George Lucas has spent more than 25 years hearing what fans think went wrong with the Star Wars prequels. Jar Jar Binks became shorthand for the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s sillier instincts, while the Ewoks and C-3PO had already faced similar criticism during the original trilogy. The director however, still does not sound especially persuaded by the argument that those characters were mistakes. The iconic director gets real about fan blowback over the sequels.
Speaking with A Rabbit’s Foot in a wide-ranging interview about filmmaking, technology and the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Lucas pushed back on the idea that creators should shape their work around fan demands. He said audiences can offer useful feedback, but studios often make the mistake of letting that feedback dictate the movie itself. That led him directly back to the prequel backlash and one of its most infamous targets. He explained:
The critics and the fans who were 10 years old when they saw the first one and 13 when they saw the second one complained that they didn’t want to see a children’s film. [Uses high-pitched voice] ‘Oh, that’s terrible. Jar Jar Binks is terrible!’
George Lucas’ impression is pointed, but it also fits with something Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid recently said about the filmmaker’s expectations for the prequels. According to him, the director knew that adults raised on the original trilogy might be “picky,” while younger viewers would likely connect more easily with the newer movies. This is a similar phenomenon we are seeing with the sequel trilogy.
That prediction looks fairly accurate in hindsight. The kids who grew up with Darth Maul, podracing and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker are now adults, and many of them defend the prequel trilogy with the same intensity older fans once reserved for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
Lucas also argued that Jar Jar was hardly the first Star Wars character older viewers wanted removed. He continued:
Everyone said the same thing about R2-D2 and C-3PO. At the beginning there was a huge push for me to get rid of C-3PO, and then in the third one people said the same thing about Ewoks. ‘What are you thinking? Get rid of these teddy bears, we want to see an adult movie!’
The comparison will probably irritate some fans. C-3PO may be anxious, talkative and frequently annoying to those around him, but he never became the cultural punching bag that Jar Jar did after The Phantom Menace. The Ewoks are a closer match, since they were accused of making Return of the Jedi too childish and too easy to merchandise.
Lucas’ point is less about proving that every joke worked and more about reminding fans that Star Wars was never designed solely for adults who wanted the franchise to mature alongside them. When asked why his later films did not connect with grown viewers the same way, he gave a blunt answer. Finally, he added:
Well, it’s a kid’s movie. It’s always been a kid’s movie.
That response lines up with the way Lucas has discussed the entire Star Wars saga for years. Star Wars can contain war, betrayal and political collapse, but it still introduces those ideas through fairy-tale heroes, comic-relief droids and creatures designed to make children laugh.
The cycle has already repeated with the sequel trilogy, with some rumors even suggesting they may be retconned. Older fans criticized Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren and BB-8, while a younger generation entered the galaxy through those characters. In another decade or two, some of those viewers may be the ones defending the sequels against whatever comes next.
Lucas may not have convinced everyone that Jar Jar Binks is secretly great, or convinced fans of all ages that Episodes 1-3 belong on everyone’s list of the best prequels of all time. But he seems confident that the character belonged in the movie he wanted to make, even if fans who grew up with the original trilogy wanted something else. And you know what? Fair enough.
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