AC1: Double Random TV Special Review - Star Wars Holiday Special (1978 and 2020)

Before we go into this, I should say that I never really planned for this to be posted so soon after David Prowse died, but here we are. He portrayed Darth Vader in a physical sense and without this guy giving life to who would become one of the greatest villains of all time, we probably would never see Star Wars in the way we do today regardless of the fandom. To me, Darth Vader was the reason why I'm a bigger fan of Star Wars these days even though I grew up with the prequels. The deep breathing, the menacing presence he has and just those chills when he comes on screen. David Prowse bought him to life, and we are eternally grateful. May he rest in peace and be one with the Force.

Long before Star Wars had its prequels, sequels and now a more definitive canon timeline, it had a TV holiday special. A New Hope (which was simply Star Wars back in the day) was only a year old and so a TV special was made. Its never been released on home media nor has Disney been bothered to re-release it themselves because it wasn't very good. Despite this, elements of it would become introduced into the franchise such as Life Day which is the Star Wars version of Christmas and the bounty hunter Boba Fett long before Empire Strikes Back came out. Years later on the special's 42nd anniversary, an animated and satire LEGO sequel was released which fared much better despite obviously being non-canon as is the deal with most LEGO animated things. So I've managed to be able to watch the original (via YouTube) because I wasn't born when it was first broadcast and therefore be able to do a comparison as I review the two. So let's see how Star Wars celebrates the festive season:

Holiday Special

So before I review this one, I should stress that the quality will not be great for anyone. This is because it was as previously mentioned, never released outside of being on TV that one time so if you want something of high quality, you are not going to get it regardless. So the special begins with Chewbacca (reprised by the late Peter Mayhew) returning to his home planet Kashyyyk (which also makes its debut in this special) accompanied by Han Solo (reprised by Harrison Ford) to celebrate Life Day with his family. But they get delayed when Imperial forces intervene which has his family worried. They attempt to get hold of Chewy's allies in the Rebel Alliance and shenanigans ensue. There were plans for this special to be canon, released on home media and be an annual event for the network that broadcasted it, CBS. But it was rubbish. The script was really bad, the jokes felt forced and unfunny and listening to the wookies talking for a long period of time gave me a headache. So probably just as well that it never escaped the TV. But I will give credit to the cast for at least trying to do what they can with the bad script (which probably could have done with some work) and there was at least one or two funny moments, but neither were enough to convince me that this is something the fans wanted. Far from it. 3/10

 

LEGO

42 years later and we get this one. Set after The Rise of Skywalker, Rey (voiced by Helen Sadler) attempts to teach Finn (voiced by Omar Benson Miller) the ways of the Force and the Jedi. But seems to not do very well and sets off to find a deeper knowledge of the Force while her friends prepare for Life Day. At a mysterious temple, Rey comes across a crystal that can travel in time and space. Together with BB-8, she travels across the timeline to figure out how the teachers before her did it, unaware that old enemies may want a piece of that timey wimey action. A far better holiday special that is funny, cute, well animated and could very well be a celebration of Star Wars as a whole even if it's not canon. I mean you get to see iconic moments from all three trilogies and even some of the things that fill up the gaps too. All not to be taken seriously as is the case with most LEGO animations and it's great. 9/10

Its pretty obvious which one is the best here. Its really no competition and fans will most likely enjoy and find accessible the second one over the first for sure. Who knows maybe we will get something more seriously canon next time. But for now, enjoy the LEGO one on Disney+ and stay far away from the original one.