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 | Rayten's Realmdate posted: Aug 18, 2005 12:34 AM | updated: Feb 27, 2006 5:07 PM |
 | Lucas agrees to concept of Expanded Universe |
Within the issue of Starlog magazine with the War of the Worlds cover is an interview article with George Lucas. When asked about whether he gets confused about the all too many Star Wars materials out there, he said that now when he comes up with a new character name/element, he has to check with a Star Wars encyclopedia within this company to see if it already exists.
He stated something which he had said before, which is that he doesn't follow the SW Expanded Universe, he doesn't read the books. He also said that when they started doing all this (which is allowing other storytellers to tell their own SW tales), he had decreed that the Star Wars Universe would be split into two just like Star Trek (I don't know nuts about Star Trek, so don't ask me about that), one would be his own universe (the six episode movie saga), the other would be a whole other universe (the Expanded Universe). He continued to say that the EU tries as much as possible to tie in to his own universe, but sometimes they move into a whole other line of their own.
I believe this is the first time that Lucas has admitted that the EU is separate from his own movies, and that he helped to make this decision within his company. I remember Pablo Hidalgo (he has authored EU stuff afterall, so obviously he's biased towards the EU) hinting in one of his ROTS set diaries (this is what I remember, I could be wrong. Do correct me if I'm wrong) that Lucas considers the EU and his own movies to be the same by stating that Lucas used an EU term, "twilek" to address Amy Allen (who played Ayala Secura in AOTC and ROTS).
Being a very strict canon-only fan of Star Wars, I was actually disappointed that Lucas might consider the EU on the same line with his own movies, so now after having read the Starlog interview, I can breathe a sigh of relief and rest easier knowing that that is not true.
For more on Lucas and his feelings on the EU, click here:
http://blogs.starwars.com/Rayten/42
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http://blogs.starwars.com/Rayten/25 |
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Ackbar's Trap
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date Posted: Oct 02, 2005 10:49 AM
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 20, 2006 10:42 AM
There's a reason it's called the Expanded Universe, you know. The EU forms, together with the movies, a single official continuity. The EU also represents the "facts" and "history" of the Star Wars universe. George Lucas himself has, according to LFL representatives, been involved in every publishing project, he gives directives on what can and cannot be done in the EU, he assists authors and, by his own admission, tries to keep the EU consistent with the movies.
I respect that you've chosen not to include the EU in your personal view of the SW canon, but you should give the EU a chance. It's officially maintained and is the authorized continuation of the SW saga.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 20, 2006 6:13 PM
George Lucas himself has, according to LFL representatives, been involved in every publishing project, he gives directives on what can and cannot be done in the EU, he assists authors and, by his own admission, tries to keep the EU consistent with the movies.
Utter, utter, utter, utter BS!!!!! Where or who did you get that from? Give me the proper quote. You can't because you made that up yourself.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 12:01 AM
What? That was a very rude and arrogant reply. For the George Lucas part, read the entire interview that you cite, particulary the line "I do try to keep it consistent". From the Unifying Force interview: Lucy Wilson: George Lucas has been involved in all of the spin-off Star Wars publishing,. According to author James Luceno in the same interview, George Lucas played a "major role" in shaping the NJO timeline. In an other interview last summer, George Lucas said about the upcoming live-action TV show that: "It's not about Darth Vader or the saga, it just takes place in that world. It's like the spin-off novels. I'm not doing it, other people are doing it." Empire Magazine June 2005.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 12:02 AM
Furthermore, you're claiming that George Lucas doesn't read the novels or comics. According to his employees, he does read the comics (and as you probably know, Aayla Secura, who was given a rather prominent role, originates from the comics as does Master Vos) and he has certainly used concepts and names from the novels (such as the name Coruscant).
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 12:02 AM
The bottom line is that the EU is dependent on George's vision of Star Wars. It's officially maintained by Lucasfilm and is part of the official canon and continuity. George Lucas is there in the background, assisting authors, giving directions on what can or can't be done in the EU (one directive stated that there couldn't be any Wookiee Jedi in the prequel era EU. Very few of the directives has been mentioned. I'm no longer a HS member, but that particular GL directive was mentioned in the Online Supplement for Insider #79 since no direct quotes are allowed, you'll have to see for yourself), deciding the fates of major characters (he didn't allow Luke Skywalker to get killed off in the NJO era) etc.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:26 PM
Furthermore, you're claiming that George Lucas doesn't read the novels or comics.
