Star Wars and Mormonism

* Special thanks to Tyler Tait for this legend.

It seems that there is a story circulating through the church that Yoda, the lovable Jedi Master from the hit movie series Star Wars, was deliberately patterned after Spencer W. Kimball. Not only that, but apparently George Lucas is in constant contact with the leaders of the church as he writes each of the new prequels. They are supposedley directing him as he places pieces of Mormon doctrine into each film.

COME ON! Does anybody really believe this?! The reader who sent me this story in e-mail was somewhat amused himself. As far as Yoda being patterned after Pres. Kimball, that probably started out as a joke due to what some percieve as a slight ressemblance in appearance. The character Yoda was designed by special effects crews and puppetry artists working with Industrial Light and Magic, Inc. ILM is responsible for all the special effects in the Star Wars movies. While it is true that ILM is a subsidiary of Lucasfilm (which is owned by George Lucas), I doubt that he had a lot of input into Yoda's appearance except on a general level and also to approve the final product. Even if he did, to suggest that he deliberately patterned Yoda after Pres. Kimball is really out there. George Lucas has no ties whatsoever to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Which leads us to our next point. If George Lucas has no ties to the church, then why would he want to incorporate Mormon doctrine into his movies? Why would he take direction from the General Authorities? It just aint happenin'. I suppose that one could conceivably  find traces of philosophies in the Star Wars films that ressemble Mormon doctrine, but that would not be surprising since Mr. Lucas wanted to present some of his philosophical views in the films and his views are most likely based on biblical style Christianity. SURPRISE! The Bible contains Mormon doctrine! Hence there will be some similarities. This is about all there is to it. Sorry folks, George Lucas is not a closet Mormon.

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