59 Fun Facts About Return of the Jedi

Who directed Return of the Jedi?

Richard Marquand directed it with Lucas often on set, and warned him at the start that he would be 'constantly bugging him with questions.'

Who was George Lucas's first choice to direct Return of the Jedi?

Steven Spielberg was Lucas's first choice, but both men had feuded with the Directors Guild, and the fallout left Spielberg barred from the job.

What title did Return of the Jedi's teaser trailer and first posters carry?

Revenge of the Jedi: Lucas restored the old title before release, and the dropped word resurfaced 22 years later in Revenge of the Sith.

What fake working title hid Return of the Jedi's shoot from fans and the press?

Blue Harvest was on everything from camera slates and hotel reservations to the crew's hats and T-shirts, passed off as a horror film.

On which planet is Jabba the Hutt's palace in Return of the Jedi?

Tatooine: Luke's message offers the droids to Jabba as a gift, but Jabba keeps them and refuses to bargain for Han.

How does Leia get into Jabba's palace?

Disguised as a bounty hunter, Leia leads Chewbacca in as her 'captive' and haggles with Jabba over the reward.

What creature does Jabba drop Luke through a trapdoor to face?

A rancor: Jabba feeds slaves who displease him to it, until Luke kills the beast and leaves the Hutt enraged.

What is the cackling Kowakian monkey-lizard perched beside Jabba's throne called?

Salacious Crumb is Jabba's court jester, kept around partly because his cackling mimicry of the Hutt's visitors amuses his master.

Into what does Jabba plan to throw Luke, Han and Chewbacca?

The Sarlacc pit, in the Great Pit of Carkoon, digests its victims over a thousand years; Boba Fett tumbles in during the fight.

How does Jabba the Hutt die?

Leia strangles him with her chain, the very chain Jabba had used to keep her captive at his side.

After a man-in-a-suit test failed, how did ILM bring the beast beneath Jabba's throne room to life?

As a puppet filmed at high speed: a rod puppet looked like a hand puppet, so ILM shot it fast, slow and even backwards to make it move like a giant.

Who first confirms to Luke that Darth Vader really is his father?

Yoda, on his deathbed, tells Luke 'Your father he is', and Obi-Wan's ghost then explains how Anakin became Vader.

Who tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister?

Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force spirit reveals it on Dagobah, explaining that the twins were hidden from their father at birth to protect them from the Emperor.

How does Han's strike team slip past the Death Star's shield to reach Endor?

In a stolen Imperial shuttle, but the Emperor was expecting them: he had leaked word of the new Death Star to lure the Rebels into a trap.

How does Luke reach Darth Vader on Endor?

He surrenders to Imperial troops, sure that there is still good in his father and that he can turn him back.

Which two pilots fly into the Death Star's core and destroy its reactor?

Lando in the Millennium Falcon and Wedge Antilles in his X-wing fly into the Death Star's core; Wedge hits the power regulator and Lando the main reactor.

How does the Emperor die in Return of the Jedi?

Vader throws him down a shaft to save Luke from his Force lightning, turning on the master he had served.

Which actor plays the unmasked Anakin Skywalker?

Sebastian Shaw played the dying Anakin, and the 2004 DVD digitally erased his eyebrows to reflect the scarring Anakin suffers on Mustafar.

Who plays the Emperor in Return of the Jedi?

Ian McDiarmid returned sixteen years later to play the younger Palpatine in the prequel films.

Which actor auditioned for Moff Jerjerrod but lost the part to Michael Pennington?

Alan Rickman read Moff Jerjerrod in a 'big, slow, low voice' but lost out, two decades before he played Severus Snape.

Why did Warwick Davis end up playing Wicket the Ewok?

Kenny Baker fell ill, so Lucas moved Davis, an 11-year-old extra whose grandmother had heard a radio casting call, into the role.

The Ewoks were originally going to be which species?

Wookiees had become too technologically advanced, so Lucas wanted something short and primitive.

Which dog breed inspired the Ewok design?

Griffon Bruxellois: the breed inspired the Ewoks, and the 2011 Blu-ray release digitally gave them blinking eyes.

The Ewok language created by Ben Burtt is based on which real language?

Kalmyk: Ben Burtt recorded an elderly Kalmyk speaker, Kosi Unkov, telling stories, and built the Ewoks' chatter from her voice.

What real-world conflict inspired the Ewoks' battle against the Empire?

The Vietnam War: Lucas modelled the Ewoks' fight on the Viet Cong, guerrillas who prevailed against a technologically superior American army.

What lures Chewbacca into the Ewoks' net trap on Endor?

A dead animal on a stake: Chewie grabs it, the net springs, and Han groans, 'Always thinkin' with your stomach.'

Which species is Admiral Ackbar?

Mon Calamari: Ackbar leads the Rebel fleet at Endor, and his warning 'It's a trap!' turned a bit part into a fan favourite.

Who co-pilots the Millennium Falcon in the space battle at Endor?

Nien Nunb speaks some real Kikuyu, so Kenyan audiences could understand his lines, which made him a hit when the film opened there.

Where were the Endor forest scenes filmed?

Redwood forests near Smith River, northern California became Endor only in spring: January weather ruled the forest out, so shooting began on London stages.

Where were the sail-barge battle exteriors filmed?

Yuma, Arizona: its desert set wasn't finished when filming began in January, so the crew reached the desert only in April.

How were the forest backgrounds for Return of the Jedi's speeder-bike chase filmed?

