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| So WHY, you may ask? Why do we have this connection between these two entities. The right answer is usally the simple and most obvious one, and in this case, that is so. The writers and producers (and even cast member Seth Green) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are HUGE Star Wars fans. Let's see what they have to say about it. |
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| This feature was made possible in part by the wonderful article in the Star Wars Insider Magazine; Issue 65, February 2003. |
| OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF GEEKY WRITERS. |
| Excerpts and quotes on this page were from the Star Wars Insider article by Dave Gross. See below for more info. |
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| Most photos of writers on this page are from: www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ buffy/interviews/ Photo of Drew Goddard is from www.drewgoddard.com |
| "Star Wars opened on Wednesday , May 25, 1977," says Douglas Petrie (above), instantly establishing his geek cred. "I saw it two Saturdays after it openeed, so I saw it in June of its initial run." |
| Drew Greenburg says "I didn't know that a person could be a writer. In my little seven-year-old brain, I didn't know how to connect the one to the other. But I knew I wanted to tell stories the way Mr. Lucas got to tell stories. I wanted to be a part of this thing...I wanted to tell stories in a fun way." |
| The other Drew, Drew Goddard, had this to say: "I clearly remember Empire, walking out of that theater with my dad, just stressed out about how we were going to get Han back," he recalls. "I was just so like, 'How are going to possibly do this, Dad?" |
| Jane Espenson (above) recalls a particular time when she met the Dark Lord. "There was a very tall man in a Darth Vader costume who signed a still from the movie with a big loopy D withh an 'arth Vader' writtien inside the D. I tresaured that for years and years and years. At some point, I read that it was not the guy who'd been in the costume in the movie. It was just some tall guy they'd hired to hit the mall. Being a kid, I thought it was the real Darth Vader. Once I knew that, I didn't keep the photograph anymore. |
| Dave Fury (above) simply comments: "I was hooked from the glorius opening music." |
| Drew Goodard recalled a debate he had with Joss Whedon (below) on a road trip to San Diego Comic-Con. "We were driving down in this Winnebago, and we were like, 'Okay, we've go to get in the spirit of things. Let's get into an arguement.' So we were just kind of joking, and someone said, 'Which one is better, Star Wars or Empire?' We all started laughing, 'Oh yeah! We're going to get into a geek arguement!' And honestly, five minutes later, we're shouting at each other. We were joking, we were making fun of ourselves, and the next thing you know we became everything we were joking about. We were just yelling and screaming at each other," he says. "It really got violent." |
| "I would say Xander to me is the most Han Soloish," says David Fury. "For all the things he takes in terms of being the coward or the guy who's ineffectual, he's actually pretty heroic and glib at the same time. And Han Solo was a coward, too. He'd be running away. One of the great shots in the original film is the bravery of Han and Chewbacca chasing the stormtroopers and then turning around and running back again. And that's sort of, to me, Xander. He's well aware of the fear factor and the danger, but he'll step into it and be there with a quip." |
| Doug Petrie adds "What I think is great about our characters is that any one of them is potentially Darth Vader at any point. I think that's the big deal. There's none of them who couldn't pull an Anakin." |
| "Joss is always doing a Lando impression, " says Drew Goddard (above). "Always." |
| So why are there so many Star Wars references in Buffy? Drew Greenburg explains: "There's the one answer and then there's the second answer. The first level is, of course, because that's what our characters would know. That's what they would talk about. Specifically last year (season 6), when we had our three villians who were very well versed in that genere. But then there's the real answer, which is that we're just a bunch of geeks, and we love Star Wars. It's the most powerful feeling in the world where you get to say, 'You know what? I love Star Wars, and now you're all going to have to listen to my Star Wars references.' " |
| Drew Goddard tells how he creates his Star Wars-laden Buffy dialogue. "If I need something for them (the nerdy villians) to talk about, I stick my head out of my office, and I listen to whatever Doug and Drew are arguing about, and I just write it down." |
| "We're just a raging bucket of geeks," admits Doug Petrie. |
| Regarding the scene between Spike and The Troika in "Smashed" (Go here for the dialogue), Jane Espenson describes the discussions that went on to insure the dialogue was accurate. "There was much controversy among the staff about whether there was indeed a Boba Fett figurine from that early on. Drew Greenburg, was the one who knew that there was in fact a Boba Fett figure from that year. And he made sure that it was done correctly." |
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| Aly Hannigan meets the infamous R2D2. |
| Seth Green surrenders to a Stormtrooper. |
| "Nobody believed me that there was one in 1979," attests Drew Greenburg (above). |
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| WELL, NOW THAT WE KNOW THE WHERE AND THE WHY OF IT ALL, WE CAN JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY IT! |
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