On Dec. 18, Star Wars returns to the big screen with The Force Awakens. But the space fantasy legend got its start on theater screens in 1977 with the very first movie, which introduced the world to Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo and their adventures long ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Some Knee Deep dev team members weren’t alive back then, in an age when TVs only had three major channels and you couldn’t change from one to another with your mind (or, you know, your smartphone). But we’ve all seen the movies. So we want to share our Star Wars memories. Feel free to share your memories as comments!
Colin Dwan, Knee Deep director/producer: My parents were both notoriously cheap and restrictive about what content I could watch on TV or in movies. A New Hope was one of those few approved movies but sadly we didn't actually own a copy of it. For some reason, they decided to bootleg a copy of Star Wars from the video rental store and taped it on top of a Superman movie they had previously captured on TV. So every time I popped that tape in the VCR, I'd see a scratchy few seconds of Superman before the Lucasfilm logo would pop into view. It took me a few years to realize those few seconds weren't actually part of the movie.
Wes Platt, Knee Deep writer/designer: I first saw the original Star Wars in 1977 when I was 10 years old with my brother and my Dad at the Orlando Fashion Square cinema. I will never forget that first yellow prologue scroll followed by the seeming-to-never-end gray behemoth of a Star Destroyer chasing after Princess Leia’s blockade runner. That moment’s seared into my memory like a nerd brand. That Christmas, my brother and I battered each other with cardboard giftwrap tubes-turned-lightsabers. And I’ll see him again later this month, after The Force Awakens, and I may ask our kids to hum “Duel of the Fates” while we have a rematch.
Sharon Hackney, Knee Deep designer: I was still in the single digits (like 7 years old) when The Phantom Menace came out. My earliest memory isn’t a very clear one. I know I didn’t see it when it first came out, but I remember that I thought everything looked soooooo realistic. No clue when I saw it or where I was. Also, I had a teacher reference some of the movies and show us some scenes in class.
Cory Farris, Knee Deep lead environmental artist: I'll never forget sitting in the floor in the living room with my brother and sister watching Star Wars on a scratchy VHS tape that had been played to death. I had a C-3PO toy that the arms and legs could be taken off like in The Empire Strikes Back. I still remember the satisfying CLICK they made when you put Threepio back together. I also have vivid recollection of the terror induced in my child mind when Luke went into the Force Cave to confront Vader. When he walks around the corner all slow motion I still have that moment of fight or flight response, and in turn that moment of panic and revulsion when the lightsaber cuts the mask away to reveal Luke's own face.
Emanuel Siu, Knee Deep animator: The farthest back my memory goes was to the first time I saw Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. That stuck with me because it was the most distinct character that was scary and funny in one. A talking poopy, booger slug with abnormally bouncy, rubber skin. Life changing.
Robert Anderson, Knee Deep environmental artist: I didn't see the original trilogy in theaters until 1997 when the Star Wars Special Editions were re-released. I don't remember seeing them for the first time at home on VHS, but I do remember drawing giant space battles of Star Wars ships when I was little. My brother and I have always liked to draw and my Mom would bring us all kinds of things to draw on - old computer paper, print outs from work so we could draw on the back side, and even pieces of cardboard.
The Star Destroyers were just bigger triangles, the TIE fighters were capital letter H with a circle in the middle, X Wings were capital letter X with a triangle in the middle and then we would draw dash lines all over the place for the laser fire. Sometimes we would steal a bowl from the kitchen to trace a circle and make planets in the background.
I had the toys at one point, Vader with his lightsaber built into his arm, Yoda, and Chewie, but being a kid they either broke or were lost somewhere. In a small box packed away in a bigger box, in a closet in this apartment somewhere are four of the die-cast figurines from the original movies, paint peeling, probably a little bent and misshapen. Just about two years ago I sold my entire Star Wars toy collection that I started collecting with the Power of the Force toy line Kenner started in 1997, just over 100 pieces still in their boxes packed away in three giant Rubbermaid storage boxes.
It has been a little hard not to start buying the Star Wars Disney Infinity figures.