Jon Favreau Wants To Make A New 'Star Wars Holiday Special'

Even though the Star Wars prequels received their fair amount of criticism from longtime fans of the sci-fi saga, nothing has ever received as much scorn as the totally weird Star Wars Holiday Special. Aired in 1978, the program took place after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope and followed Han Solo and Chewbacca as they tried to evade the Empire and get to the Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk in order to celebrate "Life Day" with Chewie's father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy. Yeah, the Star Wars Holiday Special is quite a trip, and if Jon Favreau has his way, he'd like to create a new Star Wars Holiday Special for Disney+ someday.

During the above interview with Jon Favreau following the Saturn Awards last weekend, a reporter from Entertainment Tonight asked about some of the deep cut references made to the Star Wars Holiday Special in modern Star Wars stories. The reporter assumed that it was Star Wars Rebels creator Dave Filoni who was bringing some of the more obscure parts of the Star Wars universe to light, but Favreau corrected her and said, "I was the one who was bringing the holiday special to the table. That's my generation."

Favreau continued to genuinely convey his love for the Star Wars Holiday Special and said:

"I love the Star Wars Holiday Special, certain sequences more than others. But I love the introduction of Boba Fett and that rifle that he had. That animated piece still holds up. It's pretty cool. And I still draw inspiration from that. I would love to, maybe someday on Disney+, we'll do a Holiday Special too. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I gotta pitch that to them. We'll see. If you want to see a holiday special, let Disney+ know."

Jon Favreau wrote four episodes of The Mandalorian before he even pitched the live-action Star Wars series to Disney+, so it wouldn't be surprising if he came up with something to pitch to the streaming service before they expressed any interest. Some of the series itself takes a cue from an animated sequence in the special that introduced fans to Boba Fett for the first time, though his look would change drastically before the character made it to the big screen in The Empire Strikes Back.

However, it might be an uphill battle due to all the jokes made at the Star Wars Holiday Special's expense. It hasn't even been made easily available on home video because of how poorly it was received. But in recent years, it's become less about hate and more about laughing at something so silly in the Star Wars universe.

Disney+ is bringing a lot of stuff from The Walt Disney Company's past, and it would be a nice holiday surprise if the Star Wars Holiday Special ended up available for streaming later this year. Since it hasn't been legally available to purchase or stream anywhere before, plenty of fans would love to check it out again and show it to those who haven't had the weird experience of watching it.

As for a modern take on the Star Wars Holiday Special, we're not even sure what that would look like. But if anyone can crack it, a hardcore Star Wars fan like Jon Favreau who actually likes it might be able to work something out. Otherwise, The Mandalorian debuts on Disney+ starting on the streaming service's launch day on November 12.