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Holiday
Special > News
April 27, 2009
Bea Arthur: Goodnight, But Not Goodbye...
It is with heavy heart that we report Bea Arthur passed away
on Saturday, April 25th. She was 86. Bea was best known for her
portrayal of Maude Finley on "All In The Family" and
"Maude", and as Dorothy Zbornak on "Golden Girls".
But around here she will forever be remembered as Ackmena, the
cantankerous singing bartender from the cantina featured in The
Star Wars Holiday Special... a role which mirrored a time in her
early career when she worked in a night spot singing and pushing
drinks on customers.
And so we bid farewell with the words Ackmena sang to her bar
patrons:
Just one more round, friend
Then homeward bound, friend
Don't forget me in your dreams
Just one more song, friend
And then so long, friend
The nights get shorter it seems
Just one more rhyme, friend
Yes, it's a crime, friend
But you know time, friend
Time can fly
Now it's goodnight, friend
Goodnight, but not goodbye
Just one more drop, friend
Before we stop, friend
One more moment face to face
Next time you're dry, friend
Try stopping by, friend
If there's a light in the place
We may not thrive, friend
But we survive, friend
Look, we're alive, friend
You and I
So say goodnight, friend
Goodnight, but not goodbye
Just one more dance, friend
Just one more chance, friend
One more chorus, one more tune
It's not the end, friend
If you're a friend, friend
Then you'll come back to me soon
But it's too late, pal
To celebrate, pal
You'll have to wait, pal
Don't you cry
So it's goodnight friend...
Goodnight, friend.
Goodnight, friend.
You're such a dear, friend
You know I'm here, friend
Is that a tear, friend
In your eye?
So say goodnight, friend
Goodnight, friend
Goodnight but not goodbye.
December 11, 2008
IG-88: The Dancing Robot - featuring some familiar faces!
Here's one that we forgot to mention previously... filmmaker
Anton Bogaty created an excellent and hilarious animated piece
called "IG-88: The Dancing Robot". Not only did it win
the Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge Best Animated Movie award for
2007, but it also features a number of cameo appearances by characters
from The Star Wars Holiday Special! Check out our Fan Creations
section here for more details,
still images, and a link to watch the film.
December 5, 2008
Well, the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special has
turned out to be the biggest milestone so far. StarWars.com did
a week-long series of articles on it showcasing a reprint of the
Filmfax interviews from 1998, a look at all the surviving props
and materials from it in the Lucasfilm archives, a list of the
top collectibles, a couple of kids' articles detailing how to
draw Chewbacca's family and create your own stuffed Bantha, and
finally an interview with yours truly regarding this very website!
You can get to this and all the other new Holiday Special-related
articles by following the links from here.
In the meantime, we've been adding our own content here with
interviews and new photos that include some exclusive, never-before-seen
material. And there's still some more to come, so keep your eyes
open...
Holiday Special takes #1 at the Paley Center, screening to follow
Hooray! Following the survey for which holiday special to show
at the Paley Center in New York and Los Angeles, the Star Wars
Holiday Special took the definite #1 spot at 59% of the vote.
Considering it's only ever been shown once and is not available
anywhere, this shouldn't be too surprising. Screenings will commence
next week - check the Paley Center website here
for details. Fans in New York will not want to miss the screening
there - we've been told it will be digitally projected and includes
the original commercials! You've never seen it in detail like
this, nor are you likely to anytime soon.
New Star Wars Encyclopedia to include Holiday Special info
The latest all-inclusive 3-volume set of The Complete Star Wars
Encyclopedia will be released December 9th, according to the official
site. It is a major update on the original Star Wars Encyclopedia
of 1997, which contained some entries on characters from the Holiday
Special. StarWars.com confirms the Holiday Special will be represented
this time around as well - Ackmena has her own photo-illustrated
entry! Hopefully coverage will be expanded a bit, so we'll have
to wait and see.
You can see the announcement and find more details here.
