Star Wars: The Mandalorian to Feature Life Day References

While the first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian was being filmed, producer Jon Favreau teased that it would reference the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in subtle ways, with Favreau recently revealing another Easter egg from the special, which is the celebration of Life Day. The celebration was created for the TV special, allowing Life Day to serve as a surrogate for any other holidays being celebrated in winter months, but with Lucasfilm attempting to distance itself from the Holiday Special in any capacity, the event has gone largely ignored in subsequent decades. This adds to the reveal that the Mandalorian character himself would be using a weapon we first saw Boba Fett wield in the Holiday Special.

“Whether it’s humorously, like making a reference to Life Day, or a reference to a prop that has been appreciated by a core group over time, just putting those little Easter eggs in; or big movements in the story that reflect storylines in either the Legends or in canon that people have known and had,” Favreau shared at a press conference supporting the TV series, per MTV News.

Based on his comments, it’s unclear exactly how the event will be referenced, but we doubt it will play a major factor in the first live-action Star Wars TV series.

Following the release of Star Wars and the franchise becoming a global sensation, everyone was dying to cash in on the film. In 1978, George Lucas reluctantly agreed to allow CBS to develop a variety show set in the galaxy far, far away, which even included stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford reprising their roles. The special was only broadcast once, with audiences largely forgetting about its existence until the ’90s when bootleg VHS trading became popular. Given the obscurity of the event, bootleg copies of the event became highly-coveted, spreading its infamy even further.

The Holiday Special clearly holds a soft spot in the heart of Favreau, who even joked about wanting to create a new one for Lucasfilm.

“I would love to do someday, maybe on Disney+, we’ll do a Holiday Special too. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Favreau revealed to Entertainment Tonight. “I gotta pitch that to them. We’ll see. If you wanna see a Holiday Special, let Disney+ know!”

Star Wars: The Mandalorian lands on Disney+ on November 12th.

Would you like to see more references to the Holiday Special in new Star Wars stories? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!