Why has there never been any official ‘Spaceballs’ merchandise?
Mel Brooks is the master of movie parodies. If there’s a genre, you can bet that he’s had a go at sending it up. In 1974, he took on both westerns and horrors with two of his most acclaimed pieces: Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. As hilarious as they were outrageous, these films routinely appear in lists of the greatest comedies ever made. In the years since, Brooks has directed more spoofs of classic folk heroes with Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Alfred Hitchcock with High Anxiety, and pretty much everyone who has ever lived with History of the World—Part I.
For science fiction fans, however, there is one Brooks movie that stands head and shoulders above the rest. In 1987, he released Spaceballs, a no-holds-barred skewering of the great and the good of sci-fi. Transformers, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more, you name it and it’s represented. Brooks even managed to land John Hurt for a scene where a Chestburster-style alien erupts from his torso, only to start singing showtunes.
While Spaceballs wasn’t a flop, it hardly blew people away upon its release. In recent years, however, it has gathered something of a cult following, much like many of Brooks’ films. Good luck trying to buy any merchandise for it, though, as no official stuff exists. Why? Because Brooks made the foolish decision of messing with George Lucas.
As you may have been able to figure out, the main thing that Spaceballs is a parody of is the original Star Wars trilogy. Valiant hero Lone Starr, played by Bill Pullman, is an amalgamation of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, while his large, hairy sidekick Barf, played candidly by John Candy, is a thinly-veiled jab at Chewbacca. Rick Moranis plays a character called ‘Dark Helmet’, the least subtly-named reference to Darth Vader of all time.
Prior to shooting Spaceballs, Brooks got in touch with Lucas to get his blessing for the project. Unfortunately, the mogul told him that he was forbidden from making any action figures based on the film. “He explained that if I made toys of my Spaceballs characters, they would look a lot like Star Wars action figures, and that would be a no-no for his lawyers and his studio’s business affairs department,” Brooks elaborated via Den of Geek.
He continued, “So, he gave his blessing to make my funny satirical takeoff of Star Wars as long as I promised that we would not sell any action figures.”
Nevertheless, he stressed that Lucas was a fan of his previous work, saying, “He enjoyed the script. [He] only had one real caveat for me: no action figures.”
It’s unclear whether or not this agreement stretches to the planned sequel to Spaceballs, which has been in development since 2024. It sounds like Brooks and Lucas had some sort of informal arrangement, backed up by the threat of legal action. However, with the galaxy far, far away now in the clutches of Disney, it’s not looking good for the plucky parody.
Star Wars changed the game for cinema, particularly in terms of merchandising. You can understand why Lucas would have been so keen to preserve the rights to his most prized creation, but if you’re upset that you can’t get your hands on a Lone Starr action figure, you know who to blame.
