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In the latest one-shot to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, Imperial soldiers arrive on the forest moon.

What would you do if the Empire took over?

In StarWars.com’s exclusive first look at Marvel’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - The Empire #1, Rilo Grenth takes his first steps into the larger world of working for his family business and the Emperor during an assignment to Endor.

The Empire #1, written by Jody Houser and illustrated by Jethro Morales, with a cover by Ryan Brown, arrives June 7 and is available for pre-order now on ComiXology and at your local comic shop.

Studio La Cachette creates a spy thriller with added style in a short centered on Imperial intrigue.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is here! New episodes of the anthology series are now streaming on Disney+, featuring original shorts from some of the world’s best animation studios. In Visions Revisited, StarWars.com picks the greatest moments from each short.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details from the Star Wars: Visions episode “The Spy Dancer."

At first, Loi’e’s Follies seems like any other cabaret, a spectacle served with a drink to help Imperial soldiers blow off some steam in their off hours. But backstage, Loi’e is a part of a growing rebellion against the intruders who changed her life forever when they came to her world. For this spy and star, it’s personal. Here are five highlights from “The Spy Dancer,” directed by Julien Chheng, and now streaming on Disney+.

1. Loi’e’s entrance.

She could be Satine in Moulin Rouge, or Marilyn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. With a cascading gown that doubles as a mesmerizing web of silks for swinging about the cabaret, Loi’e is entrancing. So much so that the captivated stormtroopers don’t suspect what she’s really up to as she makes the rounds through the gawping crowd. On a world shattered by the Imperial occupation, the beauty of Loi’e’s performance provides a stark contrast to the war raging outside her door.

2. The time before.

Loi’e’s flashback is awash in crimson, a moment of personal tragedy brought on by the callous Empire. With just a glimpse at Loi’e the young mother and her crying child we deeply understand what motivates the poised performer to help the rebels track the Imperial incursion and bring the fight to the Empire. Told in brief flashbacks, it’s an effective tool to lend emotional depth to Loi’e’s present as only a visual medium can convey.

3. Hétis versus the droid.

The young rebel Hétis has been looking for a more important role, and taking down the Imperial officer’s KX droid may just be it. Luckily, she’s not alone or her story may have ended much differently.

4. Embracing the Empire.

The last thing we expected was to see Loi’e hug the enemy. But as she comes to terms with the return of her son, an angry young man who calls the Imperial who stole him “father,” a mother’s love becomes one of her most important weapons to fight the cruelty of the Empire. Afterall, as Rose Tico once said, there’s no winning by simply fighting what we hate, but instead saving what we love.

5. A gift from the past.

Up until the moment the officer gazes at the holo of the infant boy, it’s easy to believe Loi’e may have been mistaken in her identification of the eyepatch-wearing Imperial. But as he removes his cap to show the scars where two horns once protruded from his skull, we know her intuition has served her well. And instead of just another nameless Imperial soldier, a cog in the Empire’s galactic machine, we begin to see him as Loi’e did. A little boy who was stolen, a child who was indoctrinated, and a young man who can still change his mind.

An unlikely duo come together in Studio Mir's high-octane tale.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is here! New episodes of the anthology series are now streaming on Disney+, featuring original shorts from some of the world’s best animation studios. In Visions Revisited, StarWars.com picks the greatest moments from each short.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details from the Star Wars: Visions episode “Journey to the Dark Head."

Balance can come in many forms.

For Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, Studio Mir has created “Journey to the Dark Head,” an unpredictable tale of a two unlikely partners: a haunted young Jedi named Toul, and Ara, a mechanic determined to end the war between the Jedi and the Sith. Ara believes that by cutting off the head of a giant “dark” statue, she can accomplish her goal; Toul is ordered to join her, and the experience brings both a greater understanding of the world around them and themselves. Here are five highlights from director Hyeong Geun Park’s “Journey to the Dark Head,” now streaming on Disney+.

1. Gazing into the cobbles.

When we meet Ara, she’s partaking in some sort of ritual on a planet called Dolgarak, seeing prophetic images in the reflections of cobble stones. Ara wants to relay these visions to the Jedi in order to help them defeat the Sith, but the elder in charge will not allow it. This only encourages the girl more, who looks to the temple’s two giant statues and wonders if they could end the conflict by cutting off “the dark head.” Aside from successfully throwing us into the world of “Journey to the Dark Head,” we quickly learn that Ara has a rebel spirit. And it perfectly sets up the next scene, featuring an older Ara lobbying the Jedi Council to approve of her mission.

2. Toul’s vision.

As Toul meditates, he falls back into the death of his master and other Jedi at the hand of a Sith. It’s an unsettling, violent sequence, and Toul clearly has some unfinished business. Following the introduction of Ara and her desire to aid the Jedi, it helps illustrate the war’s tragedies in a personal way.

3. When Toul met Ara.

These two don’t seem to like each other, and like being paired together even less. But for the viewer, the exchange of barbs — “…it would be a lot easier if you weren’t here” — is fantastic.

4. Battle on the speeder.

Atop a racing speeder driven by Ara, Toul faces Bichan, the Sith who killed his master. As the vehicle continues to climb one of the statues, the battle grows more intense, with Toul clearly unhinged. It turns out this only round one of their rematch, but it’s heart-racing.

5. “We make a pretty good team.”

With Bichan vanquished, Toul comes to a greater understanding of himself. And though Ara did not sever the head of the statue or end the war, she too gains a sense of peace thanks to Toul’s consoling words. Ultimately, this odd couple brought balance to each other, even if they could not bring it to the galaxy. Let’s hope we see them together on another mission someday.    

StarWars.com speaks with two Skywalker Sound greats about their Oscar-nominated work on Episode VI.

Ben Burtt and Randy Thom are two legends in the world of sound. Burtt is, of course, known for his early work in shaping the Star Wars galaxy, from the hum of the lightsaber to the beeps of R2-D2. Thom began his journey at Skywalker Sound (then known as Sprocket Systems) on Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and is still working at the company, with his most recent project as sound designer for this year’s megahit, The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Burtt (as sound designer) and Thom (as re-recording mixer) worked together on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which, at the time, was the most sonically ambitious Star Wars project ever, earning them both an Academy Award nomination. The crafting of the Ewok dialect, the Sarlacc’s squeal, and the Emperor’s Force lightning all presented unique challenges for the young sound team.

To mark the film’s 40th anniversary, StarWars.com caught up with these two friends, who reminisced about their groundbreaking work from four decades ago, as well as their favorite sounds and memories from Return of the Jedi.

"George had ideas, so we were all going out to record things." Ben Burtt capturing sound.

StarWars.com: Return of the Jedi was the first time that the entire sound process was controlled by your team at Sprockets, including sound mixing, foley, and dialogue cutting. How did you set your team up for success?

Ben Burtt: We felt we were up to speed after Empire because, for me, the first Star Wars movie was a learning process. On Empire, we did all the post-production up north, at Sprocket Systems in San Anselmo. We could do everything, including some pre-mixing of sound effects, but it wasn't until Jedi that we built a new facility over on the far side of San Rafael, in the complex next to Industrial Light & Magic. We finally had our own mix stage, and the responsibility of doing the final mix.

It was a huge difference for everybody. We could now stay local, with our whole editorial team in the next room. My team had to take turns cramming into a very small mixing board that was really made for one person. But we managed to do it.

Randy Thom: It was a tight fit. George [Lucas]'s vision for Sprocket Systems, as well as the entirety of Lucasfilm, had been to make it as much like film school as he could, where everybody does a little bit of everything and nobody's too worried about staying strictly to their job description. It was an environment that all of us thrived in because we were all interested in learning as much as we can about the craft.

Ben Burtt: It was a nice thing for me because I could have all kinds of assignments. I was free to go out and record things, then come back to editorial to work and follow through with mixing. Sometimes I could visit the set and have a voice there, as well.

Ben Burtt and others play sound effects for George Lucas.

StarWars.com: When you went to set, were you able to at least attempt​ to control the various sound impediments?

Randy Thom: Film sets are notoriously noisy places. There are often fans operating, creating a sense of wind in the actor's hair, as well as all kinds of other smoke and special effects machines going on in the background. And, as often as you ask the crew to be quiet, there are going to be people who think it's okay to whisper. Of course, the microphone picks all that up and so it's just hell to record any usable sound.

David Parker and I went to Yuma, Arizona [exterior filming location for Tatooine], and the Smith River area in far northern California [used as the forest of Endor] to capture the location sound during the shooting. In fact, it was around Smith River where I first uttered the phrase, “May the fourth be with you.”

Ben Burtt: He told me that and I believe him. He can lay claim to that whole concept. That was very good, Randy.

Randy Thom: That's my claim, yeah.

Ben Burtt: I had high expectations that, if I went to the set, I would get perfect dialogue and coverage of whatever sound effects might be there. A lot of that was fruitless.

For me, there’s the now-famous scene of Luke and Leia in the Ewok village, where they’re talking intimately up on the suspended bridge. I would guess it’s about a three-minute scene. I was there that day, and for some reason I had the confidence to be the boom operator. I said, “I'll hold the microphone out over the set.” And, because it was going to be just a nice, quiet dialogue scene, I was going to get this perfectly.

It was a long scene, and I was stuffed in with the crew. I was holding a fishing pole above them, out of frame. And the scene goes on and on. I had a bad grip on the pole and my arms were starting to fail. It was heavy and I could see the mic coming closer and closer to falling into frame, and then it was going to hit Carrie [Fisher] on the forehead. I was in agony. I didn't realize that, after a few minutes, holding a boom mic was going to be an isometric test of my strength. Fortunately, I didn't hit her. But the set was noisy: someone's watch went off during one take, the bubbling dry ice was just few feet away, creating this fog. It was very difficult.

So, I didn't do any other boom operating. I went back and just did sound effects.

StarWars.com: Across the board, Jedi is an escalation of effects, both visual and sound. How did you make sure that you didn’t drown yourself out?

Ben Burtt: Fortunately for us, George Lucas’ process starts months and months before shooting. Once there was even a treatment for the movie, he started talking about sound. So, I got assignments right away. George had ideas, so we were all going out to record things. We laid out a highly structured list of jobs, since there were about a thousand new sound design projects in the film, even though we already had a foundation from the previous movies of the Millennium Falcon, lightsabers, and everything.

Randy Thom: It was very rare, basically unheard of in Hollywood, to have sound involved that early on. But Ben and George established that workflow on the first Star Wars film and then we all really pushed it even further on Jedi, where we had a whole team working very early on. We went on to apply that approach to most of the projects that we've worked on at Skywalker Sound since then, whether they were Lucasfilm movies or not.

We broke quite a lot of new ground in terms of establishing how useful it can be for us to play with sound design very early in the process.

Ben Burtt: You gain confidence in the material. For us, it’s very well organized: everything has a code number, a name, a description. Editors then get specific assignments and a batch of material, which has already been, in a sense, approved. They can work creatively within that, using that material and applying it, adding their own ideas to improve it. I think that's the difference, between what we saw in Hollywood, compared to Sprockets, where we wanted to really have a control of everything and meet our deadlines.

Rodians take a break in Jabba's palace.

StarWars.com: As you mentioned, more than ever, non-human characters played a huge role in Jedi. How did you make sure the alien languages and sounds were realistic?

Ben Burtt: We tried to make it fun. We discovered that, if you can get some enjoyment in the creative process, it will come out in the movie in terms of the performances and the sounds. It will entertain the audience.

Creating languages is always the hardest thing for me, because, with any kind of language, the audience is already very acute to analyzing vocal sounds. Who is speaking? Is it a man or a woman? Is it something else? You’re trying to make all these languages derived from human performances, so you must use some clever trickery to avoid judgement from the audience to where it all came from. You just want them to believe what's happening on screen.

StarWars.com: How did you begin to approach crafting these languages?

Ben Burtt: Actually, the very first thing that I did on the first day of Jedi was talking to George about the Ewok language, their personalities and what they might sound like, as well as, musically, what they were doing at the end of the movie when they had a victory celebration. John Williams was brought in early on for a meeting in my San Anselmo studio to listen to different music that George had picked out.

We talked a lot because, like for Chewbacca in the very first film, some kind of language needed to be worked out prior to filming, so that the Ewok performers would have a guide to go by. They needed inspiration, and the mouth movements of their masks and their body language had to be something that we could sync interesting sound up with.

StarWars.com: What exactly was “Ewokese” comprised of?

Ben Burtt: The Ewok language was, essentially, a mixing bowl of different things. We wanted to at least base it on some known language because, if you start with a language that really exists, it has a whole history that extends its range. If I just made things up, I would only be drawing from my experience speaking English.

We initially started by auditioning people who were Tibetan, Chinese, or Mongolian, and so on. We found a couple people that ran a little gift shop in the Embarcadero, a father and son that we brought out to get samples of their native language. Eventually they brought us a relative of theirs, who had just immigrated. She was probably nearing 80 and did not speak any English, only Kalmuck.

We brought her into the studio, as we had with other people. Even with amateurs, I always wanted to get a lot of emotion out of them. I would ask them to just pretend that they were telling bedtime stories to their children, storybook kinds of simple stories, in order to get them in a relaxed state.

And so that's what we did to get her to talk, to ramble on, to tell stories, to get emotional and to laugh. She was really great and gave us some great material. Her name was Kosi Unkov. I have no idea whether anyone understood it, because a lot of it is used in the movie.

What we were really looking for was an interesting sounding voice. There was an elderly woman from China, with a scratchy, deep pitched voice. When you listened to her and did a little speed adjustment on her recordings, you couldn't tell if the speaker was male or female. It was always an important thing for us to make the Ewok language genderless, so that when it was edited to fit the performance of an Ewok, people wouldn't identify it as a specific English-speaking person. That illusion was important in getting any alien voice to succeed.

"The Ewok language was, essentially, a mixing bowl of different things." Ben Burtt on the Ewok village set.

Randy Thom: We certainly related to the Ewoks as if they were human, but in a sense, they are more animal than they are human. One of the interesting things about doing voices for creatures is that filmmakers will often ask us to come up with, let’s say, a female vocalization for a dinosaur. And there’s really is no such thing. Even though you know members of a given species can no doubt recognize their species, humans cannot tell by sound whether they are hearing a female lion or a male lion, a male squirrel or a female squirrel. That’s another reason why it would have been kind of wrongheaded to try to have female Ewoks and male Ewoks. I think it wouldn't have rung true somehow.

