As a kid whose life was profoundly changed by Star Wars in theaters in 1977, the anticipation for the Star Wars Holiday Special on television the following year was high. It’s hard to imagine there was a time when there was very little Star Wars content available to us, but no one anticipated the unprecedented success and impact of Star Wars, and we were starved for that content in the early years. We got some of that fix through the Marvel Comics series, but the three year wait for the next movie seemed like an eternity. So the announcement of a live action television program that continued the story and included all the main actors was something to look forward to. I was glued to the television for every second of the broadcast, and even some of the commercials were entertaining, such as the Kenner commercial with C-3PO and R2-D2.
Years later I continued to have fond memories of that broadcast, because I did not see the show again on video until the early 90s. When that happened, it was a bit shocking to say the least, because my nostalgic recollections had left a different impression that the show was high quality. But over the years, the fan community has come around to embrace the Holiday Special for its campy and kitsch value. Although the Holiday Special has never been officially rereleased since 1978, Lucasfilm and Disney have celebrated the Holiday Special with merchandise, content, and annual “Life Day” events.
“Life Day” is the Wookiee holiday depicted in the Holiday Special and the premise for the story as Chewbacca attempts to reunite with his family for the holiday. Fans celebrate Life Day on November 17, the date that the Star Wars Holiday Special aired in the United States, which was just under a week before Thanksgiving in 1978.
Early in the story, Lumpy watches a computer-generated performance of holographic circus performers including:
- Ring Master, played by actor Yuichi Sugiyama, wearing a bright green costume with a long tail
- Gymnast (aka The Great Zorbak) played by Stephanie Stromer, who performs on the uneven bars wearing a green costume
- Jugglers (aka The Reeko Brothers), in bright orange costumes played by the Mum Brothers who perform juggling acts
- Tumblers, five acrobatic dancers wearing bright pink costumes played by a family known as the Wazzan Troupe
All of these costumes for the holographic performers were specially designed and created for the Star Wars Holiday Special by renowned fashion designer Bob Mackie. Bob Mackie is a legend in costume design, creating the costumes for many entertainment icons over the decades including Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Farrah Fawcett, Lucille Ball, Oprah Winfrey, Elton John, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and many others. His fashions dominated television in the 70s and 80s. He’s also won multiple Emmys, a Tony, and was nominated for three Oscars in costume design.
Fortunately, most of the original design sketches and screen-used costumes for the holographic performers still exist today including: Bob Mackie’s costume design drawing and finished costume for the Ring Master, the costume design sketch for the Gymnast, one of the original Juggler costumes, and the costume designs and several of the costumes for the Wazzan Troupe acrobatic Tumblers.
In the story, Malla attempts to prepare a meal as wookiees do, where she is following a recipe presented on a cooking show by the four-armed, alien cook, Gormaanda, played by Harvey Korman. Harvey Korman’s Gormaanda costume is also Bob Mackie original. Here is the Chef Gormaanda screen-used costume worn by Harvey Korman.
Malla, Chewbecca’s wife, contacts Saun Dann, a local trader played by Art Carney, who arrives later and brings Life Day gifts for the whole family. He tells Malla that Han and Chewie are on their way. Art Carney’s costume for Saun Dann was also designed and created by Bob Mackie as illustrated in this design sketch.
Perhaps the most bizarre segment of the Holiday Special occurs after Saun gives his Life Day gift to Itchy, Chewbacca’s father. Itchy receives a virtual reality fantasy program with Mermeia, played by actor and singer, Diahann Carroll. The entire fantasy sequence was scripted with suggestive dialogue that likely went over the heads of most young viewers at the time. Bob Mackie’s costume design sketch for Diahann Carroll’s Mermeia gown is shown below.
Shortly after Saun Dann arrives, two Stormtroopers and Imperial officers burst into the home and interrogate Malla and her family. The Imperials go to Lumpy’s bedroom and ransack it. Lumpy has 3 gray masks in his room that look like welding masks, and each one is unique based on the distinct patterns on the face, making them easy to screen match. These masks are among the items the Imperials throw around room. When people come over to our house and see this mask displayed in a case among other well-known Star Wars masks and helmets, I’m often asked what it is. I don’t think anyone has ever guessed correctly, because admittedly it is really obscure. But it is indeed one of the three masks from Lumpy’s bedroom.
Lumpy works to create a translation device to fool the Imperials to return to the base by emulating the commander’s voice. To figure out how get the translation device to work, Lumpy watches a video manual for the device that is presented by a malfunctioning robot called Dromboid played by Harvey Korman. Similar to the other costumes, Korman’s Dromboid costume was designed and created by Bob Mackie. Pictured here is the original costume design and jacket for Dromboid used in the Holiday Special.
The translation device used in the story is actually an electronics kit called the Mykit System 7. It never ceases to amaze me the detailed information that Star Wars fans are able to track down! Astute fans were able to correctly identify this specific electronics kit as the item used for Lumpy’s translator. The one pictured here is new in the box, but is not the original one used in the Holiday Special.
Later in the story, they cut a segment in the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine with a character Ackmena played by Bea Arthur. Ackmena is the nighttime bartender at the cantina and greets many of the familiar guests from the cantina sequence of Star Wars such as Greedo, Snaggletooth, Walrusman, Hammerhead, the Cantina Band, Gotal, Duros, and many others. Bea Arthur’s costume was of course also designed by Bob Mackie. The whereabouts of the original Ackmena costume are unknown, but Mackie’s design sketch is shown below.
The Mos Eisley Cantina sequence from the Holiday Special is the moment where fans of the movie get to truly geek out. Many of the original props and costumes from the film were reused for the shoot. These props, masks, and costumes were also previously used for a Richard Pryor comedy skit in 1977. Some of the original pieces from the Mos Eisley Cantina that were also used in the Star Wars Holiday Special include:
- Cantina Band mask and hands
- Duros hand
- Greedo hand (named Bludlow who is a different Rodian in the Holiday Special)
- Yam Nose (or Yamnoss) mask
All of the items featured in this blog entry are from my personal collection. We recently announced plans to launch the Saga Museum of Star Wars Memorabilia in collaboration with Steve Sansweet, Anne Neumann, Duncan Jenkins, Lisa Stevens, Vic Wertz, Rich Smolen, and Michael Wistock. This virtual gallery of original pieces from the Star Wars Holiday Special is glimpse of the type of exhibit we might someday offer at the Saga Museum that people will be able to see in person when we open the doors in a few years. Happy Life Day!