Last night as the witching hour struck, geeks were out in full force.
Tuesday’s release (at midnight at many area stores) of the original (Ha!) “Star Wars” trilogy has revived talk of what George Lucas did to make his masterpieces–and what he has done to them with his tinkering (digitally dropping Hayden Christensen of “Episodes II” and “III” into the last scenes of “Return of the Jedi,” for example).
Now, more deets on the three most revered sci-fi films of all time:
CHEWBACCA COUTURE: Studio execs back then worried that Chewbacca was indecent because all he wore was a strap of ammunition across his chest.
“I remember the memos from 20th Century Fox,” Mark Hamill said. ” ‘Can you put a pair of lederhosen on the Wookie?’ All they could think of was, ‘This character has no pants on!’ This went back and forth. They did sketches of him in culottes and baggy shorts.”
YODA TROUBLES: Defining Yoda was difficult, and a puppet seemed ridiculous at the time, so producers looked for other solutions. “We thought, maybe if we trained a monkey, in an outfit, and then animated the lips … ?” Irvin Kershner said.
As for DVD sales, “Finding Nemo” is the record-holder with 8 million units moved in one day. Will “Star Wars” blow that away?
Depends on whether the Force is with it.
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Edited by RedEye staff (ritaredeye@tribune.com)
