Saturday, November 23, 2013

CHEWBACA

I  HAD A CHANCE TO DO A SIGNING WITH PETER MAYHEW IN BOSTON A FEW YEARS BACK....LONG LIVE CHEWIE...

2 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

Well Long Live Chewy - when the movies first came out - we always tried to sound like him, but I bet it was not really his voice!

sandie

David said...

Chewbacca's creation as a "gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot" was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own dog sitting up on the passenger seat of his car.[1] The dog, named Indiana, also inspired the name of the lead character in another one of Lucas' film franchises - Indiana Jones.[2] It is said that Chewbacca's name is derived from собака (sobaka), the Russian word for dog.[3]

Chewbacca, a Wookiee, became Han Solo's first mate and companion after Solo, then an Imperial Captain, refused an order to kill him while Chewbacca was a slave of the Empire. Solo was dismissed from the Imperial Navy for disobedience and became a smuggler. Chewbacca owed a life debt to Han and would protect Han Solo for the rest of his life.[4] Chewbacca was named one of the "greatest sidekicks" in film history by Entertainment Weekly.[5]

In all four screen appearances, Chewbacca was played by Peter Mayhew, who was chosen for his height — 7'3" (2.2 m).[2] Five identical costumes were made for Mayhew to wear. In the three original films and a holiday special, the suits were made of yak hair and mohair. For Revenge of the Sith, the suit was made of more comfortable materials, though Mayhew's filming only lasted for a day. Only Mayhew's blue eyes could be seen in his costume, but fans easily recognize him by his distinctive gestures; his co-workers said they were able to tell when a stand-in was taking his place.[6]

Chewbacca's voice was created by the original films' sound designer, Ben Burtt, from a mix of recordings of walruses, lions, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers in Burtt's personal library.[6] The individual recordings were mixed at different ratios for Chewbacca's different utterances. One of the most prominent elements in the voice was a black bear named Tarik, from Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose, California.[7]