Star Wars, Angry Birds Style.

When I had first seen reports of Angry Birds Star Wars I had thought that it was perhaps a joke or maybe just some fan art or something. I didn't look into it any further to see if it was true as it did not hold my interest enough to warrant investigation. Little did I know at the time of how wrong I was.
The Bear likes to play Angry Birds on Starbucks iPhone occasionally. He plays the free trial version of Angry Birds for the iPhone since there is no way that I am paying money for it! One occasion just a couple of weeks ago The Bear asked if he could play Angry Birds but Starbuck was on her way out to work so she suggested that he play on my phone instead. I didn't have Angry Birds on my phone so I decided to download it from the store. Since my phone is an Android phone the full game of Angry Birds would be free. I knew that The Bear had enjoyed playing Angry Birds Space on Granny Sue's iPad so I searched for the Angry Birds Space game on the Google Play store. I found it with no problem but I also found Angry Birds Star Wars on the store right next to Angry Birds Space. My reaction to discovering that Angry Birds Star Wars was a real game downloadable from the store and not a joke as I originally thought was one of both amusement and dismay. I asked The Bear if he wanted Angry Birds Space or Star Wars. He chose Angry Birds Star Wars.





Once the game had downloaded from the store we started the game up and the famous Star Wars theme began to play. It had a slight Angry Birds twist after the opening bars but was unmistakably Star Wars. Two Tie Fighters screamed across the title screen sounding just like they do in the films. Selecting start led to 4 different worlds to choose from. The first of which was Tatooine, then there was Death Star, Hoth and Return of the Jedi. The first few levels introduced us to the red bird who soon levels up and graduates to lightsaber ownership like Luke Skywalker. The sound effects of the lightsaber are perfect. The moment you hear it you know that it is a lightsaber. It doesn't matter that it appears to be yeilded by a cartoon bird who for some reason needs a catapult in order to become airborne. Next we are introduced to the Jedi/Obi Wan bird who can use the force to move objects and then a Han Solo character bird who has a blaster. The blaster sound effects were Star Wars perfect as well.

It was at this point that it occurred to me that this would be The Bears first contact with the legendary Star Wars universe. He has not seen any of the films at all since they are a little too mature for his age at the moment. I wondered whether he would associate the films when he does eventually see them, which he will regardless of Starbucks protestations, with the Angry Birds game instead of the other way around as it should be. It started me thinking about what it is that makes Star Wars so legendary and unique. What is it that makes Star Wars, Star Wars?

 Is it that it's set in space? Hence the title Star Wars. It's about a war, set among the stars. Surely not. By the time Star Wars reached cinemas, Space had been much explored by film and TV and we had already had Star Trek. Maybe then it is the story of good versus evil, the rescuing of a princess, a mystical power harnessed by a master and being taught to a young reckless apprentice? Perhaps not. It's got to be the characters then hasn't it. I mean it's not like Han Solo could have been taken from one of many spaghetti westerns, Obi Wan a wizard from a sword and sorcery film, Luke a young apprentice from a kung fu film, Darth Vader, the epitome of villainy from any film with a villain in it. Ok, so it's not the characters. Unless it's the robots or Droids. Perhaps not the droids you were looking for but robots had already appeared across film and TV many times.

So, yes. a lot of the elements of Star Wars were recycled from other sources but what does perhaps make Star Wars so legendary is that it takes those elements out of their original context and puts them together so cohesively that it becomes greater than the sum of it's parts. The synergy is outstanding and it is that synergy that unified an entire generation. It mattered not one bit that the characters, story and setting were all recycled from elsewhere. The story was being told to a new generation by old characters in a way not seen before and it was loved. It's success is a testament to that.
What is entirely unique about Star Wars though; something that defines the series to this day and will continue to do so is the sound of Star Wars. The Star Wars theme music, The Imperial March, the scream of a Tie Fighter, the whoosh of a lightsaber, Han Solo's blaster, every noise Darth Vader makes, a Wookie. Hear any of these things and you know that it is Star Wars. These are the things that are recreated perfectly in the Angry Birds game and this is what concerns me so. Only time will tell I guess. The Angry Birds experience is somewhat fleeting whereas the Star Wars experience has lasted an entire lifetime for a whole generation of people and endures even 35 years later. Perhaps I've nothing to fear but it was a good excuse to post something about Star Wars and besides, fear is the path to the dark side.