In the thread on why people hate George Lucas an article is linked in which the author claims the Ewoks were added to “Return of the Jedi” purely to sell toys, and as proof of their being a merchandising device he offers as proof the fact that we all know what Ewoks are, even though that word is never spoken in the film.
Now, to be honest, I’d swear C3PO says “Ewoks” at least once, but maybe he doesn’t.
But “Star Wars” has these too - the X-Wing Fighter and its nemesis, the TIE Fighter. It seems to me everyone in the world knew what an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter were about ninety seconds after the movie’s premiere. But the terms “X-Wing” and “TIE Fighter” are never uttered in “Star Wars.” “X-Wing” is not heard until the following movie (and then only once) and “TIE Fighter” is never uttered until “Return of the Jedi.” I can only conclude we all knew they were X-Wings and TIE Fighters because the toys hit the shelves pretty hard in 1977.
The Empire Strikes Back, of course, even has a character example; Boba Fett, who is never named in the film. He’s named in Return of the Jedi, but every kid knew his name long before then 'cause of the toys.
Are these examples of such things becoming very commonly known by their names even though the names were never used in the films? I don’t mean some obscure Jedi from a crappy Star Wars novel who appears briefly onscreen in “Attack of the Clones,” I mean something even my Mom knows. My Mom knows what an Ewok and an X-Wing fighter are. What other examples are there?
There’s gotta be a Harry Potter He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named joke in there.
I do hear you though - when Star Wars came out when I was 12, I knew about all that geekery within seconds. Can’t remember how - I got some Official Sketchbooks with Joe Johnston’s (??) drawings that named a bunch of things, but can’t remember when that was published relative to the movie release…
Was Arnold’s terminator model named in the first movie?
Actually Bobba Fett first appeared in the much-mocked “Star Wars Christmas Special.” He’s the villain in the animation sequence, and I think his name gets mentioned there. (Of course, no one can blame you for blocking that detestable production out of your memory.)
From the Warner Brother cartoons: the martian that Bugs Bunny (and later Duck Dodgers) clashed with - although he’s commonly called Marvin the Martian, he was never actually called that until about 30 years after his initial appearances.
Trivia: Many Star Wars toys did not come out in 77, they sold empty boxes at Christmas because they could not meet the demand. The box gave you a coupon for the toy when it finally came out.
I think a number of your examples show up right in the credits - “Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett”, “Ewok Warriors…”, that kind of thing, so lots of people would know the who’s and what’s before they left the movie. A lot of reviewers seem to have that terminology handy as well, perhaps fed by studio synopses in addition to the credits.
To expand a bit, the voice on the radio identifies the characters (not necessarily in order) as:
The Skipper, Jonas Grumby
His first mate, Gilligan*
Millionaire Thurston Howell III
His wife, Lovey*
Movie star Ginger Grant
Nebraksa farm girl Mary Ann Summers
Professor Roy Hinkley
*In his book, Bob Denver insists that Gilligan’s first name was supposed to be Willy, but that it was deliberately never mentioned on the show. However, in his book, Sherwood Schwartz claims that Bob is wrong, and that he (Schwartz) deliberately wanted it to be ambiguous as to whether Gilligan was the character’s first name or last name. Schwartz even stated that he and Denver argued about this decades after the show went off the air.
*Likewise, Mrs. Howell was not supposed to have a name. According to Sherwood Schwartz, Lovey was a term of affection, not a name. However, in one episode she was referred to on the radio as Eunice Wentworth Howell.
I was watching a game show years ago. The way it was played was they had a board with twelve names on it; eight of them were correct (for whatever the category was) and four were bogus, and you had to bid how many you could get right. One category was Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Now, I bow to few men when it comes to WB cartoon trivia, but I could only find seven.
My personal favorite from Star Wars: The Stormtrooper who picks up a random bit of junk out of the desert, holds it up, and says, “Look sir, droids!” That guy, with his single line, has a name: Davin Felth. I’m not sure if it appears in the credits or not–if not, it may not quite fit into this category.
(Better still, the guy he says “Look sir, droids!” to also has picked up a name: Mod Terrik.)