BLOCKBUSTER® talks to creators Seth Green (who you’d also know as an actor; he’s appeared in everything from TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Austin Powers flicks) and Matt Senreich about taking the mickey out of Star Wars.

Seth, your other animated series, Family Guy [Seth voices Chris Griffin], did a Star Wars spoof too. Which came first?
Seth Green: They happened about the same time actually; they were both being written concurrently. [Family Guy creator] Seth McFarlane and I called each other to make sure we weren’t stepping on each others’ toes, but, at the end of the day, the shows are so different. Family Guy’s Star Wars special plays out like a linear story, it’s A New Hope with the Family Guy characters in the roles, whereas Robot Chicken’s one is more about stuff you can imagine went on behind the scenes during the making of Star Wars.

Did you get George Lucas’ permission to do the Robot Chicken spoof?
SG: Yeah, he acts in it too! He plays himself.
Matt Senreich: He was a blast to work with, too. I don’t think most people realise…
SG: …that he’s a funny guy. Most people would assume he’s either stiff or shy, or what-have-you, and he’s hilarious!

So, why make a Star Wars spoof?
SG: Well, we were out at Lucasfilm to meet about possibly putting one of our sketches, ‘Emperor’s Phone Call’, on their Star Wars website. They invited us to take a tour of the facilities – Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts – and afterwards, when we were having lunch, George leaned over to us and said: ‘Hey, maybe we can do something together? I was thinking we could do a half-hour Robot Chicken Star Wars special?’ They were probably talking about it beforehand, but they made us feel like it was our idea - nice of them!