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Chewbacca
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Chewbacca, nicknamed Charlie, is a fictional character of a sentient alien species in the Star Wars universe. In terms of the series' narrative chronology, he appears in the films Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
character's creation as a "gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot" was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own Alaskan malamute sitting up on the passenger seat of his car. The dog, Indiana, also inspired the name of the lead character in another series of Lucas films, Indiana Jones.
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Chewbacca, nicknamed Charlie, is a fictional character of a sentient alien species in the Star Wars universe. In terms of the series' narrative chronology, he appears in the films Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Creation
The character's creation as a "gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot" was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own Alaskan malamute sitting up on the passenger seat of his car. The dog, Indiana, also inspired the name of the lead character in another series of Lucas films, Indiana Jones. Sobaka means dog in Russian.
A towering Wookiee, Chewbacca stands 7 feet 4 3/4 inches (2.28 m) tall and is 200 years old. He is best known as the first mate of Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, in the original Star Wars trilogy. According to Entertainment Weekly he is one of the "greatest sidekicks" in film history.
In all four films, he was portrayed by actor Peter Mayhew, who was chosen due to his height—7'3" at the time of filming. Mayhew wore numerous identical bulky fursuits for the role. During the filming of the original three films and the holiday special, the suits were made of a combination of yak hair and mohair. For production of Revenge of the Sith, the suit was made of more modern and comfortable materials, though this additional comfort was mostly unnecessary because Mayhew's filming only lasted for a day. Although the only part of Mayhew that could be seen in the suit were his blue eyes, fans easily recognized him even in costume by his distinctive gestures, and his coworkers said they were able to tell when a stand-in was taking his place.
Chewbacca's voice was created by the original films' sound designer, Ben Burtt, from a mix of recordings of walruses, camels, bears and badgers in Burtt's personal library. Lions were also included. 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 from Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose, California named Tarik.
Appearances
Films
In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Chewbacca, along with Tarfful, fights in the Clone Wars when their planet, Kashyyyk, is invaded. They also help to get Jedi Master Yoda to safety, Chewbacca using his traditional weapon, the Bowcaster.
In Episode IV: A New Hope, Chewbacca and Han Solo accept a charter to take Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 to the planet Alderaan. When they find that the planet has been destroyed by the Death Star, however, the two mercenaries are drawn into the Rebel Alliance.
In Episodes V: The Empire Strikes Back and VI: Return of the Jedi, Chewbacca and Han Solo become important figures in the Alliance, and eventually help the Rebels defeat the Galactic Empire.
The Expanded Universe
The 1978 television program The Star Wars Holiday Special introduces Chewbacca's family: Mallatobuck, Attichitcuk, and Lumpawarrump. They live together on Kashyyyk. The Star Wars Holiday Special was filmed with a low budget, and consisted of a frame story in which Han and Chewbacca must prevent Darth Vader from spoiling Life Day, and get home to be with Chewbacca's family. Due to its low-budget nature, inexperienced writers, and Lucas' remaining creatively 'hands-off', the Holiday Special ended up being nothing more than a tacky variety show/sitcom. It was therefore stricken from Star Wars canon by George Lucas, and aired only once.
Chewbacca's family also appears in some Star Wars books, most notably The Wookiee Storybook, The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell, and The Hutt Gambit and Rebel Dawn by A. C. Crispin. The latter also introduces other family members, including a sister named Kallabow and cousins named Dryanta and Jowdrrl.
Although Chewbacca notably was not awarded a medal with the other heroes at the end of the first Star Wars film ever made, 1977
s A New Hope, in 1983 Marvel Comics published Marvel Illustrated Books Star Wars 1, which includes an alternate version of the same scene in which he does receive one, and which is currently officially part of the canon of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Being scanted of his medal in A New Hope led to an amusing award for the character in real life. Chewbacca is one of the few fictional characters to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards. Because fans complained that he should have received a medal with Luke and Han at the end of A New Hope, MTV presented the award as a medal bestowed by Carrie Fisher. Peter Mayhew had voiced concern about Chewbacca being skipped in the original medal scene as well, but noted that Chewbacca does get the last line in the film as compensation.
The novel The Hutt Gambit explains that Chewbacca and Solo first meet when Solo, a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, finds him unconscious aboard a slave ship. Solo's commanding officer orders him to skin Chewbacca, but Solo refuses and rescues the helpless prisoner. Upon regaining consciousness, Chewbacca swears a "life-debt" to Solo, and the two become business partners and best friends.
In Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Chewbacca appears briefly at the Mos Eisley spaceport as an NPC, assisting Jaden Korr in disabling the tractor beams holding both the Millennium Falcon and the Raven's Claw captive.
In the book Heirs of the Force, part of the Young Jedi Knights series, Chewbacca has a nephew named Lowbacca who goes to the Jedi Academy.
Death
The 1999 novel Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore (the first in the New Jedi Order series) marks Chewbacca's final chronological appearance in the Star Wars universe. Chewbacca sacrifices his own life to save that of Han's son Anakin from a collision between the planet Sernpidal and one of its moons. Afterward, the other core Star Wars characters are emotionally crushed by the loss, and Solo sinks into alcoholism and depression.
Lumpawaroo and Lowbacca offer to assume Chewbacca's life debt to Solo. Despite Han's initial protests throughout the series, Han finally relents at the end of the New Jedi Order series.
Lucasfilm followed Vector Prime with a four-issue comic book titled Star Wars: Chewbacca, in which C-3PO and R2-D2 travel the galaxy to collect the stories of beings who knew or met the Wookiee, and the full scope of his life and adventures is finally revealed. News of Chewbacca's death was misconstrued as the death of Peter Mayhew, and his close friends called to ask if he was all right.
See also
External links
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