Ben Burtt: Just looking at my old logbooks of the different people we recorded, there are probably a dozen here: some people were amateurs that we found locally that just had a good sounding, genderless voice. We would then give them phonetic material to read and just coach them along in the studio. We might get, you know, five or six interesting bits, and we would assign that to a certain character. We would build them into a crowd, or into war cries, or laughter.

Other real animal sounds were derived from chimpanzees and tigers. I can see here that we had some chimp laughter and a baby lynx. It’s really a grab bag of samples of anything that interested us, any kind of sound that had an emotional appeal or meaning to it. You could always play it backwards or slowed down or sped up and fit it in there.

Jabba the Hutt between takes.

StarWars.com: What was the process of creating the noises and dialect for Jabba the Hutt?

Ben Burtt: Jabba spoke Huttese, which was a made-up language that I based on the Peruvian-Incan dialect, Quechua. We had heard Quechua language tapes back on the first movie, and I just liked the sound and rhythm of it. We listened to a lot of examples of it and then we would either attempt to imitate it, or we would get Larry Ward to do it.

Larry was a linguistics professor at UC Berkeley, who had a unique ability to perfectly mimic other languages. He would “speak” German or Italian but he wouldn’t actually really speak the language, just use all the phonemes to fool you. It was just a funny double-talk kind of process.

I would play things for Larry or write down phonetic sounds that I liked. He would play with it, we'd record it and pitch him around. He had been the voice of Greedo in the first Star Wars, so we brought him in for Jabba the Hutt and gave him a lot of lines. Some lines George wrote, some I wrote. We then took his voice and slowed it down, so it was deeper. At the time, we had some ability to pitch lower electronically, and then we added a subwoofer to the bass to make it seem solid and heavy.

Jabba’s voice was then augmented with a lot of cheese casserole that my wife makes. I would take a bowl of it, work it with my hands, and make a kind of a slurpy sound. We tried to put pieces of that into all of Jabba’s movement, so he sounded liquid-y and squishy as it went along.

StarWars.com: What about the rancor’s roar? What sounds made that?

Ben Burtt: The rancor was mostly made with a snarling dog.

We took those kinds of sounds and slowed them down, so we get more mass into them. We also recorded an elephant over at the Oakland Zoo. We had those bellowing sounds that ended up somewhere in there, and it all became the rancor.

StarWars.com: Jedi has the most “diegetic” music of any of the first three Star Wars films. Was there any collaboration with John Williams on that aspect of the film?

Randy Thom: I remember one day during the final mix, John visited us in San Rafael. And I forgotten exactly what sequence we were working on, but what I do remember was that John stood in the back of the room and listened for a while. And there was one short sequence that I wasn’t mixing quite as well as he would have liked. And so, he walked down in front of the mixing console, stood between me and the screen, and he literally conducted me. Do you remember that, Ben?

Ben Burtt: I sure do. It was the end sequence when the Ewoks sing the celebration song. It wasn't the Boston Pops. He conducted three mixers. But that was fun. I mean, obviously, it's great when you can work together, because it’s not often that the sound team and the composer get to collaborate together.

Speaking of the Ewok celebration song, I wrote all those Ewokese lyrics out. I had a big cue card with verses on it. And that cue card was taken to England very seriously, and I got these tapes when we got the music back. John had the London Symphony choir do the Ewok vocals, in this perfect, classical, style, like it was Handel’s Messiah. I just couldn’t stop laughing when I listened to it, because it was so precise and so perfect.

StarWars.com: Randy, it was a busy year for you at the 1984 Oscars. Alongside Ben, you were nominated for Jedi for Best Sound, but you also were nominated for two other movies (Never Cry Wolf and The Right Stuff), winning for The Right Stuff.

This was still very early in your career as a sound designer, is there anything you picked up during those early years that you still find yourself implementing?

Randy Thom: I think, inevitably, the work that you do early in your career shapes what you do thereafter. The first movie I worked on was Apocalypse Now and that was my film school.

I was on it for about a year and a half and I really didn't know anything about movie sound when I was first hired. I had done a lot of sound work, but not on film. Ben and I met when I was working on Apocalypse, and he was working on More American Graffiti, which also had a Vietnam War sequence in it. The Apocalypse Now sound effects people and the More American Graffiti sound effects people mounted a joint expedition to go out and record guns and grenades that we could share. It was the first time I got to spend any time with Ben.

Randy Thom recording sound for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

When the movie was over, Ben had asked me if I could do something similar on Empire, and I obviously jumped at the chance to do that. Working on Jedi, and then doing the production sound for Never Cry Wolf and then some sound design and mixing for The Right Stuff…all those experiences stuck with me and have had a really big influence on my approach to the work.

On Jedi, I felt guilty even being nominated for an Oscar, because of the degree to which I was standing on Ben's shoulders, who had established the sound for the Star Wars series. But I tried to help Ben realize his vision as much as I could. I would say I had more to do with the success of the sound in The Right Stuff than I did on Jedi. And so, in that sense, it's more appropriate that I got an Oscar for The Right Stuff.

Ben Burtt: That was the biggest year for Northern California in Oscars history. [Laughs.] You know, I took my mother to those Oscars. But we lost to The Right Stuff, which was deserving for sure. It was unique and new, with creativity going down the road of jet aircrafts and rockets.

Since Jedi was “just” Star Wars, we'd seemingly already done it. There was now the expectation that a Star Wars movie would have this elaborate fabric of creatures and vehicles and weapons and ambiences.

Randy Thom: It was an amazing time.

Ben Burtt: Yeah, it was.

The longtime friends and colleagues, who worked for Industrial Light & Magic on the film, discuss collaborating on the rancor sequence and beyond.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

The rancor looms large for a creature whose appearance on screen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi lasts for a mere three minutes. In a scene that brings suspense, terror, and action into the dimly lit dungeon beneath Jabba the Hutt’s dais, the ravenous beast lumbers into view, crunching through a Gamorrean guard before turning its formidable and fearsome visage toward Luke Skywalker.

Roaring fully into camera with a snarling maw of jagged teeth, the rancor reaches its grimy talons toward Luke and the audience, ready for its next meal. Then with not a second to lose, Skywalker desperately grabs a skull and lobs it at the control panel that sends the door crashing down upon the beast, ending the heart-pumping battle. Jabba is outraged. The rancor keeper is in tears. And Luke Skywalker lives to fight another day.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Return of the Jedi’s debut, recently StarWars.com sat down separately with Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, one of the VFX supervisors on the film and the head of the monster shop, respectively, to talk about their collaboration on the rancor pit, their enduring friendship, and the legacy of Star Wars.

Dennis Muren, left, and Phil Tippett, right, review images with Joe Johnston.

StarWars.com: At the start of the production cycle, did Return to Jedi feel like a last hurrah of sorts?

Dennis Muren: Yeah, it sort of did. Having done Star Wars and Empire, you know, it's like “Another one?” I'd heard [George Lucas] talk about nine films or six films since around the beginning of Empire. Somewhere I heard the mention of 12 [Laughs.], but I don't know how true that was. We kind of knew there would be a third, though, after the second one. So, we were ready for it. But then after that, what?

StarWars.com: If we can go back to the beginning, do you remember where you were at in your career and in your life when you started working on Jedi?

Phil Tippett: Well, after Empire was a success, we actually overlapped a bit and went straight on to Dragonslayer. And then kind of did the same thing as we were wrapping up Dragonslayer, we went straight into Jedi.

Dennis Muren: I'd gotten married and we were thinking about having kids. We moved into a house and all that's going on. I was offered Dragonslayer, then I was offered E.T. because when [Industrial Light & Magic started] they found out there's going to be more than one movie at a time. I think there was a thought that maybe one VFX supervisor would do all of them, but that was a pretty bad thought. They ended up sort of splitting it between people…This “little” [Steven] Spielberg movie, E.T., [Laughs.] I literally had to shoot it in 35-millimeter instead of VistaVision, because we didn't have any VistaVision cameras. And the sets had to be small and pushed in the corner because Star Trek [II: The Wrath of Khan] had big giant sets all over the place. By the time I started getting worried that when Jedi came in it was going to be a clash for equipment, we actually got a production manager in to make sure that all the stuff was divvied up and, wisely, Jedi was split into three shows for three supervisors: me, Richard Edlund, and Ken Ralston. I didn't really want to do any of the space shots. I'd had enough space scenes in the other shows. So, I took sort of some of the land stuff. I did the rancor sequence. I did a few little things, walkers walking in the woods and stuff like that. It was nice for me. I could do something I hadn't done. And being in the Redwoods, we could drive there in three hours and shoot stuff.

Phil Tippett airbrushes creatures including the Mon Calamari, top, and Max Rebo, bottom, before the start of filming.

Phil Tippett: The first thing George did was, he needed to populate Jabba’s palace. I asked to see the script and he said, well, he hadn't written it yet. And he asked, “Can you make me a bunch of space aliens, just like with the chess set? We're going to do a scene like the cantina [in Star Wars: A New Hope] only a lot bigger, so they need a lot more characters.” There weren't that many skilled sculptors around at that point in time so I pulled together whoever I could, and once a week we would meet and George would come over and look at our designs. Every Friday we may have a half dozen designs. George seemed to respond really well to three dimensional maquettes. He could see them and he could turn them around and see them in light and, you know, imagine camera angles and whatnot. And then he would pick things. He would go, “This yellow one with long legs and a snout is going to be the singer, and this little blue guy is going to play the piano. And this guy, what is that?” We go like, “That's a calamari man.” He said, “Okay, well, that's gonna be Admiral Ackbar.”

StarWars.com: Phil, before George gets there to look at your designs, did you have an overarching vision for what you wanted out of that menagerie at the outset?

Phil Tippett: No, I never do. I rarely do. My process was, I'll sit down and see what happens, you know? Sometimes I would do a sketch. I don't recall doing a sketch for any of those. And then I'd kind of make a little wire armature and then just start throwing Sculpey on it and bake it and paint it and bring it in. I learned from working with George previously that he didn't like horror stuff. He was a big fan of [Jim] Henson's. I can go either way. I can do horror or more whimsical stuff. And I always like to imbue what I do with a bit of humor or history to it, not take the thing seriously. Except when it would come up to things like rancor and then it was like, “Okay, I really need a scary monster.” For [the rest of the palace] he wanted kind of a fun bacchanal of creatures.

Phil Tippett and Dennis Muren pose with a camera in a moment from the documentary series Light & Magic.

StarWars.com: I'd love to talk a little bit about your friendship as well as some of the things that you worked on together for Jedi, like the rancor pit sequence. Of all the people working at ILM in those early days, what do you think drew you two together as friends, as well as successful collaborators?

Dennis Muren: Well, we'd known each other by that time for probably 15 years and we worked together pretty tightly for 10 years or so at that time. I think we both really complement each other. I mean, Phil’s really an outgoing guy, hands-on, do-this modelmaker and a sculptor, a creator of creatures and objects and things, which I can’t really do at all. I’m more of a stylist photographer. I think of how something fits, how every shot has to work and you want to maximize the impact of that for the audience and also to fit within the story so it’s consistent with the film. We do completely different things and, I guess, I don’t know why we get along. We always have.

Phil Tippett: We had our own strengths, you know, and so we played to those and it was very much like a Lennon-McCartney kind of a relationship in building this thing. It was amicable. If someone had a better idea, we’d go for that.

StarWars.com: So, are you John or Paul in this scenario? [Laughs.]

Phil Tippett: Oh, it doesn't…well, I was definitely John and Dennis is definitely Paul.

We worked together doing commercials in Hollywood at Cascade Pictures. And I think we were like-minded. We would all get together occasionally for a film night and run our own 8-millimeter and 16-millimeter movies and show each other what we were working on. All the people that submitted things were like, monster guys, you know? There was a tendency to do things like King Kong or the cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. I had just graduated from UC Irvine and I was really influenced by painting and conceptual art. [One night] I was getting in my car afterwards and Dennis was getting in his car and he came up and that really started the relationship. Dennis could see that I kind of thought outside of the box.

Dennis Muren: It's not so much a matter of trust because we mostly trust everybody we work with, but you kind of know what you're going to get when you've worked with somebody and you can get an idea of when it's going to be done, how it's going to look. You know, you have a little input if something bothers you and vice versa, Phil has input in what I'm doing. And we're all comfortable doing that.

StarWars.com: Yeah, you develop a shorthand with each other, too.

Dennis Muren: Yeah, that's right. And we have a number of friends like that. ‘Cause we all [watched] the same stuff when we were kids. And we respond to the same things in dailies. And we're fortunate because the audiences seem to like that same thing also. If they didn't like it, wherever would we be, right? We’d make an avant-garde film somewhere.

StarWars.com: We wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Dennis Muren: [Laughs.] No, no. It'd be a much smaller community.

The man-in-suit rancor examines Dennis Muren's camera in between takes.

StarWars.com: Dennis, as the VFX supervisor, you have to have a vision, but you're also trying to execute on the vision of the filmmaker. Do you remember any challenges on Jedi bridging that gap between what you saw or what you thought the scene needed to be and what George was telling you?

Dennis Muren: On the rancor, [at first] we were going to try a man in a suit. We built a little rough suit and I thought we could have gotten somewhere with that. It wouldn't have looked like what's on the screen now, but we could have done something. George just thought it was too clunky looking and may have just spiraled into something really fake. Would it look too much like some of the other costumes that were in the movie, you know?

Phil Tippett: When I designed rancor and George went for that he decided, “Well, we're going to make that as the best Godzilla suit.” That's what he said. But I hadn't designed rancor to be that. I designed it to be more like a stop-motion puppet. And so when we built the man-in-a-suit version of rancor, I was dubious about it. And then Norman Reynolds sent over a set for rancor’s cave and I got into the suit, and [creature technician] Kirk Thatcher got into the suit, and [sculptor] Dave Carson got in the suit. And Dennis shot shots that were storyboarded. It just looked like s***.

The crew completes test footage of the first rancor before the costume could be completed.

StarWars.com: What wasn't working for you with those shots? Was it just so clearly a man in a suit?

