DEVELOPMENT
The original Star Wars movie was a science fantasy film written and directed by American filmmaker George Lucas. He began writing a 13-page film treatment that later formed the basis of Star Wars on April 17, 1973.
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Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) auditioned for the role of Han Solo and after he got back from the audition, he pushed his close friend Mark Hamill, who was sleeping on Englund's couch at the time, to audition for Luke Skywalker.
In 1977, 20th Century Fox had so little faith in the "Star Wars" franchise that they gave away all of the movie licensing and merchandising rights to George Lucas in exchange for his $500,000 directorial fee.
THE MOVIES
The Star Wars movies are said to have been inspired by Akira Kurosawa's films Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress.
The franchise began with the release on May 25, 1977 of the film Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981), which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.
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| Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) |
If it weren't for the unexpected blockbuster status of Star Wars, production company 20th Century Fox likely would have gone bankrupt. Instead, at peak popularity, the franchise earned them $1.2 million a day.
Marcia Lucas, George Lucas' then wife, was the reason for major changes to the original Star Wars film. Princess Leia's good luck kiss, Obi Wan's death and re-editing the trench run to increase tension were all her ideas. She won the Academy Award for editing the film while George did not for directing.
Star Wars was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy.
By the time filming on Return of the Jedi started in 1982, Star Wars was a gigantic pop culture phenomenon. To maintain secrecy, producers claimed to be shooting a horror movie called "Blue Harvest" and even had caps and T-shirts made for the crew.
According to the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, Steven Spielberg was Lucas' first pick to direct Return of the Jedi. Spielberg declined because of his Directors Guild of America membership. (Lucas had left the guild over disagreements about "The Empire Strikes Back.") Lucas hired Welsh director Richard Marquand, who was non-union at the time.
Return of the Jedi was once titled "Revenge of the Jedi." George Lucas changed the name because he thought a Jedi wouldn't seek revenge. Posters were distributed bearing the "Revenge" logo but were ultimately pulled.
Return of the Jedi was the first film to use the THX sound-system standard in theaters.
A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005 and a sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
On May 19, 1999 when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released into theaters, an estimated 2.2 million full time employees missed work in America to watch the movie. it cost the US an estimated $293 million dollars from lose of productivity.
THE CHARACTERS
The first character to speak in 1977's Star Wars is C3PO.
James Earl Jones recorded all of his Darth Vader lines for Star Wars in 2.5 hours. He was paid $7,500
The name of R2-D2 was taken from the parlance of sound men in the film industry. It means the second reel of the second dialogue track.
The name Jedi is said to have come from “Jidai Geki” (“period dramas”) which was the name given in Japan to films about samurai.
The little green Jedi knight Yoda's name comes from the Sanskrit word 'yoddha' meaning warrior.
Yoda's face (and particularly his eyes) are said to have been modelled after the appearance of Albert Einstein.
In The Phantom Menace Yoda has three toes. But in three later films he has four.
In early drafts of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda was actually named "Buffy."
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| Yoda, as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back. (WP:NFCC#4) |
Darth Vader’s name was partially inspired by one of George Lucas’ high school classmates, Gary Vader.
Darth Vader's breathing was recorded by putting a microphone inside a regulator on a scuba tank.
Jabba's slithery noises when he moves were made by sound designer Ben Burtt running his hands through a cheese casserole.
The growls and snarls of the rancor creature in Return of the Jedi were actually made by a dachshund.
Bodyguards were hired to protect the Chewbacca actor from Bigfoot hunters while shooting in the Pacific Northwest.
Carrie Fisher complained her Princess Leia outfits in the first two Star Wars films didn't show "she was a woman." That led to the famous gold bikini Leia wears as Jabba's prisoner in Return of the Jedi.
Jabba's slithery noises when he moves were made by sound designer Ben Burtt running his hands through a cheese casserole.
The growls and snarls of the rancor creature in Return of the Jedi were actually made by a dachshund.
Bodyguards were hired to protect the Chewbacca actor from Bigfoot hunters while shooting in the Pacific Northwest.
Carrie Fisher complained her Princess Leia outfits in the first two Star Wars films didn't show "she was a woman." That led to the famous gold bikini Leia wears as Jabba's prisoner in Return of the Jedi.
Carrie Fisher had never met James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader) had never personally met until in 2014 when they both appeared in an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
Anthony Daniels (as C-3PO, a humanoid protocol droid in the service of General Leia Organa) is the only actor to have appeared in all the episodic films in the Star Wars series.
During the scene in which Luke Skywalker gets out of his X-wing fighter after blowing up the Death Star, he accidentally calls Princess Leia 'Carrie' (her real first name).
