1. There could have been a very different Darth Vader

Another tough decision Lucas had to do was regarding the voice of the ultimate villain, Darth Vader. At first, he wanted to cast the legendary actor and director Orson Welles as Vader. After giving it some thought, he gave up on the idea, thinking Welles’ deep baritone would be too recognizable.

If viewers were to recognize the voice of the iconic actor/director immediately, it might have taken viewers out of the experience of the film, as they would have pictured Orson Welles, instead of fully immersing in the Star Wars universe. Eventually, the chosen actor was James Earl Jones, and he gave Vader his iconic voice.

2. Luke and Leia did some stunts themselves

Obviously, when Star Wars wasn’t the huge franchise it is today, the production budget was a little tight. Even the leading actors had to compromise here and there. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, AKA Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, did not use any doubles for the scene where they swing over the Death Star chasm.

There just wasn’t enough money for that! The actors were secured with safety harnesses and swung 30 feet above the floor. Good thing there were no on-set incidents during the stunt, they couldn’t have afforded to lose their main stars. And they did it one take — the same one that ended up in the movie!

3. Hoth is actually a place on Earth

Episode V of the Star Wars saga, The Empire Strikes Back, starts on the ice planet of Hoth. While Hoth is a fictional place, the icy landscape you see in the movie belongs to a very real place – Norway! The scenes in Hoth were partially shot at the Hardangerjøkulen glacier, in freezing cold of minus-20-degrees!

During production, the region was hit with the worst storm in 50 years, and many scenes had to be shot in alternative locations in order to prevent further delays. For example, the scene where Luke flees the Wampa cave was shot from the entrance of the crew’s hotel.

4. Yoda wasn’t just Yoda at first

Yoda went through many changes until he became the green fella we know and love. At first, he was supposed to be a mask-wearing monkey (what?!). Not only that, in the first drafts of the script his name was “Buffy”. For some reason, it doesn’t really fit his character, huh?

It was later changed to “Minch Yoda” (yes, Yoda had a first name!) and was eventually shortened to just Yoda. Furthermore, Yoda really is one of a kind – to this day, we don’t know exactly what species he belongs to.

5. Delays were caused by another famous director

While shooting The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas shared the set at Elstree Studios with Stanley Kubrick, who shot The Shining on another stage. A massive fire broke out in the studio in February 1979, burning out one of the soundstages. Kubrick had to use some of Lucas’s studio space in order to finish his movie.

You might know that Kubrick was a huge perfectionist, so he stayed in the studio – and stayed and stayed – until everything was for his liking. This caused further delays to the shooting schedule of The Empire Strikes Back, which was already behind.

6. One of the most famous lines in the movie was improvised

You probably know which line I’m referring to here – right before Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite, Leia says to him, “I love you”. Han then replays it in the most epic way ever – “I know”. Surprisingly, this iconic line was not part of the original script.

Han was supposed to say back “I love you too.” However, Harrison Ford and director Irvin Kershner thought this response didn’t go well with Han’s attitude. In one of the takes, Kershner deliberately caught Ford unprepared, and called “action” spontaneously. Carrie Fisher said “I love you”, and Ford, without thinking, said, “I know.” How charming indeed.

7. Obi-Wan didn’t want to be Obi-Wan

Sir Alec Guinness did not like A New Hope, to say the least. The actor once said about the film that it was “fairy-tale rubbish”, and refused to appear on the second movie, The Empire Strikes Back. Guinness was eventually convinced to appear as the ghost version of Obi-Wan on the movie but had very strict conditions about it.

He agreed to work on set for one day only, from 8:30 am to 1 pm, no more, no less. He also demanded to receive one-fourth of a percent of the movie’s total gross. The movie was obviously a huge hit, and made Guinness richer in a few million dollars. Sometimes 4.5 hours of work can really pay off!

8. A big secret was kept from almost everyone on set

Spoiler alert – in one of the most iconic moments in the saga, Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke’s father. During the shooting The Empire Strikes Back, only a few people were in on this big secret: creator George Lucas, director Irvin Kershner and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. They kept the secret even from Mark Hamill who played Luke, and told him about Vader’s real identity only moments before the first take.

They inserted a fake line into the script, where Vader states Obi-Wan killed Luke’s father. That was also the line delivered by David Prowse, the actor in the Vader costume. The iconic line “No, I am your father” was added later, when James Earl Jones recorded Vader’s voice.

9. Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Jedi?

We all know that the name of Episode VI of the saga is Return of the Jedi, and that was the name from the beginning. George Lucas and co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan decided on the name when writing the script, but 20th Century Fox did not quite like it.

