Happy Life Day: Another ‘Star Wars’ holiday special scheduled

If you had “Star Wars Holiday Special” on your 2020 bingo card, you’re the winner! There is another “Star Wars Holiday Special” getting ready to air this year.

It’s one of those shows that many don’t want to admit they even know exists, but the original “Star Wars Holiday Special” is the stuff of legend and, for some, nightmares.

There wasn’t much to redeem the special that aired in 1978, other than perhaps the introduction of Boba Fett.

This time, instead of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford reprising their roles as Luke, Leia and Han for a holiday tale, it will be Rey, Finn and Poe celebrating Life Day, the same day that was celebrated in the original special.

Not only will the main characters be different in this next go-round, so will the format. The 45-minute show will be in Lego animation form.

Rose, BB-8 and R2-D2 will join the gang to celebrate Chewbacca’s homeworld holiday of Life Day.

The story of the “Lego Star Wars Holiday Special” will be set after “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and will feature Rey learning more about the Force, accompanied by BB-8. She will then be sent across timelines after a visit to a Jedi temple. She’ll interact with Luke, Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan and other characters from all nine films of the Skywalker saga, before getting back with the final trilogy main characters just in time to mark the holiday. Even Palpatine, Vader and Kylo Ren will be able to interact, showrunners told USA Today.

Show creators said the show was inspired by such (good) classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and “Christmas Vacation,” but with nods to the 1978 special, USA Today reported.

There is no word officially on who will be voicing the characters, other than there will be some “Star Wars” actors doing the voices of their Lego counterparts.

And like all good Star Wars (and Disney for that matter) projects, there will of course be merchandise tie in. The Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar will be released on Sept. 1. There will also be a companion sticker book published by DK.

The new “Lego Star Wars Holiday Special” will air on Disney+ on Nov. 17, which happens to be Life Day in “Star Wars” lore.

Cox Media Group