Star Wars Day is a holiday that’s observed on the 4th of May. Its placement on the calendar is a play on words for the movies’ most iconic line: “May the force be with you.” People on this day greet each other with the phrase: “May the fourth be with you” and usually spend the day watching Star Wars movies.

It’s a fun day for fans of this successful and culturally significant science fiction movie series. A science fiction media franchise that was originally created by George Lucas with the release of his first movie, Star Wars, in 1977.

The History of Star Wars

Currently, the Star Wars film series centers around three different sets of trilogies that are collectively known as the Skywalker Saga. They were produced in a non-chronological order, with Episodes IV, V, and VI being released in 1977, 1980, and 1983, respectively. The prequel trilogy featuring Episodes I, II, and III were released in 1999, 2002, and 2005, respectively.

The Sequel Trilogy was released in 2015 with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, and then continued on with Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi in 2017, and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

The Star Wars Trilogy

This trilogy, also known as the classic trilogy or the original trilogy, is the first three films produced in the overall Star Wars franchise. This film series begins in medias res and is actually the second act of the nine episodes in the Skywalker Saga. These films focus on the Galactic Civil War that occurs between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire.

It also features the hero’s journey of Luke Skywalker as he fulfills his quest to become a Jedi under the instruction of exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Over the course of the movies, Luke Skywalker will join forces with Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire and the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

This movie series grew out of George Lucas’s desire to make an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial. However, he wasn’t able to obtain the rights to it, so he decided to develop his own story. Inspired by the works of writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lucas wrote a two-page treatment for his movie called the Journal of the Whills. However, Disney, United Artists, and Universal Studios all rejected the space opera. However, 20th Century Fox took an interest in it and decided that they wanted to invest in it.

George Lucas felt that his original treatment was a little too difficult to understand, so he decided in April of 1973 to write a 13-page script with the title Star Wars. By May of the following year, he had expanded the original 13-page script into a full-length first draft of the movie. By this time, though, he realized that the screenplay had grown too large to be contained in a single film, so Lucas renegotiated to make sure that he retained his sequel rights.

Under this new agreement, Lucas would retain sequel rights and Fox would get the first opportunity and last refusal right to make the movie. Lucas was given $100,000 to write and produce the film, and another $50,000 to direct the film. Through continued negotiations, his compensation for directing would later increase to $100,000. Eventually, Lucas was able to also claim 40% of the merchandising rights for the movie as well. On May 25, 1977, Star Wars was released and this was followed by The Empire Strikes Back on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi on May 25, 1983.

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was released from 1999 through 2005 and is set in a time before the original Star Wars Trilogy takes place. This makes it the first act of the Skywalker Saga, although it was released after the original trilogy. During the outlining of the original two films, there were plans for a prequel trilogy to be written and filmed. In 1980, George Lucas confirmed as much when he had a nine-film series plotted.

However, by 1981 he decided to cancel the idea because of pressure from his wife to take it easy and the stress caused by producing the original series. Technical advances during the 1980s and 1990s as it concerns special effects caused George Lucas to revisit the idea of a prequel in 1992. Although Frank Darabont was considered as a possible writer of the prequel, ultimately, George Lucas kept writing them himself.

On May 19, 1999, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was released. It addressed the Jedi coming into contact with the young Anakin Skywalker. It also addressed Palpatine corrupting the Galactic Senate. On May 16, 2002, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones was released.

This story moves ahead a decade and new Jedi apprentice Anakin pursuing a forbidden romance against the backdrop of the Clone Wars. On May 19, 2005, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was released. This movie addresses Anakin succumbing to the dark side of the Force and his eventual route to becoming Darth Vader.

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

This is the third trilogy of George Lucas’ main Star Wars franchise. The first installment of this trilogy was The Force Awakens and it was released on December 18, 2015. This movie was written by Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt, and J.J. Abrams, with Abrams also acting as director. The second installment of this trilogy was The Last Jedi.

This movie was released on December 15, 2017. This movie was written and directed by Rian Johnson. The final film in this trilogy was called The Rise of Skywalker and this movie was released on December 20, 2019. It was directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams with co-writing duties going to Chris Terrio.

This movie trilogy follows Rey Skywalker and the plight of the Resistance against the First Order—the First Order having just risen from the fall of the Galactic Empire. While searching for her parents, Rey learns the ways of the Force under Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. She also confronts Kylo Ren, the grandson of Anakin Skywalker and the son of Leia and Han Solo after he has fallen to the Dark Side. Over the initial course of its run, this trilogy would end up grossing over $4.4 billion at the box office worldwide.

Some Fun Facts About Star Wars

Now that we’ve gone over the basic history of the Star Wars film franchise, it’s time to turn our attention to some of the fun facts we’ve gathered together while we researched this holiday. We think that even die-hard Star Wars fans will find something that they may not have known in the following bits of trivia. Or, at least, that’s our hope.

• In the original trilogy, the word Ewok isn’t spoken by a single character. However, the species is mentioned in the script and the closing credits.
• The phrase “I have a bad feeling about this” or “I have a very bad feeling about this” is said in every single one of the Star Wars movies.
• Yoda was built by a member of Lucasfilm but was overseen by Jim Henson.
• In the original Star Wars trilogy, there are no female fighter pilots.
• There are female fighter pilots in the original script for the trilogy. They were just removed from the final cut.
• The Ewok language is a combination of Nepalese and Tibetan.
• The sound of a TIE Fighter engine was created by combining a car on wet pavement and an elephant bellowing.
• Chewbacca’s voice is a mix of lions, bears, walruses, badgers, and a combination of other animals.
• Jabba The Hutt wasn’t originally slimy but was furry instead.
• Yoda was almost played by a monkey wearing a mask.

Observing Star Wars Day

The way to observe this holiday is by taking the time to watch some Star Wars movies. You can watch the movie trilogies in chronological or theatrical order or in the Machete or Rinster order. Let’s examine each of these ways of watching the movies in a little more detail.

Chronological Order:

The chronological order of the movies takes into account the timeline in the Star Wars universe and allows that to inform the order of the movies watched. Using this order, watch the movies in the following order:

• Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Solo (2018)
• Rogue One (2016)
• Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Theatrical Order:

Using the theatrical order, you can watch each movie according to the date they were released to theaters. That would put the movies in the following order:

• Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Rogue One (2016)
• Solo (2018)

The Machete Order:

The following method of watching the movies is called the Machete Order and it’s designed to keep Luke Skywalker’s journey in focus. Spin-offs such as Rogue One and Solo are optional to this viewing order, but if they’re watched, they’re watched after the initial viewing order below:

• Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

The Rinster Order:

• Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)