Hiya!

I am so elated Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, is finally coming to the Philippines! I’ve been craving for this streaming service ever since it was revealed and I was so bummed when it was announced it wasn’t coming to the country. Now that it’s coming out next month, I just can’t wait to watch a lot of the movies and television shows it has. Of course, the first thing I’ll be watching is The Little Mermaid. Never mind the fact I have a couple of Blu-Ray and DVD copies of it already! It coming out sometime in the middle of November couldn’t come at a better time as there are also some exclusive movies and specials, such as Disenchanted and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, that will be coming out shortly after Disney+’s launch in the Philippines.

Speaking of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, that did get me thinking. Right now, Disney owns Marvel and they’re not only making movies and television shows using that property, they’re also making television specials like the previous Werewolf by Night special during Halloween. Not only does Disney own Marvel, they also own Star Wars. So, why don’t they just do what they’re doing with the Marvel license and make a Star Wars television special as well?

That was when I realized there already is a Star Wars television special, the much maligned Star Wars Holiday Special.

Once I remembered that, something else entered my mind. Since the Star Wars Holiday Special already exists, why not make sequels to it? Okay, that sounds like a terrible idea initially but hear me out first before you decide.

First of all, let’s all acknowledge the original Star Wars Holiday Special was terrible. It all revolves around the fictional Wookie holiday known as Life Day and it focuses on Chewbacca’s family back in Kashyyyk. The main Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo show up in one way or another but, for most of the Holiday Special’s runtime, it’s just Chewie’s family essentially watching TV. I guess it was made because CBS paid George Lucas a lot of money to make it because Star Wars made a lot of money. George Lucas has essentially denounced the Star Wars Holiday Special and pretty much denies it even exists, which seems fair because it is really bad and creatively bankrupt. Heck, everyone involved hated it! I get why he wants to distance himself for it as much as possible.

Of course, George Lucas doesn’t own the Star Wars property anymore as he sold it to Disney for, you guessed it, a lot of money. So, he doesn’t have a say in this anymore, does he? So why shouldn’t Disney capitalize on the franchise and make some more Holiday Specials set in a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

Second, just because the original Star Wars Holiday Special was awful, that doesn’t mean sequels or possible future entries have to be atrocious as well. I already mentioned how the 1978 television special was creatively empty as it was just a bunch of videos and musical numbers loosely tied together with Chewie’s family expecting the patriarch to return for Life Day. Well, just because that was the structure of the original, sequels and follow ups don’t necessarily have to the same thing, do they? I guess that was the way TV specials were made before but we’ve certainly grown out of that today. Instead, what Disney can do is use what Marvel is doing with their television specials. Werewolf by Night is a Halloween special so it’s a horror themed special. The trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special didn’t show any musical numbers but I wouldn’t be surprised if they snuck in a couple. In other words, they can just ditch the musical format and actually tell a functional yet holiday themed tale set in the Star Wars universe.

Also, is it just me or is there anyone else there who would actually like to see how Life Day is actually celebrated? I have no doubt the celebration has been depicted with some details in some other forms of media, like in the comics. However, I would like to see a proper Life Day celebration performed in live action! The only thing I really know about it is, based on the show, is there’s supposed to be some kind of feast and then you travel to the Tree of Life. How? Well, the Holiday Special made it look like you had to get incredibly high or something. I mean, they just put on a red cloak and they were just flying through the sky while carrying some glowing orbs! Also, if you look at Princess Leia singing the Life Day song, that’s the impression you’d get! I would still want to see a proper Life Day celebration and, since I don’t think George Lucas will be making any Special Edition for the Star Wars Holiday Special, why not just make a proper sequel?

Also, you could tell they really didn’t put a whole lot of effort into the Star Wars Holiday Special. Considering how good the Star Wars movies look, the Holiday Special looked like trash. From the sets to the special effects, everything just had a cheap feel to them. I guess the Wookie costumes were okay but the makeup on the human characters looked terrible! Even though Star Wars made a mint, they didn’t put a lot of money into the Holiday Special. Well, Disney owns Star Wars now and Disney is one of the biggest entertainment conglomerates out there! You can bet they’re not going to cheap out on any television specials. You can see this in the Marvel television specials so far. So, if they do make some Star Wars television specials, wouldn’t they also devote a good amount of budget to them?

Finally, unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I believe it would be much easier to create holiday themed shows using the Star Wars franchise. Have something like the Rebels victory over the Empire and show it during the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day. Have the Mandalorian and Grogu go on an adventure during Father’s Day. Heck, put on a Star Wars television special on May the 4th, the unofficial Star Wars holiday! Not just some documentary of about Star Wars abut an actual holiday festival set in the Star Wars universe. Create some rules and traditions on how to celebrate Star Wars Day in the special!

I don’t think Disney will do this, though. It does appear the only vestige that they even acknowledge the Star Wars Holiday Special is the fact the Boba Fell cartoon from the television special is on Disney+. So even they don’t acknowledge the Holiday Special as well. I also believe Disney is being super careful with the Star Wars property because their most recent trilogy of films didn’t do so good. However, I do believe there’s always going to be a market for something like this if it’s treated with more care. If they can just release one holiday special that’s set in the Star Wars universe and it’s actually good, you can bet fans will be eager for more. I know I’m ready for it.

Byee!

Do you think there’s room for a sequel to the Star Wars Holiday Special? Let me know in the comments section below!