''The Story of Star Wars'' is a 1977 record album presenting an abridged version of the events depicted in the film '' Star Wars'', using dialogue and sound effects from the original film. The recording was produced by George Lucas and Alan Livingston, and was narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne. The script was adapted by E. Jack Kaplan and Cheryl Gard. The album was released on 20th Century Fox Records (T-550) and came with an illustrated book. The original film became a hit in the days before

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

, so for many fans at the time, this album was the closest to owning a copy of the film they could revisit whenever they wanted. The album was also released on compact cassette,

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...

, and 4-track reel-to-reel audio tape. It was a commercial success and achieved

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

status. There were even foreign language versions of the album in French (''L'Historie de La Guerre des étoiles'', narrated by Dominique Paturel), German (''Krieg der Sterne'', narrated by F. J. Steffens),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

(''La Historia de La Guerra de las Galaxias'', narrated by José Catalá).

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of dialects and sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in any other country in ...

(''Argumento Completo Narrado de La Guerra de las Galaxias'', narrated by León Canales) and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

(スターウォーズストーリー日本語版, ''The Star Wars Story - Japanese Edition'', narrated by

Taichirō Hirokawa was a Japanese voice actor and narrator. He was born in Tokyo on February 15, 1939, and died on March 3, 2008, in Shibuya from cancer. His death was announced at the beginning of the 2nd Seiyu Awards. Roles Film * Lupin the Third: Pilot Film (1 ...

). The sequel films were also given the same treatment of being turned into truncated audio dramas of their soundtracks, ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...

'' was adapted for records by

RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several ma ...

, under the subtitle ''The Adventures of Luke Skywalker'' with narration by

Malachi Throne Malachi Throne (December 1, 1928 – March 13, 2013) was an American actor, noted for his guest-starring roles on ''Star Trek'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', ''Lost in Space'', ''Batman'', '' Land ...

, and ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

'' was also made by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

into an abridged version for audio, under its

Buena Vista Records Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...

banner and with narration provided by Chuck Riley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Story of Star Wars Works based on Star Wars 1977 albums 20th Century Fox Records albums Audiobooks by title or series Children's albums Star Wars (film)

See also

References