Twenty years ago today,Star Wars fans were eagerly awaiting theREVENGE OF THE SITH, exploring the depths ofNar Shaddaa in theKNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC II, and beginning to buildWOOKIEEPEDIA—theStar Wars wiki. As an ever-growing community of volunteers, the Wookieepedia project now celebrates its 20th year.
Our encyclopedia officially reached200,000 articles last month. This was only possible with the work of hundreds upon hundreds of fans over the past twenty years. Most Wookieepedians started off editing with little to no writing or coding experience, but our efforts have brought us closer to the goal of creating the most accurate, comprehensive, and well-presented resource about all thingsStar Wars.
Since Wookieepedia'stenth anniversary in 2015, we have expanded thebreadth, depth, and quality of our documentation of both theStar Wars Legends and the newcanon continuities, as well as coverage ofStar Wars media and production behind the scenes. Wookieepedia has also been buildinga more friendly and welcoming community. Informed by our contributors' experiences, we have launched ongoing efforts in revamping ourpolicies to be clearer and more fair, improving accessibility, and developing newediting tutorials.
Since 2015, editor recruitment has advanced on Wookieepedia, with the great majority of the currentadministrators andreview board members having joined those groups in recent years. The past ten years has also seen the progress of theDiscussions forum and the launch of twenty-two new collaborativeWookieeProjects. These include theProject Stardust initiative focusing on essential topics andProject Pride's efforts to improve the wiki's coverage of LGBTQIA+ topics. Most external links on Wookieepedia now havebackup archival links to keep a better record of the ever-changing Internet, andbot systems have automated many monotonous site maintenance tasks such as page archivals for thestatus article peer review system.
Our work continues unabated. Thousands more pagesneed to be created,lack citations,await expansion, and could usemore images. All the while, the franchise continues to grow andrequire updates. As we enter our third decade, we would love for more readers tojoin our ranks! May the Force be with us in the next twenty years… ✨
Peter Wilton CushingOBE (May 26,1913 –August 11,1994) was aBritishactor who gained wide recognition for his roles in theHammer Studios horror films of the1950s to the 1970s alongsideChristopher Lee. When developing the1977 filmStar Wars,George Lucas cast Cushing in the role ofGrand MoffTarkin to provide a human counterpart for the primary villain,Darth Vader, although Cushing claimed he was approached for the role of the nobleJedi MasterObi-Wan Kenobi. Cushing accepted the role on the basis that he felt his fans would enjoy seeing him in a science fiction film. His part in the film was recorded over a two-week period inMay1976.
The boots created for Cushing's character were ill-suited for the size of his feet, leading the actor to ask Lucas to let him wear slippers and to shoot his scenes from the waist up. Cushing was a courteous but good-humored figure and became well-liked among the film's other cast members, withCarrie Fisher commenting that she found it difficult to act as though she hated his character. He admitted that he struggled with the level of technical jargon and special effects used in the film but worked hard to ensure that his character's dialogue sounded confident.
Given Cushing's well-known status, he was paid a higher salary than the film's lead actors—Fisher,Mark Hamill, andHarrison Ford—and promotional materials presented Tarkin as the main villain. Cushing enjoyed the film greatly and was proud of its success, describing his only disappointment as that his character's death meant that he could not reprise the role in the sequels. Cushing's involvement inStar Wars later influenced Lee's participation in theprequel trilogy films on account of their friendship. In the2016 filmRogue One: A Star Wars Story, Cushing's likeness was recreated via motion capture over the performance ofGuy Henry as Tarkin, with permission granted by Cushing's estate. His portrayal of Tarkin influenced the performances of several other actors inStar Wars projects, includingStephen Stanton,Richard E. Grant, andGiancarlo Esposito.(Read more…)
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Below are some of the current community projects happening around Wookieepedia. If you are interested in joining in, check out ournewcomers hub page to start your editing journey!
- Project Stardust is improving theMustafar andMustafar/Legends articles. See their respectivecanon andLegends project pages to help out.
- TheFeatured article,Good article, andComprehensive article nomination processes help bring articles up to the highest possible standards. Join the effort by helping review nominations.
- WookieeProject Creators is adding the full credits to all media articles. You can assist the team by visiting any article on a piece of media and expanding the credits list.
- WookieeProject Pride is providing citations for pronouns and gender forin-universe topics. See theSourcing policy for rules on how to cite pronouns and gender.
- Ogg files are being converted to alternate formats to improve the site's usability on Safari. See theFiles policy for guidance on eligibility.
We are theStar Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit — created by fans, for fans. Founded in 2005, our goal has been to build themost accurate, comprehensive, and well-presented resource about all things related to the galaxy far, far away.
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- 1923 –Warner Bros. is founded.
- 1979 –Star Wars Weekly 58 published.
- 1983 –The Empire Strikes Back: "Dark Lord's Fury" aired onNational Public Radio.
- 1984 –Return of the Jedi Weekly 42 published.
- 1995 –Jabba the Hutt: The Gaar Suppoon Hit published.
- 2000 –The Essential Chronology published.
- 2000 –Star Wars: Episode IRacer released on theDreamcast platform.
- 2000 –Star Wars: Episode IThe Phantom Menace Widescreen Video Collector's Edition released.
- 2000 –Star Wars Insider 48 published.
- 2001 –Star Wars: Republic: Outlander trade paperback published.
- 2002 –HoloNet News Vol. 531 50 published.
- 2007 –Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 2: Jedi vs. Sith published.
- 2013 –Carmine Infantino dies.
- 2013 –Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.45 published.
- 2017 –Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia published.
- 2017 –Rogue One: A Star Wars Story released on home media.
- 2017 –Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel published.
- 2018 –Star Wars (2015) 46 published.
- 2019 –Star Wars Vol. 10: The Escape published.
- 2020 –Jay Benedict dies.
- 2023 –The High Republic: Cataclysm published.
- 2023 –The High Republic: Cataclysm audiobook released.
- 2023 –The High Republic: Quest for Planet X published.
- 2023 –The High Republic: Quest for Planet X audiobook released.
- 2023 –The High Republic: Convergence published in paperback.
- 2023 –The High Republic Phase I YA Paperback Box Set published.
- 2023 –Star Wars 100 Objects published.