20 Interesting Star Wars Secrets
On May 4th, Star War’s massive, global fan base will celebrate Star Wars Day. (Because May the Fourth sounds remarkably similar to the movie’s famous line, “May the Force be with you.”) Then on May 25th, the movie franchise celebrates forty years since Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope first hit theaters.
So many of us grew up watching the movies, and Disney’s 2015 sequel, The Force Awakens, introduced a whole new generation to Luke, Leia, and Han. Now everyone is eagerly awaiting the next installment, The Last Jedi, set to open on screen this December. In the meantime, here are 20 interesting Star Wars secrets to tide you over while you wait.
1. Yoda’s name means “warrior” in the Sanskrit language. Director and writer George Lucas combined words and elements from many real languages to create the space dialects used in the Star Wars movies.
2. Working titles are used for the movies during filming to keep outsiders in the dark about what is happening on the sound stages and in production rooms. Return of the Jedi was called Blue Harvest. Attack of the Clones was called Jar Jar’s Big Adventure. The Last Jedi was known as Space Bears.
3. Peter Mayhew, who plays Chewbacca, won the roles primarily because of his stature. The actor towers over the rest of the cast at 7 feet 2 inches tall.
4. The use of digital effects increased with each film. Episode 3 features over 2,200 digital shots. The first film, A New Hope, has only 350.
5. Originally, Luke and Han Solo were going to look a lot different from the fresh-faced Jedi-in-training and ruggedly, handsome space cowboy we know today. Luke was supposed to be a dwarf and Han Solo a green, lizard-like monster with gills.
6. The whistle sounds R2-D2 communicates with are actually human baby coos digitally mastered to sound electronic.
7. Every Star Wars movies features the catchphrase “I have a bad feeling about this.”
8. The original Star Wars trilogy doesn’t have any female fighter pilots. Several scenes with female pilots were filmed for Return of the Jedi, but were left on the cutting room floor. They were liberated later on and make appearances in the newer films.
9. The alien race of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. appears in Episode I: The Phantom Menace when a delegation from planet Brodo Asogi are at the Grand Convocation Chamber for Queen Amidala’s call for a no confidence vote. SCI-FI fans geek out about this mash-up between characters from director friends Spielberg and Lucas.
10. On the tiny island of Niue, in the South Pacific, you can use collectible limited edition Star Wars coins as legal tender.
11. Before Harrison Ford was cast as Han Solo, Lucas auctioned most of Hollywood’s leading men for the role. Top contenders included Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken.
12. If the Imperial officers’ uniforms look familiar, it’s because they were based on Nazi officer uniforms to help the audience understand how evil they were.
13. Did you know Yoda has a first name? It’s never mentioned in any of the films, but originally the character’s name was Minch Yoda.
14. Even creative geniuses have to sell out sometimes. The studio forced Lucas to create a merchandising plan with more toy-friendly characters for Return of the Jedi, before it would agree to make the film. That led to the creation of the Ewoks.
15. The desert of Tunisia is the backdrop for the sandy, dry planet of Tatooine. Some of the structures used in the movie are still there today and use by locals.
16. Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo killed off after the third movie. Lucas refused, because he wanted to wrap up the first trilogy with a happy ending.
17. Originally, Luke Skywalker’s name was Luke Starkiller.
18. Yoda’s alien species is never revealed to us.
19. Anthony Daniels, who plays C3P0, is the only actor to appear in every Star Wars Episode to date.
20. Orsen Welles, not James Earl Jones, was almost cast at the voice of Darth Vader.
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