Star Wars Holiday Special

Star Wars Holiday Special
An advertisement for the special in TV Guide
Based on	Star Wars by George Lucas
Written by	Pat Proft Leonard Ripps Bruce Vilanch Rod Warren Mitzie Welch
Directed by	Steve Binder
Starring	Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Anthony Daniels Peter Mayhew James Earl Jones Beatrice Arthur Art Carney Diahann Carroll Jefferson Starship Harvey Korman
Voices of	Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Anthony Daniels Don Francks (uncredited)
Composers	John Williams (Star Wars theme) Ian Fraser (Score) Ken Welch Mitzie Welch (Songs)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Gary Smith Dwight Hemion
Producers	Joe Layton Jeff Starsh Ken Welch Mitzie Welch
Running time	98 minutes
Production companies	Smith-Hemion Productions Winters Hollywood Entertainment Holdings Corporation The Star Wars Corporation Nelvana (animated segment) 20th Century-Fox Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	November 17, 1978 (1978-11-17)
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The Star Wars Holiday Special^[a] is an American television special originally broadcast by CBS on November 17, 1978. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based Star Wars media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first Star Wars spin-off film, set between the events of the original film and the yet-to-be-released sequel The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It stars the main cast of the original Star Wars and introduces the character of Boba Fett, who appeared in later films.

In the storyline that ties the special together, following the events of the original film, Chewbacca and Han Solo attempt to visit the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate "Life Day". They are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire, who are searching for members of the Rebel Alliance on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca's family: his father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy.

The program also features the rest of the main Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, all portrayed by the original cast (except R2-D2, who is simply billed as "himself"). The program includes footage from the 1977 film and a cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana featuring the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Scenes take place in space and in spacecraft including the Millennium Falcon and a Star Destroyer; segments also take place in a few other locales such as the Mos Eisley cantina from the original film.

The special was very poorly received, and has never been rebroadcast nor officially released on home video in any format in its entirety. It has become something of a cultural legend due to the underground quality of its existence. It has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings of the original 1978 CBS television broadcast by fans as bootleg copies, and it has also been uploaded to content-sharing websites.

In contrast, the animated segment that introduced Boba Fett was positively received. This nine minute segment was initially released as an easter egg under the Boba Fett profile on the 2011 Blu Ray set of the first six films. It was again released in 2021 on Disney+ entitled, "The Story of the Faithful Wookiee".

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