In the past, only the movies were canon. The rest was considered non canon by George Lucas. I have no idea if that policy has changed since Lucas’ departure or not.
Not precisely. The Lucasfilm group licensed and approved official EU material. There were certain limitations placed such as up until the prequels avoiding the Clone Wars era in EU fiction, and avoiding elaborating on Yoda’s race. George Lucas did have some direct contact with EU authors for feedback.
The old EU used a tiered system of canon, where George Lucas sat at the top and his dictates would override anything else. But if Lucas didn’t override a piece of EU, it was canon.
On April 25, 2014, in preparation for the upcoming feature films, Lucasfilm announced that the Expanded Universe was rebranded as Legends, thus, the term “canon” come to be reserved exclusively for George Lucas’ canon - the six movies and the seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars he developed and producered - and the movies, television series, novels, comics, toys and video games created by Lucasfilm after the acquisition. Since then, the only previously published material still considered canon are the six original trilogy/prequel trilogy films, novels (where they align with what is seen on screen), the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film, and Part I of the short story Blade Squadron.
So, as a rule of thumb, only products coming from Lucasfilm directly are considered canon.
I remembered this because I was an active 501st member and remember the uproar when the EU was left out of the canon. A lot of people was pissed with the decision. But it is what it is.
In the past, only the movies were canon. The rest was considered non canon by George Lucas. I have no idea if that policy has changed since Lucas’ departure or not.
Okay, thanks. That’s exactly what I’m curious about.
Not precisely. The Lucasfilm group licensed and approved official EU material. There were certain limitations placed such as up until the prequels avoiding the Clone Wars era in EU fiction, and avoiding elaborating on Yoda’s race. George Lucas did have some direct contact with EU authors for feedback.
The old EU used a tiered system of canon, where George Lucas sat at the top and his dictates would override anything else. But if Lucas didn’t override a piece of EU, it was canon.
Link with the tiers.
https://screenrant.com/star-wars-old-canon-system-explained/
That’s old. It all changed in 2014.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_in_other_media#Holocron_database_and_canonicity
And from Wookiepedia:
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Canon
So, as a rule of thumb, only products coming from Lucasfilm directly are considered canon.
I remembered this because I was an active 501st member and remember the uproar when the EU was left out of the canon. A lot of people was pissed with the decision. But it is what it is.
Yes… I know. I was describing how the old EU canon worked, in response to a comment about the old system.