It’s another one of those great Hollywood “What If.”
What if … George Lucas had actually been able to do what he wanted to do back in 1970? Which was acquire the movie rights to Alex Raymond’s “Flash Gordon” comic strip. Would there even be a “Star Wars” film series today if George had actually been able to produce his dream project? Which was to do a big screen remake of one of those “Flash Gordon” serials from the 1930s.
Sadly, when Lucas started making inquiries, he discovered that someone else had already acquired the “Flash Gordon” feature films rights. (“Who had those rights?,” you ask. Would you believe legendary Italian film-maker Federico Fellini?
That’s right. The genius who brought us “La Strada ” and “La Dolce Vita” harbored a secret desire to make a “Flash Gordon” movie. Unfortunately, Federico was never actually able to get his “Flash” feature off the ground. Which is why Fellini eventually sold off the “Gordon” film rights to another Italian movie-making legend, producer Dino De Lautentis. Who — hoping to cash in on the “Star Wars” craze — produced 1980’s “Flash Gordon”movie. And the less said about this Universal Studios release, the better … Anyway …)
So — seeing as the “Flash Gordon” film rights weren’t available — Lucas then decided to create his own space-based movie. Something that was clearly inspired by the movie serials of the 1930s.
So — starting in February 1972 — George picked up a pen and started writing. Eventually he produced a 13-page treatment for a proposed science fiction feature that was called … Well, how’s this for an ungainly title: “The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the ‘Journal of the Whills’ — Saga One: Star Wars.” Kind of a mouthful, don’t you think?
As he was getting “American Graffiti” ready for release, Lucas began showing this treatment around town. But — to be honest — no one knew quite what to make of this “Star Wars” thing. First United Artists passed on the project, followed by Universal Studios (Which really rubbed George the wrong way. Why For? Because Universal was the studio that would soon be releasing “American Graffiti.” So — seeing as that studio passed on the chance to produce Lucas’s next picture — what did that say about what Universal thought about “American Graffiti”? Anywho …)
‘Why were so many supposedly smart studio heads turning down ‘Star Wars’?,” you query. Well, let’s remember that these folks weren’t actually seeing a full-blown script for what would eventually become “A New Hope.” But — rather — a 13-page treatment that featured virtually incomprehensible character descriptions like:
“ … Mace Windu, a revered Jedi-bendu of Opuchi who was related to Usby C. J. Thape, padawaan learner to the famed Jedi.”
And then there was “Star Wars” ‘s proposed storyline. Which featured this rather simplistic set of heroes & villains, daring-do and magic. To many of the executives who read this treatment, it seemed like Lucas was deliberately trying to make a kid’s flick. That goofy sort of adventure that Walt Disney Productions specialized in producing.
Which — to be honest — is exactly what George was up to. As he explained once in a 1980s-era interview:
“When I did ‘Graffiti,” I discovered that making a positive movie was exhilarating. I thought, Maybe I should make a film like this for even younger kids. ‘Graffiti’ was for sixteen-year-olds, this was for ten- and twelve-year-olds who have lost something even more significant than the teenager.
I saw kids today don’t have any fantasy life the way we had – they don’t have Westerns, they don’t have pirate movies … the real Errol Flynn, John Wayne kind of adventures. Disney had abdicated its reign over the children’s market, and nothing had replaced it.”
Okay. Now you’ll have to admit that that’s a little bizarre. But wait. It gets even weirder.
Just as Lucas is walking around Hollywood, trying to find some studio head who’ll be brave enough to put his faux “Flash Gordon” film in production … George learns that Walt Disney Productions is also considering putting its own ambitious space-based adventure before the cameras.
Don’t believe me? Okay. Then check out this description of the proposed production from Disney’s 1974 annual report:
Winston Hibler has begun work on the next epic adventure to be filmed by the Disney Studios, “Space Station 1.” Set in the year 2016, the project will call upon the organization’s talents in special effects to capture on film the perils of a sophisticated space station which is virtually torn apart by a supra nova shock and is being drawn toward a “black hole” in space.
“Who’s Winston Hibler?,” you query. Well, Hibler was a longtime Disney employee. Hib (as he was affectionately known around the studio lot) came on board at the Mouse Factory back in 1942, when Winston scripted & directed a number of those service training films that Disney produced during the war years. Once WW II was over, Hibler stayed on at the studio — helping to write such Disney animated classics as “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Peter Pan.”
Winston had a knack for solving severe story problems for the studio’s animated features. But what he really excelled at was the creation of live action motion pictures for Walt Disney Productions to release. Starting out as a writer on the studio’s “True Life Adventures” films series (FYI: Hib was also the narrator of many of these Academy Award winning featurettes), he eventually worked his way up through the ranks to become one of Walt’s right-hand men on the lot.
During the early 1960s, Hibler co-produced such popular Walt Disney Productions’ releases as 1962’s “Big Red,” 1965’s “The Ugly Dachshund” and 1966’s “Follow Me, Boys.” Following Walt’s death in December 1966, Winston became — along with Bill Walsh — one of the most seasoned producers that Disney Productions had.
As the 1960s gave way to the 1970s, Hib helped the Mouse Factory produce such memorable pictures like 1970’s “The Aristocats,” 1972’s “Napoleon & Samantha” and 1974’s “The Island at the Top of the World.”
