Star Wars Fans Celebrate The Phantom Menace's 20th Anniversary

Following the release of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, fans were given novels, comic books, and video games that furthered the adventures of the galaxy far, far away. In the late '90s, fans were given the opportunity to see the original trilogy on the big screen with the release of the Special Editions of the original trilogy, which built immense amounts of excitement for the upcoming prequel film, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. While the original sequels were massive successes in their own right, the series only grew more popular over the years, making the film's release one of the most-anticipated pop culture events of 1999.

The film was a big financial success, yet with the original audience now much older and with the new film being geared towards younger audiences, many elements of the film didn't connect with core fans, resulting in a backlash against the film. Luckily, with fans no longer having immense amounts of pressure for what the film needed to accomplish, Phantom Menace has earned a warmer reception, with those fans who were young when they saw it now seeing the prequel as their gateway into the saga.

In honor of the film celebrating its 20th anniversary this past weekend, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace fans took to social media to share their fond memories of the prequel.