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Interesting Star Wars Facts
Did you know that ...
o David Prowse, who played Darth Vader, is 6'9" and a professional
weight-lifter.
o Actors could only be in the original Darth Vader costume armor
(thick fiberglass) for 20 minutes at a time while promoting the
THX remastered movies because of the weight of the suit.
o R2-D2 is named after a piece of film editor's jargon- it means
"Reel 2, Dialog 2"
o The spaceship models used in Star Wars were made from everything
from model airplane parts to those egg-shaped panty hose
containers.
o A scuba regulator was used to achieve the sound of Darth Vader's
labored breathing.
o The scene in which a swamp creature grabs R2-D2 in the Empire
Strikes Back was filmed in George Lucas' unfinished swimming pool.
o The Ewoks home of Endor was created and filmed amidst redwood
forests near Crescent City, California.
o A New Hope used less than 50 models, Empire used over 100, and
Return used over 150.
o A full-scale model of the Millennium Falcon measured 60 feet long
and 16 feet high.
o It took as many as 10 puppeteers using both hands to operate Jabba
the Hutt.
o The bottom of Luke's landspeeder was covered with mirrors,
reflecting the ground giving the impression it was floating.
o It took Star Wars sound technician Ben Burtt a full year to
collect and mix different sounds and noises to be used for the
vehicles and creatures in the film.
o Next time you enjoy Star Wars: A New Hope, watch the scene in
which stormtroopers enter the Death Star control room where C-3PO
and R2-D2 are hiding. One of the stormtroopers accidentally bumps
his head on the door.
o In Star Wars: A New Hope, cutouts were used to represent some of
the starfighters "parked" in the background of the Rebel hangar
bay.
o In Star Wars: A New Hope, the mysterious writing surrounding Darth
Vader's control panels is actually jumbled Hebrew symbols.
o In the hangar bay scene featured in Return of the Jedi, look
closely and you'll see that one of the stormtroopers has a "smiley
face" painted on his helmet.
o James Earl Jones, the now famous voice of Darth Vader, asked that
he not be credited in the original Star Wars: A New Hope, as he
didn't feel he had done enough work to deserve it.
o A local hardware store near Industrial Light and Magic kept a
table full of spare parts handy for ILM model makers who would
drop by seeking inspiration for props and models.
o The Empire Strikes Back animators studied the walking patterns of
elephants in order to give realistic motion and movements to the
film's monstrous AT-ATs.
o In Return of the Jedi, when Han and Leia are trying to destroy the
shield generator on the planet Endor, the power-source shown
appears to be a series of plastic cups turned upside-down.
o During the Cloud City evacuation scene in The Empire Strikes Back,
on actor can be seen running around with what looks to be an
ice-cream maker.
o It took three different actors to portray Darth Vader: David
Prowse (body), James Earl Jones (voice) and Sebastian Shaw (face).
o In Star Wars, a small pair of metal dice can be seen hanging in
the Millennium Falcon's cockpit as Chewbacca prepares to depart
from Mos Eisley. The dice do not appear in subsequent scenes.
o In the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy escapes with
the golden idol in a sea plane with the registration numbers
OB-3PO. This of course refers to Obi-wan and C-3PO from Star Wars.
o Sections of the under-construction Death Star are said to resemble
the San Francisco skyline, the silhouette of a favorite city of
creator George Lucas.
o Return of the Jedi was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi - but
later underwent a title change, due to the fact that according to
creator George Lucas, a Jedi would never take revenge.
o The Millennium Falcon was originally inspired by the shape of a
hamburger with an olive on the side.
o During The Empire Strikes Back's famous asteroid scene: one of the
deadly, hurling asteroids is actually...a potato!
o Star Wars episode number IV, entitled "A New Hope," did not
originally appear in the film's opening crawl. These were added in
the later re-release, in order to be consistent with The Empire
Strikes Back.
o In The Empire Strikes Back, ILM designers sought a "radical"
design shape for Boba Fett's ship - and ended up using a street
lamp plucked off a post outside the ILM building.
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