Gary Kurtz was the producer of Episodes 4 and 5, but he left the franchise because he felt that George Lucas was beginning to focus too much on toys and not on the story - he said Empire (Ep 5) was character driven, but the following one was not. He also did not like the writers having to look over their shoulders, in the sense of deciding what toys could be advertised on the movies.
He's right to a great extent, but I don't think the writers should be given a completely free hand. Marketing and toys are important, so there has to be some give and take.
That said, Lucasfilm, according to the article, disagrees with his version of events, saying that the history as set out in Jonathan W. Rinzler's book, "The Making of the Empire Strikes Back", was a more accurate version of what happened.
He's right to a great extent, but I don't think the writers should be given a completely free hand. Marketing and toys are important, so there has to be some give and take.
That said, Lucasfilm, according to the article, disagrees with his version of events, saying that the history as set out in Jonathan W. Rinzler's book, "The Making of the Empire Strikes Back", was a more accurate version of what happened.