He said so himself that he does not read the novels nor care about it, both in the starlog interview and many others, including this one:
http://blogs.starwars.com/Rayten/42
It has a link to a video where you can see and hear him say that. His employees can say things that may not be true or overstate things just to promote the own stuff they are doing.
He is a comic fan, a fan of art too, so he does look through the comic, but more for the art than anything else. (He has personally acquired some of the original comic art he likes) When he does, he may read some of the words along with it, so that's what his employees really mean.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:27 PM
It is true that he has contributed to the EU some of the backstories and ideas he created for his movies, because there was no place else in the movies for it. It would be a waste if the backstories were not used in the EU. Also, Lucas would not be fulflling his duty as SW creator, if he didn't let EU authors use these backstories.
Just because Lucas provided the backstories to the EU authors, does not mean he cares about the final EU product.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:38 PM
the Unifying Force interview: Lucy Wilson: George Lucas has been involved in all of the spin-off Star Wars publishing,.
He is involved, no doubt in all EU publishing, but the real question is how involved? 1% or even 0.5% involvment is still involvement, you know, so her statement is true.
So what she really means is that there are general decisions in every EU product that have to get his approval, but they are mainly the big decisions/ideas such as killing off Luke, giving plapatine or Dooku their full names, Luke getting married, backstories of characters he created, big decisions which the characters take, etc.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:42 PM
What? That was a very rude and arrogant reply.
I apologize for that. Truely rude and arrogant was I.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:52 PM
For the George Lucas part, read the entire interview that you cite, particulary the line "I do try to keep it consistent".
I dont have the interview with me anymore, so I'm just going to take your word for it. You see, of course, he does make an effort to try and keep things consistent. It would be irresponsible of him as SW creator if he did not make any effort on that at all. But how much effort? That is again the question.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 21, 2006 7:53 PM
How so does he try to keep things consistent? I repeat myself: there are general decisions in every EU product that have to get his approval, but they are mainly the big decisions/ideas such as killing off Luke, giving plapatine or Dooku their full names, Luke getting married, backstories of characters he created, big decisions which the characters take, etc.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 22, 2006 1:16 AM
Just because Lucas provided the backstories to the EU authors, does not mean he cares about the final EU product.
In what sense? In a 1999 interview, Lucas said that he had told Licensing: "I said do sequels, because I'll probably never do sequels." (and that's been expanded). As Leland Chee of LFL said: "More of the EU is based on Lucas's view of the universe outside the films than you are probably aware of". Chee has also said: "The EU is bound by what is seen in the most current version of the films and by directives from George Lucas." The EU isn't seperate from Lucas's vision of Star Wars, but depends on it Talas has an excellent blog on what Lucas has said in regards to the EU: http://blogs.starwars.com/hydrospanner/5
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 22, 2006 1:30 AM
He is involved, no doubt in all EU publishing, but the real question is how involved? 1% or even 0.5% involvment is still involvement, you know, so her statement is true.
I don't know if you realized it yourself, but your reasoning in this paragraph shows quite well that the EU isn't seperate from George Lucas's vision of Star Wars. While the authors comes up with their own stories, it must fit within the parameters of George Lucas's vision, fit with the aforementioned directives stemming from George Lucas as well with the established continuity (which officially consists of the movies together with the EU).
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 22, 2006 1:36 AM
He said so himself that he does not read the novels nor care about it, both in the starlog interview and many others, including this one:
I'm familiar with the almost ten year old MTV interview. As for "caring", many interviews shows that he both care about the quality of the EU as well as having incorporated many elements from the EU into his movies and it's up to the EU to fill in the blanks (as George Lucas himself has alluded to, such as how Anakin got the scar that was mentioned in one of the Set Diaries).
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 22, 2006 6:23 PM
The point is this: Lucas does not want the EU to be bad, that's the bottom line. If they are bad, it would not only hurt profits of his company, but also damage the reputation of his movies. As such, Lucas tries as much as he can to make sure that they are consistent with his movies, that they are good entertainment. But it's not really much of an effort, he only gives general guidelines. He leaves majority of the creative decisions to his underlings. In a sense, he's like a movie studio exec, you know, he cares more about the business part of it than the creative part.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 22, 2006 6:24 PM
So the honest truth is, Lucas doesn't really care about them. If he cares, he would read everything like the devoted EU fan, or at least he would know a summary of it. He would know it very well. But he isn't. If he cared about the EU in a creative sense more than a business sense and then people ask him about Han and Leia after ROTJ, he would describe the EU version of it like a fan.