November 15, 2008
Vote for The Star Wars Holiday Special to screen at the Paley
Center
You can help get The Star Wars Holiday Special shown at the Paley
Center in NYC and Los Angeles - here's a quote:
"The Paley Center wants to know which holiday specials you
cherish the most. We have compiled a list of 30 of the best--and
best-known--from the Paley Center collection. Cast your vote between
November 10 and December 3 for your top five, and share a brief
comment about why each program means something special to you."
The Star Wars Holiday Special is on that list, and is currently
in the lead (even beating out classics like "The Grinch That
Stole Christmas" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas"!).
Make sure it stays up there!
Cast your vote today at their website, found here.
November 13, 2008
Interview with Lev Mailer, "Imperial Guard #1" now
online
The second exclusive interview in honor of the 30th anniversary
of the Holiday Special is now online. This time it's Lev Mailer,
who played the moustached Imperial Guard with the growling voice,
back to menace us again! You can find the interview here.
Robot Chicken Star Wars and the Holiday Special connection
This is one piece of news we missed mentioning before, but with
the recent promos for the upcoming second chapter of the hilarious
Robot Chicken Star Wars, we thought it might be worth bringing
up the original teaser trailer for the first one, which featured
a big reference to the Holiday Special. In it, George Lucas (with
the real George Lucas providing the voice!) talks to his shrink
about his awful experience with the Holiday Special. This special
teaser was shown to fans at Star Wars Celebration 4 last May,
and starwarsholidayspecial.com was there for the occasion! You
can watch the video online at the official Star Wars site here.
November 12, 2008
New content unveiled: exclusive Patty Maloney interview
As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, we bring you a new,
exclusive interview with the actress behind the star of the Holiday
Special itself... Patty Maloney, who played Chewbacca's son Lumpy!
Check out the interview here,
and keep an eye out for more interviews and other new content
coming up soon.
RiffTrax to do all-day Holiday Special feature on November 17th
We've just received word from RiffTrax (see below) that they
too are celebrating the Holiday Special's 30th anniversary on
November 17th with a special all-day feature of their Holiday
Special riff, found here.
Some more information from RiffTrax about their work:
"RiffTrax is the internet continuation of the cult-hit TV
show Mystery Science Theater 3000. At the end of the show's television
run, star Mike Nelson and his comedic cohorts (Satellite of Love
partners Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) reunited to “riff”
(comedic commentary made during a film) the latest and greatest
Hollywood blockbusters and duds, including most of the Star Wars
lexicon. This is accomplished through the release of MP3 tracks
(the RiffTrax) that synchronize with the playback of a given film
to reproduce the MST3K experience. We’ve also developed a
free software player that makes synchronization effortless. True
to MST3K form, these riffs add endless hilarity and value to even
the worst of films. Put another way, we’re so bad it’s
good."
November 6, 2008
30 Years of The Star Wars Holiday Special, 5 years of this website!
Yes, folks... only 11 more days before the actual date of the
30th anniversary of The Star Wars Holiday Special is upon us.
And as we celebrate 30 years of the Holiday Special, we also celebrate
our 5th anniversary of being online! Stay tuned in the coming
days for big updates and special features as we lead up to November
17th. In the meantime, here's some recent news...
StarWars.com officially celebrates with 30th anniversary Topps
cards
StarWars.com is officially celebrating the Star Wars Holiday
Special's 30th anniversary, starting with a series of collector's
cards with images from the animated portion of the show. Topps
and StarWarsShop.com have come together to present a special limited
edition set of 11 Star Wars Holiday Special animated cartoon trading
cards. They are not available for sale, but one random card will
be included free with each order placed online through the shop.
You can read about it on the official site here
and see some more details at StarWarsShop.com here.
And more is on the way, as evidenced by this quote from the official
site:
"Stay tuned to StarWars.com this month as we celebrate the
30th anniversary of "The Star Wars Holiday Special"
with more rare content and features coming soon!"
We'll definitely be looking forward to this as we post our own
updates and features here.
