How George Lucas Accidentally Handed SPACEBALLS Its Funniest Gag

When fans quote Spaceballs, odds are they’re shouting “Merchandising, merchandising!” It’s the moment that turns a simple Star Wars spoof into a sly commentary on blockbuster marketing, and we owe that punch line to George Lucas himself.

Back in pre-production, Mel Brooks rang up Lucas to make sure the parody wouldn’t step on Imperial toes. Lucas dug the script but attached a single condition, no toys. As Brooks recounts in his memoir:

“He said he had seen Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein and was a big fan. He enjoyed the script, and only had one real caveat for me: no action figures.

“He explained that if I made toys of my Spaceballs characters they would look a lot like Star Wars action figures. And that would be a no-no for his lawyers and his studio’s business affairs department.

“So he gave his blessing to make my funny satiric takeoff of Star Wars as long as I promised that we would not sell any action figures.”

Brooks kept the promise, there’s still no official Spaceballs merch on store shelves, but he couldn’t resist twisting the restriction into comedy gold. Enter Yogurt, hawking fictional swag with unabashed gusto:

“Merchandising, merchandising. Where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs the T-shirt! Spaceballs the coloring book! Spaceballs the lunchbox! Spaceballs the breakfast cereal! Spaceballs the flame-thrower! The kids love this one.”

By 1987, Lucasfilm had turned lightsabers and lunchboxes into an empire of their own, so Brooks simply held up a fun-house mirror. The joke lands even harder knowing the merch on screen was the only kind he could legally make.

Nearly 40 years later, the gag is still hilarious. Brooks has confirmed he’ll don the gold robes again for Spaceballs 2, slated for 2027 with Amazon MGM Studios. I imagine it will deliver fresh laughs from modern franchise marketing.