The Phantom Merchandise Menace
Weeks ahead of the movie’s premiere, stores across America open at midnight as the first merchandise from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace goes on sale, ranging from action figures to the movie’s soundtrack (whose track titles offer major spoilers for the film’s storyline). Heavily featured in advance promotion, any items with the face of Darth Maul sell faster than nearly anything else.
Every generation has a legend…
Receiving more fanfare than any movie preview in the history of cinema, the first teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace premieres nationwide, appearing before the Pixar computer-animated family film A Bug’s Life. So eager are Star Wars fans to catch their first glimpse of the new prequel that many reportedly pay full ticket price to simply watch the preview and leave before the movie with which it’s packaged. Lucasfilm’s official Star Wars web site posts the trailer on the web – though the size of the file and the still-mostly-dial-up shape of the internet at the time makes watching it online a challenge.
Episode I filming begins
George Lucas films the first footage for the hotly-anticipated Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace at England’s Leavesden Film Studios, a facility that Lucasfilm has rented out for the duration of the movie’s expected long production period. By this point, even details of minor cast members have been leaked to the public, possibly making the production of Episode I the beginning of the modern age of internet spoilers. The cast includes Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Nataline Portman and Jake Lloyd, with veteran cast members such as Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Ian McDiarmid reprising their roles from the original trilogy. Cameras are expected to roll through September, with a 1999 release date already set.
Writing Episode I
After dropping his kids off at school, Star Wars creator George Lucas sits down with a box of pencils and a blank legal pad, and begins writing, in longhand, the script of what will become Star Wars Episode I (though at this point, the script draft is titled Star Wars: The Beginning). Having already amassed continuity notes on the original trilogy as well as story notes dating back to the early 1970s from the early “Journal of the Whills” drafts of the Star Wars storyline, Lucas knows only that the story will involve the early days of Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
Lucas reveals Star Wars prequel plans
A decade after the premiere of the most recent Star Wars theatrical film (and a couple of years into a burgeoning new wave of Star Wars marketing whose most visible components are new original novels, a new action figure line, and popular role playing and computer games), George Lucas quietly announces in Daily Variety that he plans to produce – but not direct – a trilogy of prequel movies set prior to Star Wars. Though the announcement excites the Star Wars fan base, it’s one of many such announcements in the pages of Variety, many of which concern projects that never make it to the screen.
Star Trek: TNG: The High Ground
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 59th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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Ewoks: The Season Scepter
ABC premieres the 26th episode of Star Wars: Ewoks, an animated series based upon George Lucas’ furry primitive (and very marketable) characters from the 1983 film Return Of The Jedi. 
Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
ABC airs the Lucasfilm TV movie Ewoks: The Battle For Endor, starring Wilford Brimley, Warwick Davis, and Aubree Miller. Written and directed by the Wheat Brothers (The Fly II, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick), the movie quickly dispenses with all but one of the human family around which the first Ewok TV movie centered and then embarks on an adventure that’s more fantasy than science fiction.
Droids: The Lost Prince
ABC broadcasts the fifth episode of the animated Star Wars spinoff series Droids, featuring the voice of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.
The Ewok Adventure
ABC airs the Lucasfilm TV movie The Ewok Adventure, starring Eric Walker, Warwick Davis, Fionnula Flanagan, and Aubree Miller. Written by veteran animation writer Bob Carrau and directed by John Korty (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman), this is the first live-action TV set in the Star Wars universe since the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. The movie will become known by the alternate title Ewoks: Caravan of Courage outside of the United States.
Star Wars Radio: Force And Counter Force
The 13th episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker and Brock Peters stars as Darth Vader. This episode concludes the radio retelling of the first movie, and has proven to be Public Radio’s most popular (and, during fundraising pledge drives, profitable) radio drama production.
Star Wars Radio: The Case For Rebellion
The 12th episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker and Perry King stars as Han Solo.
Star Wars Radio: The Jedi Nexus
The 11th episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Brock Peters stars as Darth Vader and Bernard “Bunny” Behrens stars as Ben Kenobi.
Star Wars Radio: The Luke Skywalker Initiative
The tenth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker and Perry King stars as Han Solo.
Star Wars Radio: Rogues, Rebels, And Robots
The ninth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker and Perry King stars as Han Solo.
Star Wars Radio: Death Star’s Transit
The eighth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Brock Peters stars as Darth Vader, and Keene Curtis stars as Grand Moff Tarkin.
Star Wars Radio: The Han Solo Solution
The seventh episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, and Perry King stars as Han Solo.
