Point Reyes Light - November 8, 2001

Lucas sues over erotic satire

By Janine Warner

An animated, erotic film that pokes fun at Star Wars and other pop-culture is getting international attention this week.

Apparently Nicasio filmmaker George Lucas didn’t think Star Ballz was funny.

Lynne Hale, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm, said the company has filed suit against Market Media Group because "the film is tarnishing the Star Wars image. It’s a pornographic, animated film," she said.

Linda Wildblood, a partner of Market Media Group, which produced the film, said it’s a spoof. The 45-minute film was developed in the company’s animation studio in Southeast Asia and cost about $60,000 to produce, Wildblood said.

"It’s like Scary Movie," she said. "It’s a parody of a whole host of famous films and characters." Star Ballz combines animated characters and music to create scenes that come from a wide-range of American pop culture.

The opening credits are done in a sort of Beavis and Butthead style. One scene pokes fun at the music industry with rock and rap while another looks like it could be from the X-Files.

A character who acts like Chewie the Wookie from Star Wars also looks an awful lot like radio shock jock Howard Stern. In another scene, several alien creatures do a dance, much like the strip scene from The Full Monty.

Market Media Group declined to comment on the Lucas lawsuit. The defendant is incorporated in the Virgin Islands and specializes in creating erotic cartoons in the Japanese Hentai style. Most of the group’s films are sold in the US. The film’s Web site at <www.starballz.com> states that the animation should be viewed only by those 18 or older.

Adult industry reviews describe the animated film as a comedy, not a pornographic movie, Wildblood said. "There are sexual scenes, but there is so much humor. In an animation, you can exaggerate so many things."

In one scene, the princess gets caught in a tunnel trying to escape and the hero behind her takes full advantage of her predicament, she said. "It wasn’t meant to offend anybody," said Wildblood. "It’s a joke."

By the by, despite how seemingly appropriate her name is for her job, Wildblood, a British native, told The Light that’s the name she was born with.

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