50 Fun Facts About Star Wars Original Trilogy

Which furry forest warriors of Return of the Jedi are never once named aloud on screen?

Ewoks are named only in the end titles, where a few such as Wicket and Teebo are credited. George Lucas first planned the battle for the Wookiee home planet.

Which toy company sold a mail-in certificate instead of Star Wars figures for Christmas 1977?

Kenner signed its licence too late to fill the shelves, so buyers got a promise of four figures by post. The first were Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2.

Which Star Wars ship's shape was said to be based on a hamburger with an olive on the side?

The Millennium Falcon was redesigned after its first, longer model looked too much like the Eagle ships of TV's Space: 1999.

Which self-taught carpenter did George Lucas hire just to read lines at the Star Wars auditions?

Harrison Ford was only meant to feed lines to the hopefuls, but his readings won George Lucas over and landed him the part of Han Solo.

Yoda's face was modelled on which famous scientist to make the Jedi master look intelligent?

Albert Einstein's features were blended with those of make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, so Yoda is partly a self-portrait of the man who sculpted him.

Star Wars became the highest-grossing film of its day by overtaking which Steven Spielberg hit?

Jaws, released two years earlier, lost the record to Star Wars, and Steven Spielberg won it back when E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial took over in 1982.

Which animal wore a shaggy costume to play the banthas of Tatooine in the original Star Wars?

An elephant named Mardji, borrowed from an amusement park, carried a saddle dressed with palm fronds and yak hair to become a bantha.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is frozen in which substance and handed to a bounty hunter?

Carbonite was a trial run: Darth Vader freezes Han Solo first to test whether the process could safely hold Luke Skywalker.

Tatooine takes its name from a town in which country, where the original Star Wars was filmed?

Tunisia's southern town of Tataouine lent its name while George Lucas was scouting locations and still writing his fourth draft.

Which colour was Luke Skywalker's Return of the Jedi lightsaber made to stand out against the desert sky?

Green was a late change in the edit, which is why an early trailer and the first posters show Luke Skywalker's blade in its earlier colour.

Which actor voiced Darth Vader in the first two Star Wars films but asked to go uncredited?

James Earl Jones won the part after Orson Welles was judged too recognisable, while David Prowse wore the suit on set. He was first billed for the role on Return of the Jedi.

Which British actor earned an Oscar nomination for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars?

Alec Guinness later said it was his idea to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi, having persuaded George Lucas that death would make the old Jedi a stronger character.

Which Muppets performer worked the puppet and supplied the voice of Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back?

Frank Oz got the job because Jim Henson, whom George Lucas approached first, was too busy and suggested him as chief puppeteer instead.

Which composer recorded the Oscar-winning Star Wars score with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1977?

John Williams recorded the music in twelve days that March, and in 2005 the American Film Institute named it the best film score of all time.

Which peaceful planet, Princess Leia's home, is destroyed to demonstrate the Death Star in Star Wars?

Alderaan is destroyed on Grand Moff Tarkin's orders, both as a full-power test of the superlaser and as a warning to the galaxy about the price of resistance.

On which swamp planet does Luke Skywalker train under Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back?

Dagobah never left the studio: scouts looked at Central Africa, Kenya and Scandinavia, but George Lucas chose to build the bog on a soundstage instead.

Which outpost does Lando Calrissian run in The Empire Strikes Back?

Cloud City is where Han Solo's group flees the Imperial fleet, only for his old friend to betray them to Darth Vader under threat of an Imperial takeover.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo shelters a freezing Luke Skywalker inside which creature's carcass?

A tauntaun copes with the daytime cold but cannot survive the night. A mounted head of one hangs beside the frozen Han Solo in Return of the Jedi.

What does Luke Skywalker lose to Darth Vader's lightsaber during their duel in The Empire Strikes Back?

His right hand is replaced by a robotic one, and in Return of the Jedi an enraged Luke Skywalker severs Darth Vader's mechanical hand in turn.

Which hooded desert traders capture C-3PO and R2-D2 and sell them to Luke Skywalker's uncle?

Jawas cross the desert in long-abandoned mining sandcrawlers and have a reputation among the locals as swindlers and thieves.

Which Star Wars character debuted in a 1978 Holiday Special cartoon before reaching cinemas in The Empire Strikes Back?

Boba Fett's cartoon look was drawn from footage of his unpainted film costume, and the animators say their advice to scuff it up shaped the live-action armour.

Darth Vader's mask was designed by combining a breathing mask with the helmet of which warriors?

Samurai armour shaped Ralph McQuarrie's concept, and costume designer John Mollo then added clerical robes, a motorcycle suit and a military gas mask.

Star Wars won the most Oscars at the 1978 ceremony but lost Best Picture to which romantic comedy?

Annie Hall took Best Picture and three other awards, while Star Wars went home with six Oscars plus a special award for its alien and robot voices.

A glacier near Finse in which country stood in for the ice planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back?

Norway met the crew with its worst snowstorm in fifty years, so many scenes were shot just outside the hotel as the weather kept changing the scenery.

Which Tatooine spaceport holds the cantina where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi hire Han Solo?

Mos Eisley's cantina bars droids at the door, and its crowd of alien drinkers became one of the scenes that made the biggest impact on audiences.