Phil Tippett: Yeah. It wasn't designed to be that. It's roughly got the physiology of a human. You have to make arm extensions and whatnot. But even the behavior, there's a corollary between the behavior of an anthropoid ape and a human being. When you're making alien creatures you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as it feels like what it should be.

We were shooting tests during the week of the various creatures that we were doing. One day for the blue character, Red Ball Jet [later renamed Max Rebo], it was the end of the day and we had to shoot a scene, and I had built the thing to test it to make sure the thing wouldn't rip or fall apart. And George had selected Rick James' "Super Freak" as the temp track for us to pantomime to. I got in the suit and was pantomiming to it. And my wife Jules shows up to pick me up because we only had one car at the time. And she's like, “Well, where's Phil?” He's in the suit. And she goes, “No…that couldn't be because Phil has no sense of rhythm.” You channel yourself and then you actually become the character and a guy like me who has absolutely no sense of rhythm and has never danced in his life can put this thing on and all of a sudden, you know, think you've got it. The characters kind of come alive like that.

StarWars.com: How does that transformative quality work for you when you're switching then to the rancor and it's more of a hand puppet than a full body suit that you're embodying?

Phil Tippett: Well, a monster is a monster is a monster, and it doesn't have to do that much other than to be a threatening entity. You figure out basically what the water weight of the thing is based on how tall it's supposed to be. And rancor was like 10 or 12 feet tall, and then from there you could figure out how to do the pantomime. It got to this point where we were looking at the dailies and George ended up saying, “Okay, go ahead and do whatever you want to do. We've run out of time.” And we had kind of been preemptive. Tom St. Amand built a stop-motion armature for the thing, and then Dennis realized we're up against the gun and we just had a few months and the stop-motion setup is sort of taking too long. So Dave Carson built a miniature set. We built a hand and rod puppet so that we were able to generate footage a lot more quickly.

StarWars.com: I think it was August of 1982 when George looked at the man in the suit version and shut it down. You've been working on this film for over a year and a half at that point and now you're back to square one with this particular creature. Do you remember how you felt getting that news?

Phil Tippett: We were happy.

StarWars.com: [Laughs.] Oh. That's not the answer I expected!

Phil Tippett: We weren't happy about the schedule, but we knew we’ve got to do something else because this didn't work. And we weren't confident that it ever would, [even] as we were building it up. Number one, we didn't have a whole lot of time, or the time that it would take to actually do something like that. Usually, what you would do is be very careful. You would make a mold of a human body in a certain position. You would get clay and you would build it all up and then you would take molds and run huge pieces of foam rubber and then applicate that and do more sophisticated extension arms, and that kind of a thing. And we just didn't have that money or time. So, we just fabricated it out of sheets of foam using Turkey cutters — electric knives — to sculpt the stuff. Which is how we did everything pretty much. But, you know, it was the product of its process, which, to begin with, didn't start off on the right foot.

Dennis Muren: You know, I can't remember the order before we came up with the hand puppet or whose idea that was. I just didn't want to go into a go-motion kind of thing like we had done on Dragonslayer. That's a nightmare and it takes forever.

Phil Tippett examines the rancor maquette and an armature, top, before turning to sculpting the final rod puppet's skull, bottom, with Dave Sosalla.

I had been kind of pushing rod puppets. I was looking for ways to speed the whole process up because these films were so expensive. Maybe it was obvious, “Let's do it with rod puppets like Muppets.” I tried it a little bit on the bike chase scenes. Some of those speeder bike chases where you see the bikes fly along or even race by camera, they're models. You see Luke and Leia and they’re done at a slow speed shooting with Phil or [assistant camera man] Mike McAlister or somebody holding a rod in the head of the puppet. I know I was looking at a lot of ways to do things faster that still looked good, you know? And maybe out of that is where we came up with a solution to this. The trick was like getting the rods and the whole set tight enough and everything. But I like that idea of being boxed into this small space and imagining what this big creature would look like.

Phil Tippett: My tendency for monsters is to not be that literal with things and to try and have a certain level of like, “What is that?” George and I differed in our ideas about what a face should be. I think things should be hard to look at until you've seen three or four shots and then you start to put together the thing in your mind. That's more like a monster to me, you know? It's like if you see a black widow spider crawling up your arm, your first response is visceral even before you think, “That's a black widow spider.” George always kind of liked to see a face that could be expressive.

StarWars.com: Would you say you have an affinity for hand puppetry and that aspect of the work?

Phil Tippett: No. You know, it doesn't really matter that much. You just project yourself into the character that you're doing. And there are master puppeteers out there that are far superior to me. But the rancor was a particular kind of a thing and I had the experience to pull it off.

The close quarters of the final rancor pit set can be seen in this glimpse behind the camera.

Dennis Muren: The four people that are puppeteering rancor, including me and then Kim Marks, who was trying to shoot it, are all jammed to an area probably like three feet square or four feet square to be able to do it. [Tippett operated the rancor mouth and head, Tom St. Amand had Eben Stromquist’s two grips that manipulated its elbows, arms, and fingers and Dave Sosalla controlled its feet]

StarWars.com: Is that a difficult working situation? Or do you thrive in that because you all have a shorthand with each other and you're moving in concert with everybody else around you?

Phil Tippett: Yeah, it was no surprise. You know, it was just, “Okay, that's the stage.” That's what you do your performance in.

Dennis Muren: That's a lot of people in there having to perform, but that's necessary to make it look real. You just approach it as though it's real. You don't get back with a longer lens so everybody's got more room. You don't make the cave a little bit bigger so everybody's got more room. That sequence, I think really helped because the whole set was supposed to be so small and I wanted to make sure we maintained that cave opening to being like, you know, whatever it is, 50 feet around or 75 feet round. I think it helps getting really tight on it. And I'm pretty good and Phil's pretty good at being able to look at stuff and say, “Man, it looks like a hand puppet. Let's just try another take.”

Phil Tippett: We'd shoot at high speed, all over the place between 76 frames a second to 120 frames a second. The pantomime process is the antithesis of stop-motion, which is like sculpting in slow time. At high speed, if you're going to do a four-second shot, you know, you have to perform like really quickly. And we would do tons of takes because we just didn't know what we got and we didn't have any playback at that time. We would review it for dailies. George caught on pretty quickly. We'd show up for dailies and he'd go “How many dailies do you have?” Because usually we only generate one or maybe two shots a day if we were lucky. [With the rancor] we’d have like 60 takes then pick out six and send them over to Duwayne Dunham, in editorial.

Dennis Muren: It got really elaborate and we did some scenes even backwards! We only had to get this three second shot and we knew where [Phil and the rancor] needed to start, the attitude the rancor had to have, and where he needed to end up. We just had to get three seconds of that. Then you could think, you know, let's try it backwards. Let's try it shooting slow motion and have Phil move real fast and see if that gets away from the hand puppet.

Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett adjust the elements around the rancor puppet, bottom, seen complete with drool above.

StarWars.com: Do you think that the claustrophobic size of the set also helped to sell that scale and weight?

Dennis Muren: Yeah. You hardly ever see the whole figure. And the top is lit really bright and the rest is really dark. We got nice eye lights on rancor. You see his eyeballs really well. So you're looking at the menace in the face; no matter how wonderful that face is, if you can see a glint in the eyes, it becomes alive. And we panned the camera all around, which you couldn't do with a lot of other techniques. I didn't want to do any of that. Just right in front of the camera. Real.

StarWars.com: That glint in the eye, I think, really helps sell it.

Dennis Muren: The drool, too. I'm sure that's Phil's idea.

StarWars.com: I’m sure [Laughs.] But I think it was your idea to shoot it like it's a nature documentary, which is a real stroke of genius. Do you remember what inspired that decision?

Dennis Muren: Reality, you know, seeing a lot of movies. It comes down to: what do you want to feel? I don't remember how many shots we had in this. Maybe about 20 or something like that. So that's a lot of times to look at it in this small space. To keep it interesting, you want to get in there and do it like Raging Bull, you know, something like that. You're in there feeling it and you can't quite see it. I wish I'd made it even darker, but at that time it was pretty risky to go dark like that.

I'm just talking about the whole thing feeling like, “Just let me outta here. I'm trapped in here!” But it's not a Raging Bull movie. It's a Star Wars movie, so you don't need to be that dramatic with the feel of it, but you do want it to feel, I thought, not quite handheld, but a little more radical and not something that had been done very much before in effects films.

StarWars.com: There's a great picture that Phil posed of the rancor having a fake fight with the Dragonslayer dragon. What was the story is behind that?

Phil Tippett: We thought it would be funny. We had both of the characters. So why not? They’re just sitting there. Terry Chostner [in the stills department] did a portrait of it.

Dennis Muren: [Laughs.] I don't remember if I was there when they shot that or not. It’s nice seeing that action. Who's going to win? I think it looks like rancor is going to win. Maybe that was the sequel that never happened.

Dennis Muren, left, and Phil Tippett shake hands with their star.

StarWars.com: There's also a great photo of you both holding hands with the rancor, smiling and like, shaking hands with the puppet.

Phil Tippett: It’s not a story so much as I think it was the thing was finished. We were all ready to shoot. It was ready to be put before a camera. We did a lot of jokey photographs all the time.

Dennis Muren: I think it had just about come out of the mold. Here it is! But it may have been an early casting of it. You know, I just love that stuff. The smells of it, the people that are doing it, tools and technology, fluids and powders, and motors whipping these things up and then pouring it into [the mold]. I just love that. I grew up loving that and working on that at Cascade, except instead of a dragon or rancor, it was the Pillsbury Doughboy. Something was happening. Life is struggling to make life. You can see it and feel it and taste it and you can go up and touch it and change it with your hands.

Phil Tippett, right, operates the rancor's head with help from two other puppeteers, Tom St. Amand at back and Dave Sosalla at left.

StarWars.com: Speaking of hands, we’ve heard the story that one day while shooting the rancor sequence, Phil’s hand got hurt and, Phil, you got stuck inside the puppet for hours.

Phil Tippett: There was a big 5K light up on its stand and the knob had not been turned down enough. And I happened to have my hand on the thing where the light goes up and down and it just came down and smashed my hand between my thumb and my index finger, which caused it to swell up in a big blood blister. So once I got my hand inside the [puppet], it was like this yolk that had to squeeze through and my hand had swollen up so much I couldn't pull it out.

StarWars.com: In that moment, why not just say, “We have to stop for today. I'm not doing this. I'm injured.”

Phil Tippett: I didn't know I couldn't pull my hand out until I couldn't. I have very high tolerance for pain.

Dennis Muren: I don't even remember that. If it was bad enough, we wouldn't have continued or somebody else would've done it. Phil was probably saying, “Oh, I'll be okay.” It'd be really funny if I'd never known about it because he didn't want to give me the option of saying, “We should shut this down.”

Dennis Muren examines one of the speeder bike puppets alongside Phil Tippett.

StarWars.com: Beyond the rancor pit, you worked together on a few key moments, like Han being thawed from carbonite and a few parts of the battle on Endor. For Han, what was the challenge with this particular sequence?

Dennis Muren: You know, I don't remember much of the history of it, but the solution was kind of simple and it was just to invert it and have a light inside of this thing, shoot the smoke, and then break away, stop-motion wise, the casting that was on the outside.

Phil Tippett: We had the carbonite rectangle, and I just pulled the mold off of that and made a wax shell from that, and drilled and then painted it up and made this fish tank for it. Then I poured wax in it, and the wax was like a quarter of an inch deep. I would pump in a lot of smoke and then I would go in from the back with an X-Acto blade and just start animating these holes opening up.

Dennis Muren: There would always be these sort of jumpy shards of light coming out. Who knows what's going on, but you know something's going on the inside there. And hopefully it's going to be satisfying and work. And it did, thank God.

Phil Tippett: You get all that stuff in one take for that element, and then I made a foam rubber casting of Harrison Ford's face and painted that up to look like a human, and put that on a green screen that Bruce Nicholson comped in later. We had that as a hand puppet, so when all the carbonite goes away, then he can open up his mouth.

StarWars.com: Knowing what you know now, having worked in the industry for so many years, would you have approached either sequence any differently with the tools or the knowledge that you have now?

Phil Tippett: No, you know, we didn't have any time, so it was just running and gunning it. The schedule drove everything.

Dennis Muren: You know, I never thought about that. I like that look much better than if it had been a big CG show, which is the way it would've been done now. So much of [digital graphics] looks really fake. So much of it doesn't have any relationship to the real world because there's no physics involved in it. [For Han,] I think what's in the film is something that is organic and that the shards of light are coming out with something shimmering is real. You kind of see that occasionally in like a snowstorm or something with a light. It's a lot you can relate to.

Phil Tippett: And then later, I think it was for a Christmas party, we put together reels of silly stuff. So, I did a pantomime of the Han Solo puppet lip-syncing to Maurice Chevalier's "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." Stole the show.

StarWars.com: Why do you think this film in particular, of the Star Wars films, has such an enduring resonance with people that it is something that we're still talking about 40 years later?

Phil Tippett: Well, for one thing, both Lucas and [Steven] Spielberg were very well aware of film history. And what you can do with special effects is that you can generate a great deal of spectacle and things that you had not seen before. And in a science-fiction fantasy setting, it was new. Nobody had seen anything like that. George had this thing about race cars. He wanted to see spaceships flying like race cars. George always wanted, if you're doing a shot that had speed, it was to see things coming at you. It was a new coat of paint on an old genre with new technology.

ILM crew members pose on the set of Endor, left to right, Ken Ralston, Bruce Nicholson, Richard Edlund, Joe Johnston, and Dennis Muren.

StarWars.com: What is Jedi's place in the history of all special effects and cinema, in your mind?

Dennis Muren: I'm glad that Jedi was a big hit…It was quite a wrap up and it always did seem like it was the end of the series. And what an amazing thing, for me and I'm sure for everybody else to work on, to go into this little space film that we thought, “Who knows what's going to happen to it?” And then eight years later, wrapping it up and each one is satisfying to millions of people. It was amazing. Period.

General manager of ILM in the early to mid-‘80s, Smith reflects on the rancor, working with George Lucas, and the fate of a memorable Easter egg.

It may be hard to believe, but some good actually came from the Empire’s second Death Star.

For Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Industrial Light & Magic had built a huge model of the new technological terror’s surface — “two times larger than a tennis court,” legendary ILM general manager Thomas G. Smith tells StarWars.com — and it was too large to be stored after filming. On the orders of George Lucas himself, who usually saved and preserved every model from the Star Wars films, it was to be trashed. So, Smith and some other ILMers took the model apart, rented some trucks, and drove the pieces to a nearby garbage dump. But someone actually wanted to save the Death Star.

“My son was working at summer employment there, and he saw all these pieces going into the dump and he thought, ‘No, no, no,’” Smith says. “‘Some of that stuff looks good!’” Smith’s son saved a box of pieces for himself and held onto it for years — ultimately putting it to ironically good use.

“Later I told him he was a fool. ‘Get rid of ‘em! That’s garbage, throw it away!’ And when his daughter went to college, he was able to fund part of her college expenses by selling these fragments of the broken Death Star.”

Smith laughs, recounting the story to StarWars.com in a conversation celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. His journey to Star Wars began at Northwestern University, where he graduated in 1960 with a degree in film, followed by a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Institute for Higher Studies of Film in Paris. After a three-year stint in the US Air Force, he joined Encyclopedia Britannica, where he made over 60 educational films including 1977’s Solar System, an innovative work that won several awards and impressed George Lucas. Lucas recruited Smith to join ILM during production of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1979; by the time of Return of the Jedi, Smith had been named general manager, overseeing all visual effects. “We had 300 employees and I was responsible for all the stuff that a general manager would do,” Smith says. “Make sure that everything's being done, all the work is being done, assigned who did what, and dealt with the union and dealt with the filmmakers to ease their concerns.”

The final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi would be bigger than anything Smith had been involved with previously, to the tune of 900 effects shots. “Nine hundred shots is a hell of a lot of work. And each shot had an average of, let's say, five elements. So that means, you know, about 4,000 camera setups,” Smith says. “Well, I knew it was a real challenge, but I knew we could do it. And if we couldn't do it, we'd try something else.”

Phil Tippett maneuvers the rancor puppet.

An example of the latter ethos would be the iconic rancor sequence. The original idea was to shoot the rancor Godzilla-style, with a performer in a suit. When the results were lackluster, the idea came about to use a rod puppet. “We knew it was going to be hard from the beginning, but Phil Tippett had a responsibility on that one," he says. "Phil had terrific patience.”

The crew works out shots on a miniature speeder bike chase set.

That was too close: Checking out the model of the Death Star tunnels.

Smith credits Tippett and ILM’s other wizards, all with specific talents, in achieving Jedi’s amazing effects. “I had shot documentary films from about the age of 25 until I came to ILM, so I understood everything. We would sit down at the conference table and discuss these things, how they would be done, who would do them, and so forth. But the people there were very talented and didn't require any great advice from me, because they were very good. Each one was more talented in certain areas. Dennis Muren was a great cameraman, lighting man, visualizer. He shot the effects for E.T. and it's that kind of sensibility. Richard Edlund was a genius at designing mechanical things. He could do drawings that would go to a machine shop and they would make it. He made one of our cameras and he did Poltergeist, at the same time that Dennis was doing E.T. You can see the difference in a different kind of a mind at work. And Ken Ralston was a great animator, as was Phil Tippett. So, they all understood very much what they were doing.” Still, as general manager, Smith notes that he would sometimes have to be the mediator when tensions would flare, even among friends. And for that, he had his own special effects trick, as it were: When he would host the ILM morning meeting, there was one rule.

“Come into my office, but nobody could sit down. That way the meeting was kept short. Nobody got comfortable.”

"Well, I knew it was a real challenge, but I knew we could do it." Smith on-set for the filming of puppets for the speeder bike sequence.

Smith recalls meeting director Richard Marquand only once. “I met Richard Marquand when he came to interview for the job. George interviewed him in my office and I met him. He was a very nice fellow. And I just sort of sat there during the job interview, you know," Smith says with a chuckle. "But he was a very nice guy." Marquand, Smith says, dealt more with the actors and photography; Lucas, on the other hand, was heavily involved with the effects. How often did the Star Wars creator stop by to see what ILM was doing? “Every day. The editing room was a hundred yards away from ILM. We had a big industrial building, which was ours, and then there was a driveway. And across the driveway was another building. Inside that building, that's where George was. So, every morning we would get our dailies — work from the previous day — and we would have this screening. George would come in, sit down and look at it, comment on everything that he saw, and then sometimes take a walk to look at something, some question we had about something. Generally speaking, he was, most of the time, more accepting with the shots than we were. The cameraman would say, ‘Oh, I got a little thing there wrong.’ George would say, ‘They'll never see it,’ or ‘Put down that it could be better and we'll do it at the end if we've got time.’ Well, we never had time.”

Lorne Peterson preps a certain hunk of junk.

Ken Ralston shooting a blockade runner for the rebel fleet.

Still, even with time and budget constraints, Smith and ILM created classic effects sequences for Return of the Jedi, including the rancor, the speeder bike chase, and the climactic attack on the second Death Star, which featured more — and faster — ships than ever before. “There were scenes where there were a tremendous number of spaceships in one shot. Each spaceship was an individual model," Smith says. "I have to remind people, who nowadays work with digital, that everything was physical.”

A famous Easter egg in the final space battle is that one of the fighters isn’t a ship at all — it’s a sneaker belonging to Ken Ralston, visual effects supervisor. When producer Howard Kazanjian asked if he could keep a model from the sequence, Smith knew just the one to send him. “‘Sure. Here.’ So we got a nice plastic case and a plaque, and put the shoe in it.”

Forty years later, Smith remains proud of Jedi, both in terms of its visual effects and its place in the original trilogy. “I think it's one of the major Star Wars series films. George sort of lost me when he got deep into the digital creatures. It was maybe because I'm so old. But to me, the first three Star Wars films are the treasure.”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film, two StarWars.com writers debate the best moment in Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

One of the great things about Star Wars is that it inspires endless debates and opinions on a wide array of topics. Best bounty hunter? Most powerful Jedi? Does Salacious B. Crumb have the best haircut in the saga? In that spirit, StarWars.com presents From a Certain Point of View: a series of point-counterpoints on some of the biggest — and most fun — Star Wars issues. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, streaming on Disney+, two StarWars.com writers argue in favor of what they see as the best moment in the final film of the original trilogy.

It’s when Luke tells the Emperor “I am a Jedi, like my father before me,” says Brandon.

The story of the original trilogy all comes down to this one moment.

Darth Vader has just given his son an ultimatum: if he does not join the dark side, then perhaps his twin sister, Leia Organa, will. That threat spurs Luke Skywalker into a frenzied lightsaber battle, losing all sense of the Jedi-like calm that he has been exhibiting throughout the duel thus far.

With the fury and hate of the dark side powering his blows, Luke pummels his father down, cutting off his left hand, and leaving just a smoldering mechanical stump. Luke can destroy his father with one blow. The Emperor, who has been watching the entire time, is thrilled: his plan is succeeding and he might soon have a new, powerful apprentice at his side.

Offered the choice to join Palpatine, my favorite moment in Return of the Jedi, and, frankly, in all of Star Wars, then begins. Looking at his gloved, mechanical hand and his father’s missing one, Luke disengages his lightsaber and throws it away. He rejects the dark side once and for all: “Never. I’ll never turn to the dark side. You’ve failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

Luke’s breaths are heavy; he is sure of his choice, and it is a relief. His training with Yoda, his visions on Dagobah, the constant looming worry of turning evil…he no longer needs to worry. He has made his decision, even though he knows that the immediate consequences are only pain.

Cinematically, it is a perfect moment: the throwing of the lightsaber, the subtle head tilt, and the swelling of music by John Williams. It is Mark Hamill putting on a masterclass in acting, and, for just a moment amid the climactic battles of Jedi’s third act, the audience can breathe.

Luke has made his choice and Anakin will soon make his. It is Star Wars at its best: a family drama, a deeply personal journey, and the story of a hero. So be it.

It’s actually another Luke Skywalker moment, when he reveals and catches his hidden lightsaber, says Dan.

There’s no denying the singular brilliance of Luke throwing away his weapon and declaring “I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” It’s basically the point of the entire saga, crystalized into a single act and line. But Jedi is a great film on the whole, filled with incredible set pieces and emotional beats that still hold up after all these years. And if Brandon is picking the aforementioned moment, then I’m more than happy to argue for Luke Skywalker’s sail barge salute, flip, and lightsaber catch — the can’t-believe-it setup to my favorite action sequence of any Star Wars film.

Jedi takes its time in its opening act. It builds slowly as Han’s allies come to Jabba’s palace: first are the droids, who deliver Luke’s message of negotiation, followed by an in-disguise Leia, and then, finally, Luke himself. Once they’re all captured and sentenced to die by Sarlacc, where they’ll have to walk the plank and fall into the belly of a desert-dwelling beast, the tension is high. No one else is coming to rescue them and it’s up to our heroes to save themselves; Luke has boasted about his abilities — “I warn you not to underestimate my powers” — and now he’ll have to put his credits where his mouth is.

Once Jabba gives the order to put Luke into the pit, the scene shifts. The music gets more serious, with staccato horns on a simmering blanket of strings (a segment of the score so good it was repurposed for the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones trailer). Luke is unarmed and out of options. And then he salutes Artoo, signaling the droid to reveal just what’s hidden in his dome. Luke walks off the plank, but instead of falling downward, he grabs the ledge — and uses it to spring himself up! He somersaults in the air as Artoo launches his lightsaber, the Jedi landing just in time to catch his weapon, ignite it, and allow himself a wry smile. And we’re off.

Except for that detour in the rancor pit, much of the tension from the opening act explodes on-screen in that moment. It’s a surprising and awe-inspiring move, and a signal that this isn’t the Luke we saw battered and beaten at the end of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Luke has clearly changed, becoming confident and powerful, if nearly unstoppable — a Jedi Knight, like he proclaimed in his message to Jabba. And that oh-so-slight pause as he grabs his weapon and smiles as he turns it on? That’s the joyous spirit of Jedi right there.

This moment tells us that our friends are worth fighting for. That we’ll face challenges but can meet them head on and win. That with hard work and a good spirit we can accomplish great things. I’ve said in the past that the reason Jedi is my favorite Star Wars film is because it makes me feel like I can do anything. And it starts right here, with that salute, somersault back onto the skiff, and catch of a lightsaber.

A three-week job at Lucasfilm in 1981 resulted in several iconic works of production art.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

Star Wars artwork aficionados who browse the pages of 1983’s The Art of Return of the Jedi are often inspired by the illustrations of pioneering Star Wars artists Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, and Nilo Rodis-Jamero, among others. Readers might be struck, though, by a pair of stunning profile illustrations of Princess Leia on page 49 that appear unlike any other artists’ work seen in the book. The portrait illustrations, which depict Leia’s iconic hairdo while aboard Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge, appear to be done by a talented fashion artist with an eye for elegance and detail. While the book illustrations were initially credited to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi hairdresser Paul LeBlanc, they were actually composed and finished by artist Marilee Heyer, whose attribution was missed through an unfortunate oversight in the first 1983 edition (but restored in the 1997 reprint).

An accomplished illustrator whose work often graced the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, Heyer was drawn to Lucasfilm in August 1981 because of her love for the first two Star Wars movies. “I was just crazy about them,” she says. “When the second film came out, I really, really loved it. I read about the operations being in San Rafael and just really wanted to see if I could work out there. There was one person who I knew that I had been doing some storyboards for, and she knew somebody that worked out at Lucasfilm who knew Nilo Rodis-Jamero.”

One of several Leia hairdo concepts by Heyer, realized in the Jabba's palace and sail barge sequences.

Return of the Jedi costume designer Nilo Rodis-Jamero had joined Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back production’s miniature and optical effects unit, and moved into costume design for Jedi. As Heyer remembers it, Rodis-Jamero wanted to bring in an additional storyboard artist so that he could devote more of his time to the film’s increasing costume design needs. Heyer had originally come to the San Francisco Bay Area a decade earlier as a storyboard artist for TV commercials, but quickly pivoted to fashion illustration. Her storyboard work, however, got her the job at Lucasfilm. “My early career out of school had been working on Saturday morning children's cartoons doing layouts and planning scenes,” she says. “So I was someone that could come in and kind of assist Nilo with the storyboards. He would tell me what he wanted me to draw, and that would leave him time to go in the fashion design department and do that.”

Heyer's illustration of Leia with hair down would form the basis of the princess' look in the Ewok village.

As Heyer worked on storyboards, she would often sketch her own ideas for Leia’s various costumes during her lunch breaks. Although none of her costume sketches closely resemble those seen in the film, their polished style inspired Rodis-Jamero to ask Heyer to do some refined illustrations of Leia’s hairdos based on designs by Paul LeBlanc. “I think Nilo asked me because he knew of my experience as a fashion illustrator, that I could do pretty women well and make them look elegant,” she says. “So about a week before I was supposed to leave, he asked if I could stay and do these sketches for them.”

Four of those illustrations found their way into The Art of Return of the Jedi, and demonstrate Heyer’s clear talent for depicting Carrie Fisher’s complex hairstyles seen in the final film. Based on the strength of these and her storyboard work, Heyer was asked to stay on permanently in the Lucasfilm art department.

A concept that echoes Leia's iconic hairstyle in Star Wars: A New Hope.

“I was tempted to stay because I was thinking, like everybody, that there were going to be three or four more Star Wars movies,” she recalls. “But I was told that after Return of the Jedi, George was taking a hiatus and that nobody really knew how long before the next Star Wars movie was going to come out. For my security and for my career, I just decided to go back to [San Francisco fashion company] I. Magnin, who was holding my job for me.”

While Heyer had left her brief but fulfilling role at Lucasfilm and her mark on the illustrative legacy of Return of the Jedi, she had one more contribution to make in the weeks following her departure. An illustrated production logo, like the ones done for Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back by Ralph McQuarrie, was needed for Jedi’s stickers and crew patches, and Heyer was contracted to illustrate a design incorporating Yoda and part of the film’s title. “I did four or five really rough sketches in color, and they picked out the one they wanted,” she recalls. “So I produced a finished illustration, but had to leave part of the title blank because it wasn’t known or decided if it was to be Revenge of the Jedi or Return of the Jedi.”

