Robot Chicken: Star Wars Ep.1 (2007)

ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS (DVD)

Release Date: Oct 25th, 2010
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 195 minutes

Director: Seth Green

Cast: Seth Green, Candace Bailey, Abraham Benrubi, Bob Bergen, Ahmed Best, Donald Faison, Joey Fatone, Keith Ferguson,Mark Hamill, Hulk Hogan, Tom Kane, George Lucas, Seth MacFarlane, McDowell, Breckin Meyer, Conan O’Brien, James Van Der Beek

Not long ago, from a galaxy not far enough away comes Robot Chicken: Star Wars! Featuring sketches which parody George Lucas’s epic saga together with stop motion animation using claymation and plastic toys, it’s an excellent send up of a classic which also manages to answer some questions you might have had, like what would happen if Jar Jar Binks met up with Anakin Skywalker later on when he’s Darth Vader or how George Lucas would escape from fans at a Star Wars convention!

Although the movies had previously been parodied in standard episodes of the show, this is the first time Seth Green and Matthew Senreich have devoted the entire show to Star Wars. How did it come about? Their initial 2006 Star Wars sketch became so popular that it was brought to the attention of George Lucas himself. He was so impressed that he invited Green and Senreich to meet with him at Lucasfilm and gave them permission to create a 30-minute special based on Star Wars characters and events from the films such as the explosion of the Death Star .

“The people at Lucasfilm realized you could do a comedic take on Star Wars without compromising the integrity of any dramatic take.”
- Seth Green

Rather than to stage the obvious gags, the writing team faced a huge challenge when it came to fresh ideas as the films have been the source for comedy sketches for the past 30 years. But they managed it and there are some excellent sketches including C-3PO setting off airport securing while going through a scanner system and a fed-up janitor who is constantly sweeping up bodies at the bottom of an elevator shaft. The sketches took 3 weeks to write, but 3 months to produce after it had been approved.

Overall, Robot Chicken: Star Wars is an excellent addition to Star Wars and the Robot Chicken series. The sketches are genuinely funny, authentic and you can tell that they not only had fun doing it, but that their hearts were really in it! Robot Chicken Star Wars, Episodes 1 & 2 will also be available as a Limited Edition boxset including exclusive artcards is available on DVD October 25th 2010, at £9.99 RRP exclusively from HMV.