By: Trevor Chartrand

Directors Steve Kozak and Jeremy Coon explore a relatively uncharted galaxy in the Star Wars universe with A Disturbance in the Force: How The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened, a documentary that examines the television variety show that never was: The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Despite George Lucas’ extreme dislike for the 1978 special, and Lucasfilms’ numerous attempts to bury it, the absurd little show still permeates and thrives in our universe to this day.  And having previously directed Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, Coon appears to be the perfect filmmaker to consider this material – his previous work features another Lucasfilm property and also has an absurdly long and wordy title. 

To anyone unfamiliar with the lauded holiday special, George Lucas greenlit a two-hour variety show in 1978, the year after Star Wars was released, to air around the holidays.  Fearing his Star Wars franchise may fade into obscurity, the television show was devised as a marketing tactic to remind families that Star Wars exists, and to buy the toys for Christmas that year. 

The content in the special is now notorious among Star Wars fans for being both bizarre and atrocious.  It tells the story of Chewbacca’s Wookie family celebrating something called Life Day and features several minutes of wookies grunting at each other in between strange musical numbers and skits.  In recent years, many Youtubers and filmmakers have discussed the content of the special, but this documentary takes a much deeper look at the show’s ‘making of,’ and seeks to answer fans’ burning questions – the why and how of the whole damn thing. 

Produced by Kyle Newman (Fanboys) and executive produced by The Goldbergs co-creator Adam F. Goldberg, this breezy documentary makes for easy-watching popcorn fodder – its style reminiscent of the Netflix docuseries The Toys that Made Us.  It’s fast-paced and packed with information, sometimes so much so that details fly by too quickly.  The film features insightful interviews with the writers and the director of the original show but, unfortunately, many people involved in the production of the 44-year-old Holiday Special have passed.  Understandably, that means the doc relies heavily on found footage and audio recordings of the cast and crew, and they aren’t always integrated smoothly.  Garbled audio recordings will start suddenly and end abruptly, flying by too quickly to fully comprehend what’s being said.  In that sense, without much room to breathe, it’s easy to miss some of the most interesting and important details in the film. 

A Disturbance in the Force: How The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened also features a few superfluous celebrity appearances, including folks like filmmaker Kevin Smith and comedian/How Did This Get Made? podcaster Paul Scheer (among others), often considered the so-called experts of the geek pop culture lexicon.  They’re included to add context as fans of the material but, since they weren’t there when the special was made, they don’t have much insight into the doc’s deep dive.  Past the intro though, they aren’t heavily featured, and that’s when the documentary is most interesting. 

The most valuable take-away from A Disturbance in the Force: How The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened is the film’s illustration of this era in television history.  The climate of late-70s TV was a weird and strange place, and the Star Wars Holiday Special reflects that.  Essentially, the holiday special is a product of its time.  While it may be odd viewing it through contemporary eyes, it isn’t all that different from other, similar specials that hit the air that year. 

Suffice it to say that this doc is highly entertaining and compelling, compiling details that answer questions many Star Wars fans have pondered for decades.  It offers a conclusive and satisfying explanation for something that seems inexplicable.  And so, as we don our red robes and carry orbs into a glowing star, know that A Disturbance in the Force: How The Star Wars Holiday Special Happened is worth a watch.  Until next time, we celebrate a day of peace;  a day of harmony!  Happy Life Day, everyone!

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Trevor Chartrand: @OhHaiTrebor