Now onto Part 2 (JJ Abrams):
In 1977, a story "began" and we started to play. Every wrapping paper roll became a lightsaber. My 5-year-old self had every iconic Kenner figure. We knew them all. From the big three...Luke, Leia and Han down to every "minor" character including Snaggletooth, Hammerhead, R5-D4 and the Power Droid. But there really weren't minor characters. Anyone and everyone became a part of the rest of the story. The expanded story, fueled by our imaginations, our excitement and (what we would later know as) our sense of wonder, Lucas' stories naturally blossomed into an expanded Galaxy...no, an Expanded Universe. There was no level of detail that went unnoticed. There was play.
This play was inspired by the movies and eventually by newly Lucas' own created Expanded Universe items like Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the Marvel Star Wars comics (green space bunny, included). Our imaginations ran wild. For us "play" was just what would later be called "fan-fic". Most of us weren't writing them down, but from 1977 on, we began inventing our own tales of the further adventures of Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie.
In 1983, a story "ended", but we continued to play. As my 10-year-old self, I didn't play with my KENNER toys quite as much as my 5-year-old self. But, there was still play.
But we also began the discussions. The years of discussions. We had six hours of dense, passionate, exciting adventure that we watched and watched and watched. Each minute, each second of Star Wars was a finely polished gem created with care, patience and craftsmanship. The level of detail in each moment of the film lent itself to endless discussion, analysis and debate.
And that debate inevitably led from discussing the story that we knew into discussions about the story after that final frame. This on-going discussion was just a more mature (more or less) version of the playtime we had grown up with. We were just continuing to speculate on what would be the next adventure for the family of heroes that we had grown to care so much about.
And Lucas continued fomenting the discussion. With characters from novels like Thrawn and Mara Jade or with characters from comics like a resurrected Emperor or a not-quite defeated Boba Fett, our imaginations just continued to be sparked and delighted.
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams was born June 27, 1966. He was 10 years old, almost 11, on May 25, 1977 the day that Star Wars premiered to the world. Here are a few of his thoughts on the release back then:
If you have watched any of his body of work, then you can see that from 1977 on, Star Wars flowed through his veins and his imagination, like an uncontrollable Force. The themes, style and ethos embodied in the Galaxy that Lucas Built shows up like a leitmotif throughout JJ's career.
The reason I mention this, is that I believe that in his mind, JJ has been writing, crafting and imagining Episode VII since he was 16 years old. He has worked out every plot point and every character development. And he has spent a lifetime making film and television to learn and to overcome every technical hurdle for crafting the next chapter of the saga. I think that whatever gets released to the world on December 18, 2015 will be the culmination of a lifetime of contemplation, inspiration and preparation. Just like what was released to the world on May 25, 1977.
Will it change the way we see movies and tell stories, just as Star Wars did in 1977? Probably not. Will it have the same sweeping cultural impact? Again...probably not.
But will it be a worthy successor and natural follow-up to the grandest saga that cinema has ever produced? My guess is yes. My guess is that Ep. VII will feel like both an expression of JJ's voice but also it will feel like going back home.
I can't wait.
