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Star Wars: The Best Parodies to Watch Before You Die (or Disney Destroys Them)

4 Minute Read
Dec 5 2023
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A lot of people have poked fun in and around the galaxy far, far away over the years. Here are the best Star Wars parodies every fan must see.

Star Wars is a fun space adventure romp, but it’s not particularly funny. Oh, there are some good lines and jokes, but in general, it is not comedic. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have funny and/or ridiculous elements to it.

It’s also insanely popular, and as such, has spawned a ton of imitators and people poking fun at it. Some do it out of spite, but many more do it out of genuine love for the story and characters.

As a result, Star Wars has spawned a ton of parodies over the years, almost from the very first days indeed. Some are ok, and some are great. Today, let’s take a look at what might be the five greatest.

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Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy

Family Guy is a long-running American animated comedy show, but you probably already knew that. It’s pretty clearly past its prime at this point (if it was ever good), but it is also a show that loves Stars Wars and Star Wars references.
It loves them so much that it dedicated three special episodes to making a full parody of the Original Trilogy. And hey, it’s pretty decent. It’s got some nice jokes and is about as close as we will ever get to a full animated Star Wars remake.
The visuals are pretty good, too. For me, these have one big flaw; they are almost too faithful to the OT, and times seem more like a shot-for-shot animated remake than a real parody.

Robot Chicken


A different-Seth-headed project, Robot Chicken, loves to do small Star Wars sketches and gags. They are too short and too many to really have their own entry, but they are endlessly quotable.

Hardware Wars

Released in 1978 this was one of the first Star Wars parodies. Made with cobbled together effects and a lot of hardware it’s a great watch. It’s not long but it’s had a pretty big impact.

Star Wars Musical Parodies

 

Ok, I’m kind of cheating here by having multiple parodies in one heading, but these are all short and of the same nature. Over the years, people have done several musical parodies of Star Wars moments.

Undoubtedly, the most famous (and best) is Weird Al’s The Saga Begins, which recounts Episode I’s tale. Some have argued it is better than the movie it’s about.

 

Another amazing parody is “You’re Welcome” from Moana, which puts Luke Skywalker in Maui and Rey’s role in the role of Moana. This song is a bop and pretty funny overall. It’s also, yes, better than The Last Jedi and is the Luke we probably deserved.

 

Finally, we have a parody of “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton, as sung by the Emperor for a more recent one. And yeah, it’s a pretty good match there. You can find more, of course, but these are some I’ve really enjoyed.

Thumb Wars

What if Star Wars but Thumbs? It’s likely not a question you’ve ever asked. However, Thumb Wars actually dared to answer this pressing question. It’s a totally ridiculous romp of a parody and a lot of fun.

Troops, the Cops Parody

 

Troops is a fan film/parody of Star Wars done in the style of the show Cops. It tells the story of what really happened to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.

This film was made way back in 1997, before even the Prequels. As a fan-made video from before streaming video got big and YouTube was a thing, this was hard to see back in the day.

It often got passed around on VHS or burned DVDs. The Star Wars parody was surprisingly well done for a fan-made project in the ’90s and shows a lot of love.

The Rise of Skywalker is a Parody

This movie isn’t Star Wars. It’s got to be a parody right? …right?

Spaceballs

One of the oldest parodies and still the best. Spaceballs is Mel Brooks’ hilarious send-up to the galaxy far far away. Released in 1987, only 4 years after Return of the Jedi, this movie is chock full of fun scenes and endlessly quotable dialogue.

Some of the movie sequences are downright legendary and despite their age, they remain a hoot and fan favorite today. Unlike the others list, this movie uses original characters and its own setting and plot to set itself apart, while still very clearly parodying Star Wars.

Moreover coming out between the end of the OT and before the EU really kicked off, Spaceballs arguably helped keep Star Wars in the public mind. This is a movie that’s not only good on its own but helped its source become better.

Let us know what your favorite parody is down in the comments!

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Author: Abe Apfel
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