# Star Wars fans: looking for obscure Star Wars trivia tidbits **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288 "2005-05-10T22:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/61 "2005-05-20T15:28:38Z")
Thanks, everybody! The speech went great and people seemed amused by the trivia tidbits. I appreciate all your effort! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/62 "2005-05-20T15:29:43Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > Thanks, everybody! The speech went great and people seemed amused by the trivia tidbits. I appreciate all your effort! 🙂 Aww, so that means we’re done? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/63 "2005-05-20T17:10:34Z")
Man…and I was gonna say that Oola (the Twi’lek dancer in _Jedi_) loses her top as she falls into the Rancor pit. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/64 "2005-05-20T17:29:02Z")
::In a Soup Nazi Voice:: No, no trivia for you! The thread is ov-ah! Ummm, Ord Mandell has already been mentioned, right? No, I guess not. Well, if it hasn’t, according to IMDB, “Encounter at Ord Mandell” was released on 33 1/3 LP, starring the voices of the original cast. It is an extremely rare item. In the Hoth command center, in The Empire Strikes Back Han, Han references “That bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mandell”. I also have seen that the Matrix movies have charector from the video games in them, and more of the story to The Blair Witch Project is expanded in the games. Was this the first example of even the least little reference to the story being in an alternate medium in a movie? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/65 "2005-05-20T21:38:42Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > - Studio executives protested the fact that Chewbacca was essentially naked. In fact, they suggested that Chewie should wear pants. The original title of the first film was _The Star Wars_, and the hero was named Luke Starkiller (maybe because he destroys the Death Star at the end? That’s my hypothesis). The studio wasn’t too fond of this name, as it sounded like a battle between celebrities (“People might think it’s a movie about Clint Eastwood fighting Steve McQueen.”) In a compromise, one word was removed from the title: “The.”\* A 20th Century-Fox promotional booklet entitled “26 for '76” featured the following synopsis (apparently, the film was originally to have been released in 1976): > [@20th Century-Fox Film Corp.](#): > > From thousands of light years [sic] away come the unusual adventures of Luke Starkiller and his friends as they battle numerous villains and creatures in a galactic civil war…The space fantasy involves the search for a kidnapped rebel princess and a confrontation with the dark forces of an evil space empire."\* An early unusued poster went for the nostalgia pitch with the following slogan: "First, Buck Rogers. Then, Flash Gordon. Now, Luke Skywalker. _Star Wars_- it’ll make you feel like a kid again._" Although Lucas was inspired by the space serials of the 1930s, this slogan was dropped since they planned to attract real kids as well and not just their parents._ The first set of Star Wars action figures was released in 1978. Originally, Kenner had planned to have them in stores by Christmastime, but couldn’t make it. Toy stores were sent $10 “Early Bird Certificate Packages” in their place. It included stickers, a stand for all 12 figures, and a mail-in coupon good for four figures- Luke, Leia, R2, and Chewie- that would be shipped as soon as they were made, as well as a fictional membership card for the Star Wars Space Club signed by Luke. The promo material describes Leia’s unique hairdo as “Star Puffs” (still a registered trademark of Hasbro to this day). Little did they know this would be the start of an action figure line that continues to this day. The other eight original figures were C-3PO, Han, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan, a Jawa, a Tusken Raider (Sandperson), a Stormtrooper, and the Death Squad Commander.\* Just because it’s weird, here’s the full text of a certificate from a licensed product…unsual since it’s from a pair of Underoos. Apparently, becoming a Jedi knight is as easy as putting on Underwear that’s Fun To Wear™!\* > [@](#): > > Honorary Jedi Knight™ Certificate > Let it be known to all in the galaxy that > > is hereby enrolled in > The Order of Honorary > Jedi Knights > > “May The Force > be with you™” > I, Yoda, the Jedi Master™, > affix my signature > Yoda > Star Wars Return of the Jedi™ > “A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force” > TM & ©Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 1983 All rights reserved Union Underwear Co. authorized user\* \*Source: _Star Wars Scrapbook_ by Stephen Sansweet. ©1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. Sansweet is also the author of a book on the action figure line. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/66 "2005-05-20T22:12:02Z")
