History Trivia / StarWars

* FranchiseOwnershipAcquisition: Disney bought Lucas films in 2012 and by extension the Star Wars franchise, but 20th Century Fox had retained ownership of the very first film until Disney bought that studio also in 2019. Read the "Studio Hop" entry below for details.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page Are you on Wookieepedia again?]]

** For the French dub, François Chaumette voiced Darth Vader in ''Film/ANewHope'' (he didn't sound like Creator/JamesEarlJones). He was replaced with the more memorable Creator/GeorgesAminel as of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Aminel's voice sounded closer to Jones, and he would voice Vader again for ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. Though Chaumette's voice still remains famous for being that of HAL 9000 in the French dub of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.

** In an interview, Creator/NataliePortman said she has no intention of ever showing her children the prequels, and that acting in the franchise hurt her career. However, in another interview she merely said that although she doesn't want to reprise her role in ''Star Wars'', she was pleased with her part in the prequels. Also, in yet another interview, she said that another reason she doesn't want her childen watch the prequels is [[HarmfulToMinors because her character dies]].
** On social media and in interviews, Creator/OscarIsaac and Creator/JohnBoyega have made it adamantly clear that they dislike where both Poe and Finn's characters ended up at the end of the Sequel Trilogy, and have zero interest in reprising their roles in any future projects (Isaac explicitly saying he'd only consider coming back [[MoneyDearBoy if he needed the money for a new house]]). Boyega has also expressed anger and disappointment at the violent racism that he, Isaac, and Kelly Marie Tran experienced from the fandom, and that in his opinion Disney gave all the nuance in the Sequel Trilogy to its white characters. In [[https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/john-boyega-interview-2020 an interview]] with ''GQ'', he said:

* RealLifeRelative: Wedge Antilles' actor (Denis Lawson) is the uncle of Creator/EwanMcGregor, who plays Obi-Wan. Famously he tried to talk his nephew ''out'' of the role, fearing that, like his own career, [=McGregor=] would meet with early success and then a nosedive. He was wrong and this was actually [=McGregor's=] breakout role, and Lawson has had a mild resurgence himself on British TV.

* UncreditedRole: Shockingly, Creator/JamesEarlJones went uncredited as the voice of Darth Vader for decades.

** Tim Rose, the costume actor for Admiral Ackbar, felt humiliated during the character's retirement after the crew, especially Rian Johnson, turned the event into a [[https://boundingintocomics.com/2019/06/04/admiral-ackbar-actor-tim-rose-details-humiliation-on-the-set-of-disneys-star-wars-the-last-jedi/ big joke.]] During an interview, he admitted to breaking down crying and having to leave the event for an extended period of time. After the interview, Twitter users flocked together to mock the aging actor. Needless to say, many fans were furious at the treatment he was receiving. Tom Kane, Ackbar's new voice actor, [[https://cosmicbook.news/disney-disrespects-star-wars-ackbar-tim-rose was also displeased]] about Holdo taking over Ackbar's position in the story as second in command.

* CreatorBacklash: Despite its large popularity, many people affiliated with Star Wars grew to resent their time with the franchise for varying reasons.
** Sir Creator/AlecGuinness, while he doesn’t entirely hate Star Wars, admitted to growing irritated with the franchise over time because of how audiences came to only remember him for the role as Obi-Wan Kenobi despite his illustrious career. He once famously told a fan who claimed he had seen the film a hundred times that he could have an autograph if he never watched the film again. Ironically, ''Star Wars'' made him rich, as he was the only actor able to get a cut of the gross (2%). In his autobiography, ''Blessings in Disguise'', he acknowledges this {{irony}}, and admits that the film gave him the financial freedom to do whatever he wanted with his career for the rest of his life, Blessed be Star Wars, he says. The other cast members knew how much he disliked the franchise while filming, and commented that he still remained professional despite his own feelings towards the film. Despite his misgivings about the first film, he agreed to reprise his role in the two films that followed, even after Creator/GeorgeLucas cautioned him that by doing so, nobody would ever again be able to look at the actor without seeing Obi-Wan Kenobi.

