Good find there, Lara. Clearly, the author of that article knew not of what he/she spake.
Going back to a matter of the times....
I recall reading in TV Guide, in the "Close Ups" they would do whenever a big movie hit the networks, that they said that George Lucas had declared "no graphic violence, no strong language" for his concept of Star Wars.
Granted, I think Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back are the only movies that feature bloody dismemberments, but we usually saw the aftermath...in other words...yes, we saw light sabers swinging, but striking the actual target was kind of obscured by camera angle, and then we usually just saw the bloodied body part lying on the ground. We never saw actual separation from the body proper. So I think that kinda skirts the "graphic violence" issue.
Damn and Hell are the only two swear words we ever heard in Star Wars. After that, there was one more mention of hell in Empire, and then, we didn't hear another swear word until Star Wars Episode II, many years later. (Obi-Wan talking with Dex at the diner on Coruscant.) I've heard more damns and hells in a just a couple of episodes of the awesome "Clone Wars" CG animated series.....of course, that show is not TV-Y7 like the Gendy Tartakovsky version that aired a few years earlier. The current "Clone Wars" show is consistently TV-PG.
Unless a kid were truly scared of a Wookiee, or Darth Vader back in the 70's, overall, I'd dare say Star Wars was pretty kid-safe and kid-friendly, even with the violence level it had.
Then again, in 1984, I did know a family where the parents refused to take their kids to go see "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" because they thought the Klingons looked too scary for their 6 and 7 year old children. (Really?)
