Star Wars' lightsabers are among the most iconic fictional weapons in pop culture. From the Darksaber to Kylo Ren's crossguard hilt, the "elegant weapon from a more civilized age" has had a deep and storied history, both in and out of the canon. Despite boasting many design variations, the lightsaber's blade has been fairly uniform across most of Star Wars. However, in the animated Star Wars Rebels, the lightsabers wielded by characters like Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger and even Darth Vader are stylized differently, with their blades much thinner than in previous live-action and animated works.
However, some fans may not realize the decision to depict the lightsabers in a much more distinct visual style has deep roots in Star Wars history. The Rebels' design draws inspiration from an artist who played an enormous role in establishing the look of the Star Wars universe: Ralph McQuarrie.
Ralph McQuarrie's Original Lightsaber Design
According to the 2020 book Star Wars Rebels: The Art of the Animated Series, "The lightsaber energy blades in Rebels appear thinner and sharper than their movie counterparts, reflecting a concept from early in A New Hope development." The passage refers to the work of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who was integral in shaping George Lucas' vision for Star Wars. In fact, many aesthetic and design choices made in Rebels were based on McQuarrie's concept art. For example, Zeb was modeled on an early Chewbacca illustration, while assorted locations on the planet Lothal were taken straight from McQuarrie's drawings of cities and landscapes.
Sure enough, when comparing the original artwork to the lightsabers on Rebels, the similarities become clear. In McQuarrie's interpretations of the lightsaber, the blades were thinner, even slightly translucent, and thicker near the hilt's base. Although the lightsabers on Rebels aren't exact replicas of those designs, they certainly share the thin blade aspect.
How Star Wars Rebels Got the Original Trilogy Look Right
The idiosyncratic look was also modeled on the special effects that went into creating the first lightsabers used in 1977's A New Hope. The behind-the-scenes featurette "Igniting a Legacy" shared insight into how the animators designed and developed lightsabers on Rebels. In the video, Star Wars Rebels creator Dave Filoni explains, "There are certain details that you have to obtain in order to get [the] look" of the original trilogy.
Joel Aron, a CG supervisor who worked on the show, also goes into how he based Rebels' lightsabers on the original "Scotchlite" method used to create the glowing blades in A New Hope and replicated the effect in animated form. He even brought in Roger Christian, the Oscar-winning set decorator and the creator of the lightsabers, to consult. Although the "retro" look of Rebels' lightsabers proved controversial with viewers, the adherence to McQuarrie's designs certainly is a testament to the reverence Filoni and his team had for the people who first brought Star Wars to life.