The Star Wars franchise, which began with George Lucas's 1977 film, has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. Star Wars references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in many English-speaking countries with the assumption that others will understand the reference. Darth Vader has become an iconic villain, while characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 have all become widely recognized characters around the world. Phrases such as "evil empire", "May the Force be with you", "Jedi mind trick", "I am your father" and "clanker" have become part of the popular lexicon. The original film was a cultural unifier, enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.
Many efforts produced in the science fiction genre (particularly in filming) can now be seen to draw heavy influence and inspiration from the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the magnitude of prequels, sequels, spin-offs, series, games, and texts that it spawned. Sounds, visuals, and even the iconic score of the films have become integral components in American society. The film helped launch the science fiction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, making science fiction films a blockbuster genre. This impact also made it a prime target for parody works and homages, with popular examples including Spaceballs, Family Guys Laugh It Up, Fuzzball trilogy of specials, Seth Green's "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", Steve Oedekerk's "Thumb Wars", and Lucas's self-proclaimed favorite parody, Hardware Wars by Ernie Fosselius.
Arts Filmmaking history
Financial impact on Fox 20th Century Fox optioned Star Wars for its theatrical release. When it unexpectedly became that summer's blockbuster, earning over $100 million in its first three months, Fox's stock increased from $6 per share to $25 per share. Fox used the increased cash flow to purchase the Aspen skiing and Pebble Beach golf courses yet still declared excess profits in 1977. Income from Star Wars re-releases, sequels, and merchandising enriched the studio in the following decades. Star Wars helped Fox to change from an almost bankrupt production company to a thriving media conglomerate.
Impact on filmmaking
Star Wars fundamentally changed the aesthetics and narratives of Hollywood films, switching the focus of Hollywood-made films from deep, meaningful stories based on dramatic conflict, themes and irony to sprawling special-effects-laden blockbusters, as well as changing the Hollywood film industry in fundamental ways. Before Star Wars, special effects in films had not appreciably advanced since the 1950s. Star Wars was also important in the movement towards the use of computer-generated imagery in films. The commercial success of Star Wars created a boom in state-of-the-art special effects in the late 1970s. There was increased investment in special effects. Companies like Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Productions were created to provide them. The 1977 War Stars pioneered the genre pastiche, where several classic film genres are combined in one film. In Star Wars, the genres were science fiction, the Western, the war film, and the quasi-mystical epic. Along with Jaws, Star Wars started the tradition of the summer blockbuster film in the entertainment industry, where films open on many screens at the same time and profitable franchises are important. It created the model for the major film trilogy and showed that merchandising rights on a film could generate more money than the film itself.
Star Wars has often been discussed in relation to Joseph Campbell's concept of the monomyth the “hero’s journey”, popularized in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The film's narrative closely follows many mythic and archetypal storytelling patterns, which contributed to its broad accessibility. While such structures long predate Star Wars, the film helped renew interest in mythic storytelling frameworks within popular cinema and screenwriting.
The plot of a second-season episode of The CW television series Legends of Tomorrow (2017), entitled "Raiders of the Lost Art", centered on the impact of George Lucas's films on the titular heroes.
Lucasfilm-produced mockumentaries Return of the Ewok (1982): a 24-minute fictional mockumentary, focusing on the decision of Warwick Davis to become an actor and act as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi. R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002): a 20-minute mockumentary, focusing on the "true" story of R2-D2's life. It was made as a side-project by some of the crew of Attack of the Clones, released on television in three installments, and later on DVD.
