Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | June 19, 2026
Some Christmas in the early 90s, my older brother was gifted a brand-spanking new Star Wars boxed set. My life changed at that point. It was his, but, of course, we all got to watch it, and that galaxy far, far away trapped me in its tractor beam. What followed was me seeing those same movies rereleased on the big screen, waiting in a Toys R’ Us parking lot with my dad and brothers for Shadows of the Empire toys, and, several years later, the summer leading up to the release of The Phantom Menace. It was a perfect way for me to be introduced to the franchise, and I was determined to recreate that for my twin five-year-old boys. What a mistake.
While I have certainly fallen behind over the years, especially after becoming a parent, my Star Wars fandom has remained strong. I had a blast with the sequel trilogy, have nostalgic memories of the prequels, and have seen, like, 50 percent of the Disney+ shows. Don’t even get me started on the cartoons, which look great, but have always felt too daunting since I didn’t start them from the beginning. Regardless, I knew I wanted to introduce my kids to the original films, like I was, and have their fandom grow from there, as mine did. And that mentality is not exclusive to Star Wars.
I’m certainly of the mind that my kids like things that I like until they tell me otherwise. Eventually, they’ll show me things they love, and I will do my best to get as hyped about them as possible. I want to be like Jamie Lee Curtis, showing up to Comic-Con in cosplay I’m not super familiar with because I know my kids love it. Still, until that day, it’ll be all superheroes, Texas Rangers, Universal Monster movies, and, now, Star Wars. The latter was something I had the most specific self-instructions for.
I knew my kids likely wouldn’t be able to see the original films in theaters as I did, but I knew that those would have to be first. Only a heathen would start with the prequel trilogy, or any other way, to be honest. What’s next? I’m going to start with the Andrew Garfield movies when introducing them to Spider-Man? Next, you’re going to tell me that they can switch which baseball team they like because the one they usually cheer for is often terrible. Get outta here!
Since I had all the answers last year, I sat my kids down while we were on vacation, carefully planning out how they would see Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope. We were going to have hot dogs, maybe some candy, and have a proper movie night. My kids have been watching movies since we all got COVID when they were a little over a year and a half old, leaving us all stuck on the couch, barely moving, and watching Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. They always watch a movie with me on my birthday. Even though they were four at the time, I knew attention span wouldn’t be an issue. What I didn’t expect was that they would… just not be that into it.
I had done everything correctly! We had a “special” dinner, there were sugary snacks, and we were on vacation, the place where the best memories happened. But there I was, trying to get them to settle down as they were constantly getting up or playing with their food. They know who Darth Vader is, so they were a little happy when he showed up, but by the time Obi-Wan marched onto the screen, I had to turn the movie off. Despite both of them definitely wanting to have a Star Wars experience after seeing it represented out in the wild, their first foray was, to put it mildly, unsuccessful.
They had a perfectly fun night, and have remembered it as such. Still, it didn’t go as I planned, and since I was apparently committed to making this all about me, I had stewed over it ever since. They didn’t do anything wrong, but I viewed the night as a failure because of unnecessary expectations I had put on it, which is something I only came to terms with recently. There was a brief moment when I toyed with another idea: maybe it needed to be in a theater. So, for a solid week, I mulled over the idea of The Mandalorian & Grogu being their first true Star Wars experience. Instead, for a host of reasons, it’s become the first Star Wars film I (likely) won’t see in a theater.
Regardless, I knew that this summer would be the time to make the move; I just didn’t know when. Then, I was given a sign. My wife texted me when she was at Old Navy. “Need any shirts?” Attached were three pictures: a Simpsons shirt, a Back to the Future shirt, and a shirt with the Phantom Menace poster on it. A thought immediately went into my head. If I wore that Phantom Menace shirt, one of my sons would inevitably ask me what it was, and I would say, “I guess we’ll have to watch it to find out.” I texted back, “Hell yeah, grab me that Phantom Menace shirt, please.” She made sure I wasn’t joking (as she was when she sent the picture), snagged me the shirt, and my child’s inquisitive mind did not fail me.
A few days after he saw the shirt, we all gathered around the TV together to watch Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, and I’ll remember that experience for the rest of my life. There was a little restlessness from one, though he locked in during all the parts you’d expect. Meanwhile, the one who asked about my shirt was hooked for most of the runtime. While no one in my family was immune to the movie grinding to a halt as the crew returned to Coruscant, and the movie certainly feels as long as it is, it was a magical experience that will likely have a lasting impact.
Since my kids can be as sappy as I can, two highlights involved some very emotional moments. One son started crying several minutes after the film ended, upset by the loss of Qui-Gon Jinn. When Anakin was saying goodbye to his mother, both kids got emotional and ended up snuggling up to each other for comfort. I’m tearing up just writing about it. It’s one of the lovliest things I’ve ever witnessed, all over an objectively bad movie that I didn’t even want to show them this early in the first place.
To say the experience gave me an epiphany would be an understatement. I’d spent so much time thinking about how my kids could experience childhood the way I did, I never stopped to think about them experiencing it for themselves. There’s no point in clinging to the way things were done when I was growing up, just because that’s how it was. I’m my own person, and they’re their own people, and that’s great. I’m very different from my parents (except for, ya know, body type and mannerisms), very happy with who I am, and I want to afford them the same opportunity.
Obviously, I would have liked to come to this conclusion outside of a big Hollywood franchise, but acquiescing to the idea that they would watch Phantom Menace before A New Hope has opened up a world of opportunity for me as a parent. It might seem silly, but anything’s possible now, thanks to that decision! They are going to do things differently from me, and have all of these wonderful experiences, and that’s beautiful. And the results still may end up the same.
Just yesterday, the kid who saw my Phantom Menace shirt and spurred this whole moment excitedly picked out his outfit for the first time. He ran downstairs to show me what he chose: blue cargo shorts and a Star Wars Christmas shirt a family friend had given them last year. Seasonally appropriate? Nope! Was I going to tell him that after all I’ve learned?! Absolutely not! Instead, I sat there with a huge smile on my face as he jumped off the final stair and yelled, “Star Wars, baby!” Damn right, sweetheart. Damn right.
