Was Star Wars (intended to be) a children's movie franchise?
I have seen in various places that Lucas himself expected the movie to be a children's movie in the beginning. He also said that characters like the Ewok and Jar Jar Binks were added to specifically appeal to children.
Was the franchise intended to be a children's movie from the beginning? Or was it more mature and serious in the beginning, but kind of became more mainstream and children-oriented starting from Return of the Jedi, as some claim?
If it was intended as a children's movie, then its cult status nowadays might be a kind of hard to explain. Maybe it's more like a generation cherishing their childhood/teenage dream memory?
Best Answer
In 2005, George Lucas claimed that Star Wars was directed at children, though fans would not want to admit it. That, however, is the most notable demographic conjecture he has made. However, Star Wars is most commonly classified as family friendly.
"The movies are for children but they don't want to admit that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and C3-PO. In the second film they didn't like Yoda and in the third one they hated the Ewoks... and now Jar Jar is getting accused of the same thing."
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What age group is Star Wars aimed at?
Age 7: Training continues: Kids are ready for the first (original trilogy) movie -- plenty of action, but it all works out OK -- and some fun apps. Age 8\u20139: The original saga concludes, the prequels begin, and the story expands in more new directions.Was Star Wars originally a Disney movie?
Despite the Walt Disney Company's 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm and the release rights to all future Star Wars films, Fox was to retain original distribution rights to Star Wars: A New Hope, which they co-produced and co-financed, in perpetuity in all media worldwide.Why is Star Wars a 12+?
There are frequent scenes of moderate violence, including use of blasters and lightsabers, and dogfights between spaceships. Sight of blood and injury detail is limited and brief.Why was there a 16 year gap between Star Wars movies?
That credit should go to technology, as making a battle with those kinds of visual effects was probably not possible in the 1980s. So, as technology within the movie industry continued to improve, Lucas eventually saw an opportunity to keep Star Wars movies going nearly 16 years later.Star Wars is intended for children
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Answer 2
It wasn't really made to be any kind of franchise so right off the bat that is a no to your question. I can't say for certain if all the people who worked to make the movie what it was even knew what kind of audience that they'd have and have read at the time before release that a lot of them probably thought it would fail miserably.
The whole production from beginning to end was pretty much a mess though. It was a struggle to produce anything, the script going through Lucas and his wife at the time (and probably a few others) getting tons of revisions, the limitations of the budget and what they could actually done at the time all building a film that was then saved mostly in editing and by a fantastic score. Accidental masterpiece or just a cross between Flash Gordon and Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.
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