From Newsgroup: alt.fan.starwars

The original Star Wars Death Star plans were made by two students using JPL computers without JPL even knowing until they're about to receive thanks in the credits.

Most people remember the Death Star briefing in Star Wars as just another quick setup scene. But hidden inside it is one of the quiet little revolutions of movie history. That glowing wireframe of the Death Star was one of the very few computer-generated moments in the original 1977 film. Almost everything else in Star Wars was still being done the old way, with models, cameras, optical tricks, and a huge amount of practical craftsmanship. In other words, one of the most futuristic images in the movie was also one of the most experimental.

The artist behind that sequence was Larry Cuba. He made it in 1976 using the GRASS graphics system at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Lab, working on DEC PDP-11 and Vector General hardware. It took months to produce a sequence that only lasts around 40 to 45 seconds on screen. That is what makes it so beautiful to me: today we are used to computers doing everything instantly, but back then even a simple-looking wireframe felt like pulling the future into the present by hand.

What makes the backstory even better is that people often mix together two different chapters of Larry Cuba's early career. The famous "borrowed computer time at JPL" story seems to belong to an earlier CalArts-era project involving Cuba and fellow student Gary Imhoff, not neatly to the actual Star Wars Death Star animation itself. So the real story is a little more interesting than the viral version: yes, there was genuine 1970s hacker energy around Cuba's early work, but the Star Wars sequence people know was created through UIC's lab, not just by kids sneaking onto NASA machines after dark. Reality is less neat than a meme, but honestly more human.

There is also a tiny production scar hidden in plain sight. In the Rebel briefing graphic, the Death Star weapon appears on the equator, while in the finished movie model the dish sits in the northern hemisphere. The best explanation is that Cuba was working from an early design reference before the final model had fully settled.


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From Newsgroup: alt.fan.starwars

On 3/20/2026 9:45 AM, MummyChunk wrote:

... That glowing wireframe of the Death Star was
one of the very few computer-generated moments
in the original 1977 film....

The artist behind that sequence was Larry Cuba.
He made it in 1976 using the GRASS graphics system
at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic
Visualization Lab, working on DEC PDP-11 and
Vector General hardware. It took months to produce a
sequence that only lasts around 40 to 45 seconds on screen.

Did they consider using cartoon to do it?
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@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
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From Newsgroup: alt.fan.starwars

On 2026-03-20 04:13:39 +0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang said:

On 3/20/2026 9:45 AM, MummyChunk wrote:

... That glowing wireframe of the Death Star was one of the very few
computer-generated moments in the original 1977 film....

The artist behind that sequence was Larry Cuba. He made it in 1976
using the GRASS graphics system at the University of Illinois at
Chicago's Electronic Visualization Lab, working on DEC PDP-11 and
Vector General hardware. It took months to produce a sequence that only
lasts around 40 to 45 seconds on screen.

Did they consider using cartoon to do it?

They could have. The BBC's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series"
that first aired four years after the original "Star Wars" movie did
use hand drawn animations for all the Guide's explanations.

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From Newsgroup: alt.fan.starwars

On 3/20/2026 1:14 PM, Your Name wrote:

They could have. The BBC's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series"
that first aired four years after the original "Star Wars" movie did
use hand drawn animations for all the Guide's explanations.

Speaking of old computerized wireframe art in movies:

TRON original theatrical trailer (1982) [FTD-0313] - YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMT8tRrEMC4>

Automan (1983) Official Intro Sequence - YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA1NT4I0s34>
--
@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
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