** A great many of those involved in ''Star Wars'', up to and including George Lucas, came to see it (temporarily) as a noose around their necks. Lucas especially felt this way since working on the films led to a divorce from his first wife.
** Everybody who worked on ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' either denies its existence or wishes to hunt down and destroy every copy. Yes, that includes George Lucas ([[MisBlamed even though he wasn't directly involved in it]]). When Creator/ConanOBrien brought up the subject of the ''Holiday Special'' with Creator/HarrisonFord during an interview, Ford first tried to deny it ever happened. Then, O'Brien announced they had a clip. The look on Ford's face was one of whether he should flee the scene or [[Film/ApocalypseNow terminate O'Brien with extreme prejudice]]. Creator/CarrieFisher had similar feelings about the special. She mentioned in her autobiography ''Wishful Drinking'' that both the special and her association with ''Franchise/StarWars'' as a whole led to her to start taking drugs (her role as Princess Leia in the special has her noticeably intoxicated in each scene she's in, and some eagle-eyed viewers noted that she even had a visible "coke nail").

** Creator/MarkHamill has gone on record multiple times saying he hated the direction that Luke went in the sequels to the point he considers it a completely different character that he's dubbed "Jake Skywalker". He also hates how people have tried to get him to bash George Lucas, who he has issues with, but legitimately likes both professionally and personally. Mark is also infuriated by how fans treat the other actors especially how Jake Lloyd was treated as he was just a little kid.

** Tim Rose, the costume actor for Admiral Ackbar, felt humiliated during the character's retirement after the crew, especially Rian Johnson, turned the event into a [[https://boundingintocomics.com/2019/06/04/admiral-ackbar-actor-tim-rose-details-humiliation-on-the-set-of-disneys-star-wars-the-last-jedi/ big joke.]] During an interview, he admitted to breaking down crying and having to leave the event for an extended period of time. After the interview, Twitter users flocked together to mock the aging actor. Needless to say, many fans were furious at the treatment he was receiving. Similarly, Tom Kane, Ackbar's new voice actor, [[https://cosmicbook.news/disney-disrespects-star-wars-ackbar-tim-rose was not pleased]] about Holdo taking over Ackbar's position in the story as second in command.
* CreatorsFavorite: R2-D2 for Creator/GeorgeLucas.

* IAmNotSpock: Nearly the entire cast has suffered this to some degree. Most of them [[AdamWesting have embraced it]], while others were left resentful (most notably Creator/AlecGuinness, the only member of the cast who was already big star before ''Star Wars''). Averted by Creator/HarrisonFord, though, who launched a successful acting career outside of the Star Wars films.

* PlayingAgainstType:
** An interesting retroactive case for Mark Hamill, who's spent almost his entire career since these films playing villains, the nastier the better. Luke Skywalker now kind of comes off as a piece of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness for him.
** Inverted like hell in the Japanese dub on the same character with Creator/BinShimada, Luke's official Japanese voice actor: Most of Shimada's roles could not be out of place on the Star Wars universe in any strech like [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Juda]], [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Paptimus Scirocco]], [[Anime/RobotGirlsZ Dr. Hell]], [[Manga/DragonBall Broly]], etc. Luke Skywalker is the complete opposite of all those previous roles, if you exclude some roles like [[Anime/SailorMoon Yuichiro Kumada]].

** Over the years, Kellogs has released a number of Star Wars based cereals, with Yoda (representing the Jedi) or Darth Vader (representing the Sith) adorning the front of the boxes. Other examples include ones with Jedi from the prequel trilogy, BB-8 and Baby Yoda. It was all the same kind of cereal; plain kernels with ''Star Wars''-themed marshmallows.

** Lucas long argued that the prequel's story existed in some form or another from the beginning of the saga, as the films featured the subtitles, ''Episode IV-VI'' (although the subtitle "''Episode IV''" wasn't in the first Star Wars film until its 1981 video re-release). ''A New Hope'' and a few elements of the original trilogy also make slightly more sense when seen against the {{backstory}} in the prequels, though others are more complicated.
** Another notable example is Chewbacca's not getting a medal at the end of ''A New Hope''. The official explanation is that such things are against the Wookiee religion — except that the ''original'' official explanation, from the [[WordOfGod Official Star Wars Fan Club]], was that he ''did'' get one but Leia wasn't tall enough to put it around his neck. ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel2015'', after the ContinuityReboot, settled things by establishing the original explanation regarding Leia's height as canon.

