For quite a few years now, the canon stood as:
1) Movies
2)Scripts
3)Novelizations
4) Radio Dramas
- in that order. Now we have a fifth category of canon: the DK Star Wars library, which includes the "Incredible Cross Sections, the Visual Dictionaries, and the "Inside The Worlds Of" books.
This is confirmed by Star Wars Insider #68, in the preface of David West Reynold's article VISION QUEST The origins of the Star Wars Incredible Cross-Sections on the Star Wars ICS, on page 36:
This is added to by the sidebar "THE DK STAR WARS LIBRARY" to the article, on page 43:The first two Incredible Cross Sections books were conceived to explore bold new territory in the Star Wars Universe, taking a rare look inside more vehicles and vessels than we have ever seen before, and doing it in unprecidented detail. These books would represent the most thorough research ever done on these vehicles and would receive Lucasfilm's formal imprimatur as canon. These volumes would henceforth be sent out to licencees as reference guides and would even become useful manuals at Industrial Light & Magic, where some of the artwork influenced details in Episodes I and II
Long after the original Incedible Cross-Sections book revolutionized Star Wars "nonfiction", Dorling Kindersley continues to publish amazing resources revealing the secrets of vehicles, equipment, and locations. The latest offering is Inside The Worlds of Star Wars Attack Of The Clones: The Complete Guide to the Incredible Locations from Episode II. Illustrated by the veteran team of Richard Chasemore and Hans Jenssen, this was written by series editor Simon Beecroft, in consultation with Dr. Curtis Saxton. While this book deals with locations rather than vehicles, the challenge remains the same, in Beecroft's words: "to accurately rationalize what's seen in the film and then extend the universe that little further."
Many locations in the Star Wars galaxy are nothing if not big. Fortunately, the artists were prepared for the challenge. "One thing they've learned: never to underestimate the scale of the task," says Beecroft. "Richard and Hans put in hundreds and hundreds of hours doing a vehicles book. For a locations book, they must double that, at least. Some of these artworks are just enormous: look at the Geonosian Droid Factory or the Outlander Club." Beecroft is emphatic about the crucial role of Dr. Saxton's participation. "He worked with me all the way, holding down a day job and then exchanging e-mails with me all night. His academic background, general breadth of knowledge, and understanding of Star Wars lore underpins everything in the book. His work in rationalizing the Geonosis battle map, in particular, must be mentioned.
With Dr. Saxton working with us, we can be sure that there is a real scientific basis to all our explanations." Curtis Saxton, who wrote the Attack of ther Clones Incredible Cross-Sections book, has a PhD. in theoretical astrophysics along with a deep knowledge of, and a love for, the Star Wars saga.
Note that the DK library is referred to as Star Wars "non fiction". The article is supported by comments made on starwars.com:
And again, a shot from the webcam on the set of Episode 3 offers even more confirmation.Q: Do you use any of the Star Wars books and guides when working on your designs? Do you look at the "Expanded Universe" at all?
A: As designers we look at all kinds of stuff for inspiration and we have a crack research staff to help us with that. The Star Wars books serve as a starting point and guide for certain types of questions that arise in respect to certain cultures or technologies that have already been established in the movies. The Star Wars Chronicles book is our bible, the Incredible Cross-Section books provide a great starting point when we're adding to existing locations. We usually don't refer to the Expanded Universe materials specifically unless our research team finds something that directly corresponds to our assignment.
Of course, those that have a vested interest in desperately trying to re-interpret said quotes to fit their own ends will do such things as writing 100,000 word webpages attempting to debunk this and the EU's stance in relation to canon. I've recently destroyed RSA's attempts at dismissing all the above, with the fact that Steve Sansweet is on staff at the Star Wars Insider, and his title on the magazine is "Lucasfilm Editor". His official title on starwars.com is Lucasfilm Liason
RSA's mantra is that the SWI can't dictate canon policy, there's no proof that Sansweet is there to ensure policy, and Sansweet is nothing more than a "collector Guru" (ignoring the evidence on sw.com) But even if the weight of the above evidence isn't enough for the Black Knight, here is, yet again, another nail in the coffin from the SWI contents page::
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