HeroJourneyStarWars.pdf (application/pdf Object) Star Wars Origins - Lightsabers. LEFT TOP: Universal Translator from Star Trek, The Original Series. LEFT BOTTOM: Phaser beam from season two of Space: 1999. RIGHT: Mr. Skywalker's finest letter-opener. The Star Wars Origins project began with one question: "How did George Lucas invent the lightsaber? " I thought it would be easy to find an answer, but the search ultimately led to two years of research culminating in this website. Studying lightsabers taught me two important things: One, a "magic item" in a fairytale is just like a character: they're interesting in direct proportion to the number the "archetypal masks" they wear. That's why Luke's lightsaber is such a memorable part of the original trilogy: it's a gift from his mentor, who passed it along from his father, which Luke uses to fight his father, which his father destroys, so he builds a new one, which he ultimately refuses to use against his father.
LEFT: Painting of Gandalf wielding Glamdring by John Howe; it burns with a magical blue fire. Other Theories. Star Wars Origins: How did George Lucas create Star Wars? Mythology in Star Wars. Nobody paid $7 to hear Homer read The Odyssey, or lined up to buy Thomas Malory's 15th-century version of King Arthur's legend.
But, when Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace opens at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, George Lucas' epic of galactic good and evil will be seen by more people in one day than Homer or Malory ever dreamed of reaching in their lifetimes. Different eras, different heroes, yet Lucas' film series contains the same mythic qualities those ancient storytellers and others used to fuel imaginations throughout the ages. Lucas always claimed that his lucrative Star Wars saga blends mythology and technology. Instead of a Scylla, he has Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker and Thor have more in common than you may think.
Indeed, Lucas' fascination with mythology led to an enduring friendship with the late Joseph Campbell, perhaps the best-known expert in the field. Lucas blended archetypes of legends and visionary cinema into three Star Wars chapters between 1977 and 1983. Moving beyond myth. Star Wars Origins - Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey. The Mythology of Star Wars [FULL DOCUMENTARY]