Robot Chicken: Star Wars

Robot Chicken: Star Wars is a Star Wars-themed double-length special of the show Robot Chicken that first aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block on June 17, 2007. It features the voices of George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Ahmed Best, Tom Kane, Joey Fatone and Bob Bergen. It proved to be highly popular and spawned a sequel, which aired on November 16, 2008.
In addition to new material, the special also features several Star Wars-themed sketches from previous episodes.
==Sketches==
Between each sketch section, static flares across the screen to signify the change.
*The title sequence features a thematically altered version of the show's standard opening and the reconstruction scene of Anakin Skywalker following his battle on Mustafar. A mad scientist recovers a dead fowl by a stream of lava, revives the bird by using Force lightning and a dissection saw, and then binds "Darth Chicken" to a chair and forces him to watch a wall of television sets featuring clips from the special.
*During the Battle of Hoth, Luke Skywalker destroys an AT-AT by grappling onto it, and throws a grenade into a bathroom occupied by an unsuspecting Imperial Army pilot reading a copy of Naboobies magazine.
*While Emperor Palpatine is describing his duel with Yoda in the Grand Convocation Chamber and laughing about it with Mas Amedda and Sim Aloo, Darth Vader calls to inform him that the Death Star has just been destroyed, throwing Palpatine into a fit about the financial loss incurred with this disaster. (This sketch was reused from the episode 1987.)
*The bartender in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina asks for a Jawa's order, to which the Jawa shouts "Martini!"
*A janitor sweeps up the halves of Darth Maul on Naboo and decides to be transferred to Coruscant.
*Admiral Ackbar stars in a commercial for a cereal bearing his name.
*Industrial designer Ponda Baba's conflict with Luke Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina is shown to be the result of a failure to communicate caused by his compulsive joker friend Cornelius Evazan, who has become too drunk to translate Ponda's words. (Also featured in Adultizzle Swizzle, an alternate version of the episode The Sack.)
*C-3PO and R2-D2 encounter problems at an airport screening line thanks to their metallic structure.
*Qui-Gon Jinn attempts to pass his ignited lightsaber to Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan drops it with peace-disturbing consequences.
*An Imperial officer witnesses a slight (and embarrassing) technical difficulty in Darth Vader's meditation chamber.
*New Imperial Death Star officer recruits receive orientation about Darth Vader's Force choke being merely a delusion and the right behavior to avoid a more permanent death by his lightsaber.
*After destroying the Death Star I, Luke excitedly intends to call his uncle and aunt about his achievement, only to remember, mid-request, that they were killed.
* At a Star Wars convention, George Lucas (voiced by himself) meets the Nerd (a regular character from Robot Chicken) dressed as a tauntaun and ends up being saved by that very nerd from an entire horde of nerds gone wild, bestowing a piece of fond memory to his rescuer.
*Ben Kenobi exploits Luke's temporary helplessness during their training session on the Millennium Falcon to give air to his more sadistic side by kneeing Luke in the crotch.
*After a British-accented space slug loses the Millennium Falcon, he and his companion decide to order a humongous order of Chinese take-out.
*The janitor ends up sweeping up the corpse of Mace Windu after it falls from Palpatine's office on Coruscant and decides to be transferred to the Death Star.
*Then-President George W. Bush learns that he has Jedi powers and decides to use them to have a little bit of fun—which includes a lightsaber duel with Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial—only to find out that it was just all a fanciful dream after he, in a similar manner to Empire Strikes Back, accidentally killed his daughter in a rage by slicing off her middle finger after she flipped him off when citing her actual dad would let her "go clubbing all she wants". (Recycled from the episode Massage Chair.)
*The Bespin 4 Weather Tracker predicts more cloudy weather for Cloud City.
*A vagrant has already taken up residence in the tauntaun that Han Solo slices open in an attempt to save Luke.
*During their confrontation on the Death Star II Luke and the Emperor engage in a "Yo Momma" fight with Darth Vader as the judge. The Emperor loses and Vader throws him into the shaft.
*The janitor ends up sweeping up Palpatine's corpse which has just landed right before his feet. (This is a reference to the opening sketch of Amazon Women on the Moon.)
*Han's radio conversation about reactors in the detention level becomes even more complicated when it necessitates a call to Vader's office and an examination of the schematics.
*Darth Vader is paid a visit by Jar Jar Binks. Vader, with less patience for Jar Jar than he used to have, throws him out of an airlock, only for Jar Jar to return later as an annoying Force ghost.
*The true intention of Luke's excuse to his uncle Owen about going to "Toshi Station to pick up some power converters" is revealed.
*Boba Fett celebrates the capture of Han aboard Slave I first by bragging and then by having an intimate moment with his frozen prisoner.
*Chewbacca re-enacts Fonz's hair-combing gag from the intro to Happy Days.
