Opening crawl

A comparison of how the opening crawl for the 1977 film Star Wars has been altered to include Episode IV A New Hope.

The opening crawl as seen in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back.

"One of the things we still have to shoot is the opening crawl. Shooting that crawl is actually one of the hardest things on these shows. The artwork itself is only about four feet long and maybe a foot wide. The camera is real low to the ground and we use a tilting lens to eliminate a lot of the focus problems. But everything has to be lined up just perfectly and you spend days running through tests. Every little blemish shows up. Any little bump, any little movement of the camera is going to screw up this big 2,000-frame-long take. It's fun, but pure torture."

―Ken Ralston during production of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi

The Star Wars opening crawl is the famous opening to the 9 Skywalker saga films. It also served as the opening for the show Ahsoka, as a reference to the original opening crawl and as a way to set up the events of the show.

Description

Each of the nine episodic Star Wars films begins with nearly identical openings, in which the text "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…" is displayed, followed by the Star Wars logo over a field of stars. A subsequent downward tilt reveals the film's episode number, the subtitle in all-capital letters, and a three-paragraph summary of events immediately prior to the events of the film.

Two typefaces were used in the crawl: In current releases of episodes I–III and VI, News Gothic bold is used for the main body of the crawl and episode number, and Univers light ultra condensed for the titles of the films. In the current releases of Episodes IV–V and VII, News Gothic bold is used for the main body of the crawl and episode number, but varied versions of the News Gothic font are also used for the titles of the films.

In the widescreen (or letterbox) versions of the Star Wars films, each line of the opening crawl text appears directly in its entirety from the bottom of the screen (with the exception of The Empire Strikes Back). In the fullscreen (or pan and scan) versions, the sides of each line of opening crawl text are visible only after that line reaches the center of the screen. The pre-1995 fullscreen version of Return of the Jedi opted to present the opening crawl unsqueezed, having the entire widescreen image appear in a 4:3 frame horizontally compressed. In the 35mm open matte versions, the sides of each line of opening crawl text are zoomed out to a much farther distance.

Differences

Though each crawl is roughly similar, the individual films contain some differences in their presentation. For instance, in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the camera tilts upwards after the text finishes, rather than downwards as seen in all of the eight other films.

Some words or names are in all-capital letters to stress their importance to the story. The text is in simple, yellow, sans-serif type, and it is pitched at a sharp angle. The text scrolls upward into the distance, toward a horizon located just below the top of the screen. In a trademark of the film series, each title crawl ends with a four-dot ellipsis except for Episode VI, which ends with a three-dot ellipsis.

When originally released in 1977, the first film was simply titled Star Wars, as Lucas was not certain if he would follow the film with a sequel (and 20th Century Fox felt that alluding to a nonexistent "previous episode" would be too confusing). Following The Empire Strikes Back, the film was re-released on April 10, 1981, with the subtitle Episode IV A New Hope. The original version, without the subtitle, was not released, outside of the 1982 Laserdisc version, on home video until the 2006 limited-edition DVDs.

The content of the opening crawl itself, as originally written by George Lucas, was initially different during the production of the first film, and contained the following:

It is a period of civil wars in the galaxy. A brave alliance of underground freedom fighters has challenged the tyranny and oppression of the awesome GALACTIC EMPIRE. Striking from a fortress hidden among the billion stars of the galaxy, rebel spaceships have won their first victory in a battle with the powerful Imperial Starfleet. The EMPIRE fears that another defeat could bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion, and Imperial control over the galaxy would be lost forever. To crush the rebellion once and for all, the EMPIRE is constructing a sinister new battle station. Powerful enough to destroy an entire planet, its completion spells certain doom for the champions of freedom.

The crawl used in the film itself was a revised version by Brian De Palma and then–film critic Jay Cocks.

Non-Saga Exceptions

The Clone Wars introductory movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), and Anthology Films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), all theatrically debuted without opening crawls.

All three include "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…" Rogue One then cuts straight to a cold open displaying a shuttle bound for a ringed planet. The Clone Wars uses a newsreel-style narrator in lieu of a crawl. Solo features backstory summaries similar to a crawl's content; these paragraphs are shown in a similar typeface and color to "A long time ago…" over shots of a planet's dockyards and before the title card.

Legends made-for-TV movies (the Holiday Special, Caravan of Courage, and Battle for Endor) contain neither the crawl nor the "A long time ago.…" card, either starting immediately with action or a title card.

Origins

Richard Edlund prepares to shoot the opening crawl for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

The roll-up (alternatively called the "crawl") is an homage to the opening crawl at the beginning of each episode of the Flash Gordon film serials of the 1930s and 1940s, which Star Wars creator George Lucas enjoyed as a child and which inspired Lucas to write much of the Star Wars saga. It is also for this reason that many of the subtitles of the films have a "pulpy" sound to them or are reminiscent of the Gordon serials.

In a 2005 interview, George Lucas described how the final phrasing of the roll-up in Star Wars came about: "The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you're not using too many words that people don't understand. It's like a poem. I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the 1970s. It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each. Brian De Palma was there, and he threw his hands up in the air and said, 'George, you're out of your mind! Let me sit down and write this for you.' He helped me chop it down into the form that exists today."

