What if McQuarrie’s Vision of Star Wars Was The Movie That Got Made?

While the characters, settings, and vehicles of Star Wars have become an iconic part of pop culture in the 20th and 21st Century, many fans know that the look and feel of the film could have been very different. Artist Ralph McQuarrie created pretty much all of the concept art that led to the visual development of the Star Wars saga, but there were some pretty massive changes from the original concept art he created for the early scripts to the final version that made it to theaters.

That’s where the Dave School comes in. They are a visual Effects school, based out of Orlando Florida that has turned out a ton of talented professionals over the last decade. For one of their Fall projects, they took on the task of breathing life into McQuarrie’s vision by creating a new trailer for Star Wars, using only his art and early script references as visual reference. The vibe is decidedly different than what fans saw in Episode IV, but it looks great and definitely makes you look at Star Wars in a whole new light.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… we might have seen a version of Star Wars that featured a Han Solo with green skin and gills, Stormtroopers with lightsabers, and a female heroine named Luka Starkiller.

Many of these anomalies can be seen in concept artist, Ralph McQuarrie’s early illustrations of the Star Wars universe. While looking back at these early paintings we can’t help but wonder what Star Wars would have been like had it remained loyal to the concept art and early drafts of the script.

The DAVE School graduating class of August and October 2017 have answered that question by bringing Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings to life in a concept trailer for what might have been… The Star Wars.

Find out more about our Visual Effects program at daveschool.com

Images from “Star Wars™ Art Ralph Mcquarrie” By Brandon Alinger, Wade Lageose, and David Mandel – Abrams, New York

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