This detail of a work order from the Lucasfilm Art Dept dated November 18, 1981, shows the original request for five sketches and that the film’s full title — Revenge of the Jedi — should not be depicted.

As Star Wars collectors may be aware, the Yoda artwork logo was first used on production stickers and crew patches bearing the original Revenge of the Jedi title, and later on, similar stickers and patches offered to Official Star Wars Fan Club members with the final Return of the Jedi title. Until recently, it was unclear which artist had finished the production logo, and Heyer is glad to finally have her name attached to the iconic artwork.

It's not a trap! Revisit some of the best lines from Episode VI.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

Great quotes and Star Wars go hand in hand, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is filled with wonderful lines that are as entertaining as they are profound. It’s hard not to feel a swell of emotion hearing Luke’s resolve to save his father. We also can’t keep ourselves from smiling as Han, Leia, and Lando snark their way into saving the galaxy. Then, of course, there are the Emperor's fantastically menacing taunts. To paraphrase Yoda, “When 40 years old most other movies reach, be this quotable they will not.” Here are 40 of the most memorable Return of the Jedi quotes.

1. “The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am. “ — Darth Vader

Say what you will about Darth Vader, but he’s not lying to Death Star Commander Jerrjerrod. Hearing this line come from someone who, last we saw him, cut off his son’s hand, is a reminder that the Emperor is an extremely threatening figure.

2. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone here. Let’s go back and tell Master Luke.” — C-3PO

Immediately after knocking on the door to Jabba’s palace, Threepio’s ready to turn back and regroup. Unfortunately for him, Jabba is home and the plan will proceed.

3. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and friend to Captain Solo.” — Luke Skywalker

Even as a pre-recorded hologram, Luke’s cool factor in Return of the Jedi reaches the atmosphere. As he kicks off his plan to rescue Han, it’s gratifying to hear him introduce himself as a full-fledged Jedi Knight.

4. “I will not give up my favorite decoration. I like Captain Solo where he is.” — Jabba the Hutt

Jabba instantly rejects Luke’s offers of diplomacy and gloats about how our favorite scoundrel-turned-statue matches his visions for interior design. Jabba is a menace, and getting Han back will be a difficult task.

5. “We have powerful friends. You’re gonna regret this.” — Leia Organa

Leia frees Han from carbonite only to find Jabba and his crew waiting nearby. The crime lord is confident things will go his way, but Leia’s words will soon ring true.

6. “You will take me to Jabba now!” — Luke Skywalker

Luke shows off his new strength in the Force with a Jedi mind trick on Bib Fortuna. Where once he was amazed by Obi-Wan using the same ability, Luke now wields it with ease — a signal that he's grown more powerful. 

7. “There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die.” — Jabba the Hutt

Right before dropping Luke into the rancor’s lair, Jabba makes it clear that he is not to be trifled with. It’s no wonder he became as powerful as he is. After all, keeping a giant monster in the basement is excellent leverage.

8. “You're gonna die here, you know. Convenient.” — Han Solo

As the team sails to their scheduled execution on Jabba’s barge, Luke remarks on having once lived on Tatooine. But even when facing death, Han can’t help but find the snarkiest quip available. 

9. “Threepio. You tell that slimy piece of worm-ridden filth he’ll get no such pleasure from us.” — Han Solo

Defiant as ever, our favorite star captain refuses to grovel before Jabba as the crime lord suggests they beg for mercy.

10. “Jabba! This is your last chance. Free us or die.” — Luke Skywalker

Luke and his friends have given Jabba countless chances. But as things continue to escalate, it’s becoming clear that we're about to see the full fruits of Luke’s Jedi training. 

11. “Boba Fett?! Boba Fett?! Where?” — Han Solo

The galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter is down! While we now know that Boba would later emerge from the Sarlacc’s maw, for decades this line and Han’s sightless bumbling spelled the end for the fearsome Boba Fett.

12. “No, wait! I thought you were blind!” — Lando Calrissian

Still recovering from hibernation sickness, a temporarily blind Han takes aim at the Sarlacc tentacle wrapped around Lando’s leg. Whether it was skill or luck, he does somehow make the shot and saves his old friend.

13. “When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not.” — Yoda

As he nears drawing his final breath, Master Yoda surprises Luke with this joke. He's trying to keep his student at ease, further proof of what a caring teacher he is.

14. “That is the way of things...the way of the Force.” — Yoda

Yoda provides us more of his poetic philosophies as his life comes to an end. All nights must fall eventually, but life keeps moving.

15. “There is another Skywalker.” — Yoda

As Star Wars fans, it’s hard to imagine not knowing that Luke and Leia are siblings. But for folks watching the series for the first time, Yoda’s last words are a startling revelation. 

16. “Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

Luke confronts Obi-Wan, hurt that his master obscured the truth about his father. Kenobi explains himself, and expresses his own feelings of betrayal at losing Anakin to the dark side.

17. “There is still good in him.” — Luke Skywalker

With this simple line about his father, Luke demonstrates his own innate goodness and intention to save a man most would consider too far gone. He hopes to do the impossible and succeed where Obi-Wan had failed. 

18. “Here we go again.” — C-3PO

Our beloved main characters gather again and set off to the forest moon of Endor. It’s fitting for C-3PO to deliver this line knowing all of the adventures they’ve been through, both on screen and off.

19. “Fly casual.” — Han Solo

Flying in an Imperial shuttle, Han and the crew try to trick the Empire using old clearance codes. As Luke worries that his presence will endanger the mission, and Chewie fears that they all look too suspicious, Han delivers this sound, easy-to-follow advice. 

20. “You're a jittery little thing, aren't you?” — Leia Organa

Upon getting separated from the rest of the group on Endor, Leia encounters the adorable young Ewok, Wicket. While he’s cautious at first, Leia wins him over quickly, and the pair end up making a pretty good team.

21. “Nice work. Great, Chewie! Great! Always thinking with your stomach.” — Han Solo

Fooled by a big hunk of meat on a stick, the proud Wookiee lands our heroes in an Ewok trap. Fortunately, R2-D2 is there to cut them out of the net and resolve the group’s problems. As usual.

22. “It's against my programming to impersonate a deity.” — C-3PO

Always a rule follower, C-3PO is reluctant to use his newfound influence over the Ewoks. An honorable thing to do, it does ultimately lead to the rest of our heroes almost becoming barbecue.

23. "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it...I have it...and my sister has it." — Luke Skywalker

Not sure he'll return from facing Vader and the Emperor, Luke tells his sister this new truth. A shocking moment, but so is Leia's response...

24. “I know. Somehow...I've always known.” — Leia Organa

Leia's calm acceptance of Luke's revelation show her connection to the Force and her brother.

25. “It is too late for me, son.” — Darth Vader

Vader says this as he and Luke come face to face for the first time since their fight in Cloud City, with his son trying to convert his father back to the light. There's a twinge of regret in his voice, something we've never heard before.

26. “They'll have that shield down on time...or this'll be the shortest offensive of all time.” — Lando Calrissian

Piloting his old ship, Lando asserts his confidence in Han’s strike team carrying out its job on Endor. But as is tradition for Millennium Falcon pilots, he also quietly mutters a more sobering aside.

27. “I'm afraid our furry companion has gone and done something rather rash.” — C-3PO

An Ewok stealing a speeder bike is far from the safest strategy. But the furry warrior does succeed in drawing away a few of the Imperial scouts, paving the path for Han and the others to begin their assault.  

28. “Your overconfidence is your weakness.” / ”Your faith in your friends is yours.” — Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine

Palpatine's philosophy and unwillingness to let anyone get the better of him is summed up in this short but memorable exchange.

29. “It’s a trap!” — Admiral Ackbar

Palpatine pulled a fast one and led the rebels into an ambush. If anybody had been confused on what took place, our dear Admiral Ackbar was sure to make it abundantly clear with this now iconic quote.

30. “Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.” — Emperor Palpatine

The Emperor's taunts are relentless, as is his goading Luke into a fight.

31. “I love you." / “I know.” — Han Solo and Princess Leia

In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Han got to say the too-cool-for-school response to Leia’s confession. Now the roles are reversed, as Leia’s craftiness and hidden blaster get the crew out of a sticky situation.

32. "I feel the good in you...the conflict." — Luke Skywalker

Taking the high ground over Vader during their duel, Luke reaffirms his conviction to redeem his father. He’ll eventually win the day, but his determination in such opposition is admirable. (He also does a sick backflip before saying this.)

33. "If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will.” — Darth Vader

John Williams’ perfect score swells as Luke’s anger and fear finally reach their high point. With the threat to Leia being the trigger, Luke overpowers his father in hatred.

34. “I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” — Luke Skywalker

Luke’s true father is Anakin Skywalker. All of Palpatine’s efforts have failed. He did not turn Luke from the light — as the Jedi throws away his weapon, refusing to kill his father — and he had not wiped out all of the good in Anakin.

35. “Now, young Skywalker…you will die.” — Emperor Palpatine

A chilling line, as Palpatine pauses in his attack on Luke to state his intentions plainly. Then, lightning courses as Palpatine unleashes his full power. But in that instant Anakin Skywalker returns, awakened by his son's compassion, and throws Palpatine into the void.

36. "That was too close." — Lando Calrissian

Barreling through the Death Star in the Millennium Falcon, Lando narrowly avoids a fiery demise amid the TIE fighter attacks and narrow corridors. In the process, the Falcon’s radar dish comes clean off. Lando’s promise to return the ol' hunk of junk without a scratch is officially broken.

37. “Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.” — Anakin Skywalker

Luke was right. There was still good in his father, and his humanity returned to him at the end.

38. "I’ll not leave you here. I’ve got to save you." — Luke Skywalker

Even now as Anakin fades, our hero is determined to do more to save him.

39. “You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister...you were right.” — Anakin Skywalker

Anakin’s final thoughts are with his remaining family. He dies redeemed.

40. “He's my brother.” — Leia Organa

The last spoken line of the original trilogy. Leia ties the Skywalker story up, and Solo's reaction — changing from bewilderment to joy — is classic.

From Amanaman to Yak Face, here’s who to know in Jabba's palace and where to find them!

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

Mos Eisley may notoriously be the wretched hive of scum and villainy. But if you have the courage and venture further, you’ll find the most disreputable characters in the galaxy lurking in the shadows of Jabba the Hutt’s throne room. Space-faring creatures, profit-seeking bounty hunters, spies, smugglers, and off-worlders just looking for a party, Jabba’s palace is the place to be. That is, unless you have a price on your head.

Here now are 11 characters that frequently haunt Jabba’s abode that you should know. We’ll also tell you where to look for them on your next viewing of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

1. Amanaman

The yellow-green Amani from Utapau was the first whom Lando Calrissian encountered during Han Solo’s rescue according to Marvel’s Star Wars comics. Amanaman made a pact with Lando, agreeing to tip off the smuggler should Boba Fett arrive with his precious carbon-frozen cargo. Amanaman also stood watch as Luke Skywalker bargained for Han’s life in Return of the Jedi. Not much is known about Amanaman, but with his threatening appearance — armed with a staff adorned with skulls and shrunken heads, he presumably was not someone you’d want on your bad side.

Where to Look: 10 minutes, 16 seconds — As Jabba the Hutt introduces his most prized decoration, Han Solo hanging on the wall frozen in carbonite, Amanaman stands in the shadow to the right of the slab. He ducks in to take a glance at our incapacitated hero.

Additional Intel: Because he’s often on the very edge of the frame in Jabba’s palace, the tall and thin Amanaman was a mystery to an entire generation who watched Return of the Jedi in a 4x3 or “pan & scan” frame. On square televisions, he was often cropped out and not seen. It wasn’t until the release of the film in widescreen and in theaters for the Special Edition that Amanaman was visible once again.

2. Beedo

A Rodian clothed in a green flight suit and orange vest, Beedo was often mistaken for his doppelganger, Greedo. Don’t feel bad if you’ve made the mistake, too; it’s not uncommon to have difficulty differentiating the two. Beedo was a longtime associate of Jabba's, having accompanied the gangster to corner Han Solo shortly after Greedo’s death. Beedo enjoyed the entertainment value of Jabba’s court, and pushed his way to the front for best viewing of rancor feedings and those seeking audience with the Hutt.

Where to Look: 9 minutes – As Luke Skywalker’s holo message begins for Jabba the Hutt, Beedo’s silhouette can be seen just to the left of the main entrance. You can get your first good look at him at 12 minutes, 22 seconds off to the left as the Max Rebo band entertains the court.

Additional Intel: Beedo loved to stay near the main entrance stairs, possibly having learned from poor Greedo’s fate and plotting a quick exit when things got hairy?

3. Bib Fortuna

A Twi’lek majordomo, Bib Fortuna acted as advisor and gatekeeper for Jabba the Hutt. Smugglers, bounty hunters, and contractors for the Hutt all had to bargain with Fortuna for assignments and payment. With a pronounced head-tail lekku, and pale skin from being confined within the dark recesses of the palace at all hours, Fortuna’s teeth were as sharp and pointed as his ambitions. Wherever Jabba went, so went Fortuna. He accompanied the Hutt to the Boonta Eve podrace, as seen in The Phantom Menace, and was at his side when the master’s sail barge transported captive Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to the Great Pit of Carkoon. Though the barge exploded, somehow Fortuna was among the survivors.

Where to Look: 7 minutes, 5 seconds — Bib Fortuna greets C-3PO and R2-D2 upon entering Jabba’s palace.

Additional Intel: Fortuna eventually achieved his dreams of running the show and took control of Jabba the Hutt’s holdings in the Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett. His reign was short-lived as Fett assassinated the Twi’lek and claimed his throne.

4. Boba Fett

Boba Fett was a legend that could fill volumes. Fett was born on Kamino: a perfectly created clone of his “father” Jango as seen in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Bearing witness to the death of Jango at the hands of Jedi Mace Windu, he turned to a solitary life of bounty hunting, gaining a reputation for disintegrations. In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, he worked as a freelancer for Darth Vader and the main culprit responsible for Han Solo’s capture and return to Jabba the Hutt. Fett was fiercely loyal to Jabba the Hutt, quick to draw his blaster at the first sign of danger. But when Luke Skywalker and his friends enacted a plan to save Solo, Fett’s jetpack malfunctioned in battle with the Jedi Knight, and he was sent flying into the mouth of the Sarlaac pit and was presumed dead.

