You’ve heard this holiday mentioned countless times among the Star Wars community, especially around this time of year. You’ve heard it mentioned briefly in “The Mandalorian,” you’ve seen the Disney+ Lego Special, and of course, most likely heard about the infamous 1978 holiday special. But what exactly IS Life Day? Why is it so popular? How did it even get started? Well, strap yourselves in as we make the jump to light speed and explore this piece of the galaxy far, far away.
Real-World Origins
Life Day as a whole probably wouldn’t be as well-known if it weren’t for the previously mentioned holiday special aired in 1978. In this (surprisingly) two-hour-long piece, we find Han and Chewbacca trying to get back home to Kashyyyk so Chewie can celebrate the holiday with his family. Along the way, we get scenes of Chewie’s family at their home, close calls with the Empire, and glimpses of how Wookiees celebrate Life Day. The story concludes with the main cast of the original trilogy gathering together for a classic Star Wars group shot, with Princess Leia singing a holiday tune. However, what should’ve been a heartwarming Christmas story to watch with the family is instead something that fans and even George Lucas himself would rather forget.
If one were to sum up this whole thing, it’d most likely be a psychedelic, sloppy mess. The most important part of any good story is, obviously, a well-structured plot. Even though I’ve never personally seen this special, I’ve gathered that the Star Wars holiday special’s plot is uncoordinated, rushed, and extremely cringeworthy. For example, aside from Han and Chewie dodging the Empire, it seems that most of the special is just Chewie’s family watching cooking videos or repair videos, and an uncomfortable segment where Chewie’s elderly dad is…very interested in a virtual female singer. If that wasn’t bad enough, we can’t even understand what the Wookiees are saying because, for whatever reason, they didn’t think to add subtitles to translate the dialogue. Therefore, viewers are left listening to long segments of growls, roars, and grunts while having to struggle to find context clues and make their own translations. But one of the trippiest parts of this whole thing comes at the end, where Chewie finally reunites with his family after so much struggle. However, for some reason, we get a sequence where all the Wookiees are donned in red robes, walking through space into a bright glow as if they were walking into Heaven. (Seriously, what drugs were the producers on when they made this special?) Anyway, aside from that, the original movie cast were barely even in the special; there were some random cartoon animated segments (which included Boba Fett’s official introduction into the franchise), and ultimately, this whole story could’ve at least been easily done in 30 minutes rather than two hours. That’s like saying The Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special could’ve instead been a two-hour manhunt on Kevin Bacon, before getting to the actually important parts of the story. Yet, somehow, the Star Wars holiday special is still iconic to fans today. Probably because it’s one of those things that is so bad it’s good, or maybe it’s just so bad that you couldn’t forget about it if you tried.
In-Lore Origins
Therefore, I prefer to think of Life Day the way Legends and Canon portray this galactic holiday. Many years ago, before life even existed on Kashyyyk, the now-giant Tree of Life was the first of such life to grow on this world. To honor this new beginning of life, the Wookiees—an already deeply spiritual people connected to the forest—created a holiday centered around it. Wookiees would make a journey to their sacred Tree of Life and have feasts, rituals, music, and everything you’d expect for a celebration. Furthermore, this celebration would also be an occasion for the Wookiees to honor and celebrate other forms of life, including loved ones past and present. With such a resonating and heartwarming theme, it’s no wonder that this momentous occasion became so popular amongst the rest of the galaxy. Many systems and species also incorporated Life Day into their cultures, celebrating with their own music and food, and even gathering in places such as the Black Spire on Batuu (in contrast to gathering at the Tree of Life on Kashyyyk). However, once the Empire took over, this holiday would not only further cement its place in the citizens’ hearts but also take on a whole new meaning. According to starwars.com, during this oppressive time, “People share the hopes of celebrating freedom, harmony, and peace, no matter how different people may appear. At the end of the day, everyone gathers to sing songs and be reminded of their dedication, courage, and love for one another. This is the promise of the Tree of Life.” This is such a beautiful ideal, one that has kept even the enslaved Wookiees kicking during over 20 years of tyranny. Even after the Empire was (for the most part) destroyed, the scars of that rule ran deep amongst everyone, so celebrating family and life in general became that much more important to commemorate every year.
Why Is It So Popular Now?
Despite such interesting and beautiful lore, it’s still surprising that Life Day is even known at all. As we just established, the original Holiday Special left a bitter taste in many fans’ mouths, to put it lightly. It’s a miracle that it didn’t paint Life Day in a bad image, much less Star Wars as a whole, with that acid trip of a story. Regardless, Life Day had its own holiday miracle and became a longstanding tradition among the Star Wars community. It all began when the intergalactic holiday started being more heavily advertised across different types of Star Wars media, mainly in books and video games. For example, in games like “Star Wars: Galaxies,” Life Day is treated as an event where players receive special missions to earn tokens to buy rewards, and the developers of the game would also gift two of their own rewards to players. In books such as “Life Day Treasury,” we get many short stories about the holiday in various forms, from the aforementioned Wookiee origins to how many people (and even droids) perceive and celebrate this day. But I believe one of the best and most popular examples comes from the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, released on Disney+ back in November 2020. In it, we see Rey and BB-8 travel through time to learn the best way to help Finn become a Jedi, while the rest of the cast disastrously tries to set up the Life Day party for Chewbacca’s family. Unlike the original special, the Lego version had a more captivating and fun story, truly delving into the humor and whimsy that Lego is known for. It also included heartwarming lessons of finding closeness with one another, engaging time travel shenanigans, thrilling action sequences, and many references to past movies and shows.
However, in addition to all of this, the biggest part of why this holiday resonates so deeply among fans is the core themes of Life Day. As previously established, Life Day is a time to gather together, celebrate with music and food, and truly value the connections you have with friends and family. Obviously, many people in the real world already know that Christmas (among other holidays) embodies this beautiful theme, but it always helps to see physical examples, especially in popular franchises like Star Wars. The best part, though, is realizing how much the people of the galaxy far, far away appreciate this holiday during and after the oppressive reign of the Empire. Therefore, this would also inspire the audience to value the time they have with loved ones while they have the time and ability to do so. But to further drive this point home, it would be good to remember what George Lucas himself once said in an interview once: “The core thing to pass on is, you know, in talking about religion, is, you know, all religions say one thing—basically—which is love is the secret to the universe, which is compassion, which is love others, take care of others, help each other.” While the concept was executed poorly ONE time, Life Day in all its variations reflects Lucas’ ideals, and I truly admire that the creator of Star Wars brings this message into a world that desperately needs it. Perhaps it’s the level of respect that fans have for Lucas that helped this message spread so far and wide, but at this point, it’s clear why Life Day is such an essential part of a Star Wars fan’s life.
