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Heir to the Empire adaptation


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5 hours ago, Zerimar Nyliram said:

A guy who hates the EU told me about the behind-the-scenes on this. This was 100% staged. Yes, it plays off the fact that George Lucas hated Mara Jade (in the later years only; I think he was getting jealous of a popular character he didn't create), but you can't honestly think that slapping was real. George Lucas isn't that much of a douchebag.

So your take is that George Lucas who has had the following characters spring from his imagination: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Yoda, Chewbacca, Artoo, Threepio and let us not forget Indiana Jones. The man who is probably responsible for more iconic characters than anyone else ever is jealous of some character named Mara Jade? Thats what you think?

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It is. You have to remember that Mara was a popular character in the '90s as well as the early 2000s. You also have to understand a bit of human psychology, that not everyone's brain works the same as yours or mine. Some people can have the whole world and still feel threatened by the tiniest things.

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He got paid for every bit of it. He 100% does not give a shit about Mara Jade.

We can't go claiming he had input and say over the EU and took an interest and at the same time say that some part of him made him mad, but did nothing about it.

 

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2 hours ago, Tank said:

He got paid for every bit of it. He 100% does not give a shit about Mara Jade.

We can't go claiming he had input and say over the EU and took an interest and at the same time say that some part of him made him mad, but did nothing about it.

 

Lucas constantly dabbled in the EU. He gave authors background information, pitched ideas, said what they could and could not do, vetoed ideas that were too radical from his vision, and even had direct participation and oversight over certain project (Shadows of the EmpireThe Force Unleashed). No one in their right mind claims he read everything or was an EU aficionado, or that he even liked everything in it, but it's abundantly obvious cared on some level about its consistency, even somewhat passively. He wouldn't have hired entire teams of people to keep it together if he didn't. Yes, he reserved the right to break with it when he wanted to, which he did, but his team was expected to make sense of it later.

I'm sorry, but facts are facts, and documented history is documented history. How many times are we going to have this discussion?

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“Be assured that nothing Star Wars related that Dark Horse publishes escapes the scrutiny of Mr. Lucas.”  Bob Cooper, editor for Dark Horse Comics Classic, letter to the editor section of Classic Star Wars 8, Dark Horse Comics, April 1993.

 

Question – “How often do you converse with George Lucas and/or Lucasfilm about your work?”

Answer – “Very! Lucy Autrey Wilson and Sue Rostoni, our primary contacts at Lucasfilm, oversee virtually every aspect of production on this and all other series derived from Lucasfilm creations. In the case of particularly bold plot ideas, George Lucas himself steps in for some much-appreciated insight (and inspiration).”  Barbara Kesel and Jerry Prosser, editors for Dark Horse Comics, letter to the editor found in Tales of the Jedi Issue 3, 1993

 

“After Star Wars was released, it became apparent that my story—however many films it took to tell—was only one of thousands that could be told about the characters who inhabit its galaxy. But these were not stories I was destined to tell. Instead they would spring from the imagination of other writers, inspired by the glimpse of a galaxy that Star Wars provided. Today it is an amazing, if unexpected, legacy of Star Wars that so many gifted writers are contributing new stories to the Saga.”  George Lucas, Introduction to the 1994 reprint of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye

 

“Lucas’s day-to-day activities in the main house include the management of the Star Wars story, which is probably the most carefully tended secular story on Earth. Unlike Star Trek, which is a series of episodes connected by no central narrative, Star Wars is a single story–‘a finite, expanding universe,’ in the words of Tom Dupree, who edits Bantam’s Star Wars novels in New York. Everyone in the content-creating galaxy of Star Wars has a copy of ‘The Bible,’ a burgeoning canonical document (currently a hundred and seventy pages long) that is maintained by ‘continuity editors’ Allan Kausch and Sue Rostoni. It is a chronology of all the events that have ever occurred in the Star Wars universe, in all the films, books, CD-roms, Nintendo games, comic books, and role-playing guides, and each medium is seamlessly coordinated with the others.” - John Seabrook, writer for The New Yorker, article from The New Yorker, “Why the Force is Still With Us,” January 6, 1997

