Star Wars: The Force is with DK
Shannon Maughan -- Sep 14, 1998
Publishers Weekly
Star Wars: The Force Is with DK
What kind of gear befits a Jedi Knight most? How does Luke Skywalker's lightsaber really
work?
And what would it look like if you were sitting at the controls of the Millennium Falcon?
These and
thousands of other questions are answered in Star
Wars: The Visual Dictionary and Star
Wars:
Incredible Cross- Sections, two heavily illustrated volumes from DK that have a
national laydown
date of October 1.
Delving into a galaxy, far, far away -- a fictitious galaxy conceived in the imagination
of film producer George Lucas, who first brought Star Wars to the big screen in 1977 --
would seem a most unusual project for the publisher long respected for its Eyewitness
series and other nonfiction and reference titles. But according to DK V.P. and children's
group publisher Neal Porter, it was precisely his company's nonfiction know-how that made
it the perfect choice to become an official licensee of the Star Wars franchise.
"When I joined DK in September 1997," Porter said, "one of the first things
I did was travel to
Frankfurt [International Book Fair], where I met with Lucy Wilson, the head of Lucasfilm.
I wanted to
explore doing Star Wars, DK-style. She knew our books and reputation and had been thinking
of
approaching us, too, so it's hard to say who had the idea first."
From that initial meeting, talks proceeded with Lucasfilm in California and DK teams in
both New
York and London. "We had never done a straight license before," Porter said.
"But the idea from the
beginning was to use established DK formats, and the visual dictionary and cross-sections
formats
seemed natural. To us, Star Wars wasn't a world that didn't exist; we immersed ourselves
in that
world as it existed in the mind of George Lucas. We used all the reference materials at
our disposal
and treated fiction like nonfiction. The books have the same third-person, factual,
you-are-there tone as our other titles."
Accepting the Challenge
With a publishing plan in place, the next step was to find the right author for the books.
Luckily, they discovered someone uniquely qualified for the job: archeologist and lifelong
Star Wars fan (and now Lucasfilm employee) David West Reynolds . "My background is in
archeology [he has a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan] and I had done some work in
Egypt and Tunisia, where the original Star Wars films were shot," Reynolds explained.
"A few years ago I thought it would be fun to go there and see all the locations of
the film. It was a blast; many of the sites are unchanged from 20 years ago. We actually
found some of the old props in the middle of the Sahara."
Reynolds wrote a magazine article about his Star Wars-inspired travels, which caught the
eye of
Lucasfilm producer Rick McCallum. McCallum promptly hired Reynolds as a location scout for
the
new Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode 1, due out in May 1999.
Given his professional resume and consuming interest in the subject matter, Reynolds was
soon writing the text. "It's actually been of a lot of value to have a background in
archeology," Reynolds said about writing the books. "I was able to write in a
historically convincing way, to create what sounds like real history. I was interpreting
artifacts from another culture, just as I would on any other archeological project."
To help with the research, Reynolds was given unlimited access to the archives kept at
Lucasfilm's
Skywalker Ranch in California. "It was extraordinary that they opened the archives to
me and that I
am now able to share it with other people," he said. The books combine movie stills
with brand-new
photographs and original artwork. Because they had been sitting idle for years, many of
the costumes, weapons and other props had been misplaced and had to be located and/or
reconstructed with help from photographers and artists from Lucasfilm's Industrial Light
and Magic special effects division. Evidence of wear and tear from the original film shoot
can be seen in the Visual Dictionary
photographs.
Reynolds also wrote the text for the cross-sections volume and praises the work of
illustrators Hans
Jenssen and Richard Chasemore, who were charged with creating visuals, literally from nuts
and bolts. "We had the best possible people working on this," said Reynolds.
"They were able to create these magnificent engines and interiors from scratch; the
interior of these vehicles had never been seen before."
David Pickering, the editor at DK in London who was responsible for "keeping tabs on
everything,"
recalls that the massive projects ran quite smoothly. "Everyone at Lucasfilm put a
lot of time and effort into this. We are always mad for authenticity and they were very
patient with all our requests."
On the flip side, all parties were equally patient about all the legal vetting required as
part of the
licensing agreements. "It's interesting how much depth has been added to the Star
Wars universe in
our time," Pickering said. "You can travel a long way in this strange and
wonderful galaxy known as
Star Wars."
Porter also believes in the broad reach of Star Wars -- one that will carry across several
different
readerships. "I think there's an audience of people who first saw the films as kids
and a whole new
audience of younger fans who saw them on video and when they were re-released in
1997," he said.
In the U.S. the books will have first printings of 250,000 copies each and co-editions are
scheduled in
10 additional countries. Two more books based on the new film are already underway,
employing the
same teams in London, New York and California. A release date has not been announced.
But in the meantime, Star Wars aficionados can see displays of the books --and attend
several
signings by Reynolds -- at collectors' shows and at Star Wars fans conventions throughout
the fall.
The books will also be promoted on the official Star Wars website, and a floor display
featuring
C-3PO and Jawas (whose eyes light up) is also sure to attract attention from consumers.
"This has been an amazing opportunity. I've wanted to write these books ever since I
first saw the
film," said Reynolds. "I made notes and drawings of a cut-away lightsaber back
when I was 12. To
hand it over to ILM is what I've wanted to do since I was a kid." Lots of Star Wars
fans are likely to
be pleased that Reynolds's dream has finally come true.
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