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story
“We had an outline and George changed everything in it,” Kurtz said. “Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.”
The discussed ending of the film that Kurtz favored presented the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns,” as Kurtz put it.
background
Kurtz and Lucas first collaborated on the 1973 film American Graffiti, which became a huge box office hit. Kurtz then became producer of Star Wars, released in 1977, and its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980. Many of the more mystical and spiritual elements of Star Wars were influenced by Kurtz, who had extensively studied comparative religion.
It is notable that the more mystical aspects of the Jedi were absent from Star Wars films following Kurtz’s departure, while similar mystical elements appeared in Kurtz’s later muppet fantasy film The Dark Crystal. Lucas’ replacement of mystical or spiritual explanations with more scientific-seeming explanations such as midichlorians in the Star Wars prequels has faced heavy criticism from Star Wars fans
sources:
http://aulia-m.tumblr.com/post/958349757/rotj
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kurtz
