Say what you will about George Lucas - he’s always been nice to people who ask permission.

LucasFilm has earned a reputation for cracking down unmercifully on Star Wars ripoffs or references in the media, but the fact of the matter is that Lucas has very little problem letting people do their own take on his work. He just wants to okay it first.

And if he was willing to approve Family Guy’s irreverent Blue Harvest, how tough could he be? Not very - because he paid the same honor to another project involving Seth Green - this time, Robot Chicken.

The thirty-minute episode, cleverly titled Robot Chicken Star Wars, has now been given its own DVD release (much like Blue Harvest! I’m starting to see a pattern here). But where do the similarities end?

RCSW, unlike Blue Harvest, does not attempt to assemble a cohesive narrative from its parody. Like the rest of Robot Chicken, it’s sketch comedy - Star Wars style. For those unfamiliar with the show, this special would be a decent introduction. It displays everything typical of Robot Chicken - pop culture references, humor based on injecting mundane reality into the absurd, and stop-motion animation featuring modified action figures. Since it covers familiar terrain, it might bring in a new audience to Robot Chicken.

The brain child of pint-sized actor Seth Green, it’s become much more than just a fun hobby for him and his friends. The show has a cult following, and the team (which includes Breckin Meyer - yes, the skateboarder from Clueless) works many hours a day on the painstaking animation process. RCSW, which includes many spot-on recreations of scenes from the movies, is a massive labor of love.

And you’ll hear some familiar voices - Green recycles one of his characters from Family Guy, übernerd Neil Goldman, as a similar character at a Star Wars fan convention. Ahmed Best himself appears as the voice of Jar Jar Binks, and Jesse Ventura is President Lincoln in a brief political interlude. Seth Green has connections.

So if you enjoy sketch comedy performed by Star Wars action figures, there is almost no question that you should check out Robot Chicken Star Wars. If you’re too cheap to buy the DVD and reside in the U.S., you can watch it for free on Adult Swim’s website. May the force, whatever, et cetera.

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