Anyone who has ever seen the 1978 variety showsploitation travesty that was the Star Wars Holiday Special cannot pretend to have been betrayed by the treacly offenses of baby Annakin and Jar Jar Binks. We knew Lucas had it in him, even if we pretended otherwise.
So it's a bit surprising that it's taken thirty years for something decent to come of it. Lucasfilm blogger Bonnie Burton's make your own bantha toy project was inspired by the bantha toy owned by Chewbacca's son Lumpy, which played a pivotal role in the plot, such as it was, of the Special. [Here's an archival photo of the original prop from bonniegrrl's flickr stream.]
Now if someone will kindly carve some X-wings out of wood, like Lumpy's crotchety old grandfather Itchy did, we'll be set.
Cuddly Bantha Craft [starwars.com via boingboing]
TMI, yet can't turn away: Stuffed bantha history from the Star Wars wiki [starwars.wikia.com]
Star Wars Holiday Special snarky liveblogging/screencap event [the atari thief]
Don't miss Leia's closing song: Star Wars Holiday Special fan site [starwarsholidayspecial.com]
This is amazing!