Where to Look: 13 minutes, 6 seconds — Boba parts ways from Jabba atop the dais, then stands off to the perimeter of the court a few seconds later taking a moment to enjoy the Max Rebo Band, and their accompanying dancers’ performance.

Additional Intel: Though Boba seemingly met his end at the Great Pit of Carkoon in Return of the Jedi, he escaped and perused ambitions to run Jabba’s previous businesses in The Book of Boba Fett.

5. Ephant Mon

A close friend and associate of Jabba the Hutt, the pachyderm-looking Ephant Mon may appear slow and lumbering, given his hunched posture and use of a cane. But the Chevin from Vinsoth was a dangerous threat. Mon was a suspected arms dealer who was somehow always one step ahead of danger, and escaped certain doom by not being on Jabba’s sail barge when it exploded.

Where to Look: 20 minutes, 23 seconds — Mon is behind the curtain when Leia Organa revives Han Solo from carbon freeze. He can be seen just to the left of Leia as Han explains he was on his way to repay Jabba’s debts.

Additional Intel: Though it never made it on-screen, the cackling Salacious B. Crumb was originally intended to be perched on Ephant Mon’s shoulder as his pet rather than keeping close to Jabba himself.

6. Max Rebo

With bright blue skin, a beady-eyed face, and a long trunk resembling the most adorable of elephants, Max Rebo was a prolific entertainer on Tatooine. Generally seated at his trusty red ball jett organ, the Ortolan was frequently animated and energetic when performing, bouncing to the upbeat, jazzy-sounding music he created.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 30 seconds — Max Rebo sits at his keyboard to the left of the frame as his band finishes up a song for Jabba’s entertainment. He continues to play for Jabba on the sail barge during a cruise to the Great Pit of Carkoon.

Additional intel: Though the band as it was comprised at Jabba's palace parted ways, Max still frequented gigs around cantinas, including Garsa Fwip’s Sanctuary in The Book of Boba Fett.

7. Pote Snitkin

A driver for Jabba the Hutt, Pote Snitkin was rewarded for his service with unlimited drinks and entertainment. With no visible neck, and sizeable hands comprised of only three chubby digits, Snitkin was a fireplug of a Skrilling. His duties as a driver for Jabba’s pleasure cruise entourage ultimately led to his death, however. Under attack by Jedi Luke Skywalker, Snitkin was tossed overboard from the skiff he was piloting and became a meal for the Sarlaac.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 43 seconds — Pote Snitkin can be seen standing in an enclave behind the dancer known as Wiebba-Wiebba. But he’s better seen later, above the Pit of Carkoon at the far back at the helm of a skiff as Luke Skywalker jumps onto it at 33 minutes, 36 seconds.

Additional Intel: Pote Snitkin was one of the few patrons of Jabba the Hutt’s who didn’t receive an action figure until the late 1990s, and was first available as an online exclusive figure through the official Star Wars fan club.

8. Ree-Yees

With an unmistakable three-eye stocked face, Ree-Yees was a Gran from the planet Kinyen and loved to be at the center of the action in Jabba's palace. It was this desire that led to his demise, as he was at Jabba’s side as the Hutt’s sail barge exploded over the Great Pit of Carkoon. 

Where to Look: 8 Minutes, 15 Seconds — As Bib Fortuna turns the corner and is about to walk down the stairs, look to the far left of the frame to see Ree-Yees. He’s present throughout Jabba’s throne room and can also be seen next to Beedo, hunched over the rancor viewing area cheering on the beast.

Additional Intel: The design for Ree-Yees was first intended to be the character Admiral Ackbar in pre-production.

9. Salacious B. Crumb

A diminutive and entertaining Kowakian monkey-lizard, the inimitable cackle of Salacious B. Crumb can cut through the loudest of dins. Equal parts pet and court jester for Jabba the Hutt, no movement, joke, or scrap of food escaped Crumb. Usually subdued and fit to laze in luxury with his master, Crumb engaged in a bit of a tussle with R2-D2 and C-3PO on Jabba’s sail barge and paid a shocking price for it.

Where to Look: 9 Minutes, 14 Seconds — Salacious gets his first true closeup while seated at his usual spot, right in front of Jabba the Hutt lounging on his dais.

Additional Intel: The direction of Crumb’s shrill laugh was spared upon no one, including Darth Vader when he paid Jabba a visit in the Marvel Star Wars: Darth Vader comics.

10. Sy Snoodles

Sy Snoodles was a long-legged and armed Pa’lowick, with a very pronounced mouth that made her a striking lead singer. Her voice made her perfect for singing in Huttese to entertain Jabba’s court. But don’t let her talents and fabulousness deceive you; in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it’s learned that Sy had a dangerous past working as a spy and assassin for the Hutts, and used her station to be granted audience with distinguished figures, including Jabba the Hutt’s greatest rivals.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 30 seconds — Sy Snoodles dances at the top of the steps as the Max Rebo Band completes a hot number that gets the crowd going. But she gets her moment in the spotlight with a solo performance of “Jedi Rocks” at 12 minutes, 57 seconds.

Additional Intel: In 1983, Sy originally appeared in Return of the Jedi as a rod puppet that was performed underneath a raised stage by a puppeteer. But close to 15 years later, the lead singer of the Max Rebo Band received a full computer-animated makeover for the Special Edition in 1997.

11. Yak Face

With a long nose, accentuated with fluffy, white facial hair, Yak Face was easy to spot on the crowded sail barge. The Yakora, also sometimes known by his formal name Saelt-Marae, was a regular in Jabba’s court, often imbibing and onlooking as visitors requested an audience with the Hutt. Not one to leave his drink or give up his prime vantage point table, Yak Face opted to remain seated and at a distance during rancor feedings, which were often highlights of any day’s entertainment at the palace. As an honored guest of Jabba’s on his sail barge, Yak Face was amid the chaos as Luke Skywalker enacts his plan and the barge is overtaken by the rebel heroes.

Where to Look: 8 Minutes, 15 Seconds — As Bib Fortuna turns the corner and is about to walk down the stairs, look to the far right of the frame to see Yak Face for the first time.

Additional Intel: Possibly to help pay for his bottomless tab at Jabba’s palace, Yak Face worked as a spy and informant to gather intelligence for the Hutt as seen in Marvel Darth Vader series.

From Amanaman to Yak Face, here’s who to know in Jabba's palace and where to find them!

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

Mos Eisley may notoriously be the wretched hive of scum and villainy. But if you have the courage and venture further, you’ll find the most disreputable characters in the galaxy lurking in the shadows of Jabba the Hutt’s throne room. Space-faring creatures, profit-seeking bounty hunters, spies, smugglers, and off-worlders just looking for a party, Jabba’s palace is the place to be. That is, unless you have a price on your head.

Here now are 11 characters that frequently haunt Jabba’s abode that you should know. We’ll also tell you where to look for them on your next viewing of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

1. Amanaman

The yellow-green Amani from Utapau was the first whom Lando Calrissian encountered during Han Solo’s rescue according to Marvel’s Star Wars comics. Amanaman made a pact with Lando, agreeing to tip off the smuggler should Boba Fett arrive with his precious carbon-frozen cargo. Amanaman also stood watch as Luke Skywalker bargained for Han’s life in Return of the Jedi. Not much is known about Amanaman, but with his threatening appearance — armed with a staff adorned with skulls and shrunken heads, he presumably was not someone you’d want on your bad side.

Where to Look: 10 minutes, 16 seconds — As Jabba the Hutt introduces his most prized decoration, Han Solo hanging on the wall frozen in carbonite, Amanaman stands in the shadow to the right of the slab. He ducks in to take a glance at our incapacitated hero.

Additional Intel: Because he’s often on the very edge of the frame in Jabba’s palace, the tall and thin Amanaman was a mystery to an entire generation who watched Return of the Jedi in a 4x3 or “pan & scan” frame. On square televisions, he was often cropped out and not seen. It wasn’t until the release of the film in widescreen and in theaters for the Special Edition that Amanaman was visible once again.

2. Beedo

A Rodian clothed in a green flight suit and orange vest, Beedo was often mistaken for his doppelganger, Greedo. Don’t feel bad if you’ve made the mistake, too; it’s not uncommon to have difficulty differentiating the two. Beedo was a longtime associate of Jabba's, having accompanied the gangster to corner Han Solo shortly after Greedo’s death. Beedo enjoyed the entertainment value of Jabba’s court, and pushed his way to the front for best viewing of rancor feedings and those seeking audience with the Hutt.

Where to Look: 9 minutes – As Luke Skywalker’s holo message begins for Jabba the Hutt, Beedo’s silhouette can be seen just to the left of the main entrance. You can get your first good look at him at 12 minutes, 22 seconds off to the left as the Max Rebo band entertains the court.

Additional Intel: Beedo loved to stay near the main entrance stairs, possibly having learned from poor Greedo’s fate and plotting a quick exit when things got hairy?

3. Bib Fortuna

A Twi’lek majordomo, Bib Fortuna acted as advisor and gatekeeper for Jabba the Hutt. Smugglers, bounty hunters, and contractors for the Hutt all had to bargain with Fortuna for assignments and payment. With a pronounced head-tail lekku, and pale skin from being confined within the dark recesses of the palace at all hours, Fortuna’s teeth were as sharp and pointed as his ambitions. Wherever Jabba went, so went Fortuna. He accompanied the Hutt to the Boonta Eve podrace, as seen in The Phantom Menace, and was at his side when the master’s sail barge transported captive Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to the Great Pit of Carkoon. Though the barge exploded, somehow Fortuna was among the survivors.

Where to Look: 7 minutes, 5 seconds — Bib Fortuna greets C-3PO and R2-D2 upon entering Jabba’s palace.

Additional Intel: Fortuna eventually achieved his dreams of running the show and took control of Jabba the Hutt’s holdings in the Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett. His reign was short-lived as Fett assassinated the Twi’lek and claimed his throne.

4. Boba Fett

Boba Fett was a legend that could fill volumes. Fett was born on Kamino: a perfectly created clone of his “father” Jango as seen in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Bearing witness to the death of Jango at the hands of Jedi Mace Windu, he turned to a solitary life of bounty hunting, gaining a reputation for disintegrations. In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, he worked as a freelancer for Darth Vader and the main culprit responsible for Han Solo’s capture and return to Jabba the Hutt. Fett was fiercely loyal to Jabba the Hutt, quick to draw his blaster at the first sign of danger. But when Luke Skywalker and his friends enacted a plan to save Solo, Fett’s jetpack malfunctioned in battle with the Jedi Knight, and he was sent flying into the mouth of the Sarlaac pit and was presumed dead.

Where to Look: 13 minutes, 6 seconds — Boba parts ways from Jabba atop the dais, then stands off to the perimeter of the court a few seconds later taking a moment to enjoy the Max Rebo Band, and their accompanying dancers’ performance.

Additional Intel: Though Boba seemingly met his end at the Great Pit of Carkoon in Return of the Jedi, he escaped and perused ambitions to run Jabba’s previous businesses in The Book of Boba Fett.

5. Ephant Mon

A close friend and associate of Jabba the Hutt, the pachyderm-looking Ephant Mon may appear slow and lumbering, given his hunched posture and use of a cane. But the Chevin from Vinsoth was a dangerous threat. Mon was a suspected arms dealer who was somehow always one step ahead of danger, and escaped certain doom by not being on Jabba’s sail barge when it exploded.

Where to Look: 20 minutes, 23 seconds — Mon is behind the curtain when Leia Organa revives Han Solo from carbon freeze. He can be seen just to the left of Leia as Han explains he was on his way to repay Jabba’s debts.

Additional Intel: Though it never made it on-screen, the cackling Salacious B. Crumb was originally intended to be perched on Ephant Mon’s shoulder as his pet rather than keeping close to Jabba himself.

6. Max Rebo

With bright blue skin, a beady-eyed face, and a long trunk resembling the most adorable of elephants, Max Rebo was a prolific entertainer on Tatooine. Generally seated at his trusty red ball jett organ, the Ortolan was frequently animated and energetic when performing, bouncing to the upbeat, jazzy-sounding music he created.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 30 seconds — Max Rebo sits at his keyboard to the left of the frame as his band finishes up a song for Jabba’s entertainment. He continues to play for Jabba on the sail barge during a cruise to the Great Pit of Carkoon.

Additional intel: Though the band as it was comprised at Jabba's palace parted ways, Max still frequented gigs around cantinas, including Garsa Fwip’s Sanctuary in The Book of Boba Fett.

7. Pote Snitkin

A driver for Jabba the Hutt, Pote Snitkin was rewarded for his service with unlimited drinks and entertainment. With no visible neck, and sizeable hands comprised of only three chubby digits, Snitkin was a fireplug of a Skrilling. His duties as a driver for Jabba’s pleasure cruise entourage ultimately led to his death, however. Under attack by Jedi Luke Skywalker, Snitkin was tossed overboard from the skiff he was piloting and became a meal for the Sarlaac.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 43 seconds — Pote Snitkin can be seen standing in an enclave behind the dancer known as Wiebba-Wiebba. But he’s better seen later, above the Pit of Carkoon at the far back at the helm of a skiff as Luke Skywalker jumps onto it at 33 minutes, 36 seconds.

Additional Intel: Pote Snitkin was one of the few patrons of Jabba the Hutt’s who didn’t receive an action figure until the late 1990s, and was first available as an online exclusive figure through the official Star Wars fan club.

8. Ree-Yees

With an unmistakable three-eye stocked face, Ree-Yees was a Gran from the planet Kinyen and loved to be at the center of the action in Jabba's palace. It was this desire that led to his demise, as he was at Jabba’s side as the Hutt’s sail barge exploded over the Great Pit of Carkoon. 

Where to Look: 8 Minutes, 15 Seconds — As Bib Fortuna turns the corner and is about to walk down the stairs, look to the far left of the frame to see Ree-Yees. He’s present throughout Jabba’s throne room and can also be seen next to Beedo, hunched over the rancor viewing area cheering on the beast.

Additional Intel: The design for Ree-Yees was first intended to be the character Admiral Ackbar in pre-production.

