While previous work on the Star Wars universe charts the Campbellian mythic arcs, political representations, and fan reactions associated with the films, this volume takes a transmedial approach to the material, recognizing that Star Wars TV projects interact with and relate to other Star Wars texts. The chapters in this volume take as a basic premise that the televisual entrants into the Star Wars transmedia storyworld are both important texts in the history of popular culture and also key to understanding how the Star Wars franchise―and, thus, industry-wide transmedia storytelling strategies―developed. The book expands previous work to consider television studies and sharp cultural criticism together in an effort to bring both long-running popular series, long-ignored texts, and even toy commercials to bear on the franchise’s complex history.
Author(s): Dominic J. Nardi, Derek R. Sweet
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 204
City: Cham
Foreword
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Introduction: Star Wars from Big Screen to Small
Star Wars
Scholars for Star Wars
Bibliography
Part I: Marketing and Commercials
Chapter 2: The Enduring Force of Kenner Star Wars Toy Commercials
The True Galactic Empire
Kenner Commercializes Star Wars
The Kenner Aesthetic
Sex, Race, and Age in a Plastic Galaxy, Far, Far Away
Toyetic Transmedia Intertextuality
A Tale of Two Snaggletooths
Kenner Will Be With You, Always
That’s No Toy… It’s an Advertisement
Bibliography
Chapter 3: The Holiday Special and the Hole in the Archive
A Special Holiday Marketing Disaster
Adding in the Ads
Selling Toys
Bibliography
Chapter 4: The Battle for Endor: Ewok Television Films as Transmedia Brand Extension
The Ewoks Emerge
A Caravan of Genres
The Battle for Endor
The Whitest Moon of Endor
Bibliography
Chapter 5: “The circle is now complete”: Transmedia Storytelling and Nostalgia in Star Wars Television Adverts
Parody and Character Brand Endorsement in Star Wars TV Adverts Pre Disney
Nostalgia and the Multigenerational Audience in Star Wars TV Adverts Post Disney
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 6: The Princess Strikes Back: Forces of Destiny and the Capitalization of the Disney Princess
Once Upon a Time…
Forces of Destiny and the Disney Princess Simulacrum
Princess Leia
Padmé Amidala
Rey
The Forces of Destiny Princess Dolls
Bibliography
Part II: Worldbuilding and Storytelling
Chapter 7: Several Decades Ago in Your Living Room: Ewoks, Droids, and Star Wars Saturday Morning Cartoons
Creation
Reception
Reputation
Bibliography
Chapter 8: From Monk to Superhero: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars and the Transformation of the Jedi
From Monks to Mutants
“The Clone Wars Have Begun”
Playing with Identity: And Toys
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 9: Of War, Peace, and Art: Mandalorian Culture in Star Wars Television
Mandalore’s Evolution Through Star Wars Storytelling
War Is Intolerable: Satine Kryze and the Jedi Order
Both New and Legacy: Sabine Wren and the Art of Change
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 10: Canonical Legends: How the Expanded Universe (Selectively) Lives on TV
Expanding the Star Wars Universe
Measuring EU Influences
Characters, Planets, and Worldbuilding
Adapting Story Elements, Not Stories
EU References by Media
The Risks and Rewards of EU References
Bibliography
Index