 

“New developments in even the remotest corners of the Star Wars universe are always approved by Lucas himself. The continuity editors send him checklists of potential events, and Lucas checks yes or no. ‘When Bantam wanted to do the back story on Yoda,’ Dupree said, ‘George said that was off limits, because he wanted him to remain a mysterious character. But George has made available some time between the start of Episode Four, when Han Solo is a young pilot on the planet Corellia, and the end of the prequel, so we're working with that now.’”  John Seabrook, writer for The New Yorker, article from The New Yorker, “Why the Force is Still With Us,” January 6, 1997

 

(In a response to the criticism of the Sith and dark Jedi in the Tales of the Jedi) “The background came directly to us from George Lucas. We’re following his guidelines and building a story within the parameters he himself laid down. It may not match with your own ideas- but this is George’s universe and he gets to establish the rules. We just try to tell the best story we can within them.”  Kevin J. Anderson, author for the Expanded Universe, Tales of the Jedi: Fall of the Sith Empire 1 in the Letter to the Editor column, June 1997.

 

“As far as I know, he hasn’t read any of my novels. From what I’ve heard Lucas is a visual man, he likes the comic books for the visual aspect. Frankly I don’t think that he has time to read so I am not offended.”  Timothy Zahn, author for the EU, The Book Report interview, November, 1997

 

“In Vector Prime, based on a story line approved by George Lucas, New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore take the Star Wars universe to previously unscaled heights of action and imagination, expanding the beloved story of a galaxy far, far away…” Preface found in the front cover of the novel Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore, 1999

 

“Lucas Books has always checked with the boss to make sure that none of its projects interferes in any way with anything that he is planning. And while plans can change, rest assured that the wonderful expanded fictional universe enjoyed by so many fans has in no way stomped or trampled on any of George Lucas's prerogatives or options."  Steve Sansweet, Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm, Starwars.com, November 2000

 

“In general, George doesn’t see the overall story ideas or concepts. If there is a sensitive area, or if we are developing backstory for a character he’s created or mentioned in an interview, we can query him to get more information, his approval, or whatever. And yes, we always query him if we’re doing something drastic to a film character. I believe he does read the concepts for the games though.”  Sue Rostoni, Lucas Books and Lucas Licensing Managing Editor, Starwars.com, June 2004

 

“He knows the comics very well – after the fact. He reads the comics. George knows more about Star Wars than we do. He doesn’t see the Expanded Universe as ‘his’ Star Wars but as ‘ours’. I think this has been mentioned previously, maybe in other places, but it’s not new info, as far as I remember.”-Sue Rostoni, Lucas Books and Lucas Licensing Managing Editor, Starwars.com, June 2004

 

“’Parallel universe’ suggests that each universe can go in separate directions which really isn't the case with regard to the EU. The EU is bound by what is seen in the most current version of the films and by directives from George Lucas."  Leland Chee, Continuity Database Administrator aka “Keeper of the Holocron” for Lucas Licensing, Starwars.com, January 2005

 

"GL is certainly not bound by the EU, though he's certainly open to using things created in it (Aayla Secura and the Coruscant name, for example). On the other hand, the quote you provide makes it sound like the EU is separate from George's vision of the Star Wars universe. It is not. The EU must follow certain tenets set by George through the films and other guidelines that he provides outside of the films."  Leland Chee, Continuity Database Administrator aka “Keeper of the Holocron” for Lucas Licensing, on starwars.com, December 7, 2005 (In response to the “I don’t read those books” Starlog magazine quote)

 

“George Lucas says, ‘There really isn’t any story to tell. It’s been covered in the books, and video games, and comic books which are things I think are incredibly creative.’” George Lucas Interview with the Los Angeles Times, “George Lucas: 'Star Wars' won't go beyond Darth Vader,” May 7th, 2008