It was on the heels of “Islands” ‘s December 1974 release (Which many critics — perhaps unfairly — called a pale imitation of an earlier, better Walt Disney Productions’ release, 1954’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea“) that Winston reportedly went to then-Disney president Card Walker and said: “We have to stop imitating ourselves here. It’s time to do what Walt really would have done. Which is not authorize production of yet another ‘Herbie’ sequel. But do something truly daring & original.”
The film that Hibler had in mind was based on an unpublished story by Bob Barbash & Richard Landau. A set-in-outer-space epic adventure that Winston hoped would really break the mold at the Mouse Factory. Not be another one of those cookie-cutter comedies that the studio seemed to continually churn out in the late 1960s & early 1970s. But a project that would truly challenge Walt Disney Productions.
As you might expect, Card (who was — by nature — a very cautious man) was extremely reluctant to allow WDP to tackle a project that was as ambitious as “Space Station One” was. I mean, just the projected production cost of this proposed science-fiction feature were enough to give Disney’s studio head pause.
But — that said — Walker did allow Hibler to officially begin development of “Space Station One.” Just so Card could at least get a sense of what the final film might look like. Which explains why this much more detailed description of the project appeared in Walt Disney Productions’ 1975 annual report:
“Space Station One,” now in long-range planning for production in 1977, will be our most ambitious live-action feature to date. In this truly fantastic science-fiction story, co-produced by Winston Hibler, an incredible robot joins in the daring rescue of the personnel aboard a doomed Earth station, which is steadily being drawn into a black hole in outer space. The film will provide a very special challenge to the studio’s talented special effects department.
Please note the last line of the above paragraph. That’s going to seem particularly ironic when we finally get around to tomorrow’s installment of the “Star Tours” saga … Anyhow …
So here’s Card Walker dithering about whether he should allow Winston Hibler to put “Space Station One” into production. Which is really unfortunate. For — if Card had actually allowed Hib to fast-track this project — Disney’s “Space Station One” might have beaten George Lucas’s “Star Wars” into theaters. Which means that the Mouse would have been seen as a leader of the 70’s sci-fi movie trend, rather than as just another follower.
Sadly, Walker just couldn’t bring himself to greenlight “Space Station One.” At least not in the mid-1970s. So — as development work on this Winston Hibler production moved along at a glacial pace over at Disney — 20th Century Fox production exec Alan Ladd (based solely on Ladd’s personal reaction to an early cut of “American Grafitti” that he had seen) tentatively offers to produce George Lucas’s next picture. You know, that “Adventures of Luke Starkiller” thing?
Mind you, Ladd didn’t actually offer Lucas an official contract. But — rather — just a deal memo. And it will take many more months of meetings with Alan (More importantly, Fox’s attorneys) before George finally gets an official “Go” on “Star Wars.”
“What’s the hold-up?,” you ask. To put it bluntly, the studio’s legal department just didn’t know what to make of Lucas. This man just didn’t behave like other film-makers did.
How so? Well, take — for example — what happened when Fox’s attorneys tried to establish what sort of fee George should be paid for directing “Star Wars.” Based on how well “American Graffitit” did during its initial theatrical release, Ladd authorized the studio’s lawyers to up Fox’s offer from $100,000 to $400,000 for Lucas’s directorial services.
Now a normal movie director — when offered a 400% increase in their helming fee — would have immediately taken the money and run. But not George.
Which was Fox’s attorneys are absolutely flabbergasted when they heard Lucas’s counter-offer. While Ladd’s offer of additional money to direct “Star Wars” was flattering, George would agree to forego the fee increase IF Fox agreed to give him the rights to the following items instead:
- “Star Wars” soundtrack
- All sequel rights to the film
- All merchandise rights to the movie
Happy to save the studio some money, Fox’s lawyers immediately agreed to George’s proposal … But then came away from that meeting with the “Star Wars” director thinking that they were dealing with an absolute madman.
I mean, what was the point of Lucas retaining the rights to make merchandise based on a movie that most Fox execs thought would turn out to be just a bad imitation of a Walt Disney Productions release? After all, who was ever going to want to buy “Star Wars” toys?
Actually, George was hoping that at least a few kids would want “Star Wars” toys. And as for his “Journal of the Whills” project seeming like something Disney should make, Lucas all but admitted as such to film-maker John Milius. George — when he described “Star Wars” to John — once supposedly said:
“… This is a Disney movie. All Disney movies make $16 million, so this picture is going to make $16 million. It cost ten, so we’re going to lose some money on the release, but I hope to make some of it back on the toys.”
Pretty bizarre, don’t you think?
Sooo … Just to recap: As 1975 draws to a close, we have Card Walker still hemming & hawing over whether he should allow Winston Hibler to actually put “Space Station One” into production. While George Lucas seems positively eager to get to the seemingly impossible task of turning his space-based fantasy into a really-for-real motion picture.
But now the big question was: How was Lucas ever going to pull off all of those out-of-this-world special effects that would eventually help “A New Hope” wow movie-goers? (FYI: This same question was also supposedly one of the main reasons that Card wouldn’t allow Hib to begin production of “Space Station One.” Walker reportedly didn’t think that Disney’s special effects wizards were actually up to the challenges of this particular production)
The answer to many of “Star Wars” ‘s special effects problems actually turned out to be a guy who worked in Disney’s matte department. A man I’ll introduce you to tomorrow …