In Return of the Jedi, Jabba the Hutt drops Luke Skywalker through a trapdoor to which monster?

The rancor was a puppet filmed at high speed, though George Lucas had first wanted a stunt performer in a suit in the style of the Godzilla films.

Which bounty hunter's cantina shootout with Han Solo was re-edited for the 1997 Special Edition?

Greedo never gets a shot off in the 1977 cut, where Han Solo kills him from under the table. The 1997 version has him fire first and miss.

Which towering hospital orderly did George Lucas cast as Chewbacca in the original Star Wars?

Peter Mayhew kept his hospital job between the three films. David Prowse had been offered the Wookiee first but chose to play the villain.

Which British mime artist played C-3PO after a concept painting changed his mind about a robot role?

Anthony Daniels was won over by Ralph McQuarrie's first painting of the droids, and played the part in eleven Star Wars films between 1977 and 2019.

George Lucas wrote Star Wars after failing to buy the film rights to which 1930s serial hero?

Flash Gordon was out of reach because its owners, King Features, were courting Federico Fellini to direct a film version.

Which Japanese director's The Hidden Fortress inspired Star Wars to follow its two lowliest characters?

Akira Kurosawa's bickering peasants Tahei and Matashichi became C-3PO and R2-D2, and his Princess Yuki was a model for Princess Leia.

Which sterner title did the third Star Wars film carry on its first teaser trailer and posters?

Revenge of the Jedi was dropped in December 1982 because George Lucas decided a Jedi should never seek revenge. Thousands of posters had already been printed.

Which animation technique gave the AT-AT walkers of The Empire Strikes Back their jerky, mechanical gait?

Stop motion gave the walkers a staccato movement that the effects team kept because it suited machines, and the models were shot against matte paintings.

Ben Burtt created Darth Vader's breathing by recording himself through which piece of equipment?

A scuba regulator from an old Dacor diving set did the job. The sound designer also won a special Oscar for the alien, creature and robot voices of the first film.

Which Mon Calamari commander leads the Rebel fleet against the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi?

Admiral Ackbar was brought to life two ways, as a half-body puppet or a full-body costume, depending on how each shot was framed.

Luke Skywalker's surname was which harsher name in the Star Wars script until a few months into filming?

Starkiller was dropped because George Lucas felt it had unpleasant connotations with the cult leader Charles Manson and the 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate.

Forests in which US state played the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi?

California's redwoods also fill the speeder chase, which Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown filmed himself at less than one frame per second.

Which hit inspired by his own Modesto youth did George Lucas direct just before Star Wars?

American Graffiti so impressed studio executive Alan Ladd Jr. that he forced through the deal to make Star Wars, which other studios had turned down.

The Mayan ruins of Tikal in which country appear as the Rebel moon Yavin 4 in the original Star Wars?

Guatemala got the part after George Lucas spotted a poster of the ruins while visiting an English travel agency.

Which former film-school teacher of George Lucas directed The Empire Strikes Back?

Irvin Kershner refused the job at first, and his friends warned him that he would take the blame if the sequel to such a hit failed.

Return of the Jedi was filmed under which fake title, used to hide the shoot from fans and the press?

Blue Harvest, dressed up as a horror film, also kept suppliers from raising their prices. Family Guy later borrowed the name for its Star Wars parody.

Which English studio, saved from closure by Star Wars, went on to house both of its sequels?

Elstree Studios had been told to shut and lay off its staff a few years earlier; by Return of the Jedi the saga filled all nine of its sound stages.

George Lucas quit two Hollywood guilds after a dispute over which choice on The Empire Strikes Back?

Leaving credits to the end kept the opening uncluttered, as on the first film. The guilds demanded fines and tried to have the sequel pulled from theaters.

Which Scottish actor played the Emperor in Return of the Jedi and returned to the role in the prequels?

Ian McDiarmid came back sixteen years later as the same character's younger self, a charming senator whose public face hides a Sith Lord.

George Lucas's dog Indiana, the inspiration for Chewbacca, belonged to which large breed?

An Alaskan Malamute, Indiana rode in the passenger seat of the car and was nicknamed the co-pilot, the job Chewbacca holds beside Han Solo.

Which Welsh director of Eye of the Needle did George Lucas hire to direct Return of the Jedi?

Richard Marquand got the job after David Lynch turned it down, saying that George Lucas should direct the film himself because the saga was his creation.

Jabba the Hutt's language, Huttese, was based on which indigenous South American language?

Quechua phrases were reworked into Huttese by sound designer Ben Burtt and a Berkeley linguist, and Jabba's house band even sings in it.

Which species of spies died bringing the Rebels word of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi?

Bothans prize information as both an economic resource and a strategic asset, which has made espionage a prominent profession among them.

The Death Star trench run is an acknowledged homage to the climax of which British war film?

The Dam Busters also supplied the cameraman: Gilbert Taylor, who shot its special effects photography, was hired as director of photography on Star Wars.

Which science-fiction novelist drafted The Empire Strikes Back but died before filming began?

Leigh Brackett finished her draft in February 1978 and died of cancer weeks later. George Lucas made sure her name stayed on the screenplay even though her dialogue was rewritten.