Filmmaker George Lucas carefully shaped the Star Wars franchise, especially in its early days. Lucas intended for the space opera saga to be a classic good vs evil story, primarily targeted at younger audiences. However, Lucas couldn’t resist the temptation of exploring some darker themes in the prequel trilogy movies.
While the first two prequels were heavily laced with political themes, the third installment had some truly dark moments as Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side. As a result, Lucas felt that the film wasn’t appropriate for children and did not mind the PG-13 rating. However, the rating resulted in Burger King almost pulling the toys to promote the movie, and here is how it all went down.
George Lucas admitted Revenge of the Sith was intended to be darker than average Star Wars movies
After an absence of almost 16 years, filmmaker George Lucas returned to the galaxy far, far away with the prequel trilogy debuting in 1999. The prequels culminated with 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, which explored Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side and transformation into the original trilogy villain Darth Vader.
During an interview with Vanity Fair, Lucas admitted that some of the moments in the movie were much darker compared to previous Star Wars movies and felt that it was appropriate for the movie to be rated PG-13. He said:
I don’t really mind a PG-13. This one is a little tougher, and I think children, young children especially, should be warned that this is not your average Star Wars. It’s a lot darker.
Lucas explained that some of the scenes in the movie were scary for children and the filmmaker was right in warning the parents, especially because of the Jedi purge scene which implies Anakin murdered Jedi younglings.
The writer-director expressed a similar sentiment, arguing that with the PG-13 rating, parents were warned that the movie wasn’t suitable for all kids, especially those under the age of six. As a result, Lucas felt that the movie was much darker and unsuitable for some children despite it being the target demographic of the franchise.
Burger King almost recalled Star Wars meals after Revenge of the Sith was rated PG-13
While Lucas did his fair share to warn parents regarding the movie’s darker material, he wasn’t concerned with the PG-13 rating. However, the rating was a cause for concern for the Dove Foundation, a non-profit established to promote “wholesome entertainment.”
According to a report from USA Today, the foundation urged fast-food chain Burger King to pull back its planned promotional Star Wars-themed meals as the third installment wasn’t suitable for younger audiences. The foundation had done something similar with Batman Returns promotional meals, launched by McDonald’s in 1992.
However, a spokesperson from Burger King, defended the themed meals, arguing that they were meant to represent the entire franchise which was otherwise extremely kid-friendly. Furthermore, only four of the 3 toys included in the meals were specific to Revenge of the Sith. As a result, the promotional campaign went ahead and the toys from it remain highly coveted among the fanbase.
The Star Wars movies and TV shows are streaming on Disney+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
