Troops (film)

Troops is a 1997 short mockumentary film directed by Kevin Rubio that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con on July 18, 1997 and was subsequently distributed via the internet.

In a Reddit AMA in January 2018, Rubio stated that Troops is acknowledged by George Lucas as a canonical installment in the Star Wars franchise.

Rubio finished the film while working at the Fox Kids Network, and was able to use well-known voice talent in his cast, including Jess Harnell, Cam Clarke, and announcer Bill Farmer.

A small visual gag near the beginning of the film is that the stolen Imperial droid recovered from the Jawas is a replica of Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

In TROOPS there is a notable alternate (tongue-in-cheek) take on the deaths of Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, presenting their fate as the result of a domestic dispute gone too far, rather than execution at the hands of Imperial forces.