Q&A by Brad Balfour
There are holiday specials and then there are holiday specials — some never to be seen again. Such is the case with “The Star Wars Holiday Special.”
Back in the day, the three-networks-only environment offered no real programming options except to aim for the largest possible audience. The result? TV shows racing each other to the bottom in a quest for the largest possible “mass” audiences through the most cliched concepts, predictable writing and performances. The goal: appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Into this environment came “Star Wars,” a film with few precedents when it hit the silver screen. Even before the movie hit theaters, I was introduced to the phenomenon via an original press kit and poster — which I still have to this day — and an invite to a preview screening. Seeing it sans-hype, the film worked for me. I never became an ardent fan, though, having started my love of filmed sci-fi by being a “Star Trek” fan. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t recognize the significance of “Star Wars” with its many variants and continuations.
Its success, of course, led to “The Star Wars Holiday Special,” which originally aired on CBS,November 17, 1978. Set in the “Star Wars” media universe, it was directed by Steve Binder (with some others hied and fired before him) and was the first “Star Wars” spin-off. Set between the events of the original film and “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) — the then-unreleased sequel — it stars the main cast of the original and introduces Boba Fett, a character who appeared in later films and TV series.
In the storyline that awkwardly ties the special together, Chewbacca and Han Solo attempt to visit the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate “Life Day.” They’re pursued by Galactic Empire agents who are searching for the Rebel Alliance on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca’s family: father Itchy, wife Malla and son Lumpy. It also features the rest of the main “Star Wars” characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, all portrayed by the original cast (except R2-D2, who is simply billed as “himself”).
The program included footage from the 1977 film and a cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana, featuring bounty hunter Boba Fett. Scenes take place in space and in spacecraft including the Millennium Falcon and a Star Destroyer. Segments included other locales such as the Mos Eisley cantina from the original film.
The special was poorly received, and never got rebroadcast or officially released on home video. It became something of a cultural legend due to the underground quality of its existence. It has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings as bootlegs made from its original telecast by fans. It has also been uploaded to content-sharing websites. In contrast, the animated segment that introduced Boba Fett was positively received and, in 2021, was released on Disney+.
After being introduced by the special, Boba Fett and the planet Kashyyyk have gone on to play integral roles in the franchise, making their first film appearances in “The Empire Strikes Back” and” Revenge of the Sith,” respectively.
As a creator of hilarious and fan-pleasing films, Jeremy Coon directed, produced, and edited (with director/producer Steve Kozak) this feature doc, “A Disturbance in the Force” centers around “The Star Wars Holiday Special” and its cult status as a passed-around home tape. After the doc’s world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, it has had an extensive festival run including Fantasia and DocNYC and now has been released this month, December 2023, for further distribution. Coon is currently producing a documentary on the ‘80s comedian Gallagher, scheduled to premiere in 2024.
In 2004, he made his mark by producing and editing “Napoleon Dynamite” which became one of the most profitable and culturally impactful indie films of all time. His directorial debut, “Raiders! The Story Of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made,” premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival before being released theatrically by Drafthouse Films.
After I met the 44-year-old Coon at DocNYC, he invited me to a screening. After having been blown away by “Disturbance…,” I thought that by interviewing Coon, I could publish the ideal film for any counter-holiday celebration. And here’s its website: https://www.disturbanceintheforce.com
Q: When did you first see the Special? Talk about that experience?
Jeremy Coon: I was born the year after the Special so unfortunately (or fortunately) I missed its original airing. I’d heard rumors about it for years, but they were vague and I assumed it was more of an urban myth. A friend gave me a bootleg DVD copy of the Special in 2002. I watched the first 20 minutes and that’s as far as I could stomach at the time. I still wasn’t 100% convinced it was a real thing that had aired.
Q: What made you decide to make this doc and what did you envision in its construction?
