Lucasfilm Celebrates Life Day

Life Day — that Wookiee holiday season tradition that for decades primarily existed in the hearts of Star Wars fans — has in recent years attracted a bit of mainstream curiosity and adoration. This is thanks in large part to new merchandise, books, and media celebrating the holiday, which was first introduced when The Star Wars Holiday Special aired on November 17, 1978.

Since 2021, fans have counted on new Life Day merchandise to appear in U.S. Disney Parks in November, and Life Day-themed books and comics hitting store shelves around the same time. The holiday has also been featured in Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, and a Life Day Star Wars Lofi that can set the mood for any celebration hosted at home.

With such a bounty of new Life Day materials and media, Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco was inspired to create a playful, festive display showcasing many of these products and publications, along with a selection of historical materials associated with the original 1978 TV special. Here are some of the items exhibited in the display:

These press materials for 1978’s Star Wars Holiday Special included a press kit, several black and white glossies, a newspaper article, TV listing guide covers, and a rare mylar mini poster that is reminiscent of the very first advance Star Wars one-sheet poster, also printed on shiny mylar. The press kit notably calls the Wookiee planet “Kazzook” – the first of several naming mishaps that the denizens of Kashyyyk would have to endure.

The July 15, 1979 syndicated newspaper Star Wars comic strip introduced a new story series (later called “The Kashyyyk Depths”) bringing Han Solo, R2-D2, and C-3PO to Kashyyyk for Life Day. But there is trouble in the deep forest, which our heroes must confront! Subsequent parts of this series notably called the Wookiee homeworld both “Kazhyyyk” and “Kazhyyk” as the spelling for the planet continued to evolve.

1979’s The Wookiee Storybook features the characters and setting of the Star Wars Holiday Special, with a plot that revolves around Chewbacca’s son Lumpy getting himself lost on his homeworld’s forest floor. The Wookiee Storybook is notable for establishing the final official name and spelling for the Wookiee planet, Kashyyyk.

Several enlargements of artist Ralph McQuarrie’s preliminary and final designs for the Holiday Special’s Wookiee household are on display, including the main living space, Lumpy’s bedroom, and the kitchen, which is said to have been one of the artist’s personal favorites. 

On display throughout the exhibit are several Life Day-inspired items from previous years, which were available at Disney Parks starting in 2021, with most offered only during a given year. Featured here are a large plush Chewbacca, an illuminated Life Day orb and ceramic mug, tumblers, a Chewbacca Life Day action figure and more, including a new adult pullover hoodie and pin for 2024.

Life Day has been celebrated through books and comics for the last few years, with themed Marvel comic covers spanning multiple Star Wars titles as well as in several books: The Life Day Treasury, The Life Day Cookbook (Wookiee Ookiees anyone?), The Faithful Wookiee Little Golden Book (recounting the animated story from The Holiday Special), and The Life Day Pop-Up Book and Advent Calendar, which features 25 compartments containing ornaments to hang on a pop-up Tree of Life as well as a booklet commemorating the holiday.

(R) Pictured here is the first 2021 Life Day ornament as well as the larger (and illuminated!) 2024 edition, which features a miniature diorama of Life Day Wookiees, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Han Solo. (L) This 2024 edition is only available at Disneyland Resort.

A few Boba Fetts are featured in the display, as the notorious bounty hunter made his debut in the Holiday Special’s brief animated sequence. Fett’s unique blue coloring resembles his appearance in the cartoon, and the Boba Fett plush depicted here was only available for a limited time at Disney Parks’ Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Fan art also found a place in the Life Day display, this one on loan from the non-profit  collectibles museum, Rancho Obi-Wan. Created by Amy Sjoberg, this plush Life Day Chewie and family are made of faux fur, polar fleece, felt, and stuffing.

An Amorphiian mini-transmitter like the one seen in Lumpy’s bedroom found its way into the display, which (spoiler!) isn’t actually from the Star Wars galaxy, but is a very earthbound 1970s educational electronic kit.

Lucasfilm’s resident in-studio Chewbacca has agreed to patiently stand in front of the display case during the month of November for photo-ops with friends and guests, donning a festive Life Day robe crafted by talented members of the local Rebel Legion Costuming Club.

A special present for Lumpy from his friends at Lucasfilm – hope he doesn’t guess what it is!

Special thanks to Lucasfilm’s Alex Vargas, Crew Parker, Maggie Walter, Lucas Seastrom, Jackey Cabrera, Kristin Baver, and the Lucasfilm Physical Archives for contributing time and materials for this display.

—

Pete Vilmur is a writer for Lucasfilm Publicity and co-author of The Star Wars Poster Book, The Star Wars Vault, and The Complete Vader.

—

Lucasfilm | Timeless Stories. Innovative Storytelling.