Filming Return of the Jedi

Blue Harvest: Filming Return of the Jedi

If you are married you know that weddings are expensive. One reason they are so expensive is that the word wedding comes with a price tag. If you are buying a wedding cake, it is going to cost more than a normal cake. If you are hiring a wedding photographer, expect to pay wedding prices.

Apparently the same thing happens with movies. Once someone knows you are making a Star Wars film everything, including the nuts and bolts that hold the set together,  is going to cost more. This is why Lucas picked a codename for Return of the Jedi. A film called “Blue Harvest” would be able to get cheaper parts and therefore Lucas could afford to film his movie. The film even had a fake tagline “Horror Beyond Imagination”.            

Six Puppeteers controlled Jabba

Filming started with Jabba’s palace where Lucas was adamant that a man-in-a-suit portray the rancor (like Godzilla). However after several attempts it wasn’t working, so they decided to use a puppet instead.

Jabba was also an issue. In the original Star Wars movie Jabba was filmed as a human-being, but the material was cut from the final film. Lucas wanted to make Jabba more alien for Jedi. Concept sketches included Jabba as a large ape and a snail-like creature. The final product was a mix between the two and it took six puppeteers to bring the character to life.

Teddy Bears? Really?

Next the production team headed to the California forests to film the Endor scenes. The original script called for the Empire to be in a battle with the Wookiees on their home planets, however Lucas felt Ewoks were more kid-friendly. The actors felt awkward interacting with the short teddy-bears and many fans still feel that the cuddly species would have been no match for stormtroopers. The language for the Ewoks was based on Tibetan and Kalmyk Oirat, (the native speech of the Kalmyk people who are native to Mongolia & Russia.)

Original Poster with "Revenge"

The last decision to make was the title of the film. Lucas had originally picked “Return of the Jedi” but director, Lawrence Kasdan, thought it was a weak title. Early posters & previews carried the title “Revenge of the Jedi” but Lucas decided to change it back to “Return” at the last moment. Luke’s lightsaber was also shown as being blue in these previews and posters, but it was changed to green late in production.

Fans today site “Jedi” as the weakest film of the original trilogy, most cite the Ewoks as being unnecessary and created exclusively for children.

Though let’s not forget that Jedi has the most action of the three. The Sarlacc scene is tense and ultimately awesome. The speeder bike chase is pure gold and the lightsaber battle may be the strongest of the entire saga.

In the past 2 months I have researched and reported on the first decade of Star Wars history. Now I must take a leave of absence from my blogs to have my own adventures. But stay tuned for more blogs in mid-January. Until then, May the Force be with you!