A significant change made Obi Wan Kenobi suggests that Star Wars abandoned one of George Lucas’s earliest concepts and was a disappointing turn of events for the franchise. Obi Wan Kenobi It was a truly exciting addition. Star Wars movies and TV shows, especially since it brought back many of the Star Wars best characters. In addition to Ewan McGregor returning as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Obi Wan Kenobi it introduced Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely) and 10-year-old Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair).
Along with these characters came the revelation that Leia and Obi-Wan had a much more extensive connection than A New Hope or Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith let’s go. These films made it seem like Leia hadn’t encountered Obi-Wan after she was born in Revenge of the Sithbut Obi Wan Kenobi revealed that Obi-Wan and Leia had a significant history – one that saw Obi-Wan rescue Leia from the clutches of the Empire. While these updates and changes have been exciting, a deviation in Obi Wan Kenobi is more disappointing and represents a departure from George Lucas’ vision.
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s final sets took the character out of Leia’s bedroom
Leia’s room on Alderaan was surprisingly devoid of personal touches
At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Design Doug Chiang, who was also a production designer for Obi Wan Kenobi, revealed that, Originally, Leia’s room in Obi Wan Kenobi was much better suited to a child and a character with Leia’s personality, strengths, and interests. In a video posted by CobaltGreen1138 in X, Chiang can be heard saying:
“We filled her room with toys and scientific gadgets, gave her room rich patterns and textures and a sense of sophistication for a girl beyond her years. The room needed to reflect her intellectual energy.”
The video then cuts to an image of the final version of Leia’s room in Obi Wan Kenobiand although Chiang jokes, “And here’s the final set, after she cleaned it up” It’s clear that there really was a drastic change to the team’s original concepts for Leia’s room.
Despite Chiang’s light-hearted approach to the subject, it’s really a shame that these changes were made to the original plan of Leia’s room. As Chiang rightly points out, Leia should have a room that matches her very strong and well-known personality. It would have been wonderful to see Leia’s room designed with these personal touches that represented Leia’s brilliance and curiosity. It also seems strange for Leia, Breha, and Bail. Leia would undoubtedly have been stubborn and determined when it came to her own room, and it’s clear that Bail, in particular, wanted her to be true to herself.
George Lucas always wanted Star Wars to have a “lived-in” aesthetic
George Lucas prioritized authenticity in his sets
In addition to this choice for Leia’s room being disappointing on the inside, Obi Wan Kenobialso has unfortunate implications for Star Wars more broadly. The final version of Leia’s room in Obi Wan Kenobi is indicative of Star Wars more recent departure from George Lucas’ vision of “inhabited” settings. Lucas wanted the Star Wars defines to look authentic and naturalwhich meant designing them in a way that made them look like someone realistically worked or lived there.
The final version of Leia’s room in Obi Wan Kenobi is indicative of Star Wars recent move away from George Lucas’ vision of “lived-in” settings.
This can be seen throughout the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, especially in residential spaces. In A New HopeThe Lars’ house has many items and features (and sometimes a complete mess) that reflect everyday life. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace shows similar details in the home Anakin Skywalker shared with his mother, Shmi, on Tatooine. Anakin’s room is quite messy, in part because he was working on building C-3PO at the time. Unfortunately, Star Wars took a step back from this approach.
Modern Star Wars is too austere and too controlled
Many sets are now the exact opposite of what George Lucas wanted
In recent years, Star Wars TV shows seem to feature more and more sets with controlled and even somewhat cold designs. Although minimalist sets appeared at the beginning of the Star Wars Aside from the timeline, these choices tended to be much more logical. As a key example, the Empire aesthetic intentionally avoided any warmth or personality. Everything had to be elegant and rigid because the Empire’s goal was to maintain control.
It makes much less sense for this to become a widespread design principle, but this more austere approach to Star Wars sets can be seen across the board. In addition to Leia’s room, scenes from Andorsuch as when Syril Karn visits her mother’s house, reinforce that residential spaces also took on this more discreet design. Other sets in Ahsoka and The Acolyte reflect similar design qualities, although this makes a little more sense when it involves Jedi or government spaces.
Star Wars is no longer adopting the “alive” aesthetic that George Lucas wanted to see on the franchise’s sets.
Even so, it is clear that Star Wars is no longer adopting the “alive” aesthetic that George Lucas wanted to see on the franchise’s sets. It will be interesting to find out if Star Wars next TV show, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, will continue this tradition, especially as it heavily features a group of children. However, it is disappointing that Leia Organa’s room in Obi Wan Kenobi It was altered in this way as it would have been wonderful to see a room that better reflected her personality.
Source: CobaltGreen1138