ABSTRACT
The Star Wars films reflect only a small portion of thousands of other officially licensed texts such as novels, video games, comic books, television programs, and others that comprise the Star Wars universe. Most popular accounts of the genesis of Star Wars emphasize the background and upbringing of George Lucas in Modesto, California, suggesting that his interest in auto racing and hot rod culture informed not just his feature film on the same topic, American Graffiti, but also the mere fact that he ultimately became interested in filmmaking: a near-fatal car. Comic books were another venue into which Lucas grew the Star Wars brand while the original film was still in production. The rapidly growing collection of secondary materials came to be known as the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" (EU) over time. Disney immediately began plans for a number of films and the development of other Star Wars properties.