*Darth Vader tries to win Luke over to the dark side in Cloud City by revealing some secrets from the Star Wars movies. These include that he is Luke's father, Leia is his sister, the Empire will be destroyed by Ewoks, that he had built C-3PO, and finally that the Force is anything but mystical. Luke, fed up with his unprofessional behavior, leaves. (Recycled from the episode Vegetable Funfest.)
*The Emperor's taunting of Luke is interrupted by noisy ongoing construction work on the second Death Star.
*Lobot's cybernetic implants are actually headphones, and he dances to "Force Theme" in Cloud City's halls.
*A commercial for Max Rebo's new album containing his greatest hits, all of which reiterate that he is absolutely not an elephant.
*An episode of Mid-Nite with Zuckuss shows that the bigwigs of the Galactic Empire have less patience with loose-mouthed talk show hosts than one could hope for.
*Luke and Princess Leia are seen in a very intimate—and very inappropriate—moment together.
*An ice show version of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, called Empire on Ice (which reiterates the events on Hoth), makes a performance.
*End credits: chickens "bawk" the Star Wars credits music.
*After the end credits, there is an extra scene with Jar Jar Binks continuing to annoy Darth Vader while he futilely tries to sleep in his Star Wars merchandise-filled room.
*The "Stoopid Monkey" at the end has cut off his hand with a lightsaber.
===Notes===
In the segment with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the creators inserted their names in the place of some of the veterans, including Seth Green (quite clearly) and Matthew Senreich (partially obstructed). Senreich is also seen in a portrait hanging over the fireplace in the Oval Office, replacing the portrait of George Washington.
In the segment where a ghostly Jar Jar Binks haunts Darth Vader while he sleeps, four Star Wars Miniatures (a stormtrooper commander, a scout trooper, a stormtrooper and an R2-D2) can be seen on Vader's nightstand. Vader is also sleeping under Star Wars sheets, and the bed frame resembles his meditation chamber.
During the sketch featuring then-president Bush and former president Clinton, the restaurant is denoted by a single yellow arch on a red bar. This is an obvious reference to the double arches of McDonald's. As well, former president Clinton wanted a Big Mac, a main dish of the restaurant.
The Power Converters seem to be the dancers in the Max Rebo Band.
In the sketch with Ponda Baba, a few objects are what seems to be IG-88's head: the water cooler in Ponda's office and some machines in the cantina seen behind the counter. These are in reference to the pieces used in A New Hope from which IG-88's head was later made. Also, in Ponda's bedroom there is a picture of Ponda on his left wall. Ponda's address is 1138.
During the sketch with Mid-Nite with Zuckuss, a mug in the shape of Boushh's helmet is visible on the desk as a reference to Conan O'Brien's Eisenhower mug.
There is no skit based on Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, although Kamino is mentioned.
The show contains at least half a dozen censored uses of the word "fuck," most of them from the second sketch.
The second sketch, "Vader Calls the Emperor," was featured in a regular episode of Robot Chicken, in which Darth Vader had an uncharacteristically deep voice. This voice has been redone in the Star Wars special so it sounds more like James Earl Jones.
In the space slugs sketch, the Millennium Falcon cockpit is on the left side, instead of right.
==Release==
Over its four airings, the special received 5.7 million viewers ages 12 and up. It helped Adult Swim regain the status as the #1 cable network for total day delivery of young adults ages 18–34 and 18–24.
On July 22, 2008, Warner Home Video released Robot Chicken: Star Wars on DVD. The single-disc release includes the special itself plus many special features:
*Seven different audio commentaries, including actors, writers, production crew and Jett and Katie Lucas.
*"Chicken Nuggets" sketch by sketch video commentary - previously available on adultswim.com
*Animation Meeting
*On-Air Bumps
*Trailers
*Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
*Deleted Scenes
*Alternate Audio
*Time Lapse Sequences
*Photo Gallery
*STAR WARS Celebration IV Convention Panel Presentation
*Production Design Featurette
*a hidden Easter Egg in the language selection which features a short film about the crew's trouble in composing proper musical scores for the Empire On Ice sketch
This special was alluded to at the end of the Family Guy Star Wars special "Blue Harvest" as an in-joke as Seth Green, one of the creators of Robot Chicken, also plays Chris Griffin on Family Guy. Chris breaks the fourth wall by saying, "But didn't Robot Chicken do this a few months ago?" His father, Peter, then starts saying how bad Robot Chicken is and that no one knows about the show. Angered by this, Chris runs from the room, although not before angrily calling out Peter as being "a really big jerk". The sequel specials Something, Something, Something, Dark Side and to a lesser extent Family Guy: It's A Trap! featured similar references to Robot Chicken, the former where Peter tries to dare Robot Chicken to "top" his story only for Chris to state it already did and was determined not to let Peter get to him, but ultimately stormed out of the room when Peter off-handedly mentioned that Chris could tell Without a Paddle (an allusion to Seth Green's role in the failed film of the same name).
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==Notes and references==
==External links==
*Official website
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Category:Robot Chicken specials