Lucas allows the EU to continue because 1) to make money for his company and himself, 2) to create jobs, and 3) for the fans who want it. He watches many movies, TV shows, but he does not follow the EU of the universe he created.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 23, 2006 11:37 AM
While this isn't about Lucas reading the EU or not, perhaps we could agree on a compromise: that the EU is the official continuation of the SW saga, that it's dependent on Lucas's vision, that George Lucas has acknowledged it and used concepts from the novels and the comics and that he is involved (to a degree).
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 23, 2006 6:29 PM
The way Lucas sees the EU is the same way as I see it, it is nothing more than professional, legitimate fan-fiction. Some good stuff here, some bad stuff there, some contraditions here and there... all in all, I don't acknowledge it as being part of the movies, it is a parrallel universe (Lucas' own term for the EU, not mine) to the movie universe, you know, like one of them Marvel or DC superhero parrallel universes.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 23, 2006 10:30 PM
As I've showed, George Lucas has put the novels etc. in the same universe as the movies on more than one occasion (as late as last summer). His insistence on keeping it consistent with the movies, requesting novels with specific directions (as this interview with Luceno shows: http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20010614/index.html ) that he gives directives and assists authors, includes EU when possible and that it's officially maintained and officially integrated into a single continuity shows that your argumentation is flawed and biased.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 25, 2006 9:06 PM
that he gives directives and assists authors, includes EU when possible and that it's officially maintained and officially integrated into a single continuity shows that your argumentation is flawed and biased.
You are only repeating yourself. And I repeat myself: The point is this: Lucas does not want the EU to be bad, that's the bottom line. If they are bad, it would not only hurt profits of his company, but also damage the reputation of his movies. As such, Lucas tries as much as he can to make sure that they are consistent with his movies, that they are good entertainment. But it's not really much of an effort, he only gives general guidelines...
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 25, 2006 9:08 PM
As I said earlier, I respect your personal view of the canon, but to call the EU "fanfiction" is wrong on so many levels.
I didn't call it "fanfiction", I called it "professional, legitimate fan-fiction." The difference between the two in terms of quality is that, in general, fanfiction is a million times worse than professional, legitimate fanfiction.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 27, 2006 3:45 AM
To call the EU "professional, legitimate fan-fiction" is wrong as well. The EU is officially maintained by LFL, something that you seem to outright ignore (as well as the Lucas quotes I linked to). Lucas has authorized the EU to expand on his vision and the EU is totally subordinate to his vision of the Star Wars universe, both his vision in the vision and his vision outside of the movies (as explained by Mr. Chee). The official Star Wars continuity consists of the movies together with the EU. If you don't like or don't want to read the EU, that's fine, but I can't understand your anti-EU crusade.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Feb 27, 2006 5:00 PM
Dude, it's not a crusade. I'm only talking about Lucas and his connection with the EU. I seldom talk about how good or bad the EU is, unless someone chooses to discuss it with me. I'm a writer, you know, and I happen to believe in a singular vision of a storyteller.
The EU will forever remain professional, legitimate fanfiction to me. And we could go on forever discussing whether it is right or not to call the EU professional, legitimate fanfiction, but in the end, we could never really change the opinion of the other, so let's just agree to disagree.
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Grand Moff Magnus of Sweden
My Star Wars blog
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date Posted: Feb 28, 2006 3:55 AM
Alright, but I emphasize, you're wrong when you're describing the EU as "professional, legitimate fanfiction". The EU is been officially maintained by Lucasfilm and George Lucas has shown interest in it, is involved to a degree and adhered to characters, names etc. that has been established in the EU. I think you should look for more information before you write off the EU as "professional, legitimate fanfiction". The EU and the movies forms, according to official statements, [the] continuous and unified history of the Star Wars galaxy.
Thank you for the discussion.
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Rayten
Rayten's Realm
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date Posted: Mar 01, 2006 6:18 PM
I think you should look for more information before you write off the EU as "professional, legitimate fanfiction".
I have. I have read about a dozen of the novels, and six or seven comic issues before I wrote off the EU as professional, legitimate fanfiction. I enjoyed most of it, they are good, but not excellent like the movies. I don't like the inconsistencies in them, another thing is that the storytelling style does not follow that of the movies. And the bad among what I read is really bad. Crap like Luuke, the clone of Luke, resurrected palpatine. Yucks.
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