In July 2013, Star Wars: A New Hope presented a Navajo-dubbed version of the iconic film. However, the Navajo translation of the 1977 film never appeared on a streaming service until now.
A Reddit user spotted that Disney+ added the Navajo-dubbed film version to its streaming platform. Previously, Navajo-speaking Star Wars fans could only access this dubbed version on a specialty DVD that's rare to find and costs over $100 on Amazon.
According to the Reddit user's find, it's unclear when the dubbed version was added. However, it's on Disney+ as a film extra feature, available in 1080p HD.
In 2013, Manuelito Wheeler, the then-director of the Navajo Nation Museum, helmed this initiative by contacting both the Navajo Nation and Lucasfilm, as reported by NPR. "This was an idea that I felt was a way to promote our culture, promote our language, a way to save our language," Wheeler stated shortly before the film's premiere. "There are definitely Star Wars nerds out there who can repeat that movie verbatim, and they speak no Navajo. And so when they're watching this and it's in Navajo, it's them learning Navajo."
Wheeler worked on the translation project with his wife, who was an English professor at the University of New Mexico. She previously stated, "This will be one historic event that will celebrate and recognize the fact that we're just part of society here, in this Western society, in this country." The professor added, "But who we are as Navajo people living in this century, we really need to celebrate."
At the time of this writing, it's unknown if Lucasfilm/Disney would pursue future translation opportunities within the Star Wars universe for Navajo language speakers.
During Disney's 2020 Investor Day event, the company revealed new details about several projects, including the television series focused on one of A New Hope's main heroes. Obi-Wan Kenobi will follow the titular character's exile on Tatooine watching over Luke Skywalker in between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. McGregor, who played the iconic Jedi across all three entries in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, will be joined by his former prequel co-star Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
Directed by Deborah Chow, Obi-Wan Kenobi stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. The series has yet to receive a premiere date.