I can’t quote chapter and verse to you, but a friend of mine reports that in the first movie, there’s a scene on (in?) the Death Star where some evil guy or other is rattling on about Darth’s fascinaton with this old religion, and just generally unwisely criticizing him, and the Big Guy cuts him off just as he’s saying the words “hidden fortress.” You know, as if to say, “Ix-nay on the Urosawa-Kay.” My friend cites this as a rare example of wit in Lucas’s oeuvre. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/67 "2005-05-20T22:59:36Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > I can’t quote chapter and verse to you, but… “Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen plans, or given you the clairvoyance to locate the Rebels’ hidden fortre…” **Ack! Gurgle… Choke!** Yeah, that’s a good’n. I never thought of it as a “Don’t mention _The Hidden Fortress!_” joke though, just as a sly reference. It’s funnier if you look at it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/68 "2005-05-20T23:08:15Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Man…and I was gonna say that Oola (the Twi’lek dancer in _Jedi_) loses her top as she falls into the Rancor pit. > :eek: Not exactly. When Jabba is pulling her closer by the chain around her neck, one breast falls out right before an edit. So it’s not AS she falls but a minute before. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/69 "2005-05-20T23:30:51Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > The original title of the first film was _The Star Wars_, and the hero was named Luke Starkiller (maybe because he destroys the Death Star at the end? That’s my hypothesis). The studio wasn’t too fond of this name, as it sounded like a battle between celebrities (“People might think it’s a movie about Clint Eastwood fighting Steve McQueen.”) I believe Fox’s marketing department were worried that folks would think the movie was about aging starlets duking it out, _a la_ Joan Crawford or something. Supposedly, after **Star Wars** became a big cross-demographic success, all those marketing studies were burned. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/70 "2005-05-21T00:41:24Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Supposedly, even though his professionalism far outweighed his discomfort, Alec Guinness hated playing the part of Obi-Wan and the script in general. The dialogue he called banal, the story and shooting as being too silly/ridiculous, and begged George Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan. He probably told Lucas this by convincing him of its relevance to the story when in reality he did it so he wouldn’t take part in any more films (he had had a conversation with Lucas previously, before doing the pictures, and agreed because it looked interesting. At some point, Lucas must have commented on the three part thingy). > > What’s interesting to note is that today’s Obi-Wan, Ewan McCregor, complains pretty much about the same things. 😃 No, actually what he said was that some of the dialogue is silly, he finds it extremely difficult working with green/blue screen, and that the title for Episode II was stupid. Other than that, he’s always careful to point out that he’s ENJOYED working on _Star Wars_. I’ve heard different versions of Guinness-some say he wanted old Ben to be killed, others say he was really pissed when he found out about it. **Archive Guy** -d’oh, you’re right. Although technically, that would also have been correct, “from a certain point of view.” 😉 (Although I believe that Hamill knew the real story.) Oh, how about this one-supposedly, Carrie Fisher was high on cocaine while making _Empire_. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/71 "2005-05-21T01:04:54Z")
Some more trivia… The sound FX man, Ben Burtt, got the sound for the stormtroopers’ lasers by tapping a wrench against a guy wire for a telephone pole. He was looking for the sound of the Millenium Falcon’s engine when he checked into a motel room. The AC was malfunctioning and about to give out. He recorded it and that is the hum of the Falcon’s engines. I don’t know if “Easter eggs” count, but a good example of them in Ep 1 are that ET’s race is in the galactic senate, and the the “pod” from 2001 is in the junkyard at Watto’s shop. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/72 "2005-05-21T01:11:33Z")
