Return of the Jedi is a six-part radio adaptation of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the third of the Star Wars radio dramatizations adapting the original trilogy. The drama was produced by HighBridge Audio, the company that had released the first two series on tape and CD, in association with Tom Voegeli Productions and NPR's L.A. Theatre Works. It was broadcast on National Public Radio in the US over six weeks in late 1996.
The drama came more than a decade after the first two radio series, Star Wars (1981) and The Empire Strikes Back (1983). Federal funding cuts had made it impossible for NPR to produce the third installment of the trilogy, but strong sales for recordings of the first two dramas convinced HighBridge to produce a new radio adaptation.[6] Once again Lucasfilm donated the rights and allowed the use of the film's sound effects and John Williams' musical score. Most of the cast and crew from the first two dramas were able to return, with the notable exception of Star Wars film actors Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams, whose roles had to be recast. The script was the final project for veteran Star Wars writer Brian Daley, who died the day that recording wrapped up.[1] As with the other radio dramas, Return of the Jedi adds new scenes and dialogue to material adapted from the film, including multiple references to the growing Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Plot summary[]
Like the first two installments in the trilogy, Return of the Jedi for radio follows the events of the film that it is based on. See-Threepio, Artoo-Detoo, Leia Organa, and Lando Calrissian carry out an elaborate plan, orchestrated by Luke Skywalker, for the rescue of Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt. After defeating Jabba, the friends unite with the Rebel fleet before embarking on a mission to infiltrate the Forest Moon of Endor and attack the Emperor's new Death Star. The drama culminates with the Battle of Endor in the forest, in space, and in the Emperor's Throne Room.
The plot of the radio drama includes some original events not in the film, but due to its short, six-episode run, these are relatively brief scenes. The first episode opens with a depiction of Luke in Ben Kenobi's home finishing the construction of his new lightsaber, the last step of his training to become a Jedi Knight. Another scene depicts the heroes' escape from the planet Tatooine in their starships, the final step of their rescue mission. Some new dialogue makes connections to newly-published stories from the Expanded Universe. These include a cameo appearance by Mara Jade in her disguise as the dancer Arica;[7] descriptions of events from Shadows of the Empire, which was published a few months before the drama aired and takes place just before it;[8] and a foreshadowing of the return of Boba Fett in the Dark Empire comic series.[9]
Development[]
Conception[]
Creation of the radio version of Return of the Jedi was delayed 13 years due to Congressional cuts in spending for public broadcasting. While NPR did not have funding to produce the drama, high sales for the compact disc and cassette releases of the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back radio dramas convinced executives at Highbridge Audio to take the initiative to produce the drama of Return of the Jedi through their studio instead.[6]
The bulk of the production crew and core cast from the first two dramas were able to return: scriptwriter Brian Daley, director John Madden, and producer Tom Voegeli, as well as Anthony Daniels, Perry King, Ann Sachs, Brock Peters, Paul Hecht, Bernard Behrens, and John Lithgow. Two of the series' three actors from the Star Wars films, however, did not reprise their roles. Joshua Fardon took over as Luke Skywalker and Arye Gross took the role of Lando Calrissian. Ed Begley, Jr. was cast as the voice of Boba Fett, while Ed Asner, speaking only in grunts, guest-starred as Jabba the Hutt.