The studio thought the title was too “bland,” and demanded it changed to Revenge of the Jedi. The title stayed this way for quite a long time and even appeared on the official trailers and posters. Just weeks before the 1983 premiere, Lucas realized that according to the mythology he himself created, it does not make sense for Jedis to seek revenge. So, the title changed back to Return of the Jedi, and the word “Revenge” was left unused until the third prequel of the saga was named Revenge of the Sith.

10. Harrison Ford was never supposed to audition

The casting process for the original Star Wars trilogy took seven whole months. George Lucas was looking for fresh faces he never worked with before. Lucas already knew Harrison Ford, who portrayed Bob Falfa in his film American Graffiti, so he asked him to come in and feed the lines to the auditioning actors.

But a favor for a friend would turn into the role of a lifetime. Although many tried for the role of Han Solo – including a young Kurt Russell – Lucas was so impressed by Ford feeding the lines that he ended up casting him for the role.

11. Jabba the Hutt was a serious piece of work

Besides being one of the most obnoxious creatures to ever roam the galaxy, Jabba the Hutt took an incredible amount of people to operate him. Seven (!) puppeteers were in charge of his different body parts. Three of them were inside Jabba’s body, another two controlled the eyes, and another two were in charge of the cigar smoke and lungs.

The scene in Return of the Jedi that takes place in the Jabba Palace took an entire month to film! It also involved a massive amount of people: 90 crew members, 42 extras, 10 puppeteers, nine mimes and 18 principal cast members. All that for that one slimy guy!

12. Han Solo wasn’t supposed to have a happy ending

Harrison Ford had a contract for only two movies, which led to the fate of his character, Han Solo, to be left unknown at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Ford eventually did star in the third movie, but it took some persuasion!

Ford wanted Han Solo to be killed off after being frozen in carbonite, since he believed there was nothing constructive to do with the character. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan agreed, but George Lucas vetoed the idea altogether. He wanted the original trilogy to end on a good note, with all the main characters still alive. Phew!

13. No girls allowed

Surprisingly, no female fighter pilots appeared on screen in the original trilogy. They were written into the script, but none of them made it into the films themselves. This makes Rey, one of the main characters in the new sequel trilogy, a real pioneer.

Rey is clearly a gifted flier behind the wheel, and even pilots The Millennium Falcon herself! Played by the very talented Daisy Ridley, Rey is rapidly becoming a fan favorite and for good reason — Rey proves that girls can do anything the boys can, and maybe do it even better!

14. The secret ending of the original trilogy

Well, not so much of a secret, since this ending was scrapped pretty early on – but it could have changed the entire Star Wars saga! During an early story meeting, when the script for Return of the Jedi was yet to be finished, George Lucas pitched a very different idea for the final scene.

If you watched the movie you know that after Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save Luke, Luke takes off dead Vader’s mask. Lucas wanted Luke to put on the mask and say “Now I am Vader”. Can you imagine Luke being a dark lord? Thankfully, Lucas decided not to give the story a dark twist, and wrote the ending that was eventually featured in the film.

15. No one knew the name of episode I

George Lucas began writing the script for the first prequel in November 1994, but didn’t tell anyone what the movie is going to be called. The name used on set was “The Beginning”, and this title stuck through the entire production process. Eventually, Lucas revealed the new title as The Phantom Menace.

Eventually, Lucas revealed the new title as The Phantom Menace. The film came out in 1999, and to make sure it wasn’t pirated, it was shipped to theaters under the title “The Dollhouse.” Smart move! We only wonder how he came up with the decoy title?

16. R2-D2 originally had a wider vocabulary

One of everyone’s favorite droids, R2-D2, was originally supposed to speak English. Not only that, he was supposed to have a pretty foul vocabulary! Can you even imagine that? I think he’s better off with the beeps and bleeps he ended up having.

C-3PO, on the other hand, is a very articulate droid, in both English and many other languages used in the galaxy. In the new trilogy, R2-D2 is given a modern makeover as BB-8, who, despite a vocabulary of beeps and boops similar to R2-D2, is voiced by not one, but two different actors, Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz.

17. One of the villains liked staying cozy on set

Grand Moff Tarkin is well remembered as one of the scariest villains on board of the Death Star. However, the actor who portrayed him, Peter Cushing, had an interesting soft spot – he walked around the set wearing his favorite slippers!

Cushing found Tarkin’s boots very uncomfortable, so George Lucas tried to minimize the number of shots where his feet were visible. On set, he was the intimidating supervillian Grand Moff Tarkin from the ankles up, and from the ankles down, ready for lounging!

