By Swaz Carter
It’s hard to think of a time before Star Wars and its dedicated fan base. Generations have become so familiar with the wide-ranging world that it’s characters and story lines almost feel like mythical tales passed down through the ages. With so many intertwining elements and intricate details in the Star Wars universe it’s hard to imagine that they came from the imagination of just one man; exactly how did George Lucas come up with his immersive universe?
Comics and Serials
It is widely acknowledged that Lucas was a huge fan of the Flash Gordon serials based on the comic strips of Alex Raymond, even trying to buy the film rights for the series. From the late 1920s these serials, along with the similar adventures of Buck Rogers, enthralled their young audiences with pulpy space exploits and an eclectic mix of unusual and fantastical characters, something which the Star Wars universe took to the next level. Lucas’s elaborate character designs and epic space battles are what the franchise is known for; creating a dedicated fan base hooked on the mythology of the series.
The Sci-fi Influence
It wasn’t only serials and comics that helped shape the spectacular world of Star Wars. It’s no surprise that the literature that informed Lucas came in the form of science fiction novels by some choice writers within the genre and it is from these, that some believe, many themes, ideas and even terminology was borrowed.
The ‘.. Of Mars’ series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs focussed on the adventures of John Carter, a civil war soldier and his adventures on Mars. The stories are strongly fantasy based, more akin to sword and sandal epics with an inte- galactic setting, and although they contain a gold bikini clad princess, it’s really the terminology that Lucas seems to have picked up on. The books contain a race called the Sith and animals known as Banthas, both terms will be familiar to Star Wars fans. It is also suggested that the term Jedi, arguably the most iconic element of Star Wars, may well have come about from the Jeddak and Jeddara phrases used in the series.
Another big hitter within the genre, Frank Herbert’s Dune, seems to be a front runner for ideas with more than a few being cribbed by Lucas. Though the stories aren’t overly similar in appearance the scope of the setting and development of the world in which they exist both lend themselves to the grand myth building tradition. One of the key traits Lucas seems to have developed from Dune was the idea of the Jedi and their powers, in Herbert’s novel the training technique of Prana Bindu was somewhat similar to what Lucas described as Jedi Bendu and there was also the use of ‘The Voice’ which in essence was a psychic ability akin to the ‘Jedi mind trick’.
Galactic Patrol by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith is also cited as having some strong influences and of all of the books discussed this one seems to not only have informed the themes but also the actual plot of the first film. The book concerns a lone warrior from a crack team who travels around the galaxy using his telepathic abilities to defeat a galactic enemy. He even uses plans to single-handedly destroy an ultimate weapon in his one -man fighter. You don’t have to be a huge Star Wars fan to see the similarities here between, Luke, the Force and the climactic destruction of the Death Star.
The influences on the Star Wars franchise are many and the internet is certainly awash with far more detailed lists of sources which may, or may not, have been significant to its creation, but 41 years after the release of the original film no one can argue the fact that Star Wars has become influential in its own right. The phenomenal success of the franchise lead to an expansive ‘extended universe’ that spanned more books and comics than there were Stormtroopers in the Empire and continued the story of that Galaxy far, far away.