A walking, slow-frame Steadicam: Garrett Brown shot the forest at about one frame a second, so his walking pace plays back at speeder-bike speed.

At which English studio did Return of the Jedi's shoot begin?

Elstree hosted 78 days on its stages, and the very first scene shot there, a sandstorm, was later cut from the film.

What does R2-D2 secretly carry into Jabba's palace?

Luke's lightsaber: at Jabba's desert execution, R2-D2 launches it into Luke's waiting hand and the rescue begins.

What does Leia threaten to set off in Jabba's throne room?

A thermal detonator: instead of striking back, Jabba laughs at the nerve of it, calls the newcomer 'my kind of scum' and agrees to pay.

Which Imperial vehicle do Chewbacca and two Ewoks commandeer during the Battle of Endor?

An AT-ST walker: Chewie and two Ewoks swing onto it from a vine, then turn its guns on the Imperial ground forces.

Which sound-certification company did Lucas found so theatres would play his films as mixed?

THX, Tomlinson Holman's cinema sound standard at Lucasfilm, later moved from theatres into living rooms with home-theatre systems.

How does Luke refuse the Emperor's order to kill Darth Vader?

He throws his lightsaber away, declaring 'I am a Jedi, like my father before me,' so the furious Emperor attacks him with Force lightning.

David Barclay and Toby Philpott worked inside Jabba the Hutt; which famous team did they come from?

Jim Henson's team: inside Jabba, Barclay lip-synced the lines in English, but the Huttese voice was dubbed in later.

Which song does the Max Rebo Band perform in Jabba's palace in the 1983 cut?

Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band perform 'Lapti Nek' in the 1983 cut; the 1997 Special Edition replaced it with the new number 'Jedi Rocks'.

Which power gets Luke past Bib Fortuna but fails on Jabba the Hutt?

A Jedi mind trick: it sways Bib Fortuna, but Jabba sneers that 'your mind powers will not work on me, boy.'

Who composed Return of the Jedi's score, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra?

John Williams scored it, and when the 1997 Special Edition cut the Ewoks' finale song 'Yub Nub', he wrote the new music that replaced it.

Which future film composer orchestrated part of Return of the Jedi's score?

Thomas Newman orchestrated the cue for Darth Vader's death, long before his own Oscar-nominated scores for American Beauty and Skyfall.

Which Return of the Jedi star argued that Han Solo should die?

Harrison Ford argued Han should die sacrificing himself; Lucas kept him alive, and Han was finally killed by his son in The Force Awakens.

Who says, 'Many Bothans died to bring us this information'?

Mon Mothma, played by Caroline Blakiston: the spies' news was that the Emperor himself is overseeing the new Death Star's construction.

What change did the 1997 Special Edition make to the creature that swallows Boba Fett?

It gained a beak, plus extra tentacles; Fett's apparent death inside the creature was undone decades later in The Mandalorian.

In Return of the Jedi's 2004 DVD, which actor was inserted as Anakin's Force spirit?

Hayden Christensen replaced the original actor because Lucas wanted the redeemed spirit to return as Anakin was before he turned to the dark side.

What controversial line did the 2011 Blu-ray add to Darth Vader?

He yells 'No!', echoing his anguished cry at the end of the prequels, a change that drew criticism.

Which planet made its first on-screen appearance in the 1997 Special Edition's victory montage?

Coruscant: the added montage glimpsed the city-planet two years before The Phantom Menace made it a major setting.

What does Luke do with Darth Vader's body after the battle?

He burns it on a funeral pyre on Endor, and that night his father's redeemed spirit appears, watching over the Rebel celebration.

What is the name of Vader's Super Star Destroyer that crashes into the Death Star?

The Executor, Vader's Super Star Destroyer and the Imperial flagship, loses its bridge to a crashing A-wing and plunges into the Death Star's surface.

Which studio released Return of the Jedi in 1983?

20th Century-Fox only distributed the film: George Lucas paid for the production himself, putting his own money at risk.

Who co-wrote Return of the Jedi's screenplay with George Lucas?

Lawrence Kasdan built the shooting script from the transcript of a two-week story conference, taped right down to the heated disagreements.

Who was the producer of Return of the Jedi, replacing Gary Kurtz?

Howard Kazanjian pushed filming to start as early as January 1982, giving ILM as much time as possible for the effects.

Which Imperial officer, promoted after Vader choked his predecessor, commands Vader's flagship at Endor?

Admiral Piett, played by Kenneth Colley, survives serving Vader only to die when a Rebel starfighter destroys the flagship's command bridge.

After thawing Han out of carbonite, what does Leia tell him she is?

Someone who loves you, she says, but moments later an ominous laugh reveals that Jabba has caught them.

What rank does Han Solo hold when he leads the Endor strike team?

Han Solo, newly made a General of the Rebel Alliance, volunteers to lead the strike team that lands on Endor to knock out the shield generator.

Which actor is credited as Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi?

Jeremy Bulloch wore the armour; Jason Wingreen voiced Fett in Empire, a voice later swapped for Temuera Morrison's to tie the character to the prequels.

Which fantasy film did George Lucas first pitch to Warwick Davis while he was playing Wicket?

Willow: Lucas raised the idea during the 1982 shoot, but five years passed before Davis was cast as the title hero.

What species is Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna?

Twi'lek: after Jabba's death, Bib Fortuna seized power and tried to control the local criminal underworld.