20 Amazing Star Wars Facts That Are Out Of This World

1. The Imperial officer’s uniforms were patterned after the uniforms of Nazi officers to add to their “villainous” image.

2. The voice of Yoda is done by Frank Oz, who also happens to voice “Miss Piggy” from The Muppets.

3. Harrison Ford asked that Han Solo die at the end of Empire during the carbon freezing process … …but his request was denied by George Lucas.

4. The Sith were originally called “The Damned.” But a British band with the same name debuted in 1977 forcing Lucas to dub over the word “Sith” in post-production. (It’s rumored that to this day, Lucas hates all punk rock.)

5. All the dialogue when Han is on the console talking to some of the commanders was all ad libbed. Harrison Ford deliberately didn’t learn the lines, so that it would sound more spontaneous.

6. Emperor Palpatine was originally played by an elderly female stand-in…with chimpanzee eyes superimposed over her face to make her look creepy.

7. On the very first day of filming “A New Hope” C3PO’s costume kept falling apart every few minutes.

8. Luke’s line “I can’t see a thing in this helmet” was not scripted. Mark Hamill said this to Harrison Ford when he thought the cameras had stopped rolling. But, the filmmakers decided to leave the line in.

9. Before being rewritten as comic relief, Jar Jar was a mercenary who ultimately betrays Qui-Gon Jinn.

10. During the trash compactor scene, Mark Hamill (Luke) held his breath so long that he broke a blood vessel in his face.That’s why many of the shots show only one side of his face.

11. Yoda actually has a first name! It was never revealed in the movies, because Lucas deliberately decided to leave him with just one name to enhance the air of mystery about him. (His full name was going to be Minch Yoda.)

12. It took as many as 10 puppeteers using both hands to operate Jabba the Hutt.

13. During The Empire Strikes Back’s asteroid scene, one of the asteroids is actually a potato!

14. It took three different actors to portray Darth Vader. James Earl Jones (Voice), Sebastian Shaw (face), and David Prowse (body).

15. Although Episodes IV and V were big hits, the studio refused to sign for Return of the Jedi…until Lucas drew out a merchandising plan that included more toy-friendly characters than Empire did. (And that’s how Ewoks were created!)

16. Han Solo was initially intended to be a green, aquatic alien. Then he became a fat pirate type with a beard. Eventually all ideas were scrapped and became the dashing character we know and love.

17. Denis Lawson, who plays Wedge Antilles, is the uncle of Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels.

18. The lightsaber sound was discovered by accident. Sound Effects supremo Ben Burtt couldn’t find the right sound until he accidentally walked past a muted TV while holding a microphone.

19. The scene in which Luke and Leia swing across a shaft in the Death Star was filmed in one take.

20. George Lucas appeared in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as Baron Papanoida.

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