The first three Star Wars movies (we know them as episodes IV, V, and VI) were released in the years before CGI; special effects were all photographic, practical (models, puppets, stop-motion), or hand-drawn (e.g. rotoscope). Despite the limitations, the story telling and suspension of disbelief all worked (not just for me, but for the blockbusting lines of fans at the time). Nevertheless, when CGI became possible and practical, Lucas decided to...
Originally asked by Anthony X on Stack Exchange (movies) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