 RiffTrax
riffs the Holiday Special for your enjoyment
Remember Mystery Science Theater 3000? Ever wished you could
hear what they had to say about the Holiday Special? Well, the
MST3K spinoff group RiffTrax has created an audio commentary track
for the Holiday Special that you can get from their site and listen
to while you watch your own copy of the film. What better way
to have a 30th anniversary viewing? See the RiffTrax site here
for more details. And would somebody please light the sky on fire
for that guy already?!
30th Anniversary Holiday Special screening in Minneapolis
Wednesday Nov. 19th at 9:00 pm there will be a screening of the
Holiday Special at a bowling alley (so appropriate!) in Minneapolis,
MN. See this
page for more details.
UPDATE: There is a Facebook invite for this screening, which
is a benefit for Toys For Tots. If you are in the area and wish
to go, check out the invite here.
June 23, 2008
Stan Winston, rest in peace...
This year we've seen a number of losses of folks who were involved
with the Holiday Special. Most recently Stan Winston, creature
and makeup effects master extraordinaire is no longer with us.
Stan died on June 15th, 2008 at the age of 62 after battling multiple
myeloma for 7 years. You can find more details at an L.A. Times
article here.
Stan Winston and his studio have been responsible for some of
the most amazing and memorable robotics and alien effects over
the last couple decades, including work on milestone films like
Aliens, Jurassic Park, and the Terminator series. But where did
it all begin? Way back in 1978, on a certain TV movie called The
Star Wars Holiday Special--this was where Stan first got started
(see our interview
about this with Tom Burman, Stan's partner on the project at the
time). Stan created the animatronic Wookiee masks, which were
very impressive, but often glossed over or forgotten by negative
reviews of the show itself. Above you can see a photo of Stan
combing out the fur on the Lumpy mask.
It was hoped previously that we would have been able to bring
you an exclusive interview with Stan Winston regarding his work
on the Holiday Special, but unfortunately it is not to be. Once
again, our condolences go out to Stan's friends and loved ones.
His handiwork will be seen and remembered for countless generations
to come.
May 29, 2008
Harvey Korman (aka Gormaanda, Krelman, and Dromboid) dies at
81
Well, it's time for sad news again...Harvey Korman, the most
versatile actor in the Holiday Special (he played 3 different
parts), died today at age 81 of complications from an aortic aneurysm
he suffered 4 months earlier. MSNBC has a detailed news article
here.
In the Star Wars Holiday Special, Harvey played the part of Gormaanda,
the four-armed feminine chef on an intergalactic cooking show
who teaches Chewbacca's wife Malla how frustrating cooking with
only two arms can be. He also played Krelman, the nervous humanoid
at bartender Ackmena's cantina who drinks from the top of his
head and tries unsuccessfully to hit on her. Lastly, Korman played
the glitch-prone android called Dromboid, an Amorphiian Being
who teaches Chewbacca's son Lumpy how to assemble a mini-transmitter
kit...while breaking down continually in the process during the
instructional video.
Harvey Korman's portrayal of Gormaanda was the most memorable
and funny part of the Special for me from the first time I saw
it in 1978, and Gormaanda wound up being my favorite character
from the show to this day.
Our condolences go out to Harvey's family and friends.
May 19, 2008
We've been quiet for a while here, but there are plenty of things
brewing! This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars
Holiday Special, and we plan to celebrate with all-new articles,
photos, interviews, and more. Keep your eyes open for updates.
Sadly, we missed posting a very significant news update back
in January, and so here is our long overdue announcement...
Holiday Special producer Dwight Hemion passses away
Dwight Hemion, one half of the Smith-Hemion production group
that produced the Star Wars Holiday Special (as well and many
more fondly-remembered TV specials and musical specials) died
January 28th at age 81.
Dwight was definitely one of the major forces behind the Holiday
Special turning out the way it did, for better or for worse. We'd
like to remember him for giving Star Wars its first shot at television,
and for giving us something so bizarrely amusing to talk about
all these years.
You can find a Washington Post article about it here,
which mentions the Holiday Special as a not-so-crowning achievement,
but also goes into more detail about all the other shows that
he worked on throughout his life.
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