Alec Guinness agreed to play Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars only after his initial salary was doubled, and that he would receive 2.25% of all gross royalties paid to George Lucas, and never have to make a publicity appearance.
Star Wars was released in the Navajo Language, the first motion picture to be translated into a Native American language.
Having "a bad feeling about this" is a popular phrase that's popped up in all the Star Wars films.
Anthony Daniels (as C-3PO, a humanoid protocol droid in the service of General Leia Organa) is the only actor to have appeared in all the episodic films in the Star Wars series.
FUN STAR WARS FACTS
During the scene in which Luke Skywalker gets out of his X-wing fighter after blowing up the Death Star, he accidentally calls Princess Leia 'Carrie' (her real first name).
Alec Guinness agreed to play Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars only after his initial salary was doubled, and that he would receive 2.25% of all gross royalties paid to George Lucas, and never have to make a publicity appearance.
Star Wars was released in the Navajo Language, the first motion picture to be translated into a Native American language.
Having "a bad feeling about this" is a popular phrase that's popped up in all the Star Wars films.
George Lucas was dissatisfied with the inconsistent and poor sound quality in movie theaters at the time. He co-founded THX (Tomlinson Holman eXperiment), a high-fidelity audio/video reproduction standard for movie theaters, in order to ensure that the audio in Return of the Jedi would be heard as it was intended. THX helped to set a new standard for movie theater sound quality and continues to be used in theaters today.
Ackbar's famous line in Return of the Jedi "It's a trap!" was originally "It's a trick!" The line was changed in post-production after a negative test-screening.
The word Ewok is never said in Return Of The Jedi.
The design of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft was based on a hamburger.
George Lucas approved of Mel Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars parody Spaceballs and signed off on a fair use agreement. The only condition was that no Spaceballs merchandise would be made to compete with Star Wars merchandise. This is why there’s never been any Spaceballs figures, cereal, or flamethrower.
George Lucas made the working title of Star Wars Episode II "Jar Jar's Great Adventure" to troll the cast and crew, even labeling the script as such in the original drafts.
Multiple Star Wars lead actors have struggled with a habit of making their own sound effects for fight scenes. When, for instance, Ewan McGregor was cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, he found himself unable to stop mimicking the sounds of his lightsaber to the point where multiple takes needed to be re-shot.
The world's first organised Star Wars Day was celebrated at a cinema in Toronto, Canada on May 4, 2011. The reason for choosing that particular date was the pun: "May the 4th be with you", in reference to the popular phrase in Star Wars: "May the Force be with you." May 4th has since been embraced by Lucasfilm as an annual celebration of Star Wars.
The Star Wars theme was written purposely on the same key as the 20th Century Fox fanfare (that used to appear before the movie started) so that there will be a continuous feeling and a smooth entry to the film for the viewers.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton, once wrote an entire song in the Huttese language from Star Wars. It was the song that played in Maz's Kantina in The Force Awakens.
In 2013, Star Wars was dubbed in Navajo, making it the first major film to be dubbed in a Native American language.
Sources: IMDb, My San Antonio, Daily Express
Ackbar's famous line in Return of the Jedi "It's a trap!" was originally "It's a trick!" The line was changed in post-production after a negative test-screening.
The word Ewok is never said in Return Of The Jedi.
The design of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft was based on a hamburger.
George Lucas approved of Mel Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars parody Spaceballs and signed off on a fair use agreement. The only condition was that no Spaceballs merchandise would be made to compete with Star Wars merchandise. This is why there’s never been any Spaceballs figures, cereal, or flamethrower.
George Lucas made the working title of Star Wars Episode II "Jar Jar's Great Adventure" to troll the cast and crew, even labeling the script as such in the original drafts.
Multiple Star Wars lead actors have struggled with a habit of making their own sound effects for fight scenes. When, for instance, Ewan McGregor was cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, he found himself unable to stop mimicking the sounds of his lightsaber to the point where multiple takes needed to be re-shot.
The world's first organised Star Wars Day was celebrated at a cinema in Toronto, Canada on May 4, 2011. The reason for choosing that particular date was the pun: "May the 4th be with you", in reference to the popular phrase in Star Wars: "May the Force be with you." May 4th has since been embraced by Lucasfilm as an annual celebration of Star Wars.
The Star Wars theme was written purposely on the same key as the 20th Century Fox fanfare (that used to appear before the movie started) so that there will be a continuous feeling and a smooth entry to the film for the viewers.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton, once wrote an entire song in the Huttese language from Star Wars. It was the song that played in Maz's Kantina in The Force Awakens.
In 2013, Star Wars was dubbed in Navajo, making it the first major film to be dubbed in a Native American language.
Sources: IMDb, My San Antonio, Daily Express
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