9. Salacious B. Crumb

A diminutive and entertaining Kowakian monkey-lizard, the inimitable cackle of Salacious B. Crumb can cut through the loudest of dins. Equal parts pet and court jester for Jabba the Hutt, no movement, joke, or scrap of food escaped Crumb. Usually subdued and fit to laze in luxury with his master, Crumb engaged in a bit of a tussle with R2-D2 and C-3PO on Jabba’s sail barge and paid a shocking price for it.

Where to Look: 9 Minutes, 14 Seconds — Salacious gets his first true closeup while seated at his usual spot, right in front of Jabba the Hutt lounging on his dais.

Additional Intel: The direction of Crumb’s shrill laugh was spared upon no one, including Darth Vader when he paid Jabba a visit in the Marvel Star Wars: Darth Vader comics.

10. Sy Snoodles

Sy Snoodles was a long-legged and armed Pa’lowick, with a very pronounced mouth that made her a striking lead singer. Her voice made her perfect for singing in Huttese to entertain Jabba’s court. But don’t let her talents and fabulousness deceive you; in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it’s learned that Sy had a dangerous past working as a spy and assassin for the Hutts, and used her station to be granted audience with distinguished figures, including Jabba the Hutt’s greatest rivals.

Where to Look: 12 minutes, 30 seconds — Sy Snoodles dances at the top of the steps as the Max Rebo Band completes a hot number that gets the crowd going. But she gets her moment in the spotlight with a solo performance of “Jedi Rocks” at 12 minutes, 57 seconds.

Additional Intel: In 1983, Sy originally appeared in Return of the Jedi as a rod puppet that was performed underneath a raised stage by a puppeteer. But close to 15 years later, the lead singer of the Max Rebo Band received a full computer-animated makeover for the Special Edition in 1997.

11. Yak Face

With a long nose, accentuated with fluffy, white facial hair, Yak Face was easy to spot on the crowded sail barge. The Yakora, also sometimes known by his formal name Saelt-Marae, was a regular in Jabba’s court, often imbibing and onlooking as visitors requested an audience with the Hutt. Not one to leave his drink or give up his prime vantage point table, Yak Face opted to remain seated and at a distance during rancor feedings, which were often highlights of any day’s entertainment at the palace. As an honored guest of Jabba’s on his sail barge, Yak Face was amid the chaos as Luke Skywalker enacts his plan and the barge is overtaken by the rebel heroes.

Where to Look: 8 Minutes, 15 Seconds — As Bib Fortuna turns the corner and is about to walk down the stairs, look to the far right of the frame to see Yak Face for the first time.

Additional Intel: Possibly to help pay for his bottomless tab at Jabba’s palace, Yak Face worked as a spy and informant to gather intelligence for the Hutt as seen in Marvel Darth Vader series.

The actor and longtime member of the Lucasfilm family passed away this weekend.

We are heartbroken to hear of the passing of our dear friend Ray Stevenson. Ray was an incredible combination of talent, warmth, humor, and heart. 

We were lucky to have Ray join the Star Wars galaxy as Gar Saxon in Star Wars Rebels and then more recently as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka. His ability to play a villain, while being such a kind and caring person in reality, is a testament to his incredible talent.

He was loved and respected by everyone who knew him. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

Aardman turns Darth Vader’s reveal on its head with a heartwarming story about family told in the studio’s signature 3-D stop-motion style.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is here! New episodes of the anthology series are now streaming on Disney+, featuring original shorts from some of the world’s best animation studios. In Visions Revisited, StarWars.com picks the greatest moments from each short.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details from the Star Wars: Visions episode “I Am Your Mother."

We’re all been embarrassed by our parents at one point or another. And when we meet Anni, the young pilot is trying her best to pretend her outspoken mum, Kalina, their creaky tug, and their aging droid don’t belong to her. But we can’t escape where we come from, and ultimately Anni learns that love prevails in a coming-of-age story directed by Magdalena Osinska. In “I Am Your Mother,” Anni discovers that her dear mum has given her everything she needs to become a brilliant pilot capable of besting any contender. Here are five highlights from “I Am Your Mother,” now streaming on Disney+.

1. Red Two returns.

Wedge Antilles is back, voiced by Denis Lawson, the actor who originated the role in Star Wars: A New Hope and more recently reprised it in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Although the Visions anthology isn’t part of the canonical storytelling, nods to existing characters here and in Volume 1’s “Tatooine Rhapsody” firmly plant the stories among established lore. Sculpted in Aardman’s unmistakable style, this rebel hero would also be just as at home in a Wallace and Gromit special.

2. Keep your eyes peeled for small details.

From the Max Rebo plush, a poster of what looks like Hera Syndulla, and a welding mask that’s reminiscent of Mando’s beskar helmet, in the first few scenes we get a sense for the depth of detail in the short. The filmmakers’ love of Star Wars is apparent in every frame and lovingly-crafted set piece, with deep cuts that even reference a speech Carrie Fisher once made at an award ceremony. Keep watching the background for even more Easter eggs and surprises!

3. Nobody insults the Kalfus’ craft!

The Van Reeples are the worst kind of people — arrogant and mean. Kalina isn’t ashamed to work in a field that the well-to-do racers seem to think is beneath them. But as Julan snarks “Can you get your porta-potty off the starting line?” you can see something shift in Kalina’s demeanor. Insult her all you want, but her ship? Now they’ve gone too far. It can be said that the tug is an extension of Kalina herself, and while it may be a hunk of junk to some, there’s far more to it than meets the eye. It’s a valuable lesson in avoiding shallow people who pass judgement on looks alone.

4. “You are embarrassing!”

We have a lot of empathy for both mother and daughter in this moment. We’ve all been embarrassed but someone who means well and loves us. Maybe you’ve also felt like where you came from wasn’t good enough. But with some distance, we can also see how much Kalina loves her daughter and sacrifices to make her dreams a reality. It’s a tough moment of truth that immediately seems to lead Anni to regret her words. And it reminds us, have you called your mom today?

5. The Ryloth Roll.

In a move that would make Hera Syndulla proud, Anni successfully evades the enemy with a move called the Ryloth Roll — which she learned from her mum! — and the Van Reeples get what they deserve: a hair-jostling crash landing and a blow to their overinflated egos.

Aardman turns Darth Vader’s reveal on its head with a heartwarming story about family told in the studio’s signature 3-D stop-motion style.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is here! New episodes of the anthology series are now streaming on Disney+, featuring original shorts from some of the world’s best animation studios. In Visions Revisited, StarWars.com picks the greatest moments from each short.

Spoiler warning: This article discusses story details from the Star Wars: Visions episode “I Am Your Mother."

We’re all been embarrassed by our parents at one point or another. And when we meet Anni, the young pilot is trying her best to pretend her outspoken mum, Kalina, their creaky tug, and their aging droid don’t belong to her. But we can’t escape where we come from, and ultimately Anni learns that love prevails in a coming-of-age story directed by Magdalena Osinska. In “I Am Your Mother,” Anni discovers that her dear mum has given her everything she needs to become a brilliant pilot capable of besting any contender. Here are five highlights from “I Am Your Mother,” now streaming on Disney+.

1. Red Two returns.

Wedge Antilles is back, voiced by Denis Lawson, the actor who originated the role in Star Wars: A New Hope and more recently reprised it in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Although the Visions anthology isn’t part of the canonical storytelling, nods to existing characters here and in Volume 1’s “Tatooine Rhapsody” firmly plant the stories among established lore. Sculpted in Aardman’s unmistakable style, this rebel hero would also be just as at home in a Wallace and Gromit special.

2. Keep your eyes peeled for small details.

From the Max Rebo plush, a poster of what looks like Hera Syndulla, and a welding mask that’s reminiscent of Mando’s beskar helmet, in the first few scenes we get a sense for the depth of detail in the short. The filmmakers’ love of Star Wars is apparent in every frame and lovingly-crafted set piece, with deep cuts that even reference a speech Carrie Fisher once made at an award ceremony. Keep watching the background for even more Easter eggs and surprises!

3. Nobody insults the Kalfus’ craft!

The Van Reeples are the worst kind of people — arrogant and mean. Kalina isn’t ashamed to work in a field that the well-to-do racers seem to think is beneath them. But as Julan snarks “Can you get your porta-potty off the starting line?” you can see something shift in Kalina’s demeanor. Insult her all you want, but her ship? Now they’ve gone too far. It can be said that the tug is an extension of Kalina herself, and while it may be a hunk of junk to some, there’s far more to it than meets the eye. It’s a valuable lesson in avoiding shallow people who pass judgement on looks alone.

4. “You are embarrassing!”

We have a lot of empathy for both mother and daughter in this moment. We’ve all been embarrassed but someone who means well and loves us. Maybe you’ve also felt like where you came from wasn’t good enough. But with some distance, we can also see how much Kalina loves her daughter and sacrifices to make her dreams a reality. It’s a tough moment of truth that immediately seems to lead Anni to regret her words. And it reminds us, have you called your mom today?

5. The Ryloth Roll.

In a move that would make Hera Syndulla proud, Anni successfully evades the enemy with a move called the Ryloth Roll — which she learned from her mum! — and the Van Reeples get what they deserve: a hair-jostling crash landing and a blow to their overinflated egos.

They may have been cut from the final film, but you can watch them all on Disney+.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

It’s always a good time to revisit Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, especially when the film is enjoying its 40th anniversary. But while many scenes are fun to watch on repeat — from searching the shadows of Jabba’s Palace to discover new creatures to attempting to identify all the Ewoks on Endor — if you’re watching Return of the Jedi on Disney+, don’t overlook the moments that didn’t make the film’s final cut. These five sequences feature footage of the main heroes and villains of the film, lesser-known characters like Moff Jerjerrod, and extras who never made it onscreen. 

Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels

The Lost Rebels is a collection of clips showing rebel pilots, officers, and soldiers in deleted clips intended to be part of the Battle of Endor. The first two pilots shown are actors Poppy Hands and Ann Murray; Hands’ pilot did appear in the film as a character later named Sila Kott, but her voice was dubbed over by a male actor. Other lines that can be placed into the epic space battle include “It’s a heavy fire zone down there,” “I’m in range,” “I’m losing power,” and “Get clear. She’s going to blow!” as well as a Mon Calamari pilot who nails the delivery of the line “Fried Calamari tonight!”

The compilation even gives us a few lines of dialogue from rebel General Madine — who plays a small yet important part in Return of the Jedi. While we don’t see Madine during the Battle of Endor in the final film, here we get a glimpse of his ship’s command bridge. These shots, as well as several second unit shots in Jedi, were directed by George Lucas.

Jerjerrod’s Conflict

Even if you don’t remember Moff Jerjerrod’s name — it’s never actually uttered onscreen — if you’ve seen Return of the Jedi, you probably felt a tad bit sorry for the Imperial officer who gets very nervous around Darth Vader at the beginning of the film. Jerjorrod’s role — as the Commander of Death Star II — is significantly expanded with this collection of deleted scenes.

One scene includes Jerjerrod and two of the Emperor’s Royal Guards trying to slow Vader down on his way to see Palpatine, which results in Vader choking Jerjerrod through the Force. The next section shows an alternative sequence where the Emperor orders Jerjerrod to destroy the Endor moon if the rebels succeed in blowing up the shield generator. A later scene shows Jerjerrod and several Imperial officers following that command.

Rebel Raid on the Bunker

The Rebel Raid scenes extend the sequence where Han, Leia, Chewie, and rebel soldiers force their way into the Imperial shield generator building. In a delightful alternative take, after an Imperial officer calls Han and Leia “rebel scum” Solo brashly retorts “scum?” to the officer in a charming way only Han could pull off.

Tatooine Sandstorm

The very first sequence filmed for Return of the Jedi on January 11, 1982 at Elstree Studios wouldn’t be seen by audiences until years after the film released. While Jedi cuts directly from Han, Luke, Leia, and the gang escaping Jabba’s Palace on a sand skiff to a shot of the Millennium Falcon and Luke’s X-wing in space, the original idea was for the rebels to reunite in the midst of a Tatooine sandstorm.

Wearing protective goggles, Luke tells Han and Leia that he can’t come with them because “I have a promise to keep … to an old friend.” Shortly after, Han takes Luke aside and thanks him for coming after him before Luke puts a black glove on his injured hand and prepares to leave in his X-wing with R2-D2. When the sandstorm sequence was cut from the film for pacing concerns, these lines of dialogue and important character moments were shifted to the shots from space.

Vader’s Arrival and Reaching out to Luke

Another early deleted scene in the film comes right after Darth Vader suggests Moff Jerjerrod finds new ways to motivate Death Star II workers. Vader is shown in his mediation chamber — which was actually a shot pulled from The Empire Strikes Back — calling out to Luke through the Force. Meanwhile, Luke and R2-D2 are safely inside a Tatooine cave as Luke works on his new green-bladed lightsaber and hands it off to his loyal astromech. In the final edit of the film the first shots the audience sees of Tatooine are of C-3PO and R2-D2 making their way to Jabba’s Palace.

You can find these Return of the Jedi deleted scenes on Disney+ under “Extras,” where you’ll also find an original trailer for the film.

They may have been cut from the final film, but you can watch them all on Disney+.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

It’s always a good time to revisit Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, especially when the film is enjoying its 40th anniversary. But while many scenes are fun to watch on repeat — from searching the shadows of Jabba’s Palace to discover new creatures to attempting to identify all the Ewoks on Endor — if you’re watching Return of the Jedi on Disney+, don’t overlook the moments that didn’t make the film’s final cut. These five sequences feature footage of the main heroes and villains of the film, lesser-known characters like Moff Jerjerrod, and extras who never made it onscreen. 

Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels

The Lost Rebels is a collection of clips showing rebel pilots, officers, and soldiers in deleted clips intended to be part of the Battle of Endor. The first two pilots shown are actors Poppy Hands and Ann Murray; Hands’ pilot did appear in the film as a character later named Sila Kott, but her voice was dubbed over by a male actor. Other lines that can be placed into the epic space battle include “It’s a heavy fire zone down there,” “I’m in range,” “I’m losing power,” and “Get clear. She’s going to blow!” as well as a Mon Calamari pilot who nails the delivery of the line “Fried Calamari tonight!”