Star Wars Radio: The Millennium Falcon Deal
The sixth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, and Perry King stars as Han Solo.
Star Wars Radio: Jedi That Was, Jedi To Be
The fifth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, Anthony Daniels stars as C-3PO, and Bernard “Bunny” Behrens stars as Ben Kenobi.
Star Wars Radio: While Giants Mark Time
The fourth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, and Thomas Hill stars as Uncle Owen.
Star Wars Radio: Black Knight, White Princess…
The third episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia and Brock Peters (To Kill A Mockingbird) stars as Darth Vader.
Star Wars Radio: Points Of Origin
The second episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. This episode delves into events not depicted in the movie itself, namely the backstory of Princess Leia’s mission to hand the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia.
Star Wars Radio: A Wind To Shake The Stars
The first episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. The series is produced by the NPR affiliate at the University of Southern California, where George Lucas attended film school (and to whom he sold the radio adaptation rights for the princely sum of one dollar). Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels are the only actors to reprise their movie roles, with the rest of the characters being recast.
Revenge Of The Jedi
George Lucas completes his handwritten first-draft screenplay for the third Star Wars film, titled Revenge Of The Jedi at this early stage. Revisions to the script will continue throughout 1981, with The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders Of The Lost Ark co-writer Lawrence Kasdan once again contributing to the story and dialogue; a revision to the movie’s title will also be made, though merchandising with the early title will already be in circulation by that time.
Star Wars vs. Galactica: case dismissed
Long after Glen A. Larson’s science fiction series Battlestar Galactica has completed its run, a California judge throws out 20th Century Fox’s 1978 lawsuit, which alleged that Galactica was too close to elements of Star Wars for the studio’s comfort. (Also at issue, though not specifically mentioned in the legal proceedings, was Universal Studios’ hiring of such Star Wars personnel as FX guru John Dykstra and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie to work on Galactica.) Universal’s television series is declared different enough in key areas to not be considered a rip-off – small comfort for the studio, since ABC cancelled had the series earlier in the year. Still, Galactica’s legal status will come into play later, as Universal will later reassert and exploit its rights to the basic Battlestar Galactica storyline in the 21st century. This is not the end of the lawsuit, however; much like both franchises, it too is revived in 1983, and Universal is ordered to pay 20th Century Fox a settlement of nearly a quarter million dollars in 1984.
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The Empire Strikes Back
With expectations riding higher than they probably ever will for another sequel in movie history, the first Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, hits theaters and kicks off a whole new wave of merchandise. Yoda, AT-ATs, and Darth Vader’s march are unleashed on the world, while the cliffhanger ending hooks everyone in for the third movie with a shocking reputation about Luke’s lineage.
The Empire Strikes Cash
In contrast to 1977, where no toy licensee had a lock on the right to make Star Wars toys until weeks after the movie’s premiere, Kenner rolls out the first toys for The Empire Strikes Back nearly a month ahead of the movie; kids (and their long-suffering parents) make the first wave of figures an immediate sell-out, despite not knowing anything about the movie’s plotline.
More about Kenner Star Wars Toys in ToyBox
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
The Star Wars Holiday Special
Heavily promoted and given a prime-time slot on a Friday night in a world starved for more Star Wars, The Star Wars Holiday Special unfolds on CBS, enveloping millions of viewers in the slowly-dawning horror that the promise of a new adventure for Luke, Han and friends has lured them into watching a third-rate variety show, albeit one in which the character of Boba Fett makes his first appearance. George Lucas disowns the Holiday Special almost immediately, and it is never allowed to be repeated again. Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
A new recruit for the Empire
After nearly a year of George Lucas struggling to revise the script for The Empire Strikes Back after the death of his original co-writer, Leigh Brackett, writer Lawrence Kasdan turns in his revisions for the fourth draft of the movie’s screenplay. Kasdan has been brought on board the Star Wars sequel by Lucas, who is co-producing a movie with Steven Spielberg, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, whose script has also been revised by Kasdan – and at this point, Lucas has yet to read Kasdan’s revisions to the Raiders script.
“Off-brand” Star Wars toys taken off market
A California judge sides with 20th Century Fox and Kenner Toys in a million-dollar lawsuit against Hong Kong-based toymaker Arco Industries. At issue in the suit is Arco’s “Spacewar” line of action figures, clearly meant to barely resemble such Star Wars characters as Darth Vader, C-3PO and stormtroopers without actually securing the licensing to do so. Kenner contends that the knock-off toys have been eating into its profits, and Arco is far from the only company to suddenly release generic space figures with designs and sculpts that are suspiciously close to elements of the Star Wars universe.