Across the globe, May the 4th signals a day where fans of the Star Wars franchise join together to celebrate the huge impact that the saga has had on generations of movie-goers. To commemorate Star Wars Day, Tara Pilkington breaks down five surprising facts you may not have known!
1. Yoda was almost played by a monkey! In the book The Making of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler, it writes how George Lucas has originally planned for Yoda to be played by a monkey wearing a mask and carrying a cane.
2. No physical suit of armour was ever built for the Clone Troopers featured in the franchise’s prequels, meaning that every Clone Trooper that you see in the Star Wars prequels was actually computer-animated.
3. The lightsaber noise is generated using the noise created by combining the sound of old television picture tubes and the buzz from a film projector’s motor.
4. David Lynch was asked by George Lucas to direct Return of the Jedi, however, Lynch decided to pass on this opportunity.
5. The word ‘Ewok’ is never actually spoken in the original trilogy, however, the species is identified in the closing credits of the films.