 

“Lucas approves every important addition to the canon. The ambitious story beats contained in the new game The Force Unleashed were permitted only after he signed off—and spent hours talking to the developers about the relationship between Darth Vader and the Emperor.”  Leland Chee, Continuity Database Administrator aka “Keeper of the Holocron” for Lucas Licensing, Interview with thewire.com, “Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise Continuity Cop,” August 18th, 2008

 

“George was involved in the early stages. When the book was first proposed, I wrote to him and asked whether there was any reason why Plagueis couldn't be a non-human, and he wrote back that Plagueis could be a Muun and sent me some artist renderings of the character. From that point on, everything was approved, as they're saying, ‘at the highest level.’ I worked most closely with George's right-hand man at Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman. It was a strange way to go about the book, because I kind of had to bypass both Del Rey and the usual editorial staff at Lucasfilm and work directly with Howard over the course of what amounted to about a year of preparation. I submitted many, many versions of the outline until we finally reached consensus on where we wanted to go with the book. The marketing text about ‘this is canon at the highest level’ – I suppose that's true, that a lot of the stuff came from the very top levels of Lucasfilm. Everything was approved at that high level. I had to make the assumption that Howard was speaking directly with George about a lot of this stuff. I didn't have any meetings directly with George, but it seemed like a lot of the approval was coming through him to Howard. I was not privy to all of the things that happened behind the scenes.”  James Luceno, author for the EU, Interview on theforce.net, “Interview: Plagueis Author James Luceno,” January 10, 2012

 

“Everything outside of the films was collectively known as the Expanded Universe serving as an extension of the same universe as the films.  If something happened in a book or a comic, it could potentially affect everything else happening in the universe.  Any discrepancies that resulted would be resolved or retconned (short for retroactive continuity, i.e. changes from previously established continuity) across the board to try and create some consistency.”  Leland Chee, Continuity Database Administrator aka “Keeper of the Holocron” for Lucas Licensing, Starwars.com July 20, 2012

 

“Lucas of course, served as the decider on many of these issues, Chee said: ‘A checklist of yes and no questions would be made: Can we create this character? Can we claim this about this planet? Can we Kill this character? Then it would get faxed to him.” Leland Chee, Continuity Database Administrator aka “Keeper of the Holocron” for Lucas Licensing, ‘Star Wars’ Archivist mastered the force article from the Chicago Tribune, May 22nd, 2017

 

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Not to mention that there are things out there such as the Essential Guides on George Lucas' desk as he was writing the prequels, and big captioned letters on the back cover to Heir to the Empire stating that it was the official continuation of the Star Wars saga. I also recently acquired both the 1993 and 1997 VHS collections of the original Trilogy, with all of the original inserts in them, which openly advertise the EU right within the movies!

I think it's safe to say that asserting that Lucas didn't care about the EU at all is completely nonsense. Maybe he didn't care about it to the degree that I do, but then who does?

I wish we could stop talking about this.

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Who cares if Lucas liked it or not. Lucas thought Jar Jar was a great character. The whole fact that Zerimar feels a need to have all that ready to go and defend somehow Lucas involvement shows like a weird facet of EU fandon. Who cares how involved Lucas was or wasn't? Who cares if he liked a story or not. All that matters is if you liked it. That you have to sort of justify the stories by trying to make it seem like they all received the George Lucas seal of approval just shows like I don't know how to put it. Its just weird and it doesn;t matter. 

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The point is it doesn't matter at this point. Why do you care if someone else thinks Lucas involvement was less than either it really was or less than you think? The quotes you posted for the most part don't prove anything anyway. Back then it was good for the EU for fans to think Lucas had involvement.  When asked about it no one was going to say "he don't give a shit." Which Im not even saying is the case, just saying thats not what anyone is going to say. 

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