Parodies The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern American popular culture, both the films and characters have received official parodies in numerous films and television productions. The Simpsons, an animated TV series produced by 20th Century Animation (sister company to Lucasfilm and also part of The Walt Disney Company): "Mayored to the Mob", a 1998 episode of the series, features multiple references to Star Wars, most centrally a plot in which Homer Simpson and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill face the threat of being trampled at a fan convention. The Force Awakens from Its Nap. A 2021 parody short featuring Maggie Simpson, a celebration of Star Wars Day. Plusaversary. A 2021 celebration of Disney+ Day featuring characters from The Simpsons and other The Walt Disney Company owned assets including Star Wars characters. Rogue Not Quite One. A 2023 short film featuring Maggie Simpson, a celebration of Star Wars Day. May the 12th Be with You. A 2024 short film, a celebration of Star Wars Day and Mother's Day. Robot Chicken has produced three television specials satirizing the Star Wars films ("Robot Chicken: Star Wars", "Episode II" and "Episode III"). The success of the specials led to the development animated parody series Star Wars Detours. Family Guy has also produced three parody episodes (collectively known as Laugh It Up, Fuzzball), each of which satirized the first three films in the series. The September 2007 sixth-season premiere, titled "Blue Harvest", was produced in dedication of the saga's 30th anniversary. This was followed by "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", which parodies The Empire Strikes Back, and "It's a Trap!", which parodies Return of the Jedi. They originally were released direct-to-video on December 22, 2009, and December 21, 2010, then later aired on Fox May 23, 2010 (season eight, episode 20) and May 22, 2011 (season nine, episode 18) respectively. "Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars", also titled "Episode IV: May the Ferb Be with You", is an episode of the TV series Phineas and Ferb that aired in mid-2014, soon after Disney's acquisition of the franchise. "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri", the fourth season finale of the animated television series Rick and Morty premiered on May 31, 2020. Hardware Wars, a 13-minute 1978 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody. The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson included a brief reference to the short movie; the scene in question depicts a robotic steam iron, which is briefly framed to resemble a landing spaceship. Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks, parodies the first Star Wars film, and features special effects by Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic. The films and television series of Kevin Smith reference Star Wars numerous times. A scene in Smith's debut film Clerks centers upon the politics and ethics of the destruction of the two Death Stars in the first trilogy, which Lucas later addressed in his commentary track for Attack of the Clones. A courtroom sequence in the series premiere of Clerks: The Animated Series sees Randal Graves intensely cross-examining George Lucas about the plot holes in Phantom Menace, and demanding a refund. After successfully attaining one, Randall does the same to directors Steven Spielberg, Joel Schumacher, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee. In Smith's film Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) decide to pay off their debts by producing and starring in a Star Wars-themed pornographic film titled Star Whores before changing it to a coffee house-themed film. Trooper Clerks - In this parody of both Star Wars and the Clerks series by Studio Creations, convenience store clerks Dante Hicks and Randall Graves are stormtroopers depicted in locations such as the first Death Star and the planet Tatooine, discussing topics like whether Mallrats or Chasing Amy is the Smith film with the better story. Star Wars has been the subject of several parodies in the humorous magazine Mad, a publication that frequently publishes cartoon spoofs of Hollywood films. A parody called Star Roars was published in January 1978, featuring the magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, wearing a Darth Vader helmet. Pinky and the Brain - "Star Warners" Fanboys, a film about a group of friends anticipating the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace "Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation", the Rick and Morty sixth-season finale which includes many jabs and parodies of the franchise such as Morty dropping a lightsaber perfectly vertical and the President lashing out at Disney's new projects. Ninjago, a children's animated series based on a line of LEGO products, features many references to Star Wars. This can be attributed to series co-creator Tommy Andreason's admiration of the Star Wars franchise. In the episode "Day of the Great Devourer", a character replies to another with "Never tell me the odds." This is a direct quote from Han Solo. In the episode "Darkness Shall Rise", master Wu explicitly says "I fear there is a great disturbance in the force." In the episode "Child's Play", the protagonists use "Illuma Swords" to defeat an attacking creature. These weapons are extremely similar to lightsabers. They are later used in the episodes "The Day Ninjago Stood Still" and "The Corridor of Elders" by the owner of a comic book store. The special episode Day of the Departed focuses on a portal known as the "Rift of Return" which opens once every 3,721 years. This is a reference to The Empire Strikes Back, when C-3PO says that the odds of navigating an asteroid field are 3,720 to 1. The relationship between the characters Lloyd and Garmadon is a major parallel to that of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, with the Overlord serving as the Emperor. This culminates in the season Crystalized, when the Overlord tortures Lloyd with electricity from his hands and says "All that has happened was by my design", a rephrasing of the Emperor's line "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design". Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie, an animated movie directed and written by Olivier Jean-Marie (Based on Xilam’s (formerly Gaumont’s) animated silent comedy TV series of the same name created by Jean-Yves Raimbaud), features a CGI segment "Oggy-Wan Kenoggy". Oggy, the film's protagonist, parodies Obi-Wan Kenobi, while Bob, who was a minor character in the other segments, plays the role of Darth Vader, and Jack portrays the character Han Solo. The 1980 kaiju film Gamera: Super Monster involved a spaceship and its first appearance identical to that of Star Destroyer in the 1977 film, while its video game adaptation Star Wars (1987) introduced a character based on Gyaos, an adversary of Gamera.
Documentaries
The Making of Star Wars SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy Star Wars Tech Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed Science of Star Wars
Fan documentaries Elstree 1976 I Am Your Father The People vs. George Lucas Plastic Galaxy The Prequels Strike Back: A Fan's Journey
Video games