THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: A HINT OF DARKNESS...

No child is born evil. Nonetheless, a dark aspect of Anakin Skywalker's personality come to the fore early, as seen in this ultimately deleted scene from EPISODE I where the young Pod Racing champion fights off hurtful accusations of cheating from an equally young Rodian bully...named Greedo!

The scene, cut from the film because Lucas didn't yet want to show any major negative aspects to young Anakin, thankfully made it to later DVD release.

"In EPISODE I we meet Anakin, and he's this perfect little boy, but in the music (by John Williams) there's some minor chords which tell us, 'Uh-oh, something's not right. There's some damage here.'"

Rick McCallum - Star Wars Insider magazine - 2002

Anakin confers with Wald (Warwick Davis).

THE 'HOLIDAY SPECIAL' AT 40: MORE SCUM, MORE VILLAINY!

Casting top television personalities of their time for The Star Wars Holiday Special, one notable example was popular actress and comedy star Bea Arthur, best known for her roles in Alice and The Golden Girls. Here she played Ackmena, the kindly but strict owner of one of the top Cantina's on Tatooine, often prone to singing with her clientele of very familiar aliens created or adapted/modified from stock by Rick Baker and his team for Star Wars just a year earlier. (Alongside several still intact creations from Stuart Freeborn's UK side of the shoot, too.)

Here's the great rogues gallery listing that originally appeared in Star Wars Insider magazine a few years back. This great collective image also memorably graced the cover to the classic Starlog magazine that covered the 'event' TV special back in the day.

http://starlogged.blogspot.com/2012/09/1978-star-wars-holiday-special-in.html

'STAR WARS' AT 40: "SORRY FOR THE MESS!"

The original "Han shoots first" scene with Greedo, as presented in the original 1976 Marvel Comics adaptation: Issue Two, 1976. Art by Howard Chaykin. Adaptor Roy Thomas uses most of the dialogue as originally scripted and filmed beween Harrison Ford and Paul Blake at Elstree.

'STAR WARS' AT 40: A NEW LEASE OF DEATH!

Greedo's alive. Then dead. Then alive again! The latter condition occurring temporarily in late January 1977 reshoots via Canadian actress Maria de Aragon, stepping into the mildly revised costume previously worn in the UK by Paul Blake during April 1976, which this time holds internal workings for the alien's large hands, whilst wearing the hot and restrictive redeveloped Greedo mask courtesy of Rick Baker.

Note background left the three-legged Artoo awaiting some additional close-in shots for late editing inclusion.

Maria de Aragorn.

Maria De Aragon, Greedo in A New Hope, Has Died Aged 81 - Jedi News

BEHIND THE SCENES: HAN SHOOTS FIRST!

Without the mask, Paul Blake's Greedo confronts Harrison Ford's Han Solo during rehearsal.

Already a week over schedule at Elstree Studios, life is hectic for the cast and crew of STAR WARS, as the busy and smoke-fuelled Cantina interior set now sees the filming of the classic original confrontation between Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Paul Blake's out of his depth thug Greedo, whose character was originally just referred to as "the alien" in pre-production. Blake, who had previously filmed scenes in the green mask and costume for the Mos Eisley Docking Bay 94 scene, procured his role on the original STAR WARS in 1976 thanks to the help of his then friend Anthony Daniels. The Greedo mask was one of the very first developed for the movie by make-up legend Stuart Freeborn, a re-imagining of a popular creature he had conceived and built for use in a UK Bird's Eye Peas advert that Lucas had liked when first visiting his studios the year before.

Blake with the Greedo mask on for the similar publicity image.

Blake in costume as Greedo.

Cornering the Corellian in another rehearsal image.

The sequence was always conceived, scripted and filmed as Han shooting first, under the table. Important story dialogue from the later aborted Jabba the Hutt meeting sequence filmed a few short weeks prior would be incorporated during post production editing.

