Brad Bird was on many a wish list for who should write and direct a new Star Wars movie. As it turns out, Pixar’s czar of emotional and adventure-themed storytelling has actually spent some time thinking about how to improve the old Star Wars movies. Bird told Patton Oswalt about it, and Oswalt recounts it thusly to Esquire:
Esquire: But you can learn so much from an early failure.
Oswalt: It’s weirdly important. I was talking with [director] Brad Bird one time, and he said it’s like the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Luke shows up and he’s a badass. He said they should’ve opened it with Luke in the swamp saying to Yoda, “You said ‘Don’t go.’ I said ‘Fuck you, I’m gonna go help my friends.’ I went and got my hand cut off and my friends are in even worse trouble because of what I did. I fucked up everything.” And then Yoda should have gone, “Now you’re a Jedi. Now you’re beyond the fear of failure. Now you’re ready.” That would have made it even cooler.
Well, he is right. That would have made it even cooler.
