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| Star Wars Trivia Updated 5/27/02 |
| All right. Once again, in the tradition of "Rings Things," some Star Wars trivia I, personally, found interesting. There's tons more out there; this is by no means comprehensive, nor is it meant to be. Links will take you to the original source of the item, if applicable. New tidbits may be added later, but we are not accepting email submissions, as it were. Please, I'm begging you-- If you'd like to add, correct, or comment on something, please use our new email form, and not a direct email. Also, thanks to Correspondent Vladimir for his help. Key: AOTC = Attack of the Clones, ESB = The Empire Strikes Back, PM = The Phantom Menace, ROTJ = Return of the Jedi, SW = Star Wars (aka A New Hope) |
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| Number Crunching Number of years that pass between Episode I and II: 10 Between II and III (reportedly): 2 Between III and IV (the original Star Wars): 20 Number of years until Episode III comes out: 3 (2005) Number of hands/arms injured/severed in the five movies that have been filmed: 10 Episode II: Swipe: (Obi-Wan’s arm injured by Dooku, Anakin’s arm severed). We didn’t count it, but also note Anakin’s arm on the factory conveyor belt Episode IV: C3PO loses arm, Obi-Wan cuts off alien’s hand in cantina Episode V: C3PO’s arm shot, Luke cuts off wampa’s arm, Vader cuts off Luke’s hand Episode VI: Luke’s hand shot; Leia’s shoulder shot; Luke cuts off Vader’s mechanical hand (see Episode II above) Salary Lucas was reportedly paid for Star Wars: Nada. (Since the studio feared the movie would flop, he instead bargained for the merchandising rights—which the studio thought were worthless— thereby inventing the modern concept of movie merchandise.) Number of tie-in Pepsi cans manufactured for The Phantom Menace: 8,000,000,000 (eight billion) Casting Call Number of actors who have played Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: 5 (Jake Lloyd, PM; Hayden Christensen, AOTC; James Earl Jones, original trilogy voice; David Prowse, original trilogy body; Sebastian Shaw, ROTJ face and spirit Anakin) Actor George Lucas reportedly wanted for Vader’s voice: Orson Welles Actor Lucas offered the physical Darth Vader role to: Peter Mayhew, who instead chose Chewbacca so he could “play a good guy” (Real-life model for Chewbacca: Lucas’ dog… Indiana) Actors who auditioned to play Anakin in Episode II: Ryan Phillippe, Colin Hanks, Paul Walker, Chris Klein, and “reportedly” Leonardo DiCaprio Actresses considered to play Princess Leia: Jodie Foster Role Carrie Fisher turned down to play Leia: The lead in Brian de Palma’s Carrie Age Leia was originally written as: 11 (Age Queen Amidala is in Episode I: 14. Anakin: 10) Actresses who have played Queen Amidala: Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley (Sabé, the Episode I decoy), Veronica Segura (Cordé, the Episode II decoy) Actress who played handmaiden Saché in PM: Sofia Coppola Actors considered to play Han Solo: Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte Actor cast as Han Solo: Burt Reynolds (dropped out) Actor considered to play prequel Obi-Wan: Not Kenneth Branagh Actor considered to play original trilogy Obi-Wan: Toshiro Mifune Name of Dennis Lawson’s character in the three original movies: Wedge Antilles Name of Dennis Lawson’s nephew: Ewan McGregor Sound that had to be erased in post-production: McGregor’s do-it-yourself lightsaber noises Actor who made the same sounds and was told, “You know, we can add that in post-production”: Hayden Christensen Number of “episodes” Lucas has not directed himself: 2 (ESB and ROTJ) Director ROTJ was offered to: David Lynch (!), who declined, saying it was “Lucas’ thing” Voice of Taun We (Kaminoan aide): Rena Owen Actor who played Owen’s abusive husband in Once Were Warriors: Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) Character played by “himself” in PM: Jabba the Hutt Character Count Dooku actor Christopher Lee is most famous for playing: Count Dracula Actor who frequently played Van Helsing opposite him: Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) (Footwear worn by Cushing when his ill-fitting boots were not onscreen in SW: Fuzzy slippers) What’s in a Name? Anakin: From Greek for “Lord” Coruscant: Name made up by author Timothy Zahn (who wrote the first spin-off book, Heir to the Empire, in 1991), which stuck Darth Kimball: Ridiculously named Sith Lord that is, in fact, just rumored Ewok: Rearrangement of “Wookiee” Jedi: "Jidai Geki," Japanese for "period drama," or Japanese samurai soap opera Lott Dod: Neimoidian named for U.S. senators Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) Luke S.: “Lucas” Mace Windu: The first name Lucas says he ever thought of for the Star Wars saga Maul: Duh. Naboo: Word used by C3PO while talking to the Ewoks. Later Amidala’s home planet Obi-Wan: OB1 vintage synth by Oberheim Padmé: Sanskrit for “lotus flower” Palpatine: After Senator Palatine in Taxi Driver R2-D2: “Reel 2, Dialogue 2” Revenge of the Ewok: Slogan on T-shirts printed up by fed-up Ewok actors on the ROTJ set Revenge of the Jedi: Fake ROTJ title used to smoke out merchandise pirates. Not used because (as Lucas said) “a Jedi would not take