According to Dennis Muren (who worked Episodes I–V), on the audio commentary track of the 2004 original trilogy DVD release, the roll-ups on the original trilogy films—A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi—were accomplished with physical models laid out on the floor. Muren says the models were approximately two feet wide and six feet long. The crawl effect was accomplished with the camera moving longitudinally along the model. It was, says Muren, difficult and time-consuming to achieve a smooth scrolling effect.

With the advent of computer-generated graphics, the roll-ups for the prequel trilogy films—The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith—were achieved much more quickly. However, because nobody had taken notes on how the original ones were accomplished, the design team had to rewatch and piece together the elements to make the new opening crawl.

Film crawls

Episode I THE PHANTOM MENACE Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict.... Episode II ATTACK OF THE CLONES There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic. This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy. Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi.... Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere. In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate. As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor.... Episode IV A NEW HOPE It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy.... Episode V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy. Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space.... Episode VI RETURN OF THE JEDI Luke Skywalker has returned to his home planet of Tatooine in an attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star. When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy... Episode VII THE FORCE AWAKENS Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed. With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy. Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts.... Episode VIII THE LAST JEDI The FIRST ORDER reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now deploys his merciless legions to seize military control of the galaxy. Only General Leia Organa's band of RESISTANCE fighters stand against the rising tyranny, certain that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight. But the Resistance has been exposed. As the First Order speeds toward the rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape.... Episode IX THE RISE OF SKYWALKER The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE. GENERAL LEIA ORGANA dispatches secret agents to gather intelligence, while REY, the last hope of the Jedi, trains for battle against the diabolical FIRST ORDER. Meanwhile, Supreme Leader KYLO REN rages in search of the phantom Emperor, determined to destroy any threat to his power....

TV Crawls

In Episode 6 of Ahsoka series, Huyang says for the first time in all of the TV and Movies the celebrated phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

Ahsoka PART ONE: MASTER AND APPRENTICE The EVIL GALACTIC EMPIRE has fallen and a NEW REPUBLIC has risen to take its place. However, sinister agents are already at work to undermine the fragile peace. A plot is underway to find the lost IMPERIAL GRAND ADMIRIAL THRAWN and bring him out of exile. Once presumed dead, rumors are spreading of Thrawn's return which would galvanize the IMPERIAL REMNANTS and start another war. Former Jedi Knight AHSOKA TANO captured one of Thrawn's allies and learned of a secret map which is vital to the enemy's plan. Ahsoka now searches for the map as her prisoner, MORGAN ELSBETH, is transported to the New Republic for trial....

In other Star Wars media

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... There came a time of revolution, when rebels united to challenge a tyrannical empire."

―Introduction to each installment of the radio drama

Each episode of the Star Wars radio dramas begins with spoken narration that mimics the style of the movie crawls and samples some of their language. All begin with the quote "A long time ago...", and each episode of The Empire Strikes Back adds, "Now, it is a dark time for the Rebellion." Each episode, except the three series finales, also ends with an outro in the same style to summarize the cliffhanger ending and tease the following episode.

The West End Games roleplaying game supplement Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope suggests that the opening crawl from A New Hope was actually written by Rebel Alliance historian Voren Na'al to end his account of the events surrounding the Battle of Yavin. The account includes the phrase, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" All of the sourcebooks and adventure books are written for Fantasy Flight Games's Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny roleplaying games include a crawl at the beginning.

The opening crawl to Star Wars: The High Republic Phase I

A large number of LucasArts computer and video games feature an opening crawl. Games based on one of the films usually include the same crawl as the movie, while other games have original crawls. Some of the games' crawls differ from the traditional film versions. Star Wars: TIE Fighter plays The Imperial March over the crawl, while Rebel Assault uses a spoken version, starting with the first paragraph from A New Hope and differing afterward. Dark Forces has an unused spoken version in its cutscene data. The Phantom Menace video game begins with the film's crawl but features a second, original one partway through the game. The LEGO Star Wars games include an opening crawl at the beginning of each chapter, with five to six chapters per movie. An opening crawl plays when a character is loaded for the first time in Star Wars: The Old Republic. A shortened variation plays every subsequent time a character is loaded, recapping the story so far.

A number of Dark Horse's Star Wars comics have used the same format as the opening crawl to serve as a recap of the previous events in the series. These series include Star Wars: Dark Empire, Tales of the Jedi and many others. Opening crawls also appear in the post-2014 Marvel Comics Star Wars comics, serving to either introduce a story arc or recap events as in the Dark Horse comics.

The original edition of the novel Heir to the Empire included a still-image version on its back cover. Jeffrey Brown's non-canon Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Darth Vader and Son, and Vader's Little Princess book series use the opening crawl. With a few exceptions, most canon novels published since April 25, 2014, include a page before the beginning of the novel with a passage providing background or contextual information, written in a similar style to the opening crawl. Each phase of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project has its own opening crawl.

Sources

• At First Glance on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Episode III: How It Begins on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)

Notes and references

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