The Aliens of “Empire” & "WHAT THE HECK IS YODA?"

“The Empire Strikes Back” is the Star Wars film featuring the least number of sentient alien species. Except for Yoda we don't have a lot of aliens. There is that brief bounty hunter scene and some cloud city citizens. Although shots of aliens are sparse, the ones we do get a look at have become important to the larger Star Wars canonicity. And as far as Yoda goes there are still a great number of mysteries surrounding the species that he belongs to. Let’s dive in...

Trandoshan

Trandoshans, such as Bossk, are known as the greatest hunters in the Galaxy. More often than not, the prey they hunt is Wookiees. Trandoshans boasted the rare ability to grow their lost limbs back (like Deadpool). 

Few Star Wars fans realize that Trandoshans owe their existence to another reptilian species called the Saurin. Two Saurin appeared in the “New Hope” cantina scene. They look pretty much like Bossk, but shorter. This is because one of the Saurin costumes was altered and turned into the costume for Bossk. Both Bossk and the unaltered Saurin can be seen in Return of the Jedi in the background of Jabba’s Palace.

Wookiee

Wookiees are known to pull people’s arms out of their sockets, but they are also known to bake “Wookiee-ookiees”. Wookiee-Ookiees are, of course, an invention of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special which saw Chewbacca’s father, wife, and son celebrating “Life Day” in their Kashyyyk home. The wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk would reappear in “Revenge of the Sith” which saw a team of Australian basketball players portray the warrior race in battle. After the fall of Kashyyyk most wookiees were made into imperial slaves including Chewbacca and Sagwa, who both appear in “Solo”. Many believe Wookiees to be a primitive species because they live in trees, but technology is a big part of Wookiee culture and many are talented pilots.

Gand

The Gand are an insectoid species who breath ammonia. The planet Gand itself is very foggy and hard to navigate, though individuals called “Findsmen” specialized in locating places, people, or objects. The bounty hunter, Zuckuss, was on of the few Gand who ventured off-world. The ones that did leave planet Gand, would wear respirators in order to breath in oxygen-rich environments.

Features of the Gand include large insectoid eyes and mandible mouthparts (although the mouthparts are usually hidden under the breathing mask). The LOM series of protocol droids (who served the Gand) were designed with similar eyes and facial features. Zuckuss, often worked with a LOM series droid named 4-LOM. Early Star Wars fans may have been confused over the identities of Zuckuss and 4-LOM because the Kenner action figure line accidentally swapped their names. This mistake was not corrected until the publication of the 1989 Galaxy Guide.

Snivvian

Snivvians are from the cold world of Cadomai Prime and the long winters would force Snivvians to live in subterranean caves for most of the year. While living in the caves Snivvians would produce great works of art including painting, sculpture, music, and writing.

The most famous Snivvian among fandom is Zutton who was called “Snaggletooth” when his action figure was released. For more about that action figure’s strange history check out my previous blog, “The Strange Story of Snaggletooth”. Snivvians appear in all three of the original Star Wars films, including on cloud city in “The Empire Strikes Back”, but fans will have to look closely to see them.

Lutrillian

Like many mammal-like species, Lutrillian evolved on a cold planet where having warm-blood was advantageous. Their thick skin and blubbery faces helped to protect them from the elements. Though Lutrillians appear in “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back” they are barely visible onscreen. The best chance to spot a Lutrillian onscreen is probably “The Star Wars Holiday Special” where Bea Arthur is seen interacting with a Lutrillian known as General Solomahal.

Ugnaught

Ugnaughts originally hailed from the swampy, volcano planet of Gentes. Due to the harsh nature of their homeworld Ugnaughts evolved to be strong and resilient. Some had tusks on their faces that could be used in blood duels. In “The Empire Strikes Back” Ugnaughts can be seen all over Cloud City, most notably in the Carbon Freezing Chamber. Another Ugnaught is visible in Jabba’s Palace in “Return of the Jedi”. It is notable that the Chief Ugnaught was played by Jack Purvis, who also played the Chief Jawa in ANH and Teebo the Ewok in ROTJ.

