The Wizard Of Oz
Given its wide-reaching influence and long plot arc, it’s easy to forget where Star Wars actually began. It didn’t start out with the epic tale of epic heroes, but rather with a distress call and a farm boy whisked away on an adventure. While there’s a wide gulf between the Technicolor drama of The Wizard of Oz – and while Luke certainly doesn’t sing “Over the Rainbow”– there is more than a hint of the Oz plot in the A New Hope.
It might be weird to think of Luke Skywalker as Dorothy, but he does fulfill a similar role: trapped on a small farm in the middle of the dustbowl, he dreams of escape to the wild blue yonder. And he gets his wish, whisked away to do battle with an evil witch Sith lord with the help of an odd hodge-podge of friends, including one who moves and acts like he’s made of tin and one as hairy as a lion.
The foundation of A New Hope is a magical journey for a young man from the sticks into a world of danger and adventure, a far cry from his home life. Like Dorothy, Luke longs to go home, but he’s also not allowed to – and when he does, too much has changed.