The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday television program for every day of Advent. This is the greatest tv of the season. Enjoy.

Day 16: "The Boba Fett Cartoon Featured in the Star Wars Holiday Special"

Original air date - November 17th, 1978

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen,  Fourteen, Fifteen

Sometimes the thing we really want for Christmas turns out to not be that great. Maybe there was a big video game we were wishing for, and it was underwhelming. A new cool drone that crashes and breaks within ten minutes. A hoverboard that sets fire to your feet. Many times we have our heart set on something, and our anticipation is rewarded with shoddy craftsmanship. As we dig through the garbage that once was our wanted presents, we sometimes find something unexpected and spectacular.

It is well known that the Star Wars Holiday Special is an epic piece of trash. Premiering on November 17th, 1978, less than two years after the release of the original film, the holiday special was immediately greeting with disgust and disdain. George Lucas himself has wished for the destruction of every copy of the cash grab be destroyed. The story was idiotic, the guest stars were questionable, and the Tree of Life song was a special kind of stupid. The special only aired once, and has never been given a VHS, Betamax, DVD, or BluRay release. For almost two hours, the world was inflicted in holiday blues from a galaxy far far and away. It was mostly a major disappointment, except for a 10-minute cartoon smack dab in the middle.

"The Faithful Wookie" was a small animated feature that split apart the mind numbing stupidness of the Star Wars Holiday Spectacular. The animated short is most famous for introducing the bounty hunter Boba Fett into the Star Wars cannon. It is considered so influential that the 2011 BluRay release of The Empire Strikes Back has the cartoon remastered in high definition as an easter egg.

The adventure itself centers around Luke trying to rescue Han and Chewie from some McGuffin, and Boba Fett appearing as a helpful ally. The 1978 audience had never seen this character before and did not know what the armored man's motivations were. Unfortunately, we learn that Boba Fett is in contact with Darth Vader, and the bounty hunter is trying to set a trap for Han, Chewie, and Luke. The ever resourceful R2D2 catches Fett, and our new enemy uses his jet pack to escape, promising that they will all meet again. 

The ten-minute cartoon shows why Boba Fett has become one of the most popular figures in the Star Wars hall of heroes and villains. His armor is awesome. He uses the things on his wrist, and his jetpack. "The Faithful Wookie" features more dialogue from Boba Fett than what will come in the next two films. The adventure from our heroes is basic stuff, but the premier of this incredible new resident of a galaxy far far away was the only gift worth keeping from the Star Wars Holiday Special.

It is disappointing to get the new great thing and then learn it is a poorly constructed cash grab by some focus group driven idiots in a corporate office. The whole ordeal leaves a scar on what was once a favorite piece of pop culture. But, sometimes if we dig through the trash, we will find a gem. Sometimes that gem even comes in the mail with a rocket that shoots off of its back. If you find that gem, hold onto it, it is worth an obscene amount of money.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was inspired to write this because he just got done seeing Rouge One. He is now hoping to get his very own Death Star engineer figurine in the mail any day now

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