that.

I was nine in 1977, and at one point in my life I had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars.  Certainly not anymore.

Year by year, what were the highs and lows?  Obviously what's high for one might be low for another, but what are the notable events for each year?

These are mentions found in a haphazard browsing of my bookshelf, and I've tried to be fairly even-handed---even in my description of Splinter, which I devoured in elementary school and several times since (and a few years ago acquired in hardcover).

Your additions?

1976: Alan Dean Foster's novelisation published.

1977: Marvel Comics introduces us to Jabba the Hut[t] as a biped pulled (I think) from the original cut of the Cantina sequence.

1978: The First Sequel, Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, is published.

1979: Brian Daley's Han Solo At Stars' End gives us a look at another part of the GFFA.

1979: Russ Manning's newspaper strip debuts.

1981: Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson inherit the newspaper strip, and for the first depict with retrospect events between ANH and TESB.

1991: Interest in Star Wars is renewed by Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire.

1992: The Emperor returns in Dark Empire [date based on TPB].  [And returns again, and again, in the sequels.]

1994: Han and Leia are married in Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia.

1995: Years after the Marvel series folded, a new comic series debuts with X-Wing Rogue Squadron [date based on Omnibus].

1996: Michael Stackpole's X-Wing Rogue Squadron is published, and continuity issues begin to be knit.

1996: Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire is published; finally we know Vader's thoughts, and a character tries to get Leia to disrobe.

1999: A prequel trilogy debuts to unmeetable expectations.

1999: The Yuuzhan Vong invasion begins in R. A. Salvatore's Vector Prime.

2005: Matthew Stover's adaptation of "Revenge of the Sith" gives new depth to the story.

2008: The animated movie and TV show test whether the audience will accept something new.

SKot said:

I think I did hear this, and if it's the one I remember, it was pretty lame and not really worth saving.  The RiffTrax one is really the best bet for commentary so far.

(Why am I surprised that you heard it....?)

Good to know, though, that I didn't miss anything.  And I should drag out the RiffTrax Holiday Special.  Trouble is that I can't so much play it at school....

I just came across this at theForce.net:

SW Holiday Special Commentary

Posted By Joshua on December 21, 2000

Moviebabble has a Fan Commentary to download and play as you watch the 1978 Holiday Special. If you do not know their site it has downloadable commentary from fans much like the official running commentary that comes with DVD.

This week they took a look at the Star Wars Holiday Special, and as bad as the movie is, the commentary is interesting and funny coming from a first time viewer watching the show. Check it out if you want a holiday chuckle.

http://theforce.net/latestnews/story/sw_holiday_special_commentary_74198.asp

Unfortunately, the Moviebabble site has apparently been claim-jumped.  Doubly unfortunate is that the article is from eight years ago.

Has anyone heard, or better yet archived, this commentary?

It makes so much more sense now....and I finally understand why the thumbnail is pink!

Thanks very much for posting it.

I completely understand why you would only want the original to go near a photocopier once.  Something that rare should be protected.  Thank you for copying it so that the rest of us could enjoy.

I'm curious what the content of the last two pages is.  After commercial break seven we seem to just have the Wookiee family gazing at each other, holding hands, and bowing their heads in what appears to be a prayer.  Then we pull away from the matte painting of the house and the credits begin.

(Unless those credits are exactly what are missing?)

[This is a question for SKot, but I decided to post it here because others may be interested in the script's availability.]

SKot:  I deeply appreciate your putting the script to the SWHS on your web site.  It's a fascinating read, and it makes me see the Special in new ways.  Some of the stuff that really didn't work was an attempt, at least, to do something interesting or novel.

Most disturbing is that the Wookiees' dialogue is present in English....

I'm curious, though, if you have more than one version of the script scanned.

My reason for asking is that the thumbnail on the site doesn't seem to match the pages: first in color (pink) and second in the layout of the text.

So I'm just hoping for the chance to explore some other lost relic.  And even if not, it gives me another chance to thank you for maintaining such a fantastic record of something that Lucas would rather forget (the recent 'celebration' at the official site notwithstanding).

Thanks to those who have posted the EditDroid and Rowman supplemental material. There's lots of overlap, two different visions of organizing the material, but both are wonderful.

I don't suppose that there's anyone out there who has a copy of EditDroid's OUT discs?

Thanks again,

SS4DarthPayne said:

EDIT 3: Well here you go ladies and gentlemen likely mostly gentlemen. This is a zip file with 1) The original FLV file in case you want to try converting it yourself 2) My conversion from FLV to an AVI file, for much easier viewing especially for non tech-savvy peoples and 3) A short NFO I wrote while half-asleep. Enjoy it:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W7IA591Z

115.76 Megabytes

Thank you very much!

My Internet access at home is lousy, and so I downloaded the file at work.  And it's a wonderful thing to be able to watch and listen to it without having to put up with a video stream.

The best thing, I thought, was Chewie's occasional vocals.

I'm interested in seeing up with what you come.  I'd fancifully considered going the opposite direction, breaking the DVD release into its four episodes and then adding in the missing episodes where they belong, but time and budget have held me back.

The series might not be the high point of Star Wars on television --- for that I'll always look to the Holiday Special [tongue only partially in cheek] --- but it does deserve to be remembered in the best way possible.

(And was anyone else _seriously_ bugged by the splicing of the Ewoks disc, where one episode was used as both introduction and conclusion?)

Pauley79 _used_to_ but when his site went dormant for a while it went away.

I'm not aware of any downloadable versions.