18. Leia’s famous bikini caused some trouble on set

We all remember that tiny gold bikini Princess Leia wears in Return of Jedi, right? It’s certainly been parodied in pop culture a whole lot. What many of us don’t know is that the crew had a hard time keeping this bikini in place.

At first, Carrie Fisher didn’t use any tape to keep her breasts from popping out of the bikini, and it didn’t really work – many reshoots were done to ensure that no nipple is visible in the final product. Eventually, the crew gave up and taped Fisher’s breasts with gaffer tape (ouch!) since she couldn’t wear any undergarments with the revealing bikini.

19. It wasn’t easy finding a studio to produce the movie

Not knowing what a hit Star Wars will end up being, quite a few studios gave up on producing the original trilogy. It was eventually picked up by 20th Century Fox, but not before it was pitched to United Artists, Universal and Disney.

They all gave up on it, and 20th Century Fox scored the coup of the decade! Disney ended up realizing what a juggernaut the Star Wars universe could be and smartly bought the franchise years later. They probably understood what a bad decision they made back in the 70’s!

20. A New Hope almost didn’t start shooting on time

George Lucas and the crew went through three whole years of pre-production before shooting A New Hope. With many unexpected problems and issues seemingly popping up every other moment, the film almost didn’t make the deadline for the actual shooting process to start.

From locations to costumes to money, almost every single leg of the process didn’t go smoothly for the first Star Wars film. I would dare to say it was worth it, and luckily for us Lucas didn’t give up his entire idea!

21. A lot of the original trilogy was left on the cutting room floor

Turns out, what we see on screen when watching the original Star Wars trilogy is only 30 or 40 percent of what was actually shot. Many of the scenes had to be reshot or edited, and many of them ended up not making it into the film at all.

While it’s normal to wonder what kind of movie it would be without such tight editing, we have to believe that we got the best possible version. And who knows, maybe one day we will get to watch a special edition of all those deleted and edited scenes!

22. How a minor character became surprisingly popular

You may remember the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where a bunch of people flee Cloud City. One of them is carrying some sort of a container. Well, some die-hard fans have decided that he’s actually carrying… an ice cream maker!

As time passed by, this very minor character, AKA “Ice Cream Maker Guy”, gained cult status and was even given a name – Willrow Hood. He was even made into his own action figure in 2009! However, much to fans’ disappointment, it is now believed that Hood is a rebel agent safeguarding an important data cache. What can be more important than ice cream??

23. The word “Ewok” isn’t even used on screen

What are Ewoks, even? Some sort of a bear and puppy hybrid? Well, that’s beside the point. In the original trilogy, the Ewoks appear on screen but no one ever tells the audience what they are – no character actually says the word “Ewok”!

Well, whatever they’re called, they sure aren’t pretty. Ewoks resemble teddy bears – but not any teddy bear you’d want to cuddle up with (although we’re sure die-hard Star Wars fans everywhere have cuddled up with a plush Ewok toy on plenty of occasions).

24. Did you notice this running gag?

In each Star Wars movie, a character says the line “I have a bad feeling about this” or “I have a very / really bad feeling about this.” It has become one of the most well-known phrases in the entire saga.

Luke, Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, and of course Han Solo all used the line at least once. Apparently, the galaxy inhabitants are pretty pessimistic. Or maybe just fortune-tellers? While all may end well, they certainly have a whole bunch of close calls along the way.

25. George Lucas didn’t even believe in his own creation

Surprisingly, George Lucas, who was the mind behind the amazing world of Star Wars, wasn’t so sure about the movie’s success. After finishing A New Hope, he was sure that the movie was going to be a huge commercial and critical flop.

So much so, that he didn’t even attend the premiere! Instead, he went on vacation in Hawaii with fellow director and friend Steven Spielberg. Maybe it was for the best since his little getaway sparked another great idea – collaborating with Spielberg and creating Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, which indeed came out in 1981.

26. James Earl Jones barely put in any work

James Earl Jones’s voice will forever be known as Darth Vader but no that wasn’t him behind the mask. Jones amazingly worked for only two and a half hours to record all of his lines for the movie. He was paid $7,500 for his work!

“Vader is a man who never learned the beauties and subtleties of human expression,” Jones said. “So we figured out the key to my work was to keep it on a very narrow band of expression—that was the secret.” Jones’ decision to be paid in cash and not opt for points in the film ultimately lost him tens of millions of dollars. Ouch.

27. The Chosen One

It seemed like the entire world wanted a chance to play the actor who would be fated to become the ominous Darth Vader. Casting directors searched high and low to find the perfect kid for the part of Anakin Skywalker. Over 3,000 you actors auditioned for the part!

The search was eventually narrowed down to only England, Ireland, Scotland and North America and whittled down to only three young actors: Devon Michael, Michael Angarano, and Jake Lloyd. Lloyd ultimately won out and became world famous. He has only acted in one other movie after The Phantom Menace. Lloyd also did voice acting for five Star Wars video games.

28. Potatoes and hand puppets

It’s not a secret that many unorthodox methods were used in creating the visual and sound effects of the early Star Wars movies. But would you believe that such methods involved spray-painted potatoes?? Well, when you can’t film real asteroids, potatoes are the next best thing!

During a scene when the Millennium Falcon was escaping through an asteroid field, spray-painted potatoes were filmed against a bluescreen to create the visual effects. A hand puppet was even used to create the giant space worm that tried to eat the Falcon! Talk about crafty. They should have hired Martha Stewart to pitch in.

29. One epic movie turned into three

Before 20th Century Fox picked up the deal to make Star Wars, George Lucas pitched the idea to both Universal Studios and United Artists. Both of the studios passed, saying that the premise was just far too confusing and far-flung.

The screenplay that Lucas turned in to 20th Century Fox as the “final” version was over 200 pages, double that of a normal screenplay! He was forced to cut it down into something more workable so he just made each separate act a movie. Could you image trying to get all three acts into one movie?

30. A whole new world of sounds

The Star Wars movies were revolutionary in a number of aspects. One that frequently gets overlooked is it sounds. Sound designer Ben Burtt became world famous for his work on the epic film series. You won’t believe how he created some of the sounds!

He made the voice of Chewbacca by blending the sounds of a bear, lion, walrus and badger. To make the ominous sound of Darth Vader breathing, he put a microphone inside a scuba tank regulator! It may sound simple but what he did was revolutionary in the world of sound design.

31. A very, very slow chase

It might surprise you to know that the lightning-fast speeder bike chase on Endor between Luke, Leia and the Scout Troopers was actually more like a snail race in real life. The scene was filmed at three-fourths frame per second at a walking pace.

After filming the scene was speed up to 24-frames-per second to make it look like the bikes were speeding at 120 miles per hour. The chase was filmed in a section of the Redwood State Park that was slated to be cut down.

32. Actual battles

Some of the space battle sequences were so intricate, they almost appeared to be real. Well, guess what. They were! Kind of. They just didn’t take place in space… Many of the battle scenes were actually real life dogfights from World War II.

Lucas took old newsreels to create the sequences for the battles. His special effects company Industrial Light and Magic matched the scenes together frame by frame. The scene where the Millennium Falcon with Han and Luke are batting TIE fighters is a direct result of the newsreels Lucas provided the team.

33. No one wanted to screen the first Star Wars movie

For it being one of the most successful films of all time it might surprise you to hear that many theaters didn’t even want to show the movie. The release date of the movie was moved up and Star Wars was set to be released just before Memorial Day.

Theaters were so sure it would bomb and wanted space to show other movies to the summer crowds, that less than 40 theaters agreed to show it. 20th Century Fox essentially forced theaters that were showing their other films to also show Star Wars. 20th Century was fined $25,000 for illegally forcing theaters to show a specific movie.

34. A rose by any other name

Lucas is worshipped by fans worldwide for the genius creation of the Star Wars universe but you may be surprised to learn that some of his ideas were not as complex as you’d imagine. Such as the unforgettable name Darth Vader.

“That’s just another one of those things that came out of thin air. It sort of appeared in my head one day,” Lucas said. According to the Star Wars creator, “‘Darth’ is a variation of dark. And ‘Vader’ is a variation of father. So it’s basically Dark Father.”

35. Lucas’ new director didn’t really work out as planned

Even though Lucas brought in Irvin Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas ended up directing portions of the movie himself. Kershner didn’t even want the job to begin with and declined the offer, only to have his agent accept on his behalf.

The two directors didn’t always see eye to eye and the theatrical version of the film was something of a compromise between the two. After seeing the initial rough cut of the film Marcia Lucas reportedly broke down in tears, saying that it was a complete disaster.

36. Episode X: Luke finds a date

How different would the films have been if Luke had a girlfriend in the Star Wars saga? Well, that almost happened. Actor Mark Hamill pushed Lucas to give him a love interest in the films to be introduced in Return of the Jedi.

Hamill even went so far as to gift Lucas a book of sci-fi art to help Lucas decide on what the Jedi’s girlfriend would look like. In the end, a love interest was never created but in the Star Wars Expanded Universe Luke did find a love interest, warrior Mara Jade, and the two eventually married.

37. Unusual film inspiration

Another piece of inspiration Lucas used in creating Star Wars was a film called The Hidden Fortress by director Akira Kurosawa. Lucas stated that the one thing he was really intrigued by was the fact that the story was told from the two lowest characters.

“I decided that would be a nice way to tell the Star Wars story. Take the two lowliest characters, as Kurosawa did, and tell the story from their point of view. Which, in the Star Wars case is the two droids, and that was the strongest influence,” Lucas recalled. The Hidden Fortress is part of a Japanese genre called Jidaigeki. It is rumored that Lucas coined the word “Jedi” from the name of the genre.

38. Extreme casting ideas

Lucas was determined to make his film a success (even though by the end of filming he thought that Star Wars would be a flop) and initially had some rather odd ideas at just how to make the film stand out.

He played with the idea of casting certain types of people for the film. At one point he considered casting only African-Americans, he later thought about a Japanese only cast (probably due to the influence from Akira Kurosawa’s film) and he even thought about casting only little people. In an interview, he jokingly said that the little people “idea was a little influenced by The Lord of the Rings.”

39. Self-funded movies

George Lucas actually self-funded the production of The Empire Strikes Back. And it almost didn’t work out. After the success of the original film, Lucas decided to maintain the rights to all sequels, maintain creative control over them and fund them himself.

The production went WAY over budget and kept running into delays. It got so bad that at one point they were days away from not being able to pay their employees. They ended up being bailed out by 20th century Fox after they agreed to be a guarantor for a loan increase and extension. The final cost of the production was $35 million. As well that ends well!

40. Lots of designs and a flying hamburger

Lucas and his team went through tons of different designs when trying to create the futuristic world of Star Wars. One huge challenged was designing the space crafts and the Millennium Falcon. The original designs looked very similar to the spaceship from the British TV series Space: 1999.

Lucas reportedly told the design team to come up with something completely different. He was quoted as saying to design a craft that looked like a flying hamburger in space but sailed like a sunfish. The original design did make a brief appearance in the opening scene of the film.

41. Opening credit controversy

The Star Wars movies are known for their iconic opening text crawls but what you might not have noticed about the openings is that there are no credits. The credits only appear at the end of the movies. During the late 70s and early 80s, this was a very unusual practice and stirred up some controversy.

Some people were so angry about the lack of opening credits that they even tried to get the film pulled from theaters, including the Writers and Directors Guilds. Director Kershner and Lucas himself were fined over the ordeal and resulted in Lucas withdrawing his membership from the Writers Guild, Directors Guild, and the Motion Picture Association.

42. Big names on a short list

Richard Marquand directed Return of the Jedi but he wasn’t the first choice on Lucas’ shortlist. He actually wanted to get the brilliant Steven Spielberg to direct the film but unfortunately Lucas’ decision to leave the Directors Guild prevented Spielberg from taking on the project.

Spielberg was unfortunately a prominent member of the Directors Guild organization. Lucas also tried to get David Lynch, then later David Cronenberg to direct Return of the Jedi. Both turned the offer down to direct other films instead. Bet they’re kicking themselves now.

43. The Hero with a Thousand Faces

George Lucas drew inspiration for the Star Wars movies from multiple sources such as fairy tales, westerns, and other sci-fi series. Lucas has admitted to basing the framework of the first Star Wars movie on a book called The Hero with a Thousands Faces by Joseph Campbell.

Campbell’s book explores a concept called the Hero’s journey or monomyth, a concept that all-important myths share a common fundamental structure. The basic narrative of such patterns are presented like so; “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won; the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

44. A production in hiding

By the third film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, people were ready to do anything to get their hands on insider information about the new movie. There was so much hype around the movie and producers feared leaks so strongly that they had to go covert with the operation.

The movie was shot under the alias Blue Harvest, they even had a tagline for the fake movie: “Horror Beyond Imagination.” The tagline was also probably meant as a warning that anyone who leaked Star Wars information from the set would themselves face horror beyond imagination.

45. Low-tech movie magic

All of the Star Wars films start with the iconic opening crawl introducing the film’s backstory and the context. But what you may not have known is that it was all done manually. Yellow letters were physically cut out and placed on top of a black backdrop.

The scrolling effect was achieved by the camera slowly passing over the letters, making it look like the text was crawling up the screen. It took over three hours of camera work to record the entire opening. All that hard work certainly seems to have paid off in the end!

If your friends are also fans of the galaxy far far away, please SHARE this article with them!

Source: Famefocus