CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: WOOKIEE WORLD!

I found this scan online a while back of a pre-production drawing of the Wookiee civilisation on Kashyyyk (love the mountain climbing Wookiee in the bottom right corner!), but I'm not sure who did the art or whether it was done in post production in 1978 for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (when there were early plans to have the Wookiees involved), THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, or, much later, in 2002-4, for EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.

If anyone out there can help with any info, please get in touch.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: THE BOWCASTER

Continuing our celebration of our favourite Wookiee's return to the STAR WARS saga with THE CLONE WARS, here's a great behind the scenes reference image of the Bowcaster, the distinctive crossbow/laser weapon hybrid which Chewbacca has but ultimately doesn't use in the first STAR WARS, though he soon proves an excellent shot with it in a very cool moment from RETURN OF THE JEDI, skillfully taking down an accelerating Speeder Bike pilot within the forests of Endor.

The Bowcaster was an adapted weapon (a Horton crossbow) by the original STAR WARS Set Decorator Roger Christian, rented in 1976 - the one and only weapon held by the famous weapons rental company Baptys, was also used in the subsequent sequels, and even for the infamous Holiday Special.

Up Close with ORIGINAL Star Wars Props! | Chewbaccas's Bowcaster, Luke's Medal of Yavin, & more! - YouTube

Brandon Alinger of Prop Store with the prop weapon which made a fortune in auction in 2025.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: ONE MAN AND HIS WOOKIEE!

In his workshop at ELSTREE, legendary British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn brings the Classic Trilogy Chewbacca mask to reality.

With thanks to Chris Baker for the image.

Fans of Stuart's work on the three STAR WARS films, and the rest of his spectacular career, including such notables as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and the SUPERMAN films, fans were able to check out AFICIONADO's exclusive interview with him and his wife Kay in an exhaustive MAKING OF "RETURN OF THE JEDI" special issue from 2008, available only in PDF format.

CLASSIC CHEWBACCA: THE RUSS MANNING ADVENTURES

In the UK, STAR WARS fans get to see the new two-part Chewbacca/Ahsoka CLONE WARS episodes on SKY MOVIES HD a few weeks prior to their US cousins, so, in celebration, this week I'll be putting up a few more blogs linked to our favourite Wookiee species, and their number one son.

First up, here's a few scans of a classic 1979 Russ Manning Los Angeles Times Syndicate Wookiee related strip: THE DEPTHS OF KAZHYYK. I loved Manning's colourful tales set just after the first STAR WARS (I wish LUCAS BOOKS could have collected all of them in their original state and put them up as a glossy set of hardcover books rather than the DARK HORSE comic compilations of the nineties)- look out for the use of Ralph McQuarrie's Wookiee tree dwellings from THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, and, long before the CLONE WARS, and like early MARVEL SW comics, see the Stormtroopers without helmets: as individual soldiers rather than Clones. Let's hope that some of the Kashyyyk environments and creatures seen here make it into the animated series...

Check out our archive on another classic 1979/80 STAR WARS Russ Manning adventure, THE FROZEN WORLD OF OTA, guest starring Boba Fett, here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B80ITjM31EVRamJsWW1rb3dIb3M/view