JC: What I have at the start of almost every documentary is a lot of questions and not easily have good answers. That’s what happened here. We were shocked that no one had even attempted to do a deep dive on the Special other than five- to 10-minute YouTube videos. We knew there had to be sensible reasons why they made the Special at the time. Context is everything so we knew we’d have a lot of fun playing in the bad variety TV of the late 1970s to provide that context. It was also very interesting getting into the early marketing of “Star Wars.” Charley Lippencott still doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves among general fans.
Q: Talk about assembling and matching different formats and sounds.
JC: It’s a lot easier today than it was 15 years ago since everything is digital now. The hard part was searching and finding what to use. I used Adobe Premiere to edit. It can handle almost any video format you throw at it, which makes life super easy. So we could focus on making the movie and less on technical specs.
Q: Did you ever expect the project to get such interest?
JC: Interest in the Holiday Special has only increased with time, especially over the last 10 years or so. Once multiple versions were available on YouTube and easy to access, its popularity has really taken off in the last 10-15 years. We knew we had a definite audience and “Star Wars” fans are the best: so nice and loyal. We knew we could count on their support. But surprisingly, the film has also crossed over to a large audience of non “Star Wars” fans. The whole film is a fun time capsule of the late ‘70s which is a nice escape from today’s issues.
Q: Are you more of a doc filmmaker or a hardcore “Star Wars” fan?
That’s a tough one. I think I’m more of a doc filmmaker than hardcore “Star Wars” fan, but it’s close. The difference is that being a doc filmmaker is more of my personal identity on a day-to-day basis than being a “Star Wars” fan.
Q: Talk about your background of filmmaking in general.
JC: My first film was producing and editing “Napoleon Dynamite” which premiered at 2004 Sundance Film Festival. It was released by Fox Searchlight to great acclaim. I’ve produced four other narrative films.I kind of fell into documentary filmmaking in 2013 when I came across these kids in Mississippi who did a shot for shot remake of “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” over their entire childhood in the 1980s. I had so many questions and knew we had to make a documentary to get the answers we wanted. I got bit by the documentary filmmaking bug and founded the company September Club with Barry Poltermann (editor on “American Movie” and “Jim & Andy”) to focus on documentary filmmaking.
Q: Were you always planning on being a filmmaker?
JC: I initially wanted to be a film critic when I was a kid. I idolized Roger Ebert and loved reading reviews, watching Siskel & Ebert, Leonard Maltin, etc. I was going to be a business major in college, but when I said I planned to get my MBA they said I should switch to a different undergrad degree. Since it didn’t really matter, I switched to a film major because I loved films so much. Through film school I learned a lot and realized that I was good at it. I was fortunate enough to turn it into a career.
Q: Do you want to make genre films yourself?
JC: I’d love to make genre films, but it’s so hard and expensive to usually do so. The right project needs to come along to justify all that effort. Roger Corman was a big influence on me and it’s amazing what he has accomplished, but it is such a hard path to have great success in.
When did you develop an interest in “Star Wars” and what other genre productions stir your juices, like say “Star Trek,” “Stargate” or others.
JC: My first memory of seeing a film in a theater is “Return of The Jedi” in 1983 when I was four. I can’t remember not being a “Star Wars” fan. My brothers were nine and 10 years older than me and were the perfect age for “Star Wars” when it came out in 1977, so we had all the toys. When I came around, those were among the first toys I played with. I’ve been a film buff since I was six, so I have a love of all movies and couldn’t consume enough of all genres. But my top two were “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” and I’ve made a documentary about both of them. I made a documentary called “Raiders: The Story of The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” in 2015. It’s about some kids that made a shot for shot remake of “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” in the 1980s.
Q: Are you looking forward to attending cons and promoting the film?
JC: Of course! “Star Wars” fans are the best. The entire fan community has been so supportive and nice over the four years of us making the film. We’re excited to finally share it with a wider audience as it is being released in select theaters starting Nov 17th, and then it’s being released on digital and home video on December 5th.