Original Cantina Scene - A New Hope [1080p HD] - YouTube
Han's Original Scenes : Han Shot First! - YouTube

The start of the confrontation, as scripted in March 1976.

Below are a couple of UK Script Supervisor Ann Skinner's behind the scenes continuity Polaroids during the filming, originally displayed at the UK's BFI during late 2014.

A zany reference shot of Paul Blake. Image: Ann Skinner/BFI.

Another variation image on the classic scene's rehearsal. Image: Ann Skinner/BFI.

With thanks to Ann Skinner and the BFI.

Watch the Cast of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Weigh in on Who Shot First - YouTube
Jimmy Fallon Convinces Harrison Ford To Do A Greedo Shot First - YouTube

CLASSIC IMAGE: SALUTING THE NINE BY '79!

Image: via the KENNER TOYS TWITTER page.

Their original line up of twelve characters may have been pretty darn late in arriving in toy stores (and I remember being disappointed at the time that there was no original Governor Tarkin figure!), but KENNER US and PALITOY UK's second line-up of nine STAR WARS action figures, featuring some of the more unusual and intriguing background aliens and droid characters from the first movie, certainly arrived with impeccable timing when the need for new STAR WARS products had, nay demanded, to be satiated during the long wait for the eventual STAR WARS II (as it was then being known). The Boba Fett figurine (a mysterious and weapons packed bounty hunter no less, to soon challenge our heroes!) and green Greedo (shot first by Han- now and forever more!) proved particularly welcome in my household afternoon playtimes!

Kenner Toys (@KennerToys) | Twitter
List of Kenner Star Wars action figures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This Nerd's Star Wars Toy Collection Is Worth $150,000 - All Day

CLASSIC IMAGE: A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW- WITH FISTS!

Amongst the other children of Mos Espa, young Anakin Skywalker shows hints of his Dark Side edge to come, tussling with a certain trouble-making Rodian who's unwilling to accept that the human boy won his Pod Race victory through skill rather than cheating. As well as Anakin, things ultimately didn't end up going too well for Greedo, either...

An intriguing deleted scene, featuring Oliver Walpole as Greedo, that eventually made the hugely successful EPISODE I DVD release, but has yet to reach HD Blu-ray.

BEHIND THE SCENES: GREEN IN THE FACE!

January 1977: In a small studio within downtown Hollywood, George Lucas, make-up genius Rick Baker and others assemble a team of additional Cantina aliens for some last minute filming that will be inserted into the still being shaped cut of STAR WARS. Here, Lucas assists Greedo, played by Canadian actress/then part-time limo driver Maria de Aragon, to and from the set.

 Greedo, Greedo, Official Site, Maria de Aragon, of Star Wars

CLASSIC ART: HAN SHOT FIRST!

A great piece of art from Adriano Ticiano confirming what the whole world knew before the STAR WARS SPECIAL EDITION tried to change things: Han shot first!

STAR WARS AT 35: CELEBRATING THE CANTINA CREATURES

A terrific rare pic from the official STARWARS.COM Facebook site showing Rick Baker and his 1977 creatures crew (including Phil Tippett and Jon Berg) with the various monster masks used in Cantina alien pick-up photography.

The final sequence may not have ultimately pleased George Lucas, but cinemagoers were delighted nonetheless with all the weird and wonderful alien creatures and humanoids that populaced the Cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport, of which Obi-Wan and Luke popped into to secure the services of a freighter pilot.

At the recent CELEBRATION VI convention in Florida a few months back, one of its true highlights was a look behind the scenes of the classic sequence and its visual creations, celebrating the work done by the brilliant UK and US teams back in 1976 and 1977. Ian Trussler attended the popular and entertaining event and sends us this excellent report on some of the great facts unearthed...

Celebration VI - Behind the Scenes of the Cantina

Hosted by Pablo Hidalgo

Co-host and Panelist - Tom Spina

Panelists - Nick Maley (UK Creature Shop) & Jon Berg (US ILM Effects Crew)

Inside the UK Cantina filming of 1976 at ELSTREE STUDIOS.

Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan fall foul of Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

On the floor, watched by Kabe (Rusty Goffe or Gilda Cohen?) and the Snitch (Peter Diamond).

Closer in on Kabe and the Snitch as they watch on...

The talk was basically split into four sections in the following order: Nick discussed the UK Cantina shoot, then Jon Berg talked about the US reshoots and inserts. Then a general discussion was held on the Holiday Special Cantina sequence and finally Tom Spina talked about his Superbowl VW commercial that recreated the Cantina.

There was a wealth of information and a vast number of stills shown, many of which were rare and never previously scene.

Some video footage was also shown, including a never before shown test reel. (Read on)

Below I have attempted to group the info from both original shoots.

The UK dummy version of Greedo is readied for his death.

John Stears (full beard) and colleague prepare the dummy Greedo with an explosive charge.

Han Solo prepares to blast Greedo (played by Paul Blake). In the days when Han shot first!

Greedo gets blasted!

Nick Maley -UK shoot

Pam Rose gets made-up as Leesub Sirln by Graham Freeborn...

..and gets to show a little leg in a pause between on-set filming!

A costume test shot of space pilot Bo Shek.

The rodent-like Reegesk (Sadie Edon) poses for a costume test pic.

Nick talked a lot about the fact that the real unsung hero of the UK shoot was Graham Freeborn. Graham was responsible for more than three-quarters of all the UK creatures, in terms of creation and design. Charlie Parker molded all the UK creatures. Nick created the prosthetic for Dannik Jerriko (Ugly Smoker) and this was his first ever on-screen prosthetic. Nick also made the original Walrusman fin hands. He did the foam latex skins for Yoda and the Ugnaughts on ESB. The horns on Greedo were modeled by Graham Freeborn and Nick glued all the warts on the head. There was a lot of recycling going on in both shoots. The hands for Kabe and Reegesk were reused Ape hands from Stanley Kubrick's 2001. The Spacepilot who introduces Chewbacca to Obi-Wan- Bo Shek-wears a costume that was reused from a film called First Men on the Moon, as was Bossk's yellow attire in ESB. (See pics)

Rare shot of the Praying Mantis creature.

Chris Tucker built the Praying Mantis creature, which was operated by Jack Purvis from underneath the creatures skirt, using strings and wires.

Snaggletooth was actually named by Kay Freeborn; she walked into the creature shop one day, saw the mask and said, "that's a real Snaggletooth", and the name stuck.

In the ESB workshop with Stuart Freeborn and team.

In the picture of Suart Freeborn and his team with Yoda from ESB, the names are as follows from left to right: Graham Freeborn, Kay Freeborn, Stuart Freeborn, Bob Keen, Man Waving is Brian the cleaner who was not involved in the film in anyway but somehow got in the pic, Barbara Ritchie, unknown as Nick couldn’t remember her name, Nick Maley & Dave Barclay.

Wendy Midener got sick on ESB and this led to Dave Barclay being more involved with assisting the performing of Yoda.

Nick confirmed that there was never any UK cantina and that it was realised later in post-production by Rick Baker, Phil Tippett, Jon Berg and company…

Jon Berg - US shoot

Two of the great Bith players having musical fun in the Cantina.

Jon confirmed that he played the following creatures: Hammerhead (along with assistance from Phil Tippett), Duros, Cantina Band Member and also the Ghostface creature (Elis Helrot).

The Hammerhead mask and hands in a reference image.

One of the Duros takes a blue milk break in filming alongside the Cyclops.

The Duros costume's spacesuit was reused from Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

The "devil man" mask (Labria) was originally made for an abandoned John Landis project called Schlock. The Cyclops mask (Myo) was also made for another film and then redone by Rick Baker for Star Wars.

A new Cantina alien has emerged- the cowled Braconner Bakiska (slightly obscured behind Brainiac).

Rob Bottin made the Brainiac mask and the costume was a reused one from a B/W Republic movie serial called Spy Smasher.

