How to Watch Star Wars via Telnet: Windows CMD & Mac Terminal

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A simple, nerdy way to watch Star Wars on your computer

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: November 28, 2024 Fact Checked

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This wikiHow teaches you how to watch an animated version of Star Wars rendered entirely in ASCII characters (by folks with a lot of free time) using the telnet command on your computer. As of 2024, the server hosting the ASCII version of Star Wars isn't online as much as it used to be, but don't worry—if you're really wanting to watch the ASCII-animated version of Star Wars, you can always view the Java version on the original creator's website!

Quick Steps

Install Telnet if you don't have it.
Open Command Prompt (CMD) or Terminal.
Type "telnet" and press Enter or Return.
Type "o" and press Enter or Return.
Type "towel.blinkenlights.nl" and press Enter or Return.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Windows

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1
Open the Command Prompt. The easiest way to do this is to press Windows key + S to activate the search bar, type cmd, and then click Command Prompt in the search results.
- If you're not already connected to the internet, make sure you do so before you continue.
2
Check to see if telnet is installed. Telnet is a tool used to make connections to remote servers. Because telnet isn't as widely used as it used to be (and more secure options exist), it no longer comes preinstalled on most Windows systems. To find out if you have telnet:
- Type telnet at the command prompt and press Enter.
- If you see "Welcome to Microsoft Telnet Client" and a prompt that begins with Microsoft Telnet>, you have telnet. For now, just type a q and press Enter to quit telnet and return to the prompt.
- If you see an error that says "'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file," you must install telnet.
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Install telnet if it's not installed. If you already have telnet, skip to the next step. If not, here's how you can easily install it:
- Windows 10
  - Right-click the Windows Start menu and select Programs and Features.^{[1]
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  - Click Turn Windows features on or off in the left panel.
  - Scroll down, check the box next to "Telnet Client," and click OK.
  - Close and re-open the Command Prompt.
- Windows 11
  - Press the Windows key and type control.
  - Click Control Panel in the search results.
  - Under "Programs," click Uninstall a program.
  - Click Turn Windows features on or off in the left panel.
  - Scroll down, check the box next to "Telnet Client," and click OK.
  - Close and re-open the Command Prompt.
This opens the telnet interface.
"O" stands for "open," and this command tells telnet to open a connection. The command line will change to ( to ).
6
Type towel.blinkenlights.nl and press ↵ Enter. This connects you to the server that hosts the Star Wars animation. After rolling some credits, the movie will begin!
- To stop the animation and exit telnet, press Ctrl + ].
- Sadly, the server is not up as often as it used to be. If you see an error that says, "Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed," the server is not currently accepting connections. You can still watch the movie in your web browser at http://www.asciimation.co.nz/index.php.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Mac

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1
Open Terminal on your Mac. An easy way to do this is to click the Launchpad icon (the multicolored squares on the dock), type terminal, and then click the Terminal icon.^{[2]
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- You can also open Terminal in Finder—just open the Applications folder, double-click the Utilities folder, and then double-click Terminal.
2
Install Homebrew. As of macOS Mojave, telnet is no longer installed by default. To install it quickly and easily, you can use Homebrew. Here's how:
- If you're not already connected to the internet, make sure you do so before you continue.
- Type: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)".^{[3]
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- Press Return.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Homebrew.
This installs telnet on your Mac.^{[4]
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This opens telnet.
This is the command to open a Telnet connection (the "o" stands for "open").
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Type towel.blinkenlights.nl and press ⏎ Return. This opens a connection to the host that hosts the Star Wars animation. After some opening credits, the movie will begin to play.
- To stop the animation and exit telnet, press Ctrl + C.
- Sadly, the server is not up as often as it used to be. If you see an error that says, "Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed," the server is not currently accepting connections. You can still watch the movie in your web browser at http://www.asciimation.co.nz/index.php.

Community Q&A

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Question

How can I terminate this command?

Community Answer

You can terminate any command in the Command Prompt by pressing ctrl-C. You can also just click on the small red X button in the top right corner of the Command Prompt window.

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Question

Do I need to connect to the internet?

Community Answer

Yes. When you are watching Star Wars in the command prompt, you are using Telnet (also known as "remote desktop connection") to connect to whoever made this computer through the internet.

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Question

I turned on Telnet, but it didn't install anything on the latest version of Windows. What could be wrong?

Community Answer

It might have been installed already. Try to watch Star Wars in command prompt with the settings set to on.

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The original creator of ASCII Star Wars began the project in 1997, and completed it in 2015.^{[5]
X
Research source}Although the term "completed" isn't totally true—only about half of the original Star Wars movie is included in the animation.

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If the server is down when you try to connect, try again later—it tends to go up and down.

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