THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE PRINCE OF PROTOCOL RETURNS!

Thank the Maker! Threepio is back!

Having introduced his new party of friends to a surprised Shmi, Anakin Skywalker is swiftly eager to show Padme a very special protocol droid he has put together to help his mother with chores around their small but modest dwelling. Once activated, the quirky C-3PO soon acclimatises to the new people and situation around him.

Given happy early warning by George Lucas that Threepio would be returning for a small but fun cameo appearance in EPISODE I, in a physical way that would be unexpected to fans, saga icon Anthony Daniels was delighted to be back in the all-new Prequel universe in 1997, adding that unique voice and out of his depth droid personality back to the in-development Threepio. Unhappily, however, Daniels was frustrated not to be asked by Lucas and producer Rick McCallum to operate the newly created droid puppet that was being handled by ILM technicians, and whose puppeteer/s (using old style Japanese theatre tricks) would be rotoscoped out of shot during the film's post production phase.

"He's perfect." Padme is impressed with Anakin's work on Threepio.

"My parts are showing?"

Anthony Daniels makes a special appearance at Leavesden Studios to see/comment on the old/new Threepio, and provide the off camera dialogue!

Closer looks at the Threepio puppet used in EPISODE I.

Michael Lynch would create and operate the skeletal frame Threepio puppet manipulations.

A side pose for the classic character.