Jon recalled with great fondness the huge input Laine Liska had to the US Cantina shoot and was visibly moved when describing what a lovely man he was. Liska created and played Muftak, a Cantina band member and the Anvil headed man.

When filming the Cantina Band, so they could get their movements right in terms of the tempo and pace, they played the song Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman on the set. Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A

During the talk from Jon Berg they showed the very rare test footage of Walrus Man’s death scene. Pictures of the decapitation scene had previously surfaced via Lorne Peterson's detailed book Sculpting a Galaxy but this was film test footage showing not just the very gory and bloodied head but also that it was designed to twitch as if the nerve endings were still active. It was great to see but understandable why it was deemed too much for the actual movie.

Nick also spoke here about how they filmed reaction to the death of Dr Evazan and Walrusman by Kabe and Peter Diamond's snitch character. (See pics above in Maley section)

Many of our Cantina alien favourites pop up in the 1978 Holiday Special (note orange jacketed Pondo Baba near the Bith band without his mask on!).

A discussion followed as stills from the Holiday Special were shown, and Rick Baker’s work was talked about. Footage was also shown of a US Halloween TV show that used some of Baker’s masks that were in SW and also stills were shown of the Richard Pryor sketch that used the Cantina Creatures. Permission was refused to actually show the video footage itself for some reason.

Finally, Tom Spina talked about his commercial and the tight timeframe his team had to remake the creatures and film it. 

Check out AFICIONADO's previous Cantina features here: STAR WARS AFICIONADO MAGAZINE: CANTINA ALIENS

Star Wars Behind-The-Scenes Images Dissect The Mos Eisley Cantina Sequence | Giant Freakin RobotGiant Freakin Robot

'STAR WARS' AT 35: CANTINA CLASSIC

Here's the terrific art by Bill Selby that long time STAR WARS fans will remember of the Cantina Band and its diverse audience-a terrific poster released in 1978 by Factors Etc. Inc. Note Ponda Baba with his original sucker cup arm!

The blogsite Morbhead has a fun interview with the artist, who talks about the behind the scenes history of the art commission. Well worth checking out: Artist Bill Selby's Star Wars Cantina Poster

OPINION: SAVING THE ORIGINAL, UNALTERED CLASSIC TRILOGY

Officially gone forever? The unaltered Classic Trilogy DVDs from 2006.

With the recent release of THE COMPLETE SAGA on Blu-ray, still in pole position (or very near that) within the Top Ten charts of the world consumer home entertainment market, it's time to reflect on the disappointing fact that, for the time being, the original theatrical versions of the Classic Trilogy- 1977, 1980 and 1983- have been officially discontinued on DVD from the major seller sites like AMAZON and PLAY.COM with the prior 2006 release (where each film, disappointingly released in a non-anamorphic format, and scanned from the 1995 laserdisc releases, would be presented on a separate bonus feature disc alongside the SPECIAL EDITION versions), and there are apparently no plans to release new copies. How long this current situation will last is unknown, but I'm assuming it will be for the lengthy peak sales duration that the Blu-rays will need to generate income for LUCASFILM and FOX.

The non-CGI arrival into Mos Eisley.

Now, more than ever, and especially with the recent controversies regarding the further changes made to the SPECIAL EDITION films on the Blu-rays (some enhancements great, others (you know which ones they are!) not so great), I think it's time that LUCASFILM finally caved in (and there is absolutely no shame in doing this!) and answered the heartfelt requests/pleas from fans, young and old, around the world to finally release the original unaltered Classic Trilogy films on Blu-ray once and for all (the chance to win back much tarnished fan appreciation and media support, and greatly increased sales, following years of disappointment with what has been released on DVD, was sadly blown this year by their not doing this with the new COMPLETE SAGA release).

Han always shot first!

