Film, Random Awesomeness

Holy Sith! It’s Star Wars Day!

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It’s finally here… the most important day in any “Geek Calendar”…

… it’s INTERNATIONAL STAR WARS DAY!!  You know… May the 4th…. like “May the Fourth Be With You” (Get it??)

Ok so “Star Wars Day” has been a thing since the very first (technically now the “4th”) Star Wars movie came out in 1977 (back when it was just called “Star Wars”… it was changed to “Star Wars: A New Hope” after they decided to do a sequel in the 1980s). Although over the past decade or so, things have really been ramping up with all the prequels and sequels and stand-alone movies…. and with “Han Solo: A Star Wars Story” hitting the big screen on May 25th, this year’s Star Wars Day is even a bigger deal!

So here are some of the ways you can celebrate today:

  • TBS has their 2nd annual Star Wars movie MARATHON going on all day today… it started at 2:30am with “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” and ends tonight with the 8pm broadcast of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” And if you miss some of the marathon today (because… you know… you have a life) then you might be able to catch up a bit over the weekend (they’ll be showing the original trilogy a few times).
  • Retailers are cashing in with Star Wars promotions.
    • American Tourister: 40% off Star Wars suitcases (yes… they exist)
    • Artissimo: 15% off Star Wars wall art
    • Cross: 20% off All Cross Townsend Star Wars™ Limited-Edition Pens
    • Foster Grant: 40% off Star Wars eyeglasses
    • Funko: 15% off Star Wars swag
    • Gap: free shipping on all Star Wars products, including a special-edition collection and the brand-new Star Wars baby collection.
    • Hallmark Gold Crown stores: Receive A FOURTH OFF your purchase of select Star Wars™ Hallmark gift collections & kids products all day long
    • Hot Topic: All Star Wars tees are $15
    • Mattel: Save 25% off ALL Hot Wheels Star Wars items
    • Pottery Barn: 20% off Star Wars Collection
    • Amazon: Over 600 “May the Fourth” deals in the Star Wars Store
    • …. and you can find more deals and details at www.starwars.com
  • Star Wars Land at Disney World is naturally doing a million different things
  • Lego is debuting its GINORMOUS collectors’ series Y-wing Starfighter. Maybe you’ll finish it by the time Star Wars: Episode IX comes out in 2019!
  • People all day long are dressing as Star Wars characters and going to HUGE parties everywhere from Taiwan to Fort Myers Florida
  • Lucasfilm just launched Roar for Change: Post, like or share your take on Chewbacca’s signature howl on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #RoarForChange before May 25, and the Star Wars: Force for Change initiative will donate $1 to UNICEF.
  • And lets not forget the specialty chocolates, cupcakes, Blue Milk and other recipes

So I’m just going to do my part to tell you the top FACTS… you did NOT KNOW about STAR WARS:

