Happy Life Day
December 28, 2007
By: 
rollerkaty
Category: 1978, So Bad It's Good, Star Wars, Star Wars Holiday Special
3 Comments →
Christmas Day has come and gone and, as promised, we celebrated by viewing The Star Wars Holiday Special. Before embarking on this adventure, I had been forewarned on what was in store for us. I knew that the two-hour television special has been widely panned. In his book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, David Hofstede ranks it as the #1 dumbest event in television history and calls it “the worst two hours of television ever” (quoted on TVParty.com“>). Rumor has it that George Lucas himself has blocked the movie from ever being released onto video or DVD and would like nothing better than to see every surviving bootleg copy destroyed.
Originally aired on November 17, 1978, The Star Wars Holiday Special begins with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who are en route to Chewbacca’s home planet in the Millennium Falcon. They are trying to return Chewy to his home in time for the important Wookie Holiday “Life Day,” but are delayed when they run into some trouble along the way. Back at Chewy’s home, his family is nervously awaiting his arrival. Mala (his wife), Itchy (his cantankerous father), and Lumpy (his son) spend the first ten minutes of the movie speaking to each other in Wookie, which, of course, is completely unintelligible to us non-Wookie speakers.
During these opening scenes, Lumpy amuses himself by watching a rather disturbing holographic acrobatic show and Mala attempts to prepare a recipe by watching a frenzied television chef (played by Harvey Korman in drag). Stir! Whip! Stir! Whip! Whip! Whip! Stir! Mala uses a communication device to contact Luke Skywalker, who is in his repair shop with R2-D2, and later Princess Leia and C-3PO. Much to her dismay, none of Mala’s friends know the whereabouts of Chewbacca. Mala also contacts a local trader (played by Art Carney) who comes over to their house with gifts to celebrate the holiday. Itchy’s gift is the Holographic Wow, played by Diahann Carroll - a holographic woman who shimmers and dances provocatively (much to Itchy’s delight) and sings a little song.
Unfortunately, the idyllic family scene is shattered when Imperial troops come to the door and insist on searching the residence. The family manages to distract the troops momentarily with yet another holographic display - this time featuring a psychedelic song by Jefferson Starship. 
During the search, Lumpy watches an exciting cartoon depicting the exploits of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca (and introducing the character of the bounty hunter Boba Fett for the first time). When the search is complete, Lumpy tries to assemble a mini transmitter with the help of an instructional video featuring a malfunctioning and glitchy Amorphean Being, played by Harvey Korman. 
The Imperial troops then gather around the television to watch “Life on Tatooine,” which is “brought to viewers everywhere in the hope that our own lives may be uplifted by the comparison and enriched by the gratitude of relief.” The show portrays a raucous bar filled with thirsty aliens, in which a lovesick man (Harvey Korman) tries to woo the bartender (Beatrice Arthur). He is rebuffed and has to content himself with pouring his drink into the hole in the top of his head. Beatrice Arthur’s character then proceeds to dance and sing with the rest of her customers.
The movie concludes with arrival of Chewbacca and Han Solo, who rid the household of the remaining Imperial trooper. All of the characters gather together to celebrate the Life Day holiday - Chewbacca, Mala, Itchy, Lumpy, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, Princess Leia, C-3PO, and a whole hoard of Wookies. “This holiday is yours. But we all share with you the hope that this day brings us closer to freedom and to harmony and to peace,” says Princess Leia. “No matter how different we appear, we’re all the same in our struggle against the power of evil and darkness. I hope that this day will always be a day of joy in which we can reconfirm our dedication and our courage, and more than anything else, our love for one another. This is the promise of the tree of life.” Then she sings a special Life Day song. And… cut.
So there you have it. A Star Wars movie filled with so many songs that it pretty much feels like a musical. A movie full of cameos and scenes entirely unrelated to the story line to the point that one tends to forget the plot of the movie in the first place. A movie where much of the dialogue is spoken entirely in Wookie. My assessment: this movie is beyond the “So Bad It’s Good” category. The Star Wars Holiday Special is so out there that it necessitates the creation of an entirely new classification system, something along the lines of “So Absolutely and Horribly Dreadful that it Shall Forevermore be Venerated for its Infamous Mark on the History of Television Specials.”
This is not to say that the movie should be forgotten or ignored, however. Despite the fact that the movie is so terrible (or perhaps because of it) I’ve grown rather fond of it. The Star Wars Holiday Special is truly one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I’m strongly considering making the viewing of this film a new Christmas tradition. We have the Christmas tree, the stockings, the egg nog, the homemade pizza on Christmas Eve (this is a Shaw family tradition), the gifts… and now we have the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Tags 1978 . Star Wars Holiday Special
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