Chewbacca
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| Star Wars character | |
| Chewbacca | |
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| Portrayed by | Peter Mayhew |
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| Position | First Mate of the Millennium Falcon |
| Homeworld | Kashyyyk |
| Species | Wookiee |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | Galactic Republic, Rebel Alliance, New Republic |
Chewbacca (or Chewie) is a character in the Star Wars universe. He appears in the films Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He was portrayed in all four films by British actor Peter Mayhew, wearing a suit; the voice was composed of recordings of different animals, mixed together.
A towering Wookiee, he is best known as the co-pilot of Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars trilogy.
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[edit] Appearances
[edit] Films
In Episode III, 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, 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 and VI, they become important figures in the Alliance, and eventually help the Rebels defeat the Galactic Empire.
[edit] 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. His 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. 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 the low-budget nature of the Holiday Special (due to inexperienced writers (and Lucas' remaining creatively 'hands-off'), the Special ended up being nothing more than a tacky variety show/sitcom), it was stricken from Star Wars canon by George Lucas, and only ever aired once.
Although Chewbacca notably was not awarded a medal with the other heroes at the end of A New Hope, in 1981 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.
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.
[edit] Death
The 1999 novel Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore (the first in the New Jedi Order series) marks Chewbacca's final appearance in the Star Wars universe. Chewbacca sacrifices his own life to save that of Han Solo'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.
In the original storyboard for Return of the Jedi, Chewbacca was killed by Boba Fett.[citation needed] Chewbacca was to block a shot aimed for Luke onboard a desert skiff. This scene was scratched shortly after it was written.
According to Salvatore, he was actually instructed to kill Chewbacca. He also received several death-threats for doing so.
[edit] Production
George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars films, initially based the character of Chewbacca on his pet Alaskan Malamute, Indiana (Lucas would later give the name of his dog to the character Indiana Jones).[1] In the films he was portrayed by actor Peter Mayhew, who was chosen due to his height (7'3" at the time of filming). During the filming of the original three films, and the holiday special, Mayhew wore numerous identical suits, all 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, although this additional comfort was mostly unnecessary because Mayhew's filming only lasted for a day. 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. 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.[2]
[edit] Appearances outside Star Wars
Chewbacca is one of the few fictional characters to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards. Furthermore, since fans complained that he should have received a medal with Luke and Han at the end of A New Hope, the award was presented as a medal and bestowed by Carrie Fisher. Peter Mayhew has voiced this concern as well, but is also quick to note that Chewbacca does get the last line in the film as compensation.
Chewbacca made an appearance in Sony's Media Conference at E3 2007 to show off the new Star Wars PSP and to promote Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.
Along with Luke Skywalker, C3PO and R2D2, Chewbacca appeared as a guest star on "The Muppet Show" in 1980.
He recently appeared in the comedy sketch, Segway IV, where he was sad due to his inability to be funny unless he was violent. The sketch ended with him carrying his partner offstage kicking and screaming, presumably to kill Malaguti.[3]
On April 16, 2006 he was invited to and attended Iowa States 150th year Celebration in Ames, IA.[citation needed]
Chewbacca's name is referenced as "The Chewbacca Defense" in South Park where Johnny Cochran uses Chewbacca to try and prove that Chef is guilty through the use of nonsensical references mostly themed around Chewbacca and his relations to Endor and Kashyyyk. "The Chewbacca Defense" has also been adopted by gamers as the name of a defense method used in the first Halo game in the multiplayer map Canyon, wherein players drive warthog jeep vehicles into the entry/exits of their fort and turn them so they can't be removed and anyone that enters through the open roof to capture the flag cannot escape.
Chewbacca also appeared in The Simpsons episode "The Springfield Files" in a F.B.I. lineup.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Characters of Star Wars Star Wars Original Trilogy DVD Box Set: Bonus Materials
- ^ Star Wars Databank | Chewbacca: Behind the Scenes
- ^ http://www.stevens.edu/offcenter
[edit] External links
- Chewbacca in the Star Wars Databank
- Chewbacca on Wookieepedia, a Wikia wiki
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