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this week’s question: what books inspired george lucas when he was writing “star wars”?
“star wars” has always been seen as a mixture of different influences and styles. Critics, fans, and Lucas himself have all cited similarities in everything from “Casablanca” to John Wayne’s Westerns to Akira Kurosawa’s films.
You are reading: Books that inspired star wars
but what about the books?
lucas was an avid fan of sci-fi pulp novels and comic strips as a child. and he not only drew on space travel and superpowers, but also looked back on the classic structure of myths. these are just some of the possible influences behind his iconic movies.
a fascination with “flash gordon”
lucas was so enamored with alex raymond’s “flash gordon” comics that he wanted to adapt the intergalactic adventures into a movie. however, he was unable to obtain the rights because another iconic filmmaker already had them: federico fellini.
Unable to fulfill his childhood dream, Lucas had to make his own space opera: “Star Wars”. His finished trilogy of movies has more than a few nods to the “Flash Gordon” comics.
dale pollock, author of “skywalking: the life and films of george lucas”, noted that one character in particular could have been lifted from the raymond “flash” stories:
“iron men of mongo” by alex raymond depicts a five-foot-tall dark copper-colored metal man who is a trained servant and speaks in polite phrases.”
sound familiar? We’re looking at you, c-3po.
E. E. “Doc” Smith’s “Galactic Patrol”
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The plot of this 1937 pulp novel will be familiar to any “Star Wars” fan, notes the Guardian.
In “Galactic Patrol”, a warrior with telepathic powers must protect the universe against an evil group that is building a “big base”. (“death star”, anyone?)
instead of jedi, special warriors are known as lensmen.
the “dune” connections
desert planets, telekinetic mind control powers, a princess smuggling secrets… everyone saw the connections between “star wars” and frank herbert’s “dune” when the movie was released, even frank herbert himself herbert.
Some of the more obvious references were dropped from early drafts, but many survived. of the guardian:
“all manner of borrowings from” dune” litter the “star wars” universe, from the bene gesserit mental powers of the jedi to mining and “moisture farming” in tattooine.herbert knew that had been ripped off, and he thought he saw other sci-fi writers’ ideas in lucrative lucas’ franchise. he and several colleagues formed a prank organization called ‘we’re too big to sue george lucas society'”.
Isaac Asimov and the lightsaber
The lightsaber was not the first lightsaber on the science fiction scene.
There are many swords of incredible and unexplained power in pre-1977 literature, but some fans think Isaac Asimov is probably the inspiration behind the neon weaponry.
In his “lucky starr” series, which he published under the pseudonym paul french in the 1950s, asimov described a “force blade”. the name is not so catchy, but the word “force” certainly rings a bell. from wikipedia:
The force sword is “a short stainless steel shaft” that can project a force field that can cut through anything, making it “the cruelest weapon in the galaxy”.
joseph campbell and the hero’s journey
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lucas leaned heavily on mythology when outlining the plot of his “star wars” series. One of his most formative influences was Joseph Campbell, an academic who identified the classic “hero’s journey” that appears in many stories, both ancient and modern.
campbell described this journey in his 1949 book, “the hero with a thousand faces”:
“A hero ventures from the everyday world into a region of supernatural wonders: Fabulous forces are met there and a decisive victory is won: The hero returns from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons upon his fellow men.”
inspiration of the man behind “tarzan”
Edgar Rice Burroughs is most famous for his “Tarzan” tales, but he also found success in science fiction.
created john carter, a civil war veteran who is transported to mars, in his series barroom. Lucas referenced the space adventures of Barroom and Carter when he presented “Star Wars” to executives.
scifinow cataloged the many terms and visual references that link the burroughs books and the lucas movies, including the sith, the banthas, and a certain golden bikini.
the french comic, “valerian and laureline”
Speaking of Princess Leia’s bikini, it may also have French influences. jean-claude mézières began writing a “valerian and laurel” time travel and planet hopping comic book in the 1960s.
according to pri’s the world, there are undeniable visual connections between the comic and the lucas movies.
“Laureline in one of the volumes of this series is actually dressed in a gold metal bikini by a rotund slave lord,” writer John Wenz told the world. There is also a scene where Valerian is encased in hard resin, striking a very similar pose to Han Solo when she was sealed in carbonite.
However, the connection remains just a theory, as Lucas never mentioned the comic, which wasn’t translated into English until 1981. The comic will get its own movie when “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”. it launches in 2017.
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