Human

Humans were the dominant species of the Star Wars Galaxy. Although humans were thought to have originated on Coruscant, they quickly spread out to other Core worlds such as Coreillia and Alderaan. Many humans also settled on Mid Rim planets such as Naboo and Outer Rim planets such as Mandalore. Because of the fact that humans were so common and widespread, other species in the galaxy were sometimes referred to as aliens, non-humans, or humanoids. The Galactic Empire were very prejudice against non-humans to the point where most non-humans were made into slaves or systematically destroyed. Some fans theorize that humans on Earth are descendants of the humans from the Star Wars Galaxy since it takes place “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away”.

Yoda’s Species

In the script for “The Empire Strikes Back”, Yoda is an old wizened stranger. He is almost a millennia old, and there has always been a shroud of mystery surrounding the character. The most mysterious aspect of him may be his species. In the Expanded Universe, Yoda has no home planet, he has no species name. We do know, however, that Yoda is not alone. In “The Phantom Menace” Yaddle, a female member of Yoda’s species, sits on the council. The EU has, at times, presented us with other examples of Yoda’s species, but exclusively as Jedi, which causes me to wonder if Yoda’s species actually founded the Jedi Order.

Before Yaddle’s appearance in “The Phantom Menace”, Lucas did not even want to admit that Yoda was a member of a species. When a 1993 trading card depicting other members of Yoda’s species was to be released, Lucas ordered all copies of it to be destroyed. Although some cards escaped the pulping and a few have been sold on Ebay for $400 or more. The biggest controversy around Yoda’s species (and perhaps the biggest mystery) is the number of toes on Yoda’s feet. In the Original Trilogy, Yoda has three front-facing toes and one back-facing toe. In “The Phantom Menace”, however, puppets of Yoda and Yaddle are missing the back-facing toe. Various toys and sources depict Yoda as having three, four, or five toes, though three fingers and three toes seem to be the most common depiction. Some fans even refer to Yoda's species as "Tridactyl" in reference to this fact.

Star Wars Aliens

The Aliens of the Cantina

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-aliens-of-cantina_1.html

The Aliens of “The Empire Strikes Back"

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-aliens-of-empire-strikes-back-what.html

The Aliens of Jabba’s Palace

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/07/aliens-of-jabbas-palace.html

The Aliens of Max Rebo’s Band

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-aliens-of-max-rebos-band.html

The Aliens of the Battle of Endor

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-aliens-of-battle-of-endor.html

Flipping Heads

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/09/flipping-heads.html

The Aliens of the Phantom Menace
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/10/aliens-of-phantom-menace.html

The Aliens of Attack of the Clones

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/aliens-of-attack-of-clones.html

The Aliens of Revenge of the Sith

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/aliens-of-revenge-of-sith.html

Expanded Universe Aliens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/12/10-species-from-old-expanded-universe.html

Aliens of Podracing

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/01/boonta-eve-classic-20th-anniversary.html

Aliens of Ralph McQuarrie

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/01/one-1970s-ralph-mcquarrie-painting.html

Aliens of  The Force Awakens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/02/aliens-of-force-awakens.html

Aliens of  Rogue One

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/02/aliens-of-rogue-one.html

Aliens of  The Last Jedi

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/03/aliens-of-last-jedi.html

Aliens of  Solo

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/03/aliens-of-solo.html

Aliens of  Endor

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/08/aliens-of-endor.html

The Most Obscure Aliens of the Original Trilogy

http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-most-obscure-aliens-of-original.html

Aliens of the Mandalorian

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/12/aliens-of-mandalorian.html

Bonus Aliens

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/04/bonus-aliens.html

The Five Subspecies of Nikto

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-five-subspecies-of-nikto.html

151 Aliens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/05/151-aliens-how-many-do-you-know.html

Aliens of Star Trek

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/04/aliens-of-star-trek.html

The Strange Story of Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth is an obscure background alien from “A New Hope”, but he is one that toy collectors know well. Snaggletooth is one of the four Cantina aliens that Kenner released as action figures back in the late 70s. He is probably best known for the fact that Kenner initially messed up his design.

In the film “A New Hope”, Snaggletooth is a short being with a red robe, but because Kenner only had a black-and-white photo for reference, they designed him as a tall creature in a blue robe. Though they eventually fixed the mistake, rare “Blue Snaggletooth” have always been prized among collectors and they are available on Ebay for $300 - $400.

