A Chance to C-3PO Up Close

If you’ve ever wondered what makes that repulsive sloshing sound when Jabba the Hutt moves, the answer awaits at the “Star Wars” traveling exhibition at the San Diego Art Museum in Balboa Park.

Ditto if you’re intrigued to eyeball the original Chewbacca costume, an 11-foot model of the Imperial Star Destroyer, the dress worn by Princess Leia, or the darkness himself, Darth Vader.

There’s even heft for those who prefer deep meaning with their pop culture: The underlying theme of “Star Wars: The Power of Myth” is that the wallop of the four--and counting--”Star Wars” movies by George Lucas comes from a masterful manipulation of literary, cultural and historic archetypes.

If the why of the wallop is unknown, the power of it has been apparent since “Star Wars” made its debut in 1977.

“Strange as it may seem, we still get letters from people who say ‘Star Wars’ changed their lives,” Gordon Radley, president of Lucasfilm Ltd., said at the exhibition’s San Diego premiere. Something about the movies “seems to reach a deep and powerful place within people,” Radley said.

To celebrate the artistry that has gone into that quest, the exhibition assembles some 250 props, models, costumes and characters--backed by an audio tour narrated by James Earl Jones and featuring the vaulting sounds of John Williams’ wonderfully bombastic “Star Wars” anthem.

This is the show that attracted a record 1 million visitors during its run at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., from October 1997 to January 1999.

The Smithsonian’s traveling service decided that the story and artifacts of C-3PO, R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the snarly Wampa Ice Creature and the rest were too good not to share with the rest of America.

San Diego is the opening venue on a tour that will include Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Toledo, Ohio, and Brooklyn, N.Y., and last until mid-2002. The San Diego visit is set to continue through Jan. 2.

The 5,000-square-foot exhibition is a chance to broaden the San Diego museum’s constituency and make a tidy profit to be used to underwrite higher-brow fare that does not stir the juices of such a large section of the populace.

The show presupposes a great deal of public interest and knowledge of the “Star Wars” oeuvre--a safe bet, that.

At the front of the line on opening day were two adult men from Los Angeles who had been part of a six-week tag-team effort to get tickets for the opening of “Star Wars--Episode I: The Phantom Menace.” Let’s see the Modigliani crowd top that kind of dedication!

Truth be told, “Star Wars: The Magic of Myth,” boiled to its essence, is a collection of movie memorabilia with a (well-stocked) gift store attached. Add burgers and fries, and you’d have Planet Hollywood.

The exhibitors have tried to justify the collection as museum-worthy by teasing out the heroic and mythological parallels. Interpretive panels near the display cases point out the similarities between the Lucas films and themes found in great and musty works. Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” is for sale in the gift store. A series of lectures is planned.

Like many an ancient story (and modern western), “Star Wars” has a hero on a journey; the hero faces obstacles; the hero needs a wise and aged guide; the hero’s journey becomes a series of tests of strength and courage. There are distressed damsels to rescue, etc.

As they used to say on “Seinfeld,” yada, yada, yada. Or in this case, Yoda, Yoda, Yoda.

If this Arthurian legend-on-film stuff enhances your appreciation of “Stars War,” have at it.

On the other hand, if you don’t require an intellectual crib sheet to get a kick out of great storytelling and great visual effects, skip over the meaning and go directly to the thing itself. Check out the Imperial storm troopers who resemble Nazis with slim hips, or learn the secret of Jabba’s sound (hint: think of the slushing of cheese casserole gone soupy).

My 9-year-old consultant pronounced the show “cool,” a term Campbell doubtless could have extrapolated back to an expression of Druidic joy.

Anticipating big crowds, the museum has arranged for a 30-minute film made by the Smithsonian about “Star Wars” and, more broadly, space-as-metaphor to show continuously on kiosk-mounted monitors at the queuing areas.

Bring money. Adult tickets are $10 on weekdays, $12 on weekends; for ages 6 to 17, $4 weekdays, $5 weekends. Headsets for the audio tour are $4 for adults, $3 for children. And there’s the gift store. . . .

Except for true buffs, the show is probably a 60-minute experience, including the gift shop but excluding the wait in line.

For locals, that means you can do “Star Wars” and get home in time to fire up the backyard barbecue. For those coming from longer distances, there’s time for another San Diego venue or two.

If anyone in your party is still stoked on the concept of bravery and the adventure of flight, one possibility would be another Balboa Park institution, the Aerospace Museum. In the rotunda is a full-size replica of a plane built three-quarters of a century ago in San Diego for a shy youth from the Midwest who dared go where no one else had been.

When he and plane landed in a field outside Paris, the world and the sky above it were never the same. Consider him the Luke Skywalker of his day.

BE THERE

“Star Wars: The Magic of Myth,” San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego. Through Jan. 2. Sunday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Information: (619) 232-7931, and https:///www.sdmart.com. Tickets available at box office and through Ticketmaster.