revenge.” Sidious: Sounds like “insidious” Tatooine: Actual location—Tatahouine or Tataouine—in Tunisia. Vader: Dutch for “father”; sounds like “invader” Yoda: Sanskrit for “warrior” Props and Production Origin of Princess Leia’s cinnabun hair: Women who fought with Mexican rebel Pancho Villa Number of pounds one Queen Amidala headdress weighed in PM: Eight (it was rigged to a pulley to lessen the pressure on Natalie Portman’s head) Amount of money Liam Neeson’s height cost set builders: $150,000 (they were only going to build just above the actors’ heads and fill in the rest digitally) Item used as Qui-Gon’s communicator: A Sensor Excel Razor for Women Household items used to show thousands of spectators at the Boonta Eve podrace: colored Q-tips Animal Anakin tries to ride on Naboo (AOTC): Shaak What a shaak looks like: A mutant tick-cow Other appearances by shaaks: On fire at Geonosis battle; disguised as asteroid Other items that have appeared in space scenes as "asteroids": Sneakers, potato Reason Samuel L. Jackson’s lightsaber is purple: Because he wanted purple. End of story. What Jackson reportedly had engraved on his keepsake lightsaber: “B.M.F.” Silent comedies referenced in Jar Jar’s Battle of Naboo scenes (from IMDB): “Ball rolling down hill after Jar Jar: Seven Chances (1925). Gun tied to foot firing: Navigator, The (1924). Hanging from gun turret: Girl Shy (1924).” Robot C3PO was designed in homage to: The one in Metropolis Accent C3PO was originally supposed to have: Brooklyn Deleted Scenes: Courtesy Blue Harvest.net: Star Wars: Various footage; “missing Biggs scenes”; Han Solo “womanizing” in the cantina Empire Strikes Back: Luke healing; “The Wampa Door Incident”; Han being tortured; Han and Leia on Bespin; Lando rescuing Luke Return of the Jedi: A sandstorm; Han and Leia’s wedding at the end (reportedly—no images) Courtesy The Force.net Attack of the Clones: Scene(s) with Padmé’s father, mother, sister, and nieces on Naboo; Padmé and Anakin (unsuccessfully) bargaining the Geonosians for Obi-Wan’s freedom; many more at TFN's deleted scenes page(s) Notable Quotables: Mark Hamill on George Lucas: "I have a sneaking suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George would do it." Harrison Ford on the set of Star Wars: “You can write this s***, George, but you can’t say it.” Reason Guinness ostensibly pleaded for Obi-Wan to be killed off in ESB: Because the character would be “more poignant” as a ghost. Real reason he pleaded for Obi-Wan to be killed off: “I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines." Number of times a child who approached Guinness had seen Star Wars: More than 100 (Number of times Natalie Portman had seen the movies before she played Amidala: 0) Guinness’ reply: “Promise me you will never watch it again!” Child’s reply: Tears Question a reporter asked Ewan McGregor on a junket: “What do you think of ‘Attack of the Clones’?” McGregor’s reply: “I haven’t seen that one.” Reporter’s reply: That it was actually the title of the movie McGregor had just finished filming. McGregor’s reply: “That’s a terrible, terrible title!” Original line as spoken by Darth Vader during the filming of ESB: “Obi-Wan is your father” or “Obi-Wan killed your father,” redubbed to “I am your father” so that the secret would not leak out. Princess Leia’s line as Han Solo is about to be frozen: “I love you.” Solo’s reply, as scripted: “I love you, too.” An irritated Harrison Ford’s ad-lib: “I know.” Actress who had to wear gaffer’s tape as a supportive garment: Carrie Fisher (“A new (SW) crew member used to come up every day and get to rip it off”) Actress who “felt like a whore”: Natalie Portman Actor who ruined his kissing scenes so multiple takes would have to be shot: Hayden Christensen Samuel L. Jackson on his character’s inevitable death in Episode III: "All the Jedi die in Episode 3 during the Clone Wars. I told George Lucas I didn't mind dying, I just didn't want to go out like some punk." Characters who have had “a bad feeling about this”: Obi-Wan (PM, SW, ESB, ROTJ), Anakin (AOTC), Luke (SW), Han Solo (SW), C3PO (ROTJ). George Lucas’ response to the question, “What religion are you?”: “I was raised Methodist. Now let's say I'm spiritual. It's Marin County. We're all Buddhists up here.” Religious philosophy suspiciously familiar to that of "the Force": Taoism (notes the IMDB, "Lucas's 'Force' in the Star Wars movies probably derives from the Asian religion of Taoism. Wherein, there is a life force (or Tao) present in all living things that surrounds and joins everything. As well as the belief that to obtain true balance in life, you must become one with the Tao, and allow it to guide you.") Staff trivia Number of times Cleolinda saw the “humorous” article title “Send in the Clones” while researching this page: Too damn many Plush Star Wars toy Cleo owned as a child: Wicket the Ewok Actual senders of spam emails Cleolinda has received in the last week, if George Lucas ever needs any help with new names: Nyeki Quant, Licia Hanna, Magnar Kaz, Kalil Jared, Kame Tasya, Julinka Cheney, Calida Izefia, Amelle Alexandria, Chayton Judor, Charis Horace, Kinsey Delphine, Lente Terryal... On second thought, Cleo thinks she’ll hold on to those. |
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