The compilation even gives us a few lines of dialogue from rebel General Madine — who plays a small yet important part in Return of the Jedi. While we don’t see Madine during the Battle of Endor in the final film, here we get a glimpse of his ship’s command bridge. These shots, as well as several second unit shots in Jedi, were directed by George Lucas.

Jerjerrod’s Conflict

Even if you don’t remember Moff Jerjerrod’s name — it’s never actually uttered onscreen — if you’ve seen Return of the Jedi, you probably felt a tad bit sorry for the Imperial officer who gets very nervous around Darth Vader at the beginning of the film. Jerjorrod’s role — as the Commander of Death Star II — is significantly expanded with this collection of deleted scenes.

One scene includes Jerjerrod and two of the Emperor’s Royal Guards trying to slow Vader down on his way to see Palpatine, which results in Vader choking Jerjerrod through the Force. The next section shows an alternative sequence where the Emperor orders Jerjerrod to destroy the Endor moon if the rebels succeed in blowing up the shield generator. A later scene shows Jerjerrod and several Imperial officers following that command.

Rebel Raid on the Bunker

The Rebel Raid scenes extend the sequence where Han, Leia, Chewie, and rebel soldiers force their way into the Imperial shield generator building. In a delightful alternative take, after an Imperial officer calls Han and Leia “rebel scum” Solo brashly retorts “scum?” to the officer in a charming way only Han could pull off.

Tatooine Sandstorm

The very first sequence filmed for Return of the Jedi on January 11, 1982 at Elstree Studios wouldn’t be seen by audiences until years after the film released. While Jedi cuts directly from Han, Luke, Leia, and the gang escaping Jabba’s Palace on a sand skiff to a shot of the Millennium Falcon and Luke’s X-wing in space, the original idea was for the rebels to reunite in the midst of a Tatooine sandstorm.

Wearing protective goggles, Luke tells Han and Leia that he can’t come with them because “I have a promise to keep … to an old friend.” Shortly after, Han takes Luke aside and thanks him for coming after him before Luke puts a black glove on his injured hand and prepares to leave in his X-wing with R2-D2. When the sandstorm sequence was cut from the film for pacing concerns, these lines of dialogue and important character moments were shifted to the shots from space.

Vader’s Arrival and Reaching out to Luke

Another early deleted scene in the film comes right after Darth Vader suggests Moff Jerjerrod finds new ways to motivate Death Star II workers. Vader is shown in his mediation chamber — which was actually a shot pulled from The Empire Strikes Back — calling out to Luke through the Force. Meanwhile, Luke and R2-D2 are safely inside a Tatooine cave as Luke works on his new green-bladed lightsaber and hands it off to his loyal astromech. In the final edit of the film the first shots the audience sees of Tatooine are of C-3PO and R2-D2 making their way to Jabba’s Palace.

You can find these Return of the Jedi deleted scenes on Disney+ under “Extras,” where you’ll also find an original trailer for the film.

“I really wanted these characters to be inspired by real people.” The director behind Aardman’s heartwarming Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 short speaks to StarWars.com.

"Meet the Visionaries" is a StarWars.com series of interviews with the directors of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, now streaming on Disney+.

“I Am Your Mother” is a stop-motion Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 short from legendary UK-based animation studio, Aardman. While the saga has had a robust history of using this time-honored technique in its movies and television shows, from the Dejarik chess players in Star Wars: A New Hope to the “scrapwalkers” in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, this is the first time that it has been used to tell a full, official story in the Star Wars galaxy.

The short film follows the relationship between a young Twi’lek student named Anni (short for Annisoukaline) and her doting mother, Kalina, who, while initially distant and struggling in their relationship, grow closer together during a high-stakes race through the Chandrilan capital of Hanna City. Along the way, they face down friends, foes, and a whole host of obstacles, both in the sky and in their cockpit.

For the film’s writer and director, Polish-born Magdalena Osinska, this project was the definition of dream fulfillment. “My first dream was to work at Aardman, and my second was to make a Star Wars film,” Osinska tells StarWars.com. “I’ve been at Aardman for 16 years, working on commercials and shorts, including some live-action work. But stop motion had always been my ‘thing’. I love it.”

After Aardman was selected as one of the nine studios participating in Visions Volume 2, the process of coming up with the film’s story drew from both Star Wars history, as well as personal experience. “When I first got the job, I tried to think what excited me about Star Wars and, honestly,” Osinska remembers, “the first thing that came to my head was the famous ‘I am your father’ line.

“Now that I am a mother, I have begun to analyze myself a lot as a parent. I’ve been thinking about my mother, and I understand her much better,” Osinska continues. “I knew I wanted to make a film about the mother and daughter relationship, as well as motherhood in general…but with a much more positive spin on that original line.”

The characters of Anni and Kalina are classic Aardman characters, who are habitually portrayed as underdogs in the studio’s previous animated classics like Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run. Osinska also drew from the world around her. “I really wanted these characters to be inspired by real people. The mother is inspired by both my mother and me, because I think that my son is going to eventually be embarrassed his mom, with her Polish accent and quirks. Z-1 [their droid] was based off my old sausage dog, and a lot of the background characters were inspired by moms from my son's school.”

Her experience immigrating from Poland also came into play. “I wanted the characters to be aliens, Twi’leks, because that’s how I felt when I moved to the UK from Poland,” Osinska says. “There was a whole backstory: they have come from a faraway fishing planet and have moved to Chandrila so that Anni can study to become a pilot.”

Throughout the entire short, eagle-eyed viewers can spot numerous Easter eggs across the detail-packed short. For instance, in Anni’s bunk, the Aardman team put up posters of her idols, including Wedge Antilles and Hera Syndulla, as well as a poster of the band Star Waver, who appeared in the first season of Visions in the short “Tatooine Rhapsody.”

There’s another hidden detail that Osinska is particularly proud of. “I don’t know if anyone caught this, but in the marketplace there’s a store with ‘objects touched by Luke Skywalker,’ including his hand, as well as the original lightsaber that he lost. We read that fans were wondering how Maz Kanata got the saber before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so we wanted to ‘solve’ the mystery,” she says. “If you look closely, you can see her hand stealing it.”

Another connection to the overall saga comes in a surprising way: the character of Wedge Antilles acts as the spokesperson for the school’s family fun day, with the original actor, Denis Lawson, reprising his role. “We were looking for a character that would be some kind of idol for Anni, someone who she would look up to as a pilot,” Osinska says. “I couldn't believe we could get Denis, and so there was a lot of excitement in the studio when we found out he had agreed.”

With all these elements in place, “I Am Your Mother” is a classic Star Wars story about family, dreams, and inner strength. “I hope the film is relatable on a few levels,” says Osinska. “It is ultimately about a character who must recognize that something that she thought was a weakness, the place where she comes from, is actually her strength. It’s about believing in yourself and your family.”

With all that said, “I Am Your Mother” ultimately has one singular purpose.

“It's a Star Wars love letter to all the mothers.”

The voice actors behind Kai Brightstar and Lys Solay talk about their on-screen best friend Nubs, the series’ powerful lessons, and more.

Of all the fantastical escapades their on-screen counterparts get into in the new Disney+ series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, it’s hard for Jamaal Avery Jr. and Juliet Donenfeld to pick just one to experience in real life.

“Is all an answer?” Avery — the voice of Kai Brightstar — asks with a laugh, before they agree that riding speeders and fighting pirates with lightsabers would be their top picks. “That and flying one of the ships, too,” he adds.

The actors behind on-screen best friends and Jedi younglings Kai Brightstar and Donenfeld’s Lys Solay often erupt into giggles as they answer questions about creating the show, geared toward the youngest Star Wars fans and their families. The first episodes arrived on May the 4th, Star Wars Day, but it was months before they could reveal they’d been cast in the series.

Both auditioned during the COVID-19 lockdown, finding a similar creative solution to the need for an at-home recording studio: their fathers’ respective closets. “Me and my mom ran into his closet and set everything up. We like piled up the clothes, made a little fort with it, and we just did the whole audition in his closet,” Avery says, laughing.

“We also made a recording studio in my dad's closet!” Donenfeld exclaims.

Among the youngest in the cast, Donenfeld and Avery hope younger children will see something aspirational in their Jedi counterparts on-screen. “Kai Brightstar is a kind, enthusiastic, amazingly cool, awesome, good-looking character,” Avery says, chuckling at the end; the character looks an awful lot like Avery himself. “He’s outgoing. He goes into every situation with the best foot forward and the best mindset.”

As for Lys Solay, friend to animals and a Pantoran student at the Jedi Temple on Tenoo, Donenfeld appreciated that designers gave her character “two space buns” reminiscent of Princess Leia’s most notable hairstyle, “which I think corresponds pretty well. She's super smart. She's quick-witted. She's super acrobatic, and she always lands on two feet. She's super observant. And I love how she puts people and creatures before herself and is always willing to help out.” All characteristics that sound an awful lot like General Organa, too.

As the stories take place in the era of the High Republic, previously explored primarily in books and comics and set hundreds of years before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace when the Jedi were at their height, there won’t be a chance for Lys and Leia to team up. But there are other recognizable characters and species, including Master Yoda.

The wise Jedi Master helps to teach the younglings and even gifts Kai his own training lightsaber in the first episode after Brightstar’s saber is lost. When Avery first got the script, “I had to read it over like five times,” he says. “I'm like, what just happened? Wait, Yoda's in the show too?”

The Force and friendship

Donenfeld and Avery didn’t know exactly what their characters would look like when they first signed on for the show. Now, they sometimes catch one of their characters making a face they’ve previously only seen in a mirror. It’s a testament to how much both bring their own personalities into the roles, and perhaps how animators have taken inspiration from their mannerisms in the recording booth.

In one of the shorts, “when the tooka kitten runs past Kai, that's my literal reaction. If a cat ran past me, I'd be like just as terrified as Kai. Especially how fast it was! I was just like, ‘Whoa, what just happened? Where'd that come from? Where'd that go? And what was that?’”

Donenfeld is also a fan of the tooka kittens, her top pick if she were able to transport a Star Wars creature home as a pet. “I like how the tooka kitten is so crazy [because] I'm really crazy and it could run around at home with me and play with me. But then also at the end of the day when Lys finds it, it just wants a cuddle and I think that's really sweet.” It's also entirely relatable, Donenfeld adds. “There's a lot of young people that are creature lovers and I think that's really great to show that in the show.”

At the heart of the show are valuable lessons for kids of all ages, teachable moments, and a lot of hope.

Avery hopes the youngest viewers will see Kai and his friends teaming up and recognize that they have their own friends and family to help them when trouble arises. “You don't always have to do something alone,” Avery says. “And even if it's something you could do alone, it's always better to have help just in case.” Kai is not without his struggles. “He wants to do everything by himself. He doesn't always want help and sometimes Lys has to remind him, ‘Hey, we can help you.’”

“I think it's really important for them to start understanding teamwork and friendship because that's what makes us a great team,” Donenfeld adds. “And Kai, Lys, and Nubs, and Nash — we all have our own differences, but together that's what makes us a great team. It's okay to ask for help; that's what your friends are for.”

#NubsNation

Of course, one of the series’ breakout stars has been the third Jedi youngling in the core trio: Nubs the Pooba, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. The affinity is as strong among the actors as it is among fans on social media who have dubbed their love for the blue-furred Jedi #NubsNation.

“Oh please. That's my best friend,” Avery says when asked to answer a Nubs-centric question. Avery's first introduction to Nubs was through the scripts, which made for hilarious rehearsals with Avery’s mom doing her best to sound-out the Poobian. “It's the funniest thing ever,” Avery recalls. “I'd be reading the script with my mom. She's like, ‘Nubba wubba?’” He erupts into laughter at the thought. “She's over here trying to figure out what this says. She's like, ‘Is this a real word?’ I'm like, ‘No. For the 15,000th time! This is Nubs’ words.’”

Nubs is easily Donenfeld’s favorite character on the show. "I just smiled and laughed every single time I heard his voice,” she says, in awe of Baker’s skill. “It's crazy how he can make it sound like that.”

But Avery, surprisingly, says it isn’t Kai or his on-screen best friend that’s his favorite of the characters. “I really like Master Zia,” Avery says. “She’s just like a really cool character.” And there’s even an episode where Kai and his teacher have their own adventure back on Zia’s home planet, opening Kai’s eyes to a lot he didn’t know about the Jedi Master. “I thought that was a really funny episode.”

The first seven episodes of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures are streaming now on Disney+, with more from the premiere season on the way later this year.

“I hope that everyone loves it as much as I love recording it,” Donenfeld says, Lys’ trademark exuberance apparent in Donenfeld’s effusive manner of speaking.

“I also want them to know that Kai's the best character in the show,” Avery adds, laughing again. 

Catch up on this and other news on the latest episode of This Week! In Star Wars below!

To mark the 40th anniversary of the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, test your knowledge of this fan-favorite movie.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

It was 40 years ago that the world first discovered Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The climactic end to George Lucas’ original trilogy of films focused on Luke Skywalker’s journey from Tatooine farm boy to Jedi Knight back on Tatooine to save his friend Han Solo. The film saw the might of the Empire crushed by the Rebel Alliance, made shocking new revelations about the Skywalker family tree, and ended (at least back in 1983) with a cheerful Ewok song of victory.

How well do you know Return of the Jedi? Test your knowledge in the latest StarWars.com quiz and challenge your friends. We promise it’s not a trap.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, test your knowledge of this fan-favorite movie.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi arrived in theaters on May 25, 1983, bringing an end to the original trilogy in memorable fashion. Marking its 40th anniversary, StarWars.com presents “Jedi at 40,” a series of articles celebrating the film that brought us Jabba’s palace, Ewoks, Luke Skywalker’s final confrontation with the Emperor and Darth Vader, and so much more.

It was 40 years ago that the world first discovered Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The climactic end to George Lucas’ original trilogy of films focused on Luke Skywalker’s journey from Tatooine farm boy to Jedi Knight back on Tatooine to save his friend Han Solo. The film saw the might of the Empire crushed by the Rebel Alliance, made shocking new revelations about the Skywalker family tree, and ended (at least back in 1983) with a cheerful Ewok song of victory.

How well do you know Return of the Jedi? Test your knowledge in the latest StarWars.com quiz and challenge your friends. We promise it’s not a trap.