Star Wars Holiday Special (2016 film) (Johnsonverse)

The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 2016 American television special that first aired on November 17, 2016 on ABC. A traditionally animated reboot of the 1978 special of the same name, it was directed by Dave Filoni with animation by TMS Entertainment and is set in the universe of the Star Wars science-fiction media franchise. 
Unlike the original 1978 special, this version sticks close to George Lucas' first draft and involves Chewbacca visiting the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate "Life Day" with his family: his father Atichi, his wife Malla, and his son Waroo, while Luke, Leia and Han Solo attempt to stop the Empire from sabotaging the Life Day festivities. The special is dedicated to Don Francks, who voiced Boba Fett in The Story of the Faithful Wookiee and passed away earlier in 2016.
==Plot==
The special begins on the planet of Tatooine, in which Han and Chewie are in the cantina that Ackmena is running, with Han flirting with a woman named Jenny. Suddenly, an Imperial general announces on a screen that the Empire is placing a curfew galaxy-wide in search of the two Rebels who helped destroy the Death Star. Han and Chewie escape Tatooine on the Millennium Falcon as Imperial Star Destroyers chase them. Han and Chewie, in a rush to get home to Chewie's family on Life Day, come into hyperspace.
==Cast==
* Matthew Mercer as Luke Skywalker
* John Armstrong as Han Solo
* Misty Lee as Princess Leia Organa
* Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
* James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Saun Dann and Krelman
* Tress MacNeille as Ackmena
* Raquel Welch as Imperial Officer
* Maurice LaMarche as Commander Rader
* Tom Kane as Imperial Officer and General Ristt
* Nika Futterman as Jenny
* Don Francks as Boba Fett (archived audio)
In addition, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher (who portray Luke, Han and Leia respectively in the films) make cameo appearances.
==Changes from original version==
* The entire special is remade with traditional animation by TMS Entertainment.
* Itchy's full name is now Atichibouto (Atichi; his name is pronounced "a-tee-chee-bew-too") and Lumpy's full name is Lumpawaroo (Waroo), his retconned name in the Legends continuity; both names are given in the credits; Mallatobuck (Malla)'s name is unchanged.
* The special is condensed to 60 minutes.
* The plot is changed to the one used in George Lucas' first draft for the original Holiday Special.
* The score is completely replaced with one composed by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
* Every song is removed from the special.
* All of Harvey Korman's characters are removed, apart from Krelman in the cantina sequence; Krelman no longer has a hole in his head.
* The 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm, Ltd. logos are added, along with the "A long time ago..." card. The 20th Century Fox Television logo at the end used the 2007 version; all reruns since 2020 use the current logo introduced that year, which was based on the 2009 theatrical logo.
* An opening crawl is added, reading: "After the Death Star's destruction, the entire galaxy is celebrating. An old holiday tradition known as LIFE DAY is held for the first time since the Emperor's rise to power. CHEWBACCA, now wanted by the Empire for his role in the Battle of Yavin, longs to return to his homeworld of KASHYYYK to celebrate Life Day with his family. However, the Empire has issued a galaxy-wide curfew in search of the Wookiee and his friend Han Solo, as they return to the Mos Eisley spaceport...."
* The order of scenes is changed, with the special starting on Tatooine.
* All onscreen English text (with the exception of the opening and closing) is replaced with Aurebesh, the alphabet used in the saga.
* The scene with Darth Vader and Chief Bast (which was a deleted scene from A New Hope) is replaced with Vader in a Star Destroyer conference room with several other officers discussing on whether the curfew should be held or not, with Vader expressing concern that the curfew could be another propaganda victory for the Rebellion following the destruction of Alderaan. Darth Vader's role is also expanded upon with new dialogue from James Earl Jones.
* All scenes with Chewie’s family are significantly shortened and accompanied by subtitles.
* Rather than Saun Dann giving the VR chair to Itchy and a machine to Lumpy with an instructional video featuring Korman impersonating a robot, he gives Atichi an advanced craft set, while Waroo is given a video book showing videos of him with Chewie.
* The Nelvana cartoon The Story of the Faithful Wookiee is moved to the end; to match the rest of the special, it was completely reanimated by TMS Entertainment, and all the characters' lines were re-recorded (apart from the late Don Francks as Boba Fett). This is to segue into The Empire Strikes Back.
* The Imperial commander who holds a search in the Wookiee home is referred to as Commander Rader (named after his original actor, Jack Rader).
* The Empire is depicted as having a motive for the trashing of Lumpy's room; they did this out of paranoia that his room could have Rebel data hidden. Rader also doesn't tell Lumpy to clean up his room.
* A rather large-scale action sequence is added in which the curfew proves to be the last straw for the Wookiees who, with the assistance of the Ghost crew and Bly's clone troopers, revolt against Imperial rule on Kashyyyk and engage in a massive firefight on the beaches of Kachirho City as in Revenge of the Sith. Commander Rader survives, but is Force-choked by Vader for his failure to maintain Imperial rule on Kashyyyk.
==Gallery==
File:Tumblr_ogljfcsvjU1tghj17o2_540.jpg|Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie as they appear in the special
File:HS Boba Fett.jpg|Boba Fett as he appears in the ending segment of the special
Category:Johnsonverse