In 1977, the world was introduced to Star Wars, one of the biggest science-fiction franchises of all time. Here are five facts about the original trilogy!
1: Intended To Remain As One Film
The original Star Wars film, now Episode 4, was released on May 25, 1977. It was originally intended to only remain as one film, and not become an entire trilogy. In addition, many of the people who worked on the film, including most of the actors, believed that the film would do horribly in the theaters and that it would be the end of Star Wars.
However, the film became so popular that the actors were contacted to return for a sequel film. In 1980, the sequel was released with talks to create a third film and finish the trilogy.
2: Snow Scenes
The Battle of Hoth scenes in “The Empire Strikes Back” were filmed in Finse, Norway in 1980. When filming out in the snow, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) did not have any scenes, and did not need to show up. Yet, she did anyway to see her friends, and to receive an official ESB jacket.
When a snowstorm struck, the director thought it to be the perfect time to shoot Mark Hamill’s (Luke Skywalker) snow scenes.
3: Real Languages
There are many different languages used by various species in Star Wars. Most of them are based on real languages. For example, the Jawas speak an altered version of the Zulu language from Africa.
Greedo, the bounty hunter from the original film, speaks fluent Quechua, which was spoken by the Inca from the South American Andes. Huttese, the language spoken by Jabba the Hutt, is very similar to Quechua, yet not as similar as to what Greedo speaks.
4: Deleted Jabba
In the original film, “A New Hope”, Jabba the Hutt was originally a human, played by Declan Mulholland. However, George Lucas ended up cutting Jabba’s scene out entirely, stating that he wanted to use a special effects monster instead.
In 1997, twenty years later, Jabba’s scene was re-added in the Special Edition. Jabba was now the computer-animated monster that fans came to know. Mulholland never appeared in the film, despite him getting in costume and acting out his role.
Watch Mulholland’s Deleted Scene on Youtube.
5: Obi-Wan’s Pay
Sir Alec Guinness, the actor for Obi-Wan Kenobi, did not like Star Wars and saw it as “fairy-tale rubbish”. He did not care much for Obi-Wan and thought he was a strange wizard.
Guinness did not desire returning for the sequel film to play as Obi-Wan’s ghost. He only agreed once he laid out strict rules about his acting: he would only film one day from 8:30am to 1:00pm, and would also receive 1/4 of 1% of the film’s gross sales. This small percentage and a half day’s work made Guinness millions of dollars.
Conclusion
From 1977 to the present, Star Wars has continued to maintain a massive fanbase, and the franchise has cemented itself in history. Even people who have never seen any of the films have likely heard of some characters from it. May the force be with you!
