Mark Hamill Thought The Star Wars Holiday Special Was Going To Be A Big Mistake
If you are of a certain age, you may have seen the "Star Wars Holiday Special" when it aired on CBS in 1978. If not, you've probably seen clips on YouTube, where it's available in full for those interested enough to find it. There is a reason this entire thing isn't streaming on Disney+. If you have not yet had the ... ahem ... dubious pleasure of watching this thing, let me attempt to explain. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) are trying to get home to Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day, a holiday for the Wookiees. We meet Chewie's family; his wife Mala, father Itchy, and son Lumpy.
There is a very long scene in their language, Shyriiwook, with no subtitles. Mala watches a cooking show with Harvey Korman as Chef Gormaanda, a trader named Saun Dann (Art Carney) brings Itchy what amounts to a burlesque virtual reality video that we all have to watch with Diahann Carroll. There is an animated sequence featuring Boba Fett (though it wasn't technically his first appearance), Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia sings, if you can call it that. It's ... not great, Bob. It's far weirder than it sounds, and this is a franchise that has Luke Skywalker squeeze the teats of aquatic mammals for green milk.
Mark Hamill also appeared in the special as Luke Skywalker, and according to a 2013 Reddit AMA, he thought it was a mistake from the start.
'I wanted to be a team player, so I did it'
Hamill was asked if he knew what the end result would be like when he shot it. Hamill responded:
"Oh yeah. I thought it was a mistake from the beginning. It was just unlike anything else in the 'Star Wars' universe. And I initially said that I didn't want to do it, but George said it would help keep Star Wars in the consciousness, and I wanted to be a team player so I did it. And I also said that I didn't think Luke should sing, so they cut that number."
There seems to be no further information out there about this Luke song, and maybe that's for the best. If you find yourself getting curious, just rewatch Carrie Fisher singing her Life Day song and never ask about it again. Hamill continued, speaking about the few things in there that he was happy about:
"And now, I think we shouldn't be ashamed of it. They should put on the extra of the DVD's – it shows how incredibly fallible we are! At that same time, it did introduce Boba Fett in an animated sequence, so it's significant in that respect. Plus Art Carney was in it, who is one of my favorite comedic actors of all time."
That Boba Fett appearance Hamill mentioned features him riding a mythosaur, a creature that figured prominently in "The Mandalorian" season 3. Oscar and Emmy Award-winner and comedy legend Art Carney, who played Saun Dann, is known for playing Ed Norton on "The Honeymooners," and appearing in "Henry and Tonto," "The Late Show," "The Muppets Take Manhattan," and "The Night They Saved Christmas." It's not all bad. But most of it is far from great.