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The decision to make lightsabers in Star Wars Rebels appear noticeably thinner is rooted in the early development of A New Hope.
Lightsabers have become one of the most iconic fictional weapons in pop culture. From the Darksaber to Kylo Ren’s crossguard hilt, the “elegant weapon from a more civilized age” has had a deep and storied history both in and out of Star Wars canon. Despite being a weapon with many design variations, the lightsaber’s blade has been fairly uniform across most Star Wars media. However, in the animated Star Wars Rebels, the lightsabers wielded by characters like Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger are stylized differently, with their blades appearing much thinner than in previous live-action and animated works.
However, some fans may not realize the decision to depict the lightsabers in a much more distinct visual style had deep roots in Star Wars history, drawing inspiration from an artist who played an enormous role in establishing the look of the Star Wars universe: Ralph McQuarrie.
Ralph McQuarrie’s Original Lightsaber Design for Star Wars
According to Star Wars Rebels: The Art of the Animated Series, “The lightsaber energy blades in Rebels appear thinner and sharper than their movie counterparts, reflecting a concept from early in A New Hope development.” This passage refers to the work of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who was integral in shaping George Lucas’ initial vision for Star Wars. In fact, many aesthetic and design choices made in Rebels were based on McQuarrie’s concept art. For example, Zeb was modeled on an early Chewbacca illustration, and various locations on the planet Lothal were taken straight from McQuarrie’s drawings of cities and landscapes.
Sure enough, when comparing the original artwork to the lightsabers in Rebels, the similarities become clear. In McQuarrie’s original interpretations of the lightsaber, the blades were thinner, even slightly translucent, and were thicker near the base of the hilt. Although the lightsabers in Rebels aren’t exact replicas of those designs, they certainly share the thin blade aspect.
How Star Wars Rebels Got the Original Trilogy Look Right
The idiosyncratic look was also modeled on the special effects that went into creating the very first lightsabers shown in A New Hope in 1977. The behind-the-scenes featurette “Igniting a Legacy” shared insight into how the animators designed and developed lightsabers in Rebels. In the video, Star Wars Rebels creator Dave Filoni explains, “There are certain details that you have to obtain in order to get [the] look” of the Original Trilogy. Joel Aron, a CG supervisor who worked on the show, also goes into how he based Rebels‘ lightsabers on the original “Scotchlite” method that they used to create the glowing blades from A New Hope, recreating the effect in animated form. He even brought in Roger Christian, the Oscar-winning set decorator and the creator of the lightsabers, to consult.
Though the new design of lightsabers proved controversial for Rebels fans, the adherence to McQuarrie’s designs certainly is a testament to the reverence that Filoni and his team had for the people who first brought Star Wars to life.
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