The name of the furry creatures in Jedi is never heard in the movie. Not once will you hear the word Ewok in the original cut of Jedi. The Imperial March is the most famous piece of music from the Star Wars series, but it didn’t appear in the soundtrack until Empire. It wasn’t in the first (or fourth, as it were) at all. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/73 "2005-05-21T01:25:26Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > The Imperial March is the most famous piece of music from the Star Wars series, …aside from the Opening Crawl music, I think you meant to say… ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/74 "2005-05-21T04:53:25Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Supposedly, even though his professionalism far outweighed his discomfort, Alec Guinness hated playing the part of Obi-Wan and the script in general. The dialogue he called banal, the story and shooting as being too silly/ridiculous, and begged George Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan. He probably told Lucas this by convincing him of its relevance to the story when in reality he did it so he wouldn’t take part in any more films (he had had a conversation with Lucas previously, before doing the pictures, and agreed because it looked interesting. At some point, Lucas must have commented on the three part thingy). From what I remember of reading Guinness’s diary, he always liked the movie (“I thought it was a charming little film” or some such), but was appalled at the marketing blitz and obsessive fans for a fluff piece. I don’t think he asked for his character to be killed; the original movie was shot out of sequence so it wouldn’t have mattered, plus Guinness appeared in the two sequels as well. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/75 "2005-05-21T05:38:42Z")
Jeremy Bulloch was hired to do Boba Fett because he was a body-language instructor, and could convey menacingly w/o dialogue. Ray Park, the martial artist who played Darth Maul, had such a slight, squeaky voice that they had to hire another actor (Peter Serafinowicz) to do his voice. Ray Park was also the character “Toad” in X-Men. Nathan Hamill, Mark Hamill’s son, had an uncredited turn in TPM as a pod-race spectator and Naboo palace guard. The internal layout of the Millenium Falcon, as seen onscreen, can’t possibly fit into the ship, as seen on-screen. The Millenium Falcon cockpit set didn’t have any kind of “steering wheel” controls, and Harrison Ford demanded them. IIRC, this was for TESB. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/76 "2005-05-21T06:47:59Z")
> [@don Jaime](#): > > From what I remember of reading Guinness’s diary, he always liked the movie (“I thought it was a charming little film” or some such), but was appalled at the marketing blitz and obsessive fans for a fluff piece. I don’t think he asked for his character to be killed; the original movie was shot out of sequence so it wouldn’t have mattered, plus Guinness appeared in the two sequels as well. There’s some dispute about that. Lucas has claimed in the past that he realized during filming that keeping Kenobi alive but wounded after his duel with Darth meant the other heroes would be spending time dragging Ben around like so much (heh) deadweight; he decided to kill Ben to resolve the problem and add some emotional weight to the movie. So if Alec Guinness was looking for a way out of doing sequels, he must have been silently thrilled when Lucas approached him about the plot change… 😉 Guinness’ appearance in **Empire** was done solely as a favor for Lucas, who was stressing out at the time from the pressure of making a sequel. Guinness says he doesn’t recall if he even took any money from his **Empire** cameo, and was occasionally spotted looking awkward at sharing screen time with a Muppet. (Anecdotes courtesty of _Empire Building_ by Garry Jenkins) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/77 "2005-05-21T06:57:27Z")
Some semantic trivia: Jabba means “frog” in several Slavic languages. Lucas’s original choice for the role of Obi Wan was Toshiro Mifune (star of several Akira Kurosawa samurai classics- best known English language performance was probably Toranaga [the Tokugawa character] in _Shogun_) James Earl Jones received $7,000 for his work in STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE. (I’m guessing he received that per word for SITH.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/78 "2005-05-21T07:51:23Z")
> [@Baggins111](#): > > The AC was malfunctioning and about to give out. [Ben Burtt] recorded it and that is the hum of the Falcon’s engines. Partly. Like many of the sound effects, it’s a composite. The dominant sound of the Falcon’s engines is the P-51 Mustang. (In a similar vein, an important part of the sound of a TIE fighter fly-by is the sound of wheels on wet highway.) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/79 "2005-05-21T09:16:20Z")
