Earth (planet)

"The bad news is that I have no idea where we are."

- Han Solo

Earth was a planet the Star Tours travel agency operated on at some point between 1 and 0 BBY. From space, one could see that a major proportion of Earth's surface was covered by oceans, with the remainder consisting of landmasses, and that a web of clouds enveloped the planet in a white veil. Through the Star Tours spaceline, Earth was connected to other worlds such as Coruscant, Kashyyyk, Naboo, Hoth, Geonosis and Tatooine. Around 4.3 ABY, Earth also acted as a hub for flights to Endor, prior to Star Tours being shut down. It was also known as Urthha by some. It was composed of various nation-states, with the Intergalactic Passport being useless as a planetary passport for any of these nation-states.

Behind the scenes
The picture of Earth used on Disney's website for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is The Blue Marble, which was created by NASA and was the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth as of 2002. Although technically taking place in a galaxy far, far away from the Milky Way galaxy, Earth was used in some pre-Disney-acquisition Expanded Universe sources. One early example was The Star Wars Intergalactic Passport, which noted it was not a valid passport for use in international travel on Earth.

The opening crawl shown during the grand opening of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue at Disney Hollywood Studios mentioned the "Earth system." The system's name likewise implied the name of the planet was Earth, which was later confirmed on the Star Tours: The Adventures Continue destinations section on the Disneyland site.

"With some help from the Architects, Tilotny would allow each civilization to develop. If one failed, she had the other. None of the exiles knew of the other world. One was called Cobal, and many regarded it as a paradise. The other was called Urthha, though many called it New Earth after the world they’d left behind, for, in fact, Splendid Ap had spherically designed it as a replica of Erset.."

- Chapter 20: The Human Diaspora and the Battle of the Zhell and Taung

In the apocryphal novella Supernatural Encounters: The Trial and Transformation of Arhul Hextrophon by Joseph Bongiorno, it is revealed that Urthha or New Earth is one of the planets where the human race was deposited from the Primary Universe to the galaxy by Tilotny and Splendid Ap; the latter had spherically designed it as a replica of Erset (implied be the original Earth of our universe). The humans finally left Urthha (possibly due to ecological cataclysm) for Notron, later known as Coruscant. Years later, Tharagorrogaraht with the aid of her wizards took the planet from its orbit in realspace and transferred it with her to a lonely region in Otherspace.

Non-canon history
Prior to the official use of the planet Earth in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, Earth was also shown in several works considered non-canon within the Legends continuity.

Earth appeared, under the name Urthha, in Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas. This book combined photos and concept art from the original trilogy and other Lucasfilm productions with a variety of short fiction pieces, and contains two significant references to Earth. In one of them, a supermarket tabloid parody attributed to Trebor Uarrac of Galactic Gossip, two Duros newlyweds named Etro and Droza Edthatt are "abducted by human beings" from the planet "Urthha." A picture of the Edthatts, originally a production photo from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, is included with the story. The Duros in the original picture were canonically identified as Chachi De Maal and Ohwun De Maal. Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas is not considered part of Star Wars Legends, making these two stories non-canonical in that continuity.

Another was "Into the Great Unknown," a comic story which was published as part of Star Wars Tales 19. "Into the Great Unknown" featured Earth, although its name was never directly referenced. It acted as a crossover between the Star Wars and the Indiana Jones franchises, which were both not only developed by George Lucas and written by Lucasfilm, but also featured Harrison Ford in a role (as Han Solo and the titular protagonist, respectively). The specific setting on the planet was cited to be the Pacific Northwest, which in real life was used as the film setting for Endor in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which was subtly referenced by Han Solo's comment that the forest he crash-landed in resembled Endor. In addition, Chewbacca being called Sasquatch likewise referenced how Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca's actor, had to be accompanied by crew members wearing bright vests while in costume so he would not be mistaken for Sasquatch (also known as Bigfoot) by people who had stumbled upon the filming set. The events of the comic, in addition to referencing Star Wars, also included some references to the Indiana Jones franchise. Dr. Jones' reference to Atlantis indicated that the comic took place after the events of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

