How this epic 4,845-inch 'Star Wars' infographic found its Force

Exactly 39 years ago Wednesday, a movie called Star Wars opened in a mere 32 theaters across the U.S. It soon became kind of a big deal. But who has the time to rewatch it? Even one of its stars, Mark Hamill, admits he hasn't seen the two-hour original movie in nearly 20 years.    

Lucky for those of us who need a refresher -- or haven't seen it at all -- graphic artist and illustrator Martin Panchaud has created an epic infographic that tells the entire story of the original movie, later renamed Episode IV: A New Hope. 

The graphic, which can be seen here, includes every line of dialogue, every position every character is standing in, detailed schematics of the franchise's iconic ships, and about 4,845 inches of scrollable information. It's essentially one really, really long page. And as of Wednesday, it had been shared on social media nearly 40,000 times. 

Panchaud, who lives in Zurich, created the infographic in Adobe Illustrator CC in 2016. He said he was inspired by storytelling methods that were popular long before 1977.

"This long ribbon reminds (me) of the ancient Chinese script rolls that had to be rolling in and rolled out simultaneously in order to be read," Panchaud wrote on his site. "I like this stretch between ages, cultures and technologies. 

"However, [the] internet likes short stories and summaries ... with my work I aimed to create a contrast to that."

Before beginning his massive Star Wars project, Panchaud experiments with other visual storytelling modes, including using computer code to explore sound:

Since his Star Wars project went viral, Panchaud has been flooded with messages on Facebook and Twitter about his work. Luke Skywalker himself tweeted his praise: 

As did Understanding Comics author Scott McCloud, an expert in just this sort of visual explainer, who apparently was also flooded with messages from people talking about the site. 

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Panchaud was seemingly chuffed to bits at the response to his project. Mashable has reached out to him for comment, but his inbox seems to be overflowing at the moment. 

You can check out his site here. May the force be with you. 

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