  • Yoda was almost played by a monkey. George Lucas originally planned for Yoda to be played by an
    adorable monkey wearing a mask and carrying a cane.
  • “Ewok” was never spoken in the original trilogy. The word “Ewok” is never uttered by a character in the original trilogy. Although, the species is identified in the script and closing credits.
  • R2-D2 originally had dialogue, with actual speaking parts. Many of C-3PO’s reactions were for R2’s original lines.
  • The iconic “Imperial March” (also known as Darth Vader’s theme) is never actually heard in A New Hope. The song was originally composed for The Empire Strikes Back. (Though it was edited back into the special editon of “A New Hope” later.)
  • The 20th Century Fox executives wanted Chewbacca to wear shorts. They didn’t want a naked Wookie so there are tons of sketches of Chewbacca with clothes.
  • Boba Fett’s face is actually visible in the original movies. The actor who played Fett, Jeremy Bulloch, did stand in for an Imperial officer at the last minute.
  • “I have a bad feeling about this” became a running gag for the franchise. The phrase “I have a bad feeling about this” or “I have a very bad feeling about this” is said in every Star Wars movie. Obi Wan uses it in Episode I and III, Anakin in II, Luke in IV, Han in IV and VII, Leia in V, and C-3PO in VI. Additionally, Harrison Ford says the phrase in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
  • Return of the Jedi almost had a very different ending. George Lucas toyed with the idea that after Luke removes dying Vader’s helmet, he puts it on, proclaims “Now I am Vader” and turns to the dark side.
  • ‘N Sync nearly had a cameo in Attack of the Clones. At the request of George Lucas’ daughter. They were edited out of the final cut. 
  • Yoda has no determined species. Yoda’s species has never been named.
  • Yoda is not a Muppet. Frank Oz voiced Yoda and Jim Henson oversaw his creation, but he was built by a member of Lucasfilm.
  • George Lucas has said that his Alaskan Malamute, Indiana, was the inspiration for Chewbacca. He also happens to share a name with Indiana Jones. Coincidence?
  • There are an estimated 2,002,795,192 deaths in the original trilogy.  But the film with the greatest number of deaths is The Force Awakens (keep in mind that an entire planet system is destroyed).
  • Depending on what movie you’re watching, Yoda has a different number of toes. In The Phantom Menace, Yoda has three toes. But in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, he  has four.
  • There are no female fighter pilots in the original trilogy. Even though female fighter pilots were in the original screenplay, they were removed from final cut.
  • Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey share almost the exact same production crew. George Lucas admired Stanley Kubrik, and when he set out to make Star Wars, he hired so many people who worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey that the group was referred to as “The Class of 2001.”
  • The Star Wars prequels used computer animation to create legions of CloneTroopers. No physical suit of armor was ever built for the Clone Troopers in the prequels. Every single Clone Trooper was computer animated.
  • Many actors were considered for the role of Han Solo. Among them were: Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Robert Englund, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, James Woods, and Perry King.
  • The word Jedi may come from Japanese. Jidaigeki is a genre of Japanese media that takes place mostly in the Edo period of Japanese history. Lucas was a huge fan of Japanese samurai films, and used them as inspiration while making Star Wars.
  • Tatooine is a real place on Earth. Several scenes in A New Hope were shot in Tunisia, in the desert just south of a city called Tataouine. Lucas loved the name so much that he adapted it as Tatooine for Star Wars.
  • Star Wars was the first science fiction film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
  • Qui-Gon Jinn used a Gillette razor for his communicator. In Episode 1, the personal communicator used by Qui-Gon Jinn is actually made from a resin cast of a Gillette Ladies Sensor Excell Razor.
  • E.T. was in The Phantom Menace — sort of. The alien race of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial makes an appearance in Episode I: The Phantom Menace — officially connecting the worlds of Lucas and Spielberg sci-fi. A senator and his delegation from planet Brodo Asogi are present in the Grand Convocation Chamber when Queen Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence.
  • Ewoks speak Tibetan. The Ewok language is a combination of Tibetan and Nepalese.
  • The Muppets visited the set of The Empire Strikes Back.According to legend, Frank Oz (who did the voice acting for Yoda) brought the Muppets along to help Mark Hamill relax while they filmed the Daggobah scenes.
  • The first appearance of the Emperor was a composite of a chimpanzee and the character designer’s wife. In remastered versions, they use an image of Palpatine that we all know and love.
  • In Italy, Darth Vader is called Lord Fener. Probably because Darth Vader’s name is uncomfortably close to a phrase meaning toilet in Italian.
  • David Lynch passed on directing Jedi. Yes… THAT David Lynch. Acclaimed film director David Lynch passed when George Lucas asked him to direct Return of the Jedi. He went on to create “Twin Peaks”
  • Darth Vader is banned from all official Star Wars events. David Prowse, the actor who portrayed Darth Vader (in form, not voice), is banned from attending official Star Wars conventions because George Lucas finds him annoying.
  • The sound of a TIE fighter engine is actually an elephant. The sound of a TIE Fighter engine was created by combining an elephant bellow and a car driving on wet pavement.
  • Chewbacca’s voice is an eclectic mix of other animals. Chewbacca’s voice is a mix of bears, walruses, lions, badgers and other dying animals.
  • The lightsaber noise comes from the familiar hum of an old television. The noise a lightsaber makes is created by combining the hum of an old television’s picture tube and the buzz of a film projector’s motor.
  • You can use Star Wars collectible coins as real money. The tiny South Pacific island of Niue accepts limited edition Star Wars collectible coins as legal tender.
  • Liam Neeson was too tall for Star Wars. The sets for The Phantom Menace were only as tall as the actors, but they didn’t account for 6’4″ Liam Neeson. They had to rebuild all the door frames for Qui-Gon Jinn, which racked up an additional $150,000 in production costs.
  • There are enough fan tribute videos to recreate A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. There are shot-for-shot re-creations of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back made entirely of campy fan tribute videos.
  • Jabba the Hut was originally meant to be furry. Originally, Jabba the Hut was not conceived as a grimy slug, but as a fuzzy creature.
  • George Lucas left the Directors Guild because of A New Hope. George Lucas paid a fine and resigned from the Directors Guild rather than start Episode IV with a traditional credit sequence.
  • The iconic opening credits were created in an unorthodox way. Filmmakers used a physical crawl to shoot the opening credits in the original films.
  • Harrison Ford almost wasn’t Han Solo. Burt Reynolds was among the top contenders to play Han Solo, along with Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken.
  • Empire Strikes Back uses the most stop-motion animation. Of all the films in the franchise, Empire utilizes the most stop-motion animation.
  • Cliff Clavin makes a cameo in Empire. Cheers and Toy Story actor John Ratzenberger has a brief appearance in Empire Strikes Back. He’s the one who tells Han not to go out into the cold to look for Luke.
  • Han Solo almost died at the end of Jedi. Gary Kurtz, the original producer of Return of the Jedi, said that in the early story outline, Han Solo dies and the Rebel forces are left in tatters, with Luke disappearing into the wilderness. But George Lucas thought killing off main characters would hurt toy sales, so he changed the ending to a big Ewok party.
  • Han Solo was frozen in carbonite because of Harrison Ford. Ford was not sure he would return for the third. The writers and Lucas decided to freeze Han, in case Ford decided (or failed) to return.
  • Star Wars isn’t the first mention of Endor. It’s also in the Bible and in The Lord of the Rings. In the Bible, King Saul travels to the village of Endor to find a witch. In Tolkien’s world, Endor is the way of referring to Middle-Earth in a variant of Elvish.
  • Episode VI was originally called Revenge of the Jedi. The title was changed to the Return of the Jedi , because the Jedi’s ethical philosophy and code goes against revenge.
  • Joseph Williams (vocalist for the band TOTO, who sang “Africa”) contributed to the score of Return of the Jedi . He was particularly responsible for the Ewok songs. Williams is the son of John Williams, the composer behind almost all the other music in Star Wars.
  • Keira Knightley was 12 when she played Sabé, Queen Amidala’s handmaiden and double. This was years before her break-out role in Bend It Like Beckham, which made her a household name.
  • Rey’s outfits in The Force Awakens were inspired by old sketches of Luke Skywalker. At some point, George Lucas considered making Luke a woman, and artist Ralph McQuarrie created sketches of the character concept that would later inspire Rey’s look.
  • Carrie Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, made her film debut in The Force Awakens . Her character’s appearance is a tribute to princess Leia.
  • The Force Awakens is the only Star Wars movie that does not show or mention Tatooine. The desert planet has appeared in all the films, except The Empire Strikes Back where it is only mentioned.
  • Mark Hamill was 63 when he filmed The Force Awakens, which is the same age Alec Guinness was while filming A New Hope.
  • George Lucas claims that General Grievous’ coughing problemwas actually his own case of bronchitis that was recorded and used for the character.
  • Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne auditioned to play Kylo Ren. However, according to an interview he gave, his audition was a complete disaster.
  • Hardly anyone knew the truth about Luke and Darth Vader until The Empire Strikes Back was released. During filming only Lucas, director Irvin Kershner, writer Lawrence Kasdan, Mark Hamill, and James Earl Jones knew the secret. To prevent the rest of the crew from discovering the secret, during the shoot Darth Vader said: ‘You don’t know the truth: Obi-Wan killed your father!’ Later, it was edited with Earl Jones’ voice to the now iconic line.
  • And actually, you’re probably misremembering that line. Although most remember it as: ‘Luke, I am your father’ it is actually: ‘No, I am your father’.
  • Benicio del Toro was originally offered the role of Darth Maul. Del Toro rejected the offer due to lack of dialogue. The Spanish actor is rumored to appear in The Last Jedi, the eighth episode in the saga.
  • Ello Asty, one of the X-wing pilots in The Force Awakens, takes his name from the Beastie Boys album Hello Nasty. His helmet actually says Born to Ill in an extraterrestrial language, which is a reference to Licensed to III, another Beastie Boys album.
  • Mace Windu’s lightsaber had the words “Bad Motherfucker” engraved on it. According to Samuel L. Jackson.
  • The original cut of Revenge of the Sith was over four hours long. Many of the deleted scenes were used in the video game adaptation of the film.
  • Star Wars is the third most successful franchise in film history. The most successful is the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second most successful is the Harry Potter film franchise.
  • And the only characters who appear in every official film in the Star Wars saga are R2-D2 and C-3PO.

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