The most recent extensive appearance of Earth was in the Star Wars Blog post "Planet Earth Abandons Death Star Project In Face Of Galactic Imperial Power." This blog article regarding Earth's decision to abandon plans to create a Death Star was a response to a statement posted from the office of the actual U.S. White House regarding a petition submitted through the U.S. government's "We the People" petition website which had gathered 34,435 signatures. The tongue-in-cheek statement, titled "This Isn't the Petition You're Looking For" (a reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous line "These aren't the droids you're looking for" when using the Mind trick), estimated a cost of $850,000,000,000,000,000 for the construction of a Death Star and noted that the administration did not support blowing up planets. At the time, a minimum of at least 25,000 signatures were required, though this requirement was later increased to 100,000, largely in response to such petitions, which were seen as frivolous. The Star Wars Blog staff responded to the White House announcement as if it were an in-universe breaking report from an Imperial standpoint.

Abduction to Urthha
The Galactic Gossip once reported that a newlywed Duros couple, Etro and Droza Edthatt, had been abducted by Humans and taken to a planet they identified as Urthha. These Humans spoke a language which the Duros couple required aural synchronizers to understand. The Duros were taken to a "party," an event where Earth Humans wearing a variety of uniforms gathered around liquid canisters. At the party, the Duros were examined by the locals, brought to a table, and made to consume food which resembled resembled stationary products from the Vretha system. After offending the hostess by stamping the food, Etro Edthatt developed collard lesions from eating a potato, scaring the Humans away. Left on their own, the Edthatts retired to the freezer.

The Edthatts spent the remainder of their time on Urthha bouncing on antennas, reading vegetables, and choking books and paintings (which put up much less resistance than those they were used to.) After over four solar periods of these bizarre experiences, the couple was unable to find their own way home or find suitable objects to scratch. Fortunately for them, a young Human who dropped by to throw piles of folded paper at the residence helped them return. After defeating them in a professional-level game of Twister, he helped the Edthatts use a matter catalyst (a common household device on Urthha locally referred to as a "blender") to get back home.

Indiana Jones
Earth, Doctor Indiana Jones's homeworld, was orbited by at least one moon, had a relatively large amount of surface water, and had a forest resembling that of Endor.

The forest was home to a tribe of Humans that used primitive combat technology like spears, bows, and axes. After the Millennium Falcon crash-landed in the forest and the members of the tribe killed Han Solo with arrows, they started referring to Chewbacca as "Sasquatch." A hundred and twenty-six years later, they led Doctor Jones and Shorty to the remains of the ship.

The planet's other places of interest included Atlantis, which Jones had visited prior to encountering the Falcon.

The President of the United States
A nation-state leader on Earth carrying the title "President of the United States" once announced that, despite the demands of many citizens of Earth, his government would not build a Death Star. While his administration cited reasons of fiscal responsibility, officials of the Galactic Empire in a statement issued by Galactic Empire Public Relations attributed the decision to cowardice in the face of Imperial military superiority. Admiral Conan Antonio Motti opined that the President's estimates of the Death Star's cost were "ridiculously" high, even for a planet without the industrial capabilities of the Empire. Imperial officials also stated that Earth claims of serious flaws in the Death Star's design were exaggerated, and cautioned "seditious elements within the Imperial Senate" to ignore these claims.

The Galactic Empire Public Relations statement referred to Earth disparagingly as "tiny," "aggressive," and "unimaginatively named." Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was quoted as saying that a "primitive" planet like Earth would only have disturbed galactic peace with a Death Star, unlike an "enlightened" leader such as Galactic Emperor Palpatine.

Appearances

 * Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan
 * Star Wars: Yoda Stories
 * Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
 * The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense
 * Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas
 * Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas