There's One Thing The Star Wars Franchise Could Actually Learn From The Much-Maligned Holiday Special

I love watching the best Christmas movies as much as the next person, but sometimes what's "best" is subjective. In fact, one of my favorite things to watch every year is the Star Wars Holiday Special, which is so maligned that the franchise rarely acknowledges its existence. Outside of a reference in Skeleton Crew, no one at Lucasfilm is falling over themselves to remind fans of that project.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that it is a mistake, as the Holiday Special was created by a variety of people who didn't quite know what Star Wars was, mainly because those who did were working on The Empire Strikes Back. The result is a bizarre fever dream masquerading as the beloved franchise, but there is something future creatives could learn from it (beyond the meaning of Life Day) when it comes to music.

The Music In Star Wars' Holiday Special Is Actually Pretty Amazing

While the Star Wars Holiday Special doesn't work as a canon adventure that holds up against other popular movies and shows in the universe, it does succeed at being a sufficiently entertaining variety show. The special is packed with musical numbers, featuring Diahann Carroll, Bea Arthur, Jefferson Starship and even Carrie Fisher.

The music doesn't try to be sci-fi or flashy; it's just contemporary songs of the time injected into Star Wars. As someone watching in 2025, it doesn't feel dated because it has the otherworldly backdrop and has aged the best out of everything else in the special.

I Wish Star Wars Would Enlist More Popular Musicians Into Their Projects

I love John Williams' music, and if it were up to me, he'd compose scores for Star Wars movies for the rest of his time. I'm not talking about how we need to replace Williams or any of the other orchestral tracks that fill these adventures.

I'm talking about replacing the music I hear in Oga's Cantina in Galaxy's Edge with some psychedelic '70s rock. Let's also go ahead and do the same and cut Sy Snootles' voice in Jabba's palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and put a funky instrumental track from Parliament in the mix.

There are so many upcoming Star Wars movies on the way, which may be why I feel so inspired to sound the alarm about spicing up the music now. If some hip tracks can make what is said to be the worst the franchise has to offer bearable to watch, then surely it would spice up one of the new adventures that are on the way. Thundercat had that great cameo in The Book of Boba Fett. Hire him to make some original albums for the Star Wars universe!

Some great minds are working on Star Wars projects at the moment, so here's hoping they're two steps ahead of me and already throwing more modern music into the various shows and movies that are on the way. As Rian Johnson said, the worst thing one can do is handle it with kid gloves, so be bold!