Posted By Dan Greenfield on May 4, 2024 | 3 comments

A May the Fourth INSIDE LOOK at a classic book that’s great for all ages…

By CHRIS FRANKLIN

I have an interesting relationship with Star Wars. When the film debuted in 1977, I was 2 years old, and my parents thought this sensitive kid might be frightened by it. That didn’t stop my mom from taking me downtown to the local premiere to meet “Darth Vader” (actually her boss in a mostly unofficial costume) in person, but NOT see the movie! Now, wouldn’t you assume I’d be more scared of a living, (heavily) breathing Dark Lord of the Sith, vs. the version up on the screen?

Either way, unlike the bulk of my generation, I didn’t see the first film (not quite called “A New Hope” yet), nor either of its sequels in theaters. Luckily, the following year MY Star Wars came in the form of Superman: The Movie, my favorite film to this day. Superman was the subject of ANOTHER Pop-Up book I wrote about for 13th Dimension here.

But I digress. Back to that Galaxy Far, Far Away (especially for me!). Despite not seeing the film, I still had some of the merchandise, such as Topps trading cards, Kenner action figures, Disneyland book and record sets, and my first piece of Lucas lore, The Pop-Up Book of Star Wars, published by Random House and illustrated by Wayne Douglas Barlowe.

The pop-out Imperial Cruiser replicates the effect of that unforgettable opening scene.

In the days before VHS and Beta tapes were common, here was a way to own the movie. Like the film, it even had cutting edge special effects! I spent hours “playing” with the features, and my parents read it to me over and over, until I could read it myself.  Somehow my childhood copy survived all those years, and even through multiple readings with my own kids. It was through them my love for this galaxy grew, through action figures, role play, video games, Lego sets, movies and TV series, and trips to Disney World. Like the Force, it is one of the many fandoms that surrounds us and binds our family together. And it all started (for me) with a strange encounter, and some very imaginative paper engineering!

Grab your macrobinoculars and take a look inside The Pop-Up Book of Star Wars!

Interesting how we’re on Page 2, and no character close-ups yet. But it captures the scope of the film.

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Notice the heavy emphasis on the Droids. Random House knew what little kids liked!

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The Sandcrawler and other features simply popped up when the book was opened to those pages.

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Never underestimate a kid’s desire to repeat an up-and-down motion over and over!

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Very simple, but effective, and again showing the widescreen scope that dazzled audiences. Unfortunately, the sandpeople scene on the next page NEVER worked in my copy.

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Barlowe’s fidelity to the film’s design is spot-on! This is our only shot of Chewie, and amazingly there’s ZERO Han Solo in this book.

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Another simple one, but it sells the size and menace of the Death Star (as if the name wasn’t scary enough!).

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This one is a bit out of story sequence, but we’ll forgive them because the paper X-Wing looks so cool.

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Always my favorite sequence and action in the book. Just so satisfying!

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Hey kids! Want to see an old man get murdered? Possibly traumatizing, but the effect is very well done.

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Somewhat surprising that there’s no pop-up energy blast or even the ventilation hole for it to go into, but it’s still a nice shot of that famous trench run.

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MORE

— SUPERMAN — THE POP-UP: Dig These 13 Super CURT SWAN Children’s Book Illustrations. Click here.

— Dig These 13 Far Out STAR WARS Characters Found Only in Classic MARVEL COMICS. Click here.

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Regular 13^th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including JLUCast, and co-hosts Superman Movie Minute with Rob Kelly. May the Force be with all of us, always.