Snaggletooth was a popular figure back in the late 70s. In the film “ET” there is a scene where Elliot shows ET his collection of Star Wars figures. These figures include “Greedo”, “Hammerhead”, “Walrus Man”, and “Snaggletooth”. Amazingly, these four iconic cantina aliens are still being packaged together 40-some years later in plush varieties and Funko Pop.

 Eventually Snaggletooth would be given a real name (Zutton) and even a species name (Snivvian). Eagle-eyed fans will spot a Snivvian on Cloud City in “The Empire Strikes Back” and a Snivvian in Jabba’s Palace in “Return of the Jedi”.

 I’ll be back later this week with some more info about Snivvians and other aliens seen in the film “The Empire Strikes Back”. Until then, stay funky, Star Wars fans!

Maul Scene + Future of Franchise

After seeing “Solo” for the 3^rd time today, I wanted to address that Darth Maul scene and its implications on the future of the franchise…

Was Maul the best choice?

Darth Maul is the shocking twist at the end of “Solo” that everyone has been talking about. Some fans say that Maul is there to set up the Obi-Wan Kenobi film, but the truth may be even more sinister. Some have claimed that Maul was never in the original script and even the on-set-script stated “Insert Legacy-Character Here”. Today we examine these questions: ‘Who were the other Legacy Characters considered?’ and ‘Was Maul the best choice?’

Candidate #1: Jabba the Hutt

It is almost incredible that Jabba the Hutt is not in this film. Many fans were expecting it and the character is certainly tied to the crime syndicate. Jabba was probably not chosen to be the “shocker” at the end of the film because it would not have been a shock at all. I, for one, am happy that they seemed to only hint at the Hutt’s existence and that any Jabba related adventures have been saved for potential future films.

Candidate #2: Palpatine

When I first saw the hologram of the cloaked figure in “Solo” the only thing I could think of was Palpatine. Who else hides behind a shadowy cloak while communicating via hologram? Seeing Palpatine again on screen portrayed by Ian McDiarmid would have been incredible, but it wouldn’t really have fit. Afterall, Palpy is the Emperor of the darn galaxy, he is not a petty crime lord. Also, seeing Qi’ra buddying up with Darth Sidious may have made her character a tad more sinister, but perhaps that would have worked.

Candidate #3: Prince Xizor

As someone who grew up in the EU era, I would have lost my mind if Prince Xizor would have shown up. It would have been incredible! And Xizor’s character would have made so much sense. He is the leader of Black Sun, after all. Xizor is not currently a part of the new Disney Canon, but what of introduction this could have been. However, many fans (and certainly casual viewers) would not have recognized Xizor, so the shock would not have connected with everyone. Fingers crossed we will see this Falleen show up eventually.

Candidate #4: Thrawn

There are many reasons why Thrawn would have worked here. The character was recently reintroduced into the canon via ‘Star Wars Rebels’. Also, Timothy Zahn returned to write new Thrawn novels in back to back summers and the character currently has his own ongoing comic series. Thrawn is a big deal right now in the Expanded Universe and even casual fans probably would at least recognize his face, if not his name. Still, there would be questions about where “Solo” fits into Thrawn’s timeline. Would this be a pre-Empire Thrawn or Thrawn as a Grand Admiral? What would he be serving as a Crime Lord anyway? Does it really fit his character?

Candidate #5: Maul

There are many reasons why Maul works as the Legacy Character that Disney chose to be the “Twist” at the end of the film. It has already been established in the TV shows that Maul survived the Battle of Naboo. He has already been shown working with many of the crime syndicates in the Solo script. He is recognizable by the general audience, as well as the hardcore fans. Apparently, Ron Howard lobbied hard for Maul when Howard was brought on to direct the film. So I get why Maul was chosen. There are some reasons that Maul doesn’t work. Some fans claim that casual viewers would be confused because Maul died in The Phantom Menace. However, I call BS on this one. First of all, many casual viewers may not remember that Maul died and if they do remember, who cares? Characters come back from the dead in cinema all the time and there isn’t always an explanation for it. The other issue that fans have with Maul is that we just saw the characters death in “Rebels”. Why kill Maul off in Rebels, if he’s going to be reintroduced into the film series?

The truth might be that the Story Group behind this franchise has no idea what they are doing. And that is scary. Which brings me to my next question. Where does Star Wars go from here?

What Next?

