So maybe you are over 40 and you remember watching Star Wars Episode IV a new hope in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Maybe you are younger, like me, and watched Star Wars with your folks and fell in love or maybe you didn’t and you roll your eyes when someone mentions it. Maybe you are Generation Z or Alpha who has been introduced to Star Wars through shows such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars (currently found on Netflix), Star Wars Rebels (Season 3 currently on Foxtel’s Disney XD – 7pm Fridays Australia Daylight Savings Eastern Standard Time) or maybe you have a child who has become so enthralled with Star Wars since The Force Awakens and you are trying to find out some info.
Well this is the place, here at Star Wars Mum we will discuss everything Star Wars (official canon only- will go into that later) and this is your starting point! Below is a broad over view of the key points you need to know to get your Star Wars journey started.
- George Lucas – If you remember nothing else, remember this, George Lucas is the creator of Star Wars. He is a film maker and entrepreneur. Creating not only Star Wars and Indiana Jones he is also responsible for starting Lucasfilm and ILM (Industry Light & Magic) which is responsible for some of the most progressive cinematography and effects.
- George Lucas source:www.imdb.com
- Skywalker – Debatably the most synonymous name in the Star Wars Universe. Episodes IV, V and VI focus around the trials and tribulations of Luke Skywalker, I won’t go into too much detail as I will save that for my reviews and ****Spoiler Alert***** more than one Skywalker appears in Star Wars, Luke, Leia, Anakin, Padme, Shmi, Ben Solo (still a skywalker) Rey? who knows but will go into those theories later! 99% of the aforementioned characters (apart from Rey) are known Skywalkers, so you can see how heavily the Saga films focus on the Skywalker story.
Skywalker Family Tree as per canon. source:9GAG.com - Driods – The most known driods are R2-D2 and C-3PO. Driods are Artificial Intelligence robots that assist (and often save the day) in the Star Wars Universe. Driod was derieved from Andriod by special effect artist John Stears.
R2-D2 and C-3PO source: wookieepedia.com - Lucasfilm Ltd – The name in itself is a bit of a give away. Lucasfilm Ltd was started by George Lucas and is a film and TV production company that was bought by Disney in 2012. Lucasfilm has created some magical Films and TV shows, including Star Wars, though Willow still has me scared (sorry Warrick Davis!).
- Saga Films – Star Wars is all about the films (well not just films if you ask me!) but there was the Original Trilogy – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).
Then came the Prequel Trilogy – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) .
Now comes the Sequel Trilogy – Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII (now in post production coming out 2017) and then Star Wars Episode IX (due for release 2019).
source: CraftHubs - Stand Alone (Anthology) Films While the Saga Films generally focus on the Skywalker family (don’t worry will explain below!), we also have Stand Alone Films coming out. The first film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Dec 2016) focuses on the band of rebels we heard about in the opening crawl in Episode IV and how they got the death star plans. There is also a Han Solo film in the works.
source: StarWars.com - May the Force be with you – A phrase often used in Star Wars between Jedi or force sensitive beings (will explain more on the Force below), it is used in the context of how Good Luck would be used.
- The Force – Obi-wan sums up the force perfectly in Episode IV: A New Hope
“It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”
- Order of Films – People can often get confused when talking about trilogies. Theatrical release and story order are completely different in Star Wars, so for your reference here are the orders (at current without future movies):Theatrical Release: Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Episode I, Episode II, Episode III, Episode VII, Rogue OneStory Order: Episode I, Episode II, Episode III, Rogue One, Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Episode VII
- The Clone Wars – Film and TV Show (2008 – 2012): The Clone Wars was an animated film and 6 season TV series that took place between Episode II : Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I will go into more detail in future blog posts, but this Film and TV Show introduced us to some new amazing character, places and story lines that strengthened the Prequel Trilogy.
source: http://www.screenrant.com - Star Wars Rebels – TV Show (2014 – Current): Star Wars Rebels is an animated TV series that takes place between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One & Episode IV: A New Hope. I will go into more detail in a future separate blog post however this show introduced us to the reality of the Empire and how the Rebel Alliance came about.
source: http://www.StarWars.com - Canon: I will get into this debate later on in my blog however what you need to know about Canon is firstly Canon is – a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine (Source: google.com) or in our case it is a list of outside stories that are approved by Disney that fit into the Star Wars Universe. When Disney bought Star Wars it removed a lot of what is now known as the Expanded Universe (fan fiction and stories not necessarily approved by George Lucas at the time). Anytime I speak about books, TV shows, Comics etc I will be referring to the official canon. Below is a list of all official cannon. BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After Battle of Yavin) you may be looking sideways wondering what this is….the Battle of Yavin is the space battle at the end of Episode IV: A New Hope. Think of it as another form of BC and AD.
List of Star Wars canon works Release date In-universe date Title Type of media May 1999 32 BBY Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Film January 2016 29 BBY Obi-Wan & Anakin Comic May 2002 22 BBY Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones Film August 2008 The Clone Wars October 2008 22–20 BBY The Clone Wars TV series August 2014 20 BBY Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir Comic July 2015 Dark Disciple Novel May 2005 19 BBY Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith Film April 2015 19–18 BBY Kanan Comic October 2016 18 BBY Ahsoka Young adult novel April 2015 14 BBY Lords of the Sith Novel November 2014 Tarkin September 2014 11 BBY A New Dawn September 2015 11 BBY–5 ABY Lost Stars Young adult novel May 2018 10 BBY Untitled Han Solo prequel Film October 2014 5–3 BBY Rebels TV series November 2016 0 BBY Catalyst: A Rogue One Story Novel December 2016 0 BBY Rogue One Film May 1977 Star Wars: A New Hope March 2015 0 ABY Princess Leia Comic September 2015 Smuggler’s Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure Young adult novel October 2015 Chewbacca Comic March 2015 Heir to the Jedi Novel September 2015 The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure Young adult novel January 2015 Star Wars (main series) Comic February 2015 Darth Vader November 2015 Vader Down July 2015 Between 0-3 ABY Lando November 2015 3 ABY Battlefront: Twilight Company Novel May 1980 The Empire Strikes Back Film September 2015 4 ABY Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure Young adult novel May 1983 Return of the Jedi Film September 2015 Shattered Empire Comic September 2015 Uprising Video game September 2015 Aftermath Novel July 2016 Aftermath: Life Debt February 2017 5 ABY Aftermath: Empire’s End May 2016 28 ABY Bloodline November 2015 34 ABY The Perfect Weapon Novella November 2015 Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens Young adult anthology December 2015 Before the Awakening April 2016 C-3PO Comic April 2016 Poe Dameron December 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Film December 2017 Episode VIII May 2019 TBA Episode IX Source: Wikipedia
May the Force be with you
Star Wars Mum 
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