THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: INTRODUCING WATTO!

Junk dealer extraordinaire, Watto!

"No money. No parts. No deal."

The memorable words of the ultimate shady wheeler dealer businessman and flying nuisance egotist Watto, the only alien in town who'll have the T-49 hyperdrive generator that Qui-Gon and his party vitally need for their damaged ship. And accepting Republic credits as payment? Don't bet on it when dealing with Watto, one of the best CGI animated characters of the Prequel saga, given distinctive vocal life by British actor Andrew Secombe, a talent called to work on the film by its then casting director, Robin Gurland, after being made aware of his producing and voicing an animation series for the UK's Channel 4 TV. Secombe would spend three weeks on and off at Leavesden filming the role in mid-1997, with three weeks on location in Tunisia for outdoor scenes that either never made the final cut or were planned for but abandoned.

Art by Doug Chiang.

Two character development art pieces from Iain McCaig circa 1996.

By Iain McCaig.

Anatomic design reference by Terryl Whitlatch.

Close-ups of the ILM reference model.

When asking for more character information, EPISODE I's Animation Director Rob Coleman was originally told by George Lucas that Watto was a native of Tatooine, though this was later changed in the film, and by the time of The Clone Wars animated series, instead becoming a part of the Toydarian race. For EPISODE I the character was to have worn a hat but this extra piece of animation was abandoned until Watto's cameo return appearance with EPISODE II.

"Watto proved a different challenge because of his design-he's got that huge belly! I remember some people at ILM saying because of his wing ratio he'd never fly. I happen to be watching one of the science and nature channels and there as a documentary on bumble bees and a scientist said, "Actually, the wing to body ratio is quite confusing, because technically they shouldn't be able to fly." I went back in and said, "The bumble bee has wings that are too small, so Watto's got wings that are too small. And by the way, his belly's filled with helium!"

Rob Coleman- Star Wars Insider magazine - 2010

The clay reference model of Watto comes to life at ILM via Mark Siegel.

"The general brief was for an Italian sounding second-hand car salesman. Apart from that I was left almost completely alone, except for the odd direction of "faster" or "slower". George (Lucas) is a man of few words."

Andrew Secombe  - Star Wars Aficionado Magazine interview (conducted with Ian Trussler) - 2006

Wattoo calls in his young 'helper' to front of shop duties.

On set scene positioning for later ILM CGI reference - Leavesden, 1997.

Andrew Secombe on set providing the voice and body reference to Watto, and wearing the character's hat discarded until EPISODE II.