A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (you know, 1970s California),George Lucas, who would eventually become the creator of the most successful science fiction franchise in the known universe, was struggling to come up with the definitive version of his most famous film. Later renamedStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hopeas the franchise expanded,Star Warsstarted its life as the tale ofAnnikin Starkillerandhis frog-like friend Han Solo.This version of the story, though, was thankfully scrapped in favor of the story of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his many, many friends, among which is the very human Solo (Harrison Ford). ButLucas’ now beloved sci-fi adventure would still see many drafts before it eventually made it to screens in 1977.
And what really catches the eye in these first drafts of theStar Warsscript are not the name or race swaps. No, the most bizarre thing about them is that some characters that would later become staples of the franchise were barely in the plot to begin with. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), for instance, was only introduced in the third draft of the story, while Darth Vader (David ProwseandJames Earl Jones) became the man in black that we know and love (or hate?) today in the second. But even as the story was nearly done,there was at least one key character that was barely featured in the screenplay.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
A farm boy from a desert planet becomes an unlikely hero in the fight against the oppressive Galactic Empire. Guided by a former Jedi Knight and alongside a rebellious princess, a smuggler, and his co-pilot, he embarks on a mission to destroy the Death Star, a massive space station capable of annihilating entire planets. As he learns about the mystical Force, he discovers his destiny and the true strength within himself.
According toSlash Film,beloved gentle giant Chewbacca, played originally by Peter Mayhew, barely made it into the script that was finally getting shot. The character was only featured in “three or four pages of the original Star Wars screenplay,” as Mayhew himself toldStarlog Magazinein 1997. And, even then, he was extremely different from the friendly, fuzzy creature that found his way from the Mos Eisley Cantina straight into our hearts.Remembering Mayhew on the occasion of his death, in 2019, Lucas confessed that he had a much more beastly, ferocious idea of Chewbacca. However, no matter how hard he tried, Mayhew simply couldn’t step into those shoes, and ended up molding the character to his own personality. “No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t ferocious. He would be your best friend until he got angry, then stand back. He was a gentle giant. He was like my dogs. They’re great, they’re fluffy, they’re wonderful — until you get near their food,” said Lucas.
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The comparison with Lucas’ dogs makes even more sense when we take into consideration howChewbacca’s final look was inspired precisely by one of the filmmaker’s own pets. “Chewbacca was inspired by Indiana, my Alaskan husky,” Lucas toldAlan Arnold, the author ofOnce Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.“My wife drives a little station wagon, and the dog sits on the front seat next to her and is bigger than she is. Indiana is a huge black bear of a dog and as Marcia drives along she has this big fuzzy dog looking like he’s copilot. It was that image that fashioned the Wookiee, as well as the fact that Indiana was with me when I was writing the whole thing.”
The canine inspiration did not stop studio execs from being concerned over Chewie’s furry nakedness. Mark Hamill once took to the website formerly known as Twitter toshare a storyabout how a couple of higher-ups wanted Chewbacca to wear a pair of lederhosen. “That they would focus on this amidst all the grotesque elements in the script made us laugh (& a bit worried),” he stated.
Chewbacca Became a Staple of the Star Wars Franchise
Thankfully, the lederhosen remained off, and George Lucas was happy with what Mayhew brought to the character instead of being frustrated by the changes. In his current form,Chewie, as he is most fondly referred to, is a staple of the Star Wars franchise, present in all trilogies and at least one spin-off film, not to mention cartoons. He’s such a big part of what makes Star Wars so beloved that the first ever sequel to the original 1977 film (yes, the much maligned1978 Holiday Special) is actually centered around him and his family celebrating the fictional Life Day. Chewbacca is also the only non-droid character from the original trilogy to make it alive to the end ofStar Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker.
Through context clues, as well as through Mayhew’s and laterJoonasSuotamo’s (Solo: A Star Wars Story) performance, we come to seeChewie as a kind, warm Wookiee, someone with a heart of gold that is much more inclined to join forces with the Rebellion than therogue-ish Han Solo. He’s also a loyal friend, perhaps even to a fault. There are moments in which we can seeChewbacca noddingand grunting in disagreement, but following Han’s lead all the same. This is usually attributed to a life debt sworn by the Wookiee after his human companion freed him from captivity inSolo.
That we know so much about Chewie without ever actually hearing him speak— well, okay, wehearhim, we just don’t understand him —is another merit of how Mayhew helped conceive the character. Again, Lucas spoke about it toThe Hollywood Reporterin 2019:
“We call it mime casting because it’s really about people controlling their bodies. You’re not really looking for the voice — you put that in later; it’s a little like dubbing a French movie. You’re looking for the stature and the way they move. Darth Vader had to strut. 3PO had to be malleable, because the suit constricted his movements. And Chewie needed to lumber, which Peter did perfectly. He wasn’t quite tall enough — he was 7-foot-3, and I wanted 7-foot-5 — but we put high-heeled shoes on him. He even learned to do the Wookiee roar, but we took it out and used real animal sounds to give it authenticity.”
Chewbacca Is an Underappreciated Star Wars Character
Indeed, they really wanted to go with the animal angle for Chewbacca, basing his looks on dogs and using real roars as his voice. However, this turned out to be a problem when it came to some of his characterization.Chewbacca is frequently treated as nothing but a beast by other members of theStar Warscast, and even some of the good guys —cough, cough,Finn (John Boyega) — are less than nice to him. For most of the overarching story, he’s treated like a family pet that gets passedon to Rey (Daisy Ridley) after Han dies. There are only three films in the whole franchise that tackle his relationship with other Wookiees:Solo, the Holiday Special, andStar Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith, in which he appears in a cameo alongside his father fighting for the Republic.
The most criminal evidence of Chewie’s mistreatment is, without a doubt, the medal scene inA New Hope. In it, Han and Luke are decorated by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) for their service to the Rebellion. Chewie, however, just stands there, his contribution to the destruction of the Death Star completely unacknowledged. The final line of the film is actually one of his growls, that simply has to be a disgruntled one.
Now,George Lucas has also spoken about Chewbacca’s missing medal. According to him, Wookies simply don’t care much about these kinds of decorations, and the scene has also been retconned in other pieces of Star Wars media. Still,Chewie never quite got the recognition he deserves for being practically one of the faces of the franchise, at least not in-universe. In our galaxy, though, he’s more than loved, and every Star Wars fan would definitely give him a medal if they could. Quite an achievement for someone that only had four pages of screenplay to work with.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hopeis available to watch on Disney+ in the U.S.
