10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About 'Return Of The Jedi'
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Return of the Jedi is the third and final entry in the original Star Wars trilogy. Behind every great movie is, of course, great secrets. In this piece, we are going to walk through 10 interesting behind-the-scenes facts about Return of the Jedi!
10. Sebastian Shaw Had Little knowledge About The Film Prior To Playing His Role
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Sebastian Shaw was the man in the suit for Darth Vader and the face of Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. Even though his small screen time made quite a large impact, the reality was that Shaw knew very little about the role and could not share much about the role either. Shaw was close with Ian McDiarmid, who played Emperor Palpatine. When he arrived on set and ran into McDiarmid who asked what he was doing there, he could only respond “I don't know, dear boy, I think it's something to do with science-fiction.”
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9. The Title Was changed Multiple Times, And Then Changed Back
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One of the other potential titles for the movie was Revenge of the Jedi. The title change even went as far as showing up on trailers and posters. In the end, however, George Lucas realized that it was not like the Jedi to focus on revenge, and therefore changed the title back to the one we all know and love.
8. The Working Title Was Blue Harvest
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Blue Harvest was the working title of Return of the Jedi. The popularity of the first two episodes of the original trilogy had Lucas worried that they would not be able to prevent fans and journalists from trying to get onto the set. So, they used the working title to hide the production in plain sight, going as far as to have production members wear Blue Harvest T-shirts with a tagline that said “Horror beyond imagination.”
7. Jabba The Hutt Was A Difficult Feat
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At the time of production, Jabba the Hutt was one of the more difficult puppets to work with. It took six separate puppeteers to make Jabba the Hutt move for his scenes! He cost half a million dollars and three months to make it happen!
6. Jabba’s Sounds
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As mentioned previously, Jabba the Hutt was a massive feat to accomplish physically, but he was also unique for his sound as well. All of the squishy, slimy noises you heard were created with food. Specifically, the sound of Jabba slithering around was created by sound designer Ben Burtt running a hand through a cheese casserole.
5. “It’s A Trick!”
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Admiral Ackbar’s iconic line “It’s a trap!” was originally “It’s a trick!” but was changed to the current version after a test screening.
4. Luke’s Lightsaber
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As seen in one of the trailers for the movie, Luke was supposed to have a blue lightsaber. However, the clear blue lightsaber blended in with the blue sky. This was why Lucas changed the color to the green we all have associated with Luke Skywalker.
3. Luke And Leia Were Not Originally Siblings
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Originally, Luke was to go on a journey to find his long-lost sibling. Luke and Leia were not written to be siblings which is why Luke had a crush on Leia in the beginning, and we got to see that awkward kiss. George Lucas decided he wanted to wrap things up in Return of the Jedi, and with Han and Leia’s relationship already blooming, the best course of action was to make Luke and Leia siblings, as we all know them.
2. The Emperor’s Role
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In The Empire Strikes Back, the Emperor is played by Rick Baker’s wife in a mask, with editing to change the eyes and the voice. As the Emperor would be featured in Return of the Jedi, that layering technique would not work. Lindsay Anderson was the first to be offered the role but had scheduling conflicts. Alan Webb was cast originally and had to drop out due to illness. Inevitably, the role went to Ian McDiarmid, who would go on to play the role in the prequel trilogy and in The Rise of Skywalker.
1. Yoda Was Not Originally In The Movie
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Originally, the movie was supposed to begin just after Luke has finished his training. Yoda was not in the script originally, but it was changed so that Yoda could confirm that Vader was in fact Luke’s father. Director Richard Marquand suggested this change and Lucas agreed.
Every movie has its fair share of secrets! These are just a few hidden facts from Return of the Jedi that you can share with others.
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