With Solo bombing at the Box Office, Disney has to be wondering what they are going to do with this franchise. Where Kevin Feige of Marvel made cinematic universes seem so easy- other franchises have had a tough time replicating that type of magic. The MCU seems so perfectly planned out and right now Star Wars seems to be heading towards Chaos. What will happen to Star Wars post Episode IX? What will the next film be? Where is this franchise heading? Let’s look at the candidates for the 2020 Star Wars film.

Solo 2

With the way the first film “bombed” at the Box Office combined with its troubled production, “Solo” might not seem like the strongest candidate for a sequel right now. However, there are some arguments to be made for the continuation of the Han & Chewie adventures. First of all, audiences like consistency. One of the reasons “Solo” was not a box office success is that casual viewers are confused. We have jumped from the adventures of Rey (which takes place 30 years after the Original Trilogy) to the adventures of Jyn (which takes place concurrent with the Original Trilogy) to the adventures of Han (which takes place 10 years prior to the Original Trilogy). Fans can keep track of this stuff, but casual viewers can’t. The reason that the MCU works is that it continues to drive the plot forward whilst using old characters to help introduce new ones. Now that Disney has established “Young Han” why not keep it going? Give casual viewers something that is easy to follow. Or at least use the characters set up in “Solo” to drive that story forward, which brings me to…

Lando: A Star Wars Story

Donald Glover is a rising star and a Lando standalone film with Glover in the lead could translate to a lucrative box office. One pitfall here is that Lando has less room to grow as a character. Glover’s Lando in “Solo” is very similar to Billy Dee’s Lando in “Empire”. So how do you make a film starring a static character? It would almost have to be a “James Bond” in space type story. But then again, what is the plot? Lando is not a hero. He’s not a rebel agent. He doesn’t really have a mission. He’s just Lando. One way I could see this working is if Billy Dee Williams would return to help frame the film. We’d see an old Lando on an adventure and then we would flashback to a younger Lando. It could work.

Kenobi: A Star Wars Story

Ewan McGregor is always a strong option for any studio. When is the last time McGregor was in any film that didn’t perform well at the Box Office? McGregor’s Kenobi was soundly established in the prequels and fans would love to see what McGregor could do with a script not written by Lucas. Disney could also produce a Kenobi film on a very small budget. If Kenobi sticks to Tatooine, we are talking about limited sets, limited costumes, and a limited cast. Is McGregor a strong enough actor to carry a Star Wars film which never leaves the desert? My guess is “Yes”.

Boba Fett?

There have been rumors for years that Disney has been trying to produce a Boba Fett standalone film. But, I don’t really get it. Sure, Fett appeals to hardcore fans, but what about the general audience? No one really knows who Fett is. Rumors are that James Mangold is currently attached to this project. Mangold made a really great R-Rated “Logan” film. That said, Wolverine is an established character that audiences are very comfortable with and Hugh Jackman is an A-List actor. Who is even going to play Boba Fett? What is he going to look like under his helmet? There are so many questions, and I doubt that we are going to get satisfying answers. I kind of hope this project just falls through, though current rumors suggest that this will be 2020 Star Wars film.

Rian Johnson: A Trilogy

Star Wars fans have a strong visceral reaction to Rian Johnson. Some hate the guy and some love him to pieces. There is no question in my mind that Johnson could make an incredible Star Wars trilogy, but how would Disney market it? Would the Trilogy come out back-to-back-to-back like Lord of the Rings? When would it take place in the Saga? From what I understand, Diseny has given Rian a blank-check to make anything he wants, but is this a good thing? Can Rian win over fans or the rest of the movie-going audience? We will find out someday, but probably not anytime soon.

David Benioff & D. B. Weiss: A Trilogy

People love “Game of Thrones” and universally agree on its quality. That said, David Benioff & D.B. Weiss have not done much else in their careers. Adapting a series of books to screen is one thing, but can these two really develop their own characters and a strong enough story to bring viewers out to the cinema? TBD.

A Grand Experiment

Ultimately, this yearly-Star-Wars film experiment is still brand new. Lucasfilm probably doesn’t have a solid plan moving forward. Many of these films have already been susceptible to rewrites and replacement directors. However, Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm have, thus far, released four very good films and I think there is still money to be made for this franchise. The fact that this franchise could be heading into any unknown direction is part of the fun.