Original artwork, not a still
Opening title card, written by George Lucas
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
— Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope ‧ 1977
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the most famous scene-setter in cinema, a fairy-tale opening bolted onto a space opera, and it tells the audience before a single ship appears that the film is a legend rather than a forecast. The phrase is endlessly copied, from parody crawls to 'a long time ago' openings in other franchises, and it is the first thing fans type when they start a Star Wars joke.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New HopeShow the scene
These are the first words of Star Wars (1977), later retitled Episode IV: A New Hope: a line of blue text, held still on a black screen before the logo flies away and the yellow crawl begins. No character speaks it; it is a title card, written by George Lucas, and he put the same card at the start of every numbered film in the saga. Lucas has said the crawl was inspired by the openings of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, and title designer Dan Perri took the rolling-into-the-distance look from a 1939 DeMille film, Union Pacific.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: Star Wars opening crawlLead, Structure and Origin sectionsReference checked
Context reviewed
