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Mint
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Google celebrates May the 4th Star Wars Day with special confetti animation
Google marked this year's Star Wars Day with a special touch of galactic flair. When users searched for "May the 4th" or "Star Wars Day" on the platform, they were treated to a delightful on-screen confetti animation featuring icons from the beloved sci-fi franchise. The interactive celebration included themed confetti resembling lightsabers, droids, and iconic symbols from the Star Wars universe, cascading down the screen, adding an extra layer of fun to the unofficial fan holiday. Three buttons slide up from the bottom, giving users the option to quit, unleash more confetti, or share the the experience with friends and family. Characters included in the confetti include Grogu (aka Baby Yoda), Wicket the Ewok, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Stormtrooper helmets. The tradition of "May the 4th" stems from the pun 'May the Force be with you,' a classic line from the Star Wars series. Over the years, it has evolved into a global day of fandom, with fans, brands, and creators paying tribute. Google has a long history of marking cultural moments with creative Easter eggs and Doodles. This year's Star Wars tribute continues that tradition, delighting fans across the world with a simple yet nostalgic digital nod. May 4th is celebrated as Star Wars Day because of a clever pun on the iconic phrase from the films: "May the Force be with you." Fans noticed that "May the Fourth" sounds almost identical, and began saying "May the Fourth be with you" as a playful tribute. The phrase first gained traction among fans in the late 2000s, but one of the earliest known uses was in 1979, when the London Evening News published a congratulatory message to newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that read: 'May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.' Since then, the date has grown into a global fan celebration filled with movie marathons, themed events, merchandise releases, and tributes from brands like Disney and Google. For many fans, May 25—the anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars film in 1977—is the true Star Wars Day. In fact, the Los Angeles City Council officially declared May 25 as Star Wars Day back in 2007. However, in 2019, the California Legislature designated May 4 as the official date. What began as an inside joke among fans, shared in memes, tweets, and movie marathons, has now grown into a global pop culture phenomenon. Over time, brands caught on, with companies like Nissan and Jameson Whiskey posting themed ads and joining the celebration on social media. The turning point came in 2012, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and gave the day its full corporate backing. Since then, it has become a centerpiece of Disney's annual marketing calendar, complete with exclusive merchandise, themed events, and new content releases. This year's celebration spans across screens and shelves: Disney+ is premiering the brand-new animated series "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" on May 4. Season 2 of "Andor", the gritty spy-thriller set in the Star Wars universe, is also currently streaming. A major announcement has fans buzzing: a new stand-alone Star Wars film starring Ryan Gosling is set for 2027. First Published: 4 May 2025, 06:31 PM IST
The National
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
May the fourth be with you: What is Star Wars Day and how did it start?
It might just feel like any other Thursday, but today is a truly important day in certain cultural circles. It is May 4 – also known as Star Wars Day. For the uninitiated, fans of George Lucas's sci-fi franchise have officially adopted May 4 as their holiday, thanks to a play on one of the most famous lines from the films: 'May the force be with you.' In recent years, Yoda-themed memes have been shared across social media and the #StarWarsDay hashtag trends each May 4, but its origins date back far, far away from the days of Twitter and Instagram. While it isn't clear exactly when people started to celebrate May 4 as Star Wars Day, newspaper records trace the first use of "May the Fourth Be With You" back to 1979. The phrase was used in an advertisement placed by the Conservative Party in the London Evening News, congratulating Margaret Thatcher on her ascendance to prime minister. "May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations," the advertisement read. In the years that followed, the pun continued to make its way into politics and popular culture, and in 2008, the first official Facebook group was created to mark the day, although then, it was called Luke Skywalker Day. Three years later, the first official in-person celebration of Star Wars Day took place in Toronto, Canada, featuring trivia quizzes, game shows, screenings and a costume competition. In 2013, after Disney purchased Lucasfilm, Star Wars Day was fully embraced and a number of special events were held at Disneyland and Walt Disney World to mark the occasion. However, for some fans, the official Star Wars Day comes on May 25, the date of the first film's release. The Los Angeles City Council even declared the date to be Star Wars Day in 2007, although the California Legislature voted in 2019 to designate May 4 as Star Wars Day. The day is being celebrated on a large and small scale this year. Disney+ is launching the new series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld on the date, and it comes as the second season gets underway for another franchise series, Andor. A new stand-alone film installment starring Ryan Gosling, and scheduled to be released in 2027, was also recently announced. Disney, which owns the Star Wars franchise, usually marks the day with the launch of new merchandise, ranging from lightsaber sets to jewellery. In New Hope, Pennsylvania, which shares its name with the subtitle of the first Star Wars film, there are plans to have costumed characters throughout town with restaurants serving themed items such as a 'YodaRita". A version of this story was first published on May 4, 2023