* CreatorBacklash:

** On social media and in interviews, Creator/OscarIsaac and Creator/JohnBoyega have made it adamantly clear that they dislike where both Poe and Finn's characters ended up at the end of the Sequel Trilogy, and have zero interest in reprising their roles in any future projects relating to Disney+ (Isaac explicitly saying he'd only consider coming back [[MoneyDearBoy if he needed the money for a new house]]). Boyega has also expressed anger and disappointment at the violent racism that he, Isaac, and Kelly Marie Tran experienced from the fandom, and that in his opinion Disney gave all the nuance in the Sequel Trilogy to its white characters. In [[https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/john-boyega-interview-2020 an interview]] with ''GQ'', he said:

* DevelopmentHell: Several attempts to expand the franchise's feature films beyond the Skywalker Saga ran into this. (See also SavedFromDevelopmentHell.)
** A trilogy of films from Creator/DavidBenioff and Creator/DBWeiss was announced in 2018, which were believed to be focused on the origins of the Jedi. After the two accepted a massive deal to produce content for Creator/{{Netflix}}, however, they exited their contract with Creator/{{Lucasfilm}}. This trilogy was removed from the schedule, though Kathleen Kennedy's response indicated the door remains open for them to resume their work if they wish.
** A separate trilogy from ''Film/TheLastJedi'' director Creator/RianJohnson was also announced prior to that film's release, which, like the Benioff/Weiss films, would be entirely separate from the Skywalker Saga. Little information about this trilogy has surfaced since, however, and with Johnson subsequently becoming attached to making multiple ''Film/KnivesOut'' sequels and the Creator/{{Peacock}} series ''Poker Face'', his trilogy is set to be on hold for a very long time.
** The anthology film ''Rogue Squadron'', like the Johnson trilogy, has been put on hold thanks in no small part to multiple prior commitments on the part of its filmmaker, as director Creator/PattyJenkins had also committed to making a sequel to ''Film/WonderWoman1984'' and a Cleopatra biopic. Jenkins would eventually exit directing duties for the latter in order to focus on ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Rogue Squadron'', though ''Wonder Woman'' is expected to take priority.

* CashCowFranchise: With 20th Century Fox famously [[ItWillNeverCatchOn signing away the merchandising rights to George Lucas]] as a way to save money on ''A New Hope''. There's also a reason Creator/{{Disney}} bought Creator/{{Lucasfilm}} for $4 billion.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Anthology films focused on Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi were planned early into Disney's ownership of the franchise. The Fett film went through multiple iterations, one set to be made by Creator/JoshTrank before he parted ways with Lucasfilm, another with Creator/JamesMangold attached; meanwhile, the Kenobi film was expected to be directed by Stephen Daldry. Both films were halted following the financial failure of ''Film/{{Solo}}'', but with the success of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', they were retooled into the Creator/DisneyPlus shows ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' and ''Obi-Wan Kenobi'', each with new creative teams.

** [[PlayedForLaughs A more lighthearted example]]: Creator/MarkHamill enjoys watching other characters in ''Star Wars'', but can never stand watching [[SelfDeprecation his own performance]].
*** In a more serious vein, Mark has gone on record multiple times saying he hated the direction that Luke went in the sequels to the point he considers it a completely different character that he's dubbed "Jake Skywalker". He also hates how people have tried to get him to bash George Lucas, who he has issues with, but legitimately likes both professionally and personally. Mark is also infuriated by how fans treat the other actors especially how Jake Lloyd was treated as he was just a little kid.

* DawsonCasting:
** Inverted by Ian [=McDiarmid=], who was 38 when he was first cast as the Emperor in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. then averted when he was played by the same actor nineteen years later in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', who now matched his age.
** Retroactive example with Wedge Antilles. In the movie he is played by 28-29 year old Dennis Lawson, but in Rebels is revealed that he is almost the same age as Ezra and Sabine.

* MultipleLanguagesSameVoiceActor: Yoda's Brazilian Portuguese voice actor since 2008, Creator/GuilhermeBriggs, also voiced his character in the Latin American Spanish dubs of ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.