Brad Cook chats with producer Jeremy Coon about his Star Wars Holiday Special documentary Disturbance in the Force…
Before the prequels and the current crop of movies and TV shows from Disney, nothing agitated most Star Wars fans more than the Holiday Special that aired in 1978.
It was part new Star Wars story, which was a huge deal for many Gen X kids of that era, and part variety special, which many of those same kids had watched with their parents.
The former was the tale of Han Solo and Chewbacca trying to get to Kashyyyk, the Wookiee home world, in time for a celebration known as Life Day. The primary cast members of Star Wars reprised their roles and viewers also had a glimpse of some footage cut from the movie.
The variety special part was, well, odd. Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Norman, and other veterans of 70s TV made appearances, and singer Diahann Carroll and rock band Jefferson Starship did musical numbers.
George Lucas quickly disowned the Star Wars Holiday Special after it aired, but VHS bootlegs of it circulated for years before the Internet made it available in various ways.
Jeremy Coon, producer of the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite, was one of many Star Wars fans curious about the Holiday Special. A few years ago, he and his colleagues embarked on the creation of A Disturbance in the Force, a documentary about one of the strangest installments in the franchise.
What was the impetus behind creating a documentary about the Star Wars Holiday Special?
Coon: My co-director Steve Kozak’s dad was Bob Hope’s producer so Steve knew a lot of the people personally who worked on the Holiday Special since the same people made a lot of these variety specials in the 70s.
Steve didn’t have much experience making a documentary and when our paths crossed, I was in a position to get a plan of attack and get it off the ground. I had so many questions about the Special that had never really been explored before, we knew there was something here. We were surprised that no one had done a feature doc on it.
How did you get folks like Seth Green, Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, etc. to sit down for interviews?
Coon: That’s where our amazing producers Kyle Newman and Adam F. Goldberg come in. They both seem to know everyone or knew a way to get to them. Kyle is friends with Seth.
Adam was friends with Patton from THE GOLDBERGS and was friends with Kevin (he was also in Adam’s THE MUPPET’S MAYHEM). Having those connections in our corner made a huge difference and we’re very fortunate.
Anyone you couldn’t get?
Coon: We didn’t make a hard push for Lucas or Harrison Ford. We asked more as a formality, knowing the answer was going to be “No.”
We discussed a potential interview with Mark Hamill and I think we got close, but even after 45 years, he was still hesitant to give a formal sit-down interview on it. More out of respect for what he believed were Lucas’ wishes than anything else.
They’ve all spoken publicly about the Special over the years, which in some ways worked better to include that way than a formal interview.
The Donny Osmond interview sounds interesting. What were his thoughts looking back on the Holiday Special, as well as the Star Wars tie-in he did on his variety show?
Coon: Donny was great and exactly what you want from an interview. He was candid and had a sense of humor about how dated and ridiculous the Donny & Marie show is looking back on it after over 40 years.
His thoughts were they made that [the Holiday Special] because that’s what was the popular style at the time. He wasn’t mean-spirited or negative at all, which really fits well with the tone of the film.
We want people to laugh and be a good time. Kind of like looking back at your old high school yearbook or old photos. Sure, it’s a little embarrassing, but it’s better to own it and laugh about it than try to pretend it never happened.
What kind of information did you learn about the SW Holiday Special that wasn’t known to most fans before now?
Coon: There’s a lot in the film. The funniest and most shocking for me is the revelation that Lucas told the writers on the Special in an early meeting that Han Solo was married to a Wookiee, but they couldn’t say that because people wouldn’t accept it.
My childhood memory of the show is one where I was excited to see anything that had to do with Star Wars, and I guess I was so used to variety specials that the format didn’t phase me. Now, of course, I look back on it as a “WTF?” moment in the franchise’s history. What’s your viewpoint?
Coon: I was born the year after the Special aired, so I didn’t discover it until around 2002, when a friend gave me a bootleg DVD. I watched around 20 mins and turned it off, not convinced it was a real thing related to STAR WARS that ever aired.
I do feel that your opinion or feelings about the Special is largely determined by your age to when it aired. If you were 5-12 years old in 1978, you likely loved it because other than the movie, it was the only place you could see Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and everyone else. There was no home video, much less having anything on demand to watch.
After 45 years looking back, nearly all television looks dated. People 45 years from now will likely look at some of what we’re watching today with a similar shock.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the Star Wars Holiday Special and why?
Coon: Such a hard question. The obvious answer is the cartoon that introduced us to Boba Fett the first time, but that’s easy and what everyone says.
The Wookiee grandfather Itchy watching VR pseudo-porn is probably my favorite scene because it’s so odd and wrong. Also, way ahead of its time.
The Art Carney scene when he’s in his shop is probably my least favorite scene. Very little Star Wars, so boring, and not funny. I watched the Special beginning to end 6-7 times while I was editing to pull clips and each time it was a hard slog.
What’s your personal history with Star Wars? When did you first watch one of the movies and why did the franchise grab you?
Coon: Return of the Jedi was the first film I remember seeing in a theater when I was 4. I don’t really ever remember not being a Star Wars fan.
My brothers were 9 and 10 years older than me and were the prime age in 1977, so we had all the toys which were the first toys I played with in the early 80s.
There’s definitely something extra special about the original trilogy and how it appeals to such a wide range of people and ages. I think what grabbed me was it was something that the entire family could watch together that wasn’t an animated film.
Your post-Napoleon Dynamite career has also included docs about a Raiders of the Lost Ark fan film, the last Blockbuster, and other similar subjects. Would you say you’ve settled into a “docs that push Gen X’s nostalgia buttons” career?
Coon: Yes and no. Docs are often very personal, so I tend to pick subjects that I find interesting and want to get answers to my questions. It’s not that I search out Gen X nostalgia buttons, but it definitely matches my tastes and interests.
I’m the tail end of Gen X. I’m actually in the “Xennial” age group, which are those born between 1977-1983, the release years of the original trilogy. I think we all find comfort being nostalgic for a more simple time and remembering what it was like to be a kid.
Anything else you want to add?
Coon: Not really. Just that our website www.HolidaySpecialDoc.com is the best place to get the latest info on when you can see our film.
Many thanks to Jeremy for taking the time for this interview.
Brad Cook
