Star Wars Celebration is taking place in Orlando this weekend, and it kicked-off with a major panel celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise. During that panel, we got to see a beautiful and moving retrospective video, which framed the franchise’s epic rise from small indie movie project, to the massive worldwide phenomenon that has been, and has once again become.
Videos by ComicBook.com
However, during the Star Wars 40th anniversary retrospective there was one noticeable omission from the package of footage shown to fans: The infamous Jar Jar Binks was nowhere to be seen.
Ever since Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, the CGI characer of Jar Jar Binks has been a lightning rod of controversy. From accusations of the character being a racially offensive stereotype (of Caribbean peoples), to him being slammed as an insufferable piece of comic relief, there has been little to no love for Jar Jar – who literally ended up as a clown (see: the newly-released Empire’s End: Aftermath novel). However, it’s kind of a big slight to have the character totally omitted from a milestone retrospective.
It may say more about how the baton has been passed between the old and new eras of Lucasfilm; Jar Jar was George Lucas’ creation, and (for many fans) a walking example of how George’s head was in the wrong place during that era of the franchise. Apparently, Disney’s Lucasfilm has no desire to share in that part of Star Wars history.
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