A little old school Star Wars gold excerpted from my comic/mag collection-- _The World of Star Wars (A Compendium of Fact and Fantasy from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back), 1981, Gatefold Magazine_ > [@](#): > > **George Lucas- A Man and His Movies** > > George Lucas may be small in stature, but he’s got a lot of imagination. The creator of Star Wars is now a multimillionaire, but he would still look like a teenager if he didn’t have a beard. Make no mistake though, George Lucas is a highly professional filmmaker who knows his craft. > (REPORTING: John May) > Lucas began his film career at The University of Southern California Film School where he concentrated on camera and editing. He made many student filmas at this time, and then went to work as an assistant to Francis Ford Coppola of Godfather fame. Lucas credits Coppola for getting him into writing. He said, “Francis forced me to write my first script. He said I’d never be a good director if I didn’t learn to write, so I turned out my first script for THX 1138, based on a student film I had done at USC. My script was terrible, so Francis hired a writer to do a new one, and that experience was much worse. I hated it more than what I had written so I went back and re-wrote it myself, and it wasn’t that bad.” > > THX 1139 was the story of a society where humans have been reduced to numbers and are under the control of machines.Starring Donald Pleasance and Robert Duvall, it was credible and chilling but failed to set the box office alight. > > Having dipped his toe in the water, Lucas turned away from sci-fi for his next film _American Graffitti_. He says of the movie that it was a “distillation of my teenage years cruising the streets of Modesto, California. It’s full of rock n’ roll, ducktail haircuts, sneakers, hot rods and the fun of being teenaged and out on the streets.” So well did Lucas capture the feel of his subject that the movie became a smash hit. > > Then, once again, Lucas turned his attention back to the skies. He was obsessed about the fact that kids these days don’t have a fantasy life anymore, and he realized that, for all of us, space represents the last great frontier. “Originally I wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie with all the trimmings” he said, “but I couldn’t obtain rights to the characters.” So George Lucas set out to dream up his own space heroes. He claims, “I had the Star Wars project in mind before I started shooting \* American Graffitti\*., and as soon as I’d finished I began writing Star Wars in January 1973- eight hours a day, five days a week from then until March 1976 when he began shooting. Even then I was busy doing re-writes in the evenings after the days work. In fact I wrote four entirely different screenplays for Star Wars, searching for just the right ingredients, characters and story line.” > > That kind of dedication is what George Lucas is all about. Once he has set his sights on something, he goes all out to get it. > > He remains the ultimate professional. When asked about Lucas, Sir Alec Guiness commented: “Like all the best directors, George had very little to say during the actual filming. He simply sensed when you were uncomfortable and just walked across and dropped a brief word in your ear. George Lucas is completely wrapped up in the cinema- he is only happy talking film.” > > Mark Hamill has a different tale to tell. He says, “George Lucas is Luke Skywalker.” While full of praise for Lucas’ skill as director, Mark also says “Making this movie has been to George like playing with a great toy. He had a great time. While we were filming, Carrie Fisher brought over to England a Buck Rogers helium pistol. She gave the toy to George and he wouldn’t put the thing down. We would see him with the gun in the hallways of the studio. Although he wasn’t conspicuously running down hallways and aiming it at imaginary villains, he did spend a lot of time kind of twirling it around. You couldn’t pry that Helium pistol away from him.” > > Lucas describes his film career to date as follows: “THX was my twenty year old counsciousness, I used my head as a filmmaker. Graffitti was me at sixteen using my heart. This movie was using my hands at twelve.” > > When you consider that Star Wars will very soon become the highest grosssing movie of all time, that’s quite a statement. > > Lucas did claim in one interview that he was giving up directing, but that remains to be seen. Plans have already been announced for Star Wars 2, tentatively titled “The Empire Strikes Back”, which Lucas is financing entirely from his own money and will act as executive producer or adviser. Also in the works is a sequel to American Graffitti and a secret space project, a unique collaboration between Lucas and longtime friend Steven Spielberg, who scored heavily with \* Close Encounters of a Third Kind\*. > > I have the feeling that George Lucas, with his imagination and energy, isn’t going to be able to stay away from the camera for long. (Kind of a fluff piece but still amusing!) There’s also a really cool article/story in here about Storm Troopers that I will try to post when I get a chance. It is titled **SOLDIERS OF THE EMPIRE!** ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288/80 "2005-05-22T04:17:13Z")
By the way, I want to thank all y’all. I went to see the movie Friday night, and they were having a trivia contest to determine who got to go in first to sit down. Needless to say, between what I already knew, and this thread, I came in first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-fans-looking-for-obscure-star-wars-trivia-tidbits/303288.md?page=5)