Brian Daley was ill with pancreatic cancer when work on the drama began, so HighBridge contracted John Whitman to do the inevitable rewriting that would come after the director and cast began working with the script. Whitman had experience writing audio dramas for the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi. However, when Madden and the actors began their read-throughs of Daley's script, they found that very little rewriting was necessary and that his unaltered script would serve in most cases. Whitman is credited as a co-writer only for the first two episodes. One notable rewrite involved a conversation between Threepio and Boba Fett that provided exposition about Jabba's Palace. These scenes made Fett's character seem excessively friendly, so the bounty hunter was replaced with Timothy Zahn's character Mara Jade, in disguise as the dancer Arica.[1]
Production[]
Return of the Jedi was recorded at the same pace as its two predecessors: one episode per day, for a total of six rather grueling days. The cast and crew returned to Westlake Audio Studios in Los Angeles, where the first Star Wars drama had been recorded.[1]
Tom Voegeli again realized the sound mixing at his home base in St Paul, Minnesota.[1] He and his team again had access to the sounds and music from the films. The dialogue for Chewbacaca, Artoo, Nien Nunb, and the Ewoks all came from Ben Burtt's sound library and were added to the newly-recorded dialogue in post-production.[1] The musical score included the songs "Lapti Nek" and "Ewok Celebration," which would be replaced the following year in the Special Edition by "Jedi Rocks" and "Victory Celebration".[10]
Release and reception[]
NPR broadcast the first episode, "Tatooine Haunts," on November 5, 1996, with subsequent episodes airing weekly on Tuesdays. The finale "Blood of a Jedi" aired on December 10. Some local stations followed different schedules.[3] Before the end of the year, HighBridge released a Collector's Limited Edition of the entire radio trilogy.
The radio drama's original script was published in Return of the Jedi: The National Public Radio Dramatization, also in December 1996. Anthony Daniels stepped in for Brian Daley to write the introduction. Along with Daley's script, the book contains production photos, relevant concept art from the film, and a transcript of the get well message that the cast made for Daley on the last day of recording.[1]
Media[]
Editions[]
- November 5–December 10, 1996; National Public Radio; Radio broadcast[1]
- ISBN 9781565111585; December 10, 1996; HighBridge Audio; Compact disc[2]
- ISBN 1565111575; December 10, 1996; HighBridge Audio; Cassette tape[4]
- ISBN 9781598876338; 2009; HighBridge Audio; Digital download[2]
Episodes[]
| Episode | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tatooine Haunts" | November 5, 1996[3] |
| 2 | "Fast Friends" | November 12, 1996[3] |
| 3 | "Prophecies and Destinies" | November 19, 1996[3] |
| 4 | "Pattern and Web" | November 26, 1996[3] |
| 5 | "So Turns a Galaxy, So Turns a Wheel" | December 3, 1996[3] |
| 6 | "Blood of a Jedi" | December 10, 1996[3] |
Cover gallery[]
Credits[]
| Cast | Uncredited cast | Crew | Uncredited crew | Special thanks |
Cast
Crew
|
Uncredited crew
|
Casting by Mel Sahr |
Special thanks
|
Dedicated to the memory of Brian Daley |
Sources[]
"Anthony Daniels: Remembering That Galaxy Far, Far Away" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 1- "Around the Galaxy" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 7
- "Return of the Radio Drama" — Star Wars Insider 30
- "Around the Galaxy" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 9
- Return of the Jedi: The National Public Radio Dramatization
- "Radio Days: Revisiting the Star Wars Radio Dramas" — Star Wars Insider 73
- Kessel Mines - Channeling the Force: Star Wars Radio Collectibles on Hyperspace (content obsolete and backup link not available)
- Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle
- "30 Years of Star Wars Radio Drama Part II: How the Empire Almost Won and the Jedi Never Returned" — Star Wars Insider 128 (reprinted in Special Edition 2014)
- Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, Updated and Expanded Edition
- "Adventures in the Audiosphere" — Star Wars Insider 201
- Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Return of the Jedi: The National Public Radio Dramatization
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Return of the Jedi on HighBridge Audio's official website (backup link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Frederica P. Kushner. "Star Wars". The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio, Christopher H. Sterling, Routledge, 2010. ISBN 0415995337.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Return of the Jedi on HighBridge Audio's official website (backup link)
- ↑ The radio production adapts Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi which The Essential Chronology dates the to 4 ABY/Legends
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Brian J. Robb. A Brief Guide to Star Wars, Hachette, 2012. ISBN 9781780335834.
- ↑ Tales from Jabba's Palace
- ↑ Shadows of the Empire novel
- ↑ Dark Empire 4
- ↑ Jedi Adaptation is a Fitting Conclusion to Star Wars Radio Drama Trilogy on StepByStep (backup link archived on March 28, 2024)
