The official keepers of canon over at StarWars.com compiled an oral history of the Battle of Hoth for the 40th anniversary of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” featuring some telling quotes from George Lucas himself. Regarded as one of the best sequels ever made, there was no guarantee that the creator of “Star Wars” would even get the first film off the ground, let alone a second, more ambitious follow-up. “On the first one, the production crew on the set, except for the art department, just thought it was a joke,” Lucas remembered. “And they were not that interested in the movie or helping or doing anything except getting their paycheck.”
To be fair, there shouldn’t be too much made of the production crew’s lack of support, even if that kind of silent rebellion can lead to a completely demoralizing atmosphere on set. Most, if not all, of the interiors for “Star Was: A New Hope” were shot at EMI’s British studios where John Williams’ pulse-pounding score was also recorded. Didn’t any of the crew get a chance to hear the fanfare of the “Main Title” or the quiet grace of “Princess Leia’s Theme?” Apparently not.
The decidedly lackluster blue-collar mentality of the UK crew didn’t keep the “ILMers” (as Lucas called them) from staying the course. “They knew we were doing something that had never been done before and so that excited them and that kept their morale up,” Lucas explained. “And even though we went through some very hard setbacks, I had to go up and be a parent and say, ‘We can do this. We’re not going to give up. We have to keep going.'” Maybe Vader’s famous line, “I find your lack of faith disturbing” finally has an origin story.