There is still time to put this sad Classic Trilogy oversight right, and have a separate release for the beloved three films on Blu-ray in a few years time, if LUCASFILM start acting now. The transfers don't have to be anything fancy-just nice clean TECHNICOLOR presentations of the movies as we love and remember them from their original screenings, and with the original superb sound mix restored to the way it was (it doesn't need any flashy mucking about with or be put in new DOLBY techniques). TECHNICOLOR copies of the original films do still exist. Producer Gary Kurtz has a copy of the 1977 STAR WARS-he told me this a few years back, and also revealed he lent it to LUCASFILM when they were doing their SPECIAL EDITIONS restoration work for release in 1997-scenes from his copy were duplicated and used to fill in gaps where the original masters had deteriorated from age. Copies of EMPIRE and JEDI also apparently exists in private hands and their owners would surely be more than happy to work with LUCASFILM so that the best available prints are made available for transfer of the highest definition possible. The potential profits from the new release far outweigh the potential behind the scenes costs and time that needs to be spent by Lucas's restoration team/s...

Confronting the Stormtroopers!

So please, George Lucas and LUCASFILM, you've given us a good starter with THE COMPLETE SAGA box set, now go the distance that little bit more and give the fans who have loyally bought all the box sets- in all types of format since the eighties- what they really want: the Original Versions of the Classic Trilogy on Blu-ray-the unaltered and still magical three films we fell in love with all those years ago worldwide: which started the phenomenon into what it has become today!

STAR WARS AFICIONADO fully supports the recently launched SAVING STAR WARS website (Save Star Wars) in all its endeavours and beliefs to make sure people worldwide keep the spirited flames of the original and best versions of the Classic Trilogy burning brightly, and that an eventual release of those three films is achieved.

Biggs is pursued by a TIE fighter in one of the film's original effect's shots.

There's also a petition at the ORIGINALTRILOGY.COM website where you can show your support: Petition for the Theatrical Cuts of the Original Star Wars Trilogy On Blu-ray. Please spare five minutes to add your name to the list-don't let these iconic and important films disappear from both time and the minds of the next generation/s of STAR WARS fans!

BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE: GREEDO IN PIECES!

A LUCASFILM reference image of the distinctive head and hands for the doomed Rodian bounty hunter Greedo, created from the skills of two behind the scenes legends: the UK's Stuart Freeborn in 1976 for STAR WARS, and the US monster maker Rick Baker, who revised the original mask for improved facial movement in additional re-shoot scenes needed by George Lucas in January 1977.

BEHIND THE SCENES: GREEDO'S THREAT!

In January 1977, Lucas and a small Los Angeles Second Unit would film additional scenes for insertion into the evolving cut of STAR WARS, including many cutaway shots featuring Rick Baker's new menagerie of monsters. Stuart Freeborn's originally used Greedo mask would receive some practical design improvements by Baker for additional sequences also shot at the same time, where the trigger happy Rodian would be played by Maria De Aragon.

CLASSIC IMAGE: UGLIES INC.

Stuart Freeborn certainly proved himself as one of the STAR WARS saga's definitive UK talents in make-up and creature construction, as seen here with this motley group of monster heads that would be used in the original film's 1976 April/May cantina filming at ELSTREE. All of the monsters in there, and in later US re-shoots with additional Rick Baker creatures, would become icons, especially Freeborn's Greedo, whom George Lucas would take a shine to when he first saw the creature in his workshop after it had been previously constructed for use as an alien in a UK BIRDS EYE peas commercial of the early seventies, though subsequently re-dressed (for legal reasons) for his eventual doomed confrontation with Han Solo.

Graham and Kay Freeborn with the UK Elstree creatures created for the Cantina in April 1976.

Due to illness (later declared as a stomach bug), Stuart was unable to complete all the required UK masks for the Cantina sequence, which begs the question, are there any surviving pieces of original 1975/76 artwork or designs, whether they be in the LUCASFILM archives or in a private collection, that show those creatures that ultimately never made it to reality? It would surely be fascinating to see them, eh?

With thanks to Ian Trussler for the group image.