The Making of Star Wars is an hour-long television special (49 minutes without commercials), produced and directed by , which originally aired on the ABC Television Network on September 16, 1977. Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz acted as Executive Producer for the special.
The special features interviews with the writers, producers, and cast members of the film then known simply as Star Wars, including Kurtz, George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Alec Guinness; and is hosted by C-3PO (voiced by Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (performed by Kenny Baker), with voiceover narration by William Conrad. The show was produced by 20th Century Fox Television in association with the Star Wars Corporation (one of the early subsidiaries of Lucasfilm Ltd.).
In addition to Star Wars and Lucas's previous films THX 1138 and American Graffiti, the special also includes footage from The Black Swan, The Mark of Zorro, My Darling Clementine, the Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe episode "Doom of the Dictator," the Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars episode "The Miracle of Magic," Twelve O'Clock High, and the Atari game Anti-Aircraft, which Fisher is seen playing during her interview.
VHS cover
The special was the first Star Wars material to be released to the home video market in 1979 by Magnetic Video. It was reissued on video in 1980 with a trailer for The Empire Strikes Back, which had been released that year. This trailer was not featured on the DVD box set issued in 2004.
In 1982, it was reissued to video by 20th Century Fox on VHS, Betamax, CED, and Laserdisc as part of a double feature with the 1980 special SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back. It was reissued separately in Japan on Laserdisc in 1992, and was reissued as a triple feature with SPFX and the 1983 special Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi. It was also included in the Star Wars saga Blu-ray box set released in 2011.
Aired immediately following the George Burns episode of The Muppet Show
In 1995, this special was released on VHS as a mail-in offer with the Kellogg Company to tie in with the last video and Laserdisc releases of the original versions of the original trilogy. This version replaces William Conrad's voiceover with that of Don LaFontaine, but is otherwise unmodified. This version has not been issued on DVD nor any other format.
Portions of the special were included in The Story of Star Wars, a VideoNow release that was also released on DVD as a promotional bonus at Wal-Mart stores alongside the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith.