'LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special': Harmless diversion for fans

WHAT IT'S ABOUT If you're going to take another crack at a holiday-themed "Star Wars" special, you might as well go for it with LEGOS, given the infamy that surrounds the original made-for-TV extravaganza.

For anyone who isn't up on their "Star Wars" lore, the 1978 spinoff featuring original trilogy stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, depicting the celebration of the Wookiee holiday Life Day, is so universally detested that it has never gotten a proper home entertainment release, though you can find it on places like YouTube.

It remains the subject of derision even from Hamill himself, who in September tweeted of the presidential debate: "That debate was the worst thing I've ever seen & I was in The Star Wars Holiday Special."

You won't find the original on Disney+, but you can get your fix of your favorite characters and the season with "The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special," which begins streaming on Nov. 17.

On Life Day, a device creates a portal that propels Rey, the protagonist of the most recent trilogy, and BB-8 through the most iconic moments of the franchise, spanning everything from Luke Skywalker framed against the twin moons of Tatooine through Baby Yoda and "The Mandalorian."

At the same time, Chewbacca's family, Lando Calrissian and others arrive for the celebration.

MY SAY It'd have been hard to imagine Disney authorizing a strange or edgy holiday special. The company knows its audience and aims this 44-minute short squarely at the younger set.

Indeed, this is exactly what you think it is, a safe spinoff that also happens to be a perfectly adequate supplement for any parents wanting to share their "Star Wars" love with their kids.

It has very little to do with the original, beyond resurrecting Life Day, and while it's not destined to be more than a footnote in the prolific and ever-expanding Disney "Star Wars" universe, it's also far less of a thrown-together, haphazard grab for some eyeballs than it might have been.

Director Ken Cunningham, screenwriter David Shayne and the animators relish the opportunity to resurrect so many classic franchise moments with the tiny figurines. Rey's tour through "Star Wars" adventures past offers a bit of a nostalgia kick, especially when she lands back on Luke at the very beginning of it all in the "A New Hope" tableau.

There are some clever and funny touches, too, particular in the way the program neuters Emperor Palpatine by turning him into a sad and desperate figure. Don't worry: this LEGO adventure isn't exactly canon, of course, so his legacy as a fearsome megavillain remains intact.

This special does not need to resonate more than it does — it's intended to be a harmless diversion and that's exactly what it is — but it would be more worthwhile if the script had Rey embark on a new and interesting adventure. Instead, it simply regurgitates sights and sounds that are so familiar they're practically baked into our subconscious.

The special is also missing the self-reflexive satirical quality that distinguished "The LEGO Movie," which stood above the pack because of its keen awareness of the turmoil inherent in the whole notion of your entire universe being contained in a LEGO set, not to mention being a living, breathing being with C-shaped hands and swiveling arms.

BOTTOM LINE Parents looking to share their "Star Wars" love with their children should add this to the list. It's not essential viewing for anyone else.