At first look, the “Star Wars” franchise and “Monkey Island” online game property appear very completely different. The previous is a space-themed journey set in a galaxy far, distant. The opposite is about puzzle-solving, seafaring voyages by way of the Caribbean. That mentioned, each sagas characteristic pirates they usually’re related to Lucasfilm, so they don’t seem to be utterly alien to one another. Moreover, their connection has solely grown stronger because of the super Amblin-inspired “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” sequence on Disney+.
“Skeleton Crew” tells the story of a bunch of youngsters who encounter house pirates whereas embarking on a spirited journey throughout the galaxy. The sequence attracts upon quite a lot of influences, together with the aforementioned point-and-click journey video games. Whereas chatting with SFX Journal (by way of GamesRadar), co-showrunner Jon Watts defined what the “Monkey Island” video games imply to him, and the way they knowledgeable the creation of “Skeleton Crew”:
“It was nice to return and watch outdated pirate serials as an affect, swashbuckling epics like ‘The Sea Hawk’ (1940) and ‘Captain Blood’ (1935). Additionally, my different enormous Lucasfilm fandom is the ‘Monkey Island’ video games. I beloved all the pirate issues in these, and felt like we might carry a bit of trace of that to ‘Skeleton Crew.'”
In fact, “Skeleton Crew” is not the primary time that “Star Wars” has acknowledged “Monkey Island,” and the point-and-click journey video games have additionally paid homage to the sci-fi franchise previously. With that in thoughts, let’s look at the refined connections between them.
Star Wars and Monkey Island have referenced one another previously
Ron Gilbert’s “Monkey Island” online game sequence was initially developed by LucasArts, a subsidiary of Lucasfilm that specialised in journey video games and quite a few “Star Wars” console and PC titles throughout its golden age. That is not the solely similarity between each franchises both, as they’ve referenced one another on multiple event.Â
The “Monkey Island” video games are keen on borrowing quotes from the Oscar-sweeping “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” so no less than they’ve nice style in dialogue. In “Curse of Monkey Island” and Return to Monkey Island,” respectively, protagonist Guybrush Threepwood says “You need not see my identification” and “For those who strike me down, I’ll turn out to be extra highly effective than you possibly can presumably think about,” permitting him to channel his internal Ben/Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), albeit with out the Jedi’s warrior prowess.
The appreciation is mutual, nonetheless, as “Star Wars: The Power Unleashed II” contains a character known as Guybrush Threepkiller, who’s modeled after the hero of the “Monkey Island” video games. Elsewhere, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes” boasts a clone trooper known as Threepwood, one other apparent homage to the seafaring hero of “Monkey Island.”
Sadly, Disney shuttered the LucasArts recreation studio following its acquisition of Lucasfilm, and the Home of Mouse would not seem to have any instant plans to resurrect the “Monkey Island” video games within the wake of 2022’s “Return to Monkey Island.” Nonetheless, “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” retains its spirit alive, and reaffirms the longstanding custom of each franchises sneakily acknowledging one another.
New episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST on Disney+.
