This was fascinating!
I love recognising the phrases – I knew the words that you see quoted in this ASCII animation by the time the kid that I was then was queuing up for tickets at 6.30am at the now extinct Odeon Theatre in 1978. The buildup to Star Wars had a radio station featuring installments of the audio track from the movie and I had recorded enough of those religiously to mouth the dialogue before the actors uttered the words.
So as I watched the animation, I could hear the soundtrack – complete with the sound effects and the sound track they had added in after the actors had done their bit.
You can telnet the ACSII animation here. Mac users, the link will call up Terminal and run the programme.
Read about the ‘mad enterprise’ here – “Ever wanted to see Star Wars in Telnet?” By Kieren McCarthy. The Register, 03 Dec 2001.
Otterman speaks... 