I am looking for Star Wars trivia tidbits (mostly about the original three movies). Can anyone help me out? The kinds of things I’m looking for are:
Interesting bits of info about the original story/script (like how Han Solo was originally a green monster and Luke Skywalker was originally an old general, or how the story was supposed to have been part of the “Journal of the Whills”)
Trivia about the pop-culture Star Wars phenomenon back in the 70s (box office figures, info about the production of the first movie, etc., information about obscure collectibles, the Star Wars Holiday Special, etc.)
Basically anything connected with Star Wars that an audience might find interesting but isn’t widely known.
(I volunteered to be the toastmaster for my Toastmaster’s Club next week, figuring I’d use Star Wars as a nice timely topic. I’ve been gathering these bits of info from the web, but I can always use more.)
Lucas intended C-3PO to speak with a western drawl, and Anthony Daniels’ voice was going to be dubbed over like most of the other British actors’ were. Everyone agreed that Daniels’ on-set performance was charming, though, and so he got to loop his dialogue himself.
The original choice of accent was meant to reflect the character’s origin as a peasant farmer with pretensions of sophistication, swept up with his laconic (but more capable and intelligent) buddy into an epic war, from Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress.
You can still hear traces of Threepio’s abandoned cowboy-ish persona in the dialogue of the first film. Imagine “Sometimes I’m amazed we’re in as good condition as we are, what with the Rebellion and all,” or “It doesn’t make sense for you to risk yourself on my account, I’m done for,” delivered with a Texas twang.
Besides Star Wars, there was another hit movie released in 1977 that spawned two sequels. These sequels, like the Star Wars sequels, were also released in 1980 and 1983.
I am, of course, referring to Smokey and the Bandit.
Including re-releases, the first three Star Wars movies grossed a combined 1.06 billion in theaters in the United States alone.
The three Smokey and the Bandit movies combined for a less spectacular 198 million.
In the U. S., from May 25, 1977 through April 16, 1978, Star Wars grossed an average of $660,000 in theater ticket sales daily.
…and elements of his character (as well as Leia’s) are based on Dorothy from the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz. (Luke lives on his aunt & uncle’s struggling farm in a drab and arid land, wistfully dreams of exotic places and adventure, begins adventure after disaster hits the farm. Later, the Death Star stands in for the Wicked Witch’s castle and Leia steps into Dorothy’s shoes. Our heros gain access to the fortress and foil her execution by luring some goons off-screen, subduing them, and donning poorly-fitting uniforms.)
Here’s the original opening crawl (from the first draft of Star Wars, ca. 1974):
Until the recent Great Rebellion, the Jedi Bendu were the most feared warriors
in the universe. For one hundred thousand years, generations of Jedi
perfected their art as the personal bodyguards of the emperor. They were the
chief architects of the invincible Imperial Space Force which expanded the
Empire across the galaxy, from the celestial equator to the farthest reaches
of the Great Rift.
Now these legendary warriors are all but extinct. One by one they have been
hunted down and destroyed as enemies of the New Empire by a ferocious and
sinister rival warrior sect, the Knights of Sith.
The monster in the trash compacter is called the dia-noga.
TIE stands for Twin Ion Engine.
The twin suns over Tatooine are called G1 and G2.
Studio executives protested the fact that Chewbacca was essentially naked.
Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back
A number of live snakes were placed on the Degobah set. One slithered down the Yoda puppet and onto Frank Oz, who ran screaming from the set.
Han Solo’s famous “I know” line (as he’s being lowered into the carbon-freezing chamber) was an ad lib.
Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
A small number of advance posters were released showing the working title, Revenge of the Jedi. Grab one up if you can, because they’re worth plenty.
The action in this film was supposed to take place on the home planet of the Wookies. When Lucas decided to change it, he simply chopped the Wookies in half to make them four feet tall, and reversed the syllables in the name.
The series in general
To his dying day, Alec Guiness regretted his participation in the saga, as he never stopped receiving letters from obsessed fans who didn’t seem to understand that the movies were fictional.
In Star Wars, the only sound effect to be recorded live, on set with a microphone and make it clear through to production was the sound of Han hanging up his headset on